Resurrecting Freedom for Palestine: God is in the rubble
Photo by Ian Hutchinson of unsplash.com shows a protest in a city center with individuals waving flags and holding bright yellow placards with bold black lettering that say “End the war on Gaza,” “Let Gaza Live!” and “Stop funding genocide.”
Shimmering Scars
Photo by Shane of unsplash.com depicts a woman wearing a black top and blue jeans. Her shirt is raised to reveal her torso with a long red vertical scar running from above the naval to below the beltline.
From Suicide Prevention to Co-creating a Desirable World
Cath’s reflections on shifting focus from 'suicide prevention' as an individual issue, to a collective one: co-creating a world people WANT to show up for.
Image Description: screenshot of the cover of TinyLantern.net zine entitled “helping your friends who sometimes wanna die maybe not die”. Artwork includes 3 folks with varied skin tones who are sitting companionably at a table with plants around them and a light above them.
Lowly IS Holy
Ever wondered why the Gospels give contradictory accounts of Jesus’ birth? The age-old nativity story gets a fresh look here, giving Jesus his humanity back and spreading some divinity around to everyone.
Image Description: Black and white photo by Isaac Quesada of unsplash.com shows two sets of hands—one masculine and one feminine—encircling a newborn baby in fetal position.
Sanctuary or Sacrilege? The church and spiritual abuse
By definition, sanctuaries are supposed to be places of safety, nurturing, and protection. Unfortunately, the Church has a less-than-stellar track record at offering sanctuary. In fact, the Church has sometimes condoned or perpetuated great harms to those it was entrusted to protect.
Image Description: Photo by Christian Lue of unsplash.com depicts a Christian cross rising into in a dark blue and purple sky filled with lightning.
Making the Cut
If you’ve ever felt left out or like you didn’t belong, this sermon might be for you.
Image Description: Photo by Tim Mossholder (unsplash.com) depicts a multicolored quilt of triangular shaped designs with the words “You belong” on top of it. Quilt is surrounded by plants with rich green foliage.
The Spiritual Art of Changing Your Mind
No one likes being wrong. It’s embarrassing, sometimes humiliating. And it doesn’t feel good. That is especially true in our capitalistic, individualistic culture where people excel and succeed and gain power by standing out, and by making ourselves seem bigger and better every day through continual increased productivity and growth.
These concepts have gotten me to thinking not only about the gifts of being open-minded; but even about the gifts of being wrong.
Consider the ways we go about actually changing our minds, or admitting we were wrong, and how that helps us grow as individuals.
Image Description: Photo by Rommel Davila, unsplash.com, depicts two rough-hewn rectangular signs hanging on a red door. The one on top points left and says “My Way” in black and white, while the one underneath points right and says “Highway” in green and white.
Requiem and Reawakening
This All Saints’ Day also happened to fall on the week of the nation’s presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Reflect with me on what makes a saint, and what makes a rotten apple, and what happens to all the others in between.
Image Description: Photo by Eduardo Dorantes at unsplash.com depicts a pile of brightly painted masks and skulls in brilliant colors.