Thursday, July 25, 2019 | Reflections
One of my favorite moments in the musical “Hamilton” is when George Washington tells Alexander Hamilton that he will step down from the presidency: “We’re gonna teach them how to say goodbye.” Washington wants the nation to outlive him; he knows that can’t happen if...
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 | Reflections
My dad taught me how to fish when I was eight years old, with a kiddie rod and reel that made a satisfying clicking sound every time you pushed the release button. Fishing was one of our earliest bonding experiences. We did a lot of our fishing on vacation in Maine....
Tuesday, July 23, 2019 | Reflections
I remember learning Matthew’s version of the mustard seed parable as a middle school camper. The meaning felt accessible amidst a lot of other stories that were hard to understand at a young age. Middle school children grow in such weird ways, and here was this story...
Monday, July 22, 2019 | Reflections
For me, Mary Magdalene represents closeness to Jesus. She reminds me of Jesus’ fragility, his tenderness, his human need to be cared for even in death. Mary is my window into Jesus’ humanity, which I always seek to understand and feel connected to. I can only imagine...
Sunday, July 21, 2019 | Reflections
I grew up with a champion hostess. My mother will make an elaborate dinner and dessert entirely from scratch, sometimes even crafting a special table setting. She truly enjoys doing it, and we enjoy admiring and partaking in the fruits of her labor. But we often tease...
Saturday, July 20, 2019 | Reflections
The soul’s longing for God can be like missing lunch. You might not know how much you need that communion with God until you are brought low by some deep hunger that is so visceral, it is impossible to avoid. Some days I lose track of time, and suddenly it’s 3 p.m....
Friday, July 19, 2019 | Reflections
Since moving to Seattle, I have come to appreciate a healthy protest. It’s in the DNA of this city to march in the streets. That civic identity has meant that I’ve had quite a few opportunities to witness and participate in this holy discipline. I recently...
Thursday, July 18, 2019 | Reflections
We follow the rules to the letter so we can wear the badge of God’s approval. Sometimes, I worry we follow rules so we can mentally and spiritually check out of hard conversations with God. If we observe the sabbath as appointed and follow all the written...
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 | Reflections
Over and over again Jesus dares to sit with, speak to, or help the unwanted, the outcast, and the “unclean.” Each time they challenge Jesus for these actions, he puts doubters in their place, drops the mic, and stops the show completely. The Pharisees ….(View...
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 | Reflections
I love my home in many ways: I enjoy cooking something satisfying and something filling and delicious, lighting a prayer candle, or putting on a favorite record that fills my space with sounds resonant to my soul. I have a great love for feathering my nest, bringing...
Monday, July 15, 2019 | Reflections
I grew up going to summer camp at Shrine Mont, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, referred to colloquially as “the mountain.” I experienced radical love and welcome—and the deep reassurance that I was indeed a child of God. As a young adult and a cabin counselor,...
Sunday, July 14, 2019 | Reflections
We want people to fall into neat categories so we can have mental shortcuts for how we treat them. Here’s the rub: There are no categories. Everyone is our neighbor. We have to be brave enough to scrape off the labels and forgo the categories we have created to make...
Saturday, July 13, 2019 | Reflections
This passage holds significance to me and my fellow Shrine Mont campers. One of the songs in our canon is “Me and Andrew,” which tells this story of Jesus naming his first disciples. As campers, we felt the potency of these words, even if we didn’t entirely understand...
Friday, July 12, 2019 | Reflections
My terrier Oliver is a little guy. He’s pretty sturdy—he carries himself like a wrestler. He has a mouth on him, too. But even so, I feel the weight of love and the responsibility to keep him healthy and out of harm’s way. I keep Oliver under the shad….(View...
Thursday, July 11, 2019 | Reflections
I love the imagery here, suggesting a concerned parent who must save a beloved child from drowning. It has a palpable urgency. By his saving grace, God reaches for us in the moments we most need a rescue from the crashing waves and riptides. My depressive...
