a journey of the spirit
She broke her hip and now it's infected. Two months of hospital time. She misses her dog. She isn't sure why she fell. She's walked down that hall thousands of times before and been just fine. She's glad she and her husband got those necklaces, though, the ones where you push the button and they… Continue reading Chaplaincy journal 4: Precious
I walked into the room and said, "You're still here! I thought you were going to get out of this joint a week ago!" "You and me both," he responded, with a roll of the eyes. "But I get to eat today! Meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy. Now, I'm sure the meatloaf won't be… Continue reading Chaplaincy journal 3: Food
As I was driving to the hospital, chasing an earthy, insistent sunrise, my conversation with God went like this: “God, I need you to be with me today. And not as a trickster, today. Today I need to sense you in gentleness. You’ve been pushing me, I know. It seems you are preparing me for… Continue reading Chaplaincy journal 2: Dawn and Dusk
I hate it when God invades my dreams with theology, like a kitten playing with my pen as I'm trying to write. Okay, maybe I don't hate it... it just makes for a short night. Tonight it's this line from a Jars of Clay song: "I am thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good… Continue reading God and kittens
Last September I began writing a journal with some of my thoughts and encounters during chaplaincy. I'm going to start posting parts of it here from time to time... in the hope that God will be present in the stories, in the spaces, in the questions, in the love and hope at the heart of… Continue reading Chaplaincy stories
In the class I'm TAing, we have talked much about Jesus' injunction to the disciples to be like a child (Matthew 18). Many of the students have brought up the difficulties of this image. Usually it's talked about in regard to our current understanding of children and vaguely psychologized -- children are (and so we… Continue reading Peacemaking: being like a child
Most of you probably know the game Marco-Polo… one person is blindfolded in the middle of a room or a pool, the others are moving around them not blindfolded. When the blindfolded person says “Marco,” the others must respond “Polo,” with the eventual aim that the Marco person finds the Polo people by following their… Continue reading Marco-Polo and Crisis Care
A smattering of thoughts, in absence of anything that seems to hold together much... Last night I heard an Orthodox monk speak of the seed of the Spirit that lays dormant in each of us until we choose to nurture it and cultivate it. He spoke of authority in the Orthodox tradition as coming from… Continue reading NuDunkers: Worship and Authority
I just got back from the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, and I find myself swimming in reflections about the shape of the church in that gathering. Here is one of those: I often find myself among feminist and liberationist colleagues in Boston, and in those theologies there is an emphasis on egalitarian community… Continue reading Be careful what you wish for…
A former worship professor of mine wrote a great (if slightly ranting) blog post the other day about the theological and practical difference between "Will you join me in prayer?" and "Let us pray." That post sparked a lot of Facebook discussion, which prompted her to post three other really good blog posts. If you're… Continue reading “Let us pray” and authority
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