“Thanksgiving was the third and most exalted of Plymouth’s trinity, holier even than the Mayflower and the Rock. It carried the story of America’s founding out of Plymouth and into millions of homes, renewing memory of the Pilgrims each autumn over turkey, sweet potato, and pumpkin pie. The only people who might be surprised by…
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tension
Day 27 – Flinching At Life
Art by messycanvas bumped from the archives I jump when they say, “Boo!” Why does my heart race and I feel alarm even when laughter has covered their faces, and I feel no shame in having been gotten? This fear, where does it come from? ***** It comes from sitting on the toilet and…
White People, White Power, White Platform
The great thing about social media is that, if you want, you can get to know lots of different people. The not so always great thing is that it’s a very public venue. Which means that sometimes we get to put what we write about into public practice. Naming. Dismantling. Getting at the core of…
The Privilege of School Choice
I don’t talk much about the fact that we educate our kids at home for lots of reasons, but one of them is I’m very aware that it’s a privilege. Choosing to use that privilege, especially now that we’re in a new community where the choice takes on greater socio-economic implications, makes me uncomfortable….
Emotional Pacifism – Laying Down My Weapons
“My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting…” I read this verse in John during Holy Week and realized I fight for Jesus. I need to lay down my weapons. I need to stop fighting for him. Need to stop fighting for what people…
A Tender Thaw
I’m guest posting for my friend Kelly today on coming alive and how painful it can be. Here’s a little snippet (and also why I bawled through Frozen). Be honest. Be vulnerable. It’s home group, small group, community group, so it’s safe here. This is how you build strong friendships. Real community, the…
Faithful Slaves and Fugitive Whites – How Do You Remember the Past?
Today is Lee-Jackson Day in Virginia. I find this whole ‘war in my backyard’ thing fascinating, but also kind of disturbing. I don’t know how to reconcile the fact that today is a day to honor Confederate generals, while Monday is to honor a civil rights leader. So, I did what any normal person would…
We Moved 850 Miles to Find Life
We’ll build new traditions in place of the old ’cause life without revision will silence our souls -Sleeping At Last The tall ceilings and golden wood floors call to me. It’s a southern brick house with columned front porch, bedrooms in the attic, and transomed windows. The kind of house that we’ve always…
God Has A Plan, and Other Useless Advice
He interviewed for a job today. An interview we thought about turning down. Because the salary turned out to be much lower than the advertised amount. But how do you turn down what you need? So we crunched the numbers, and surprise, surprise, realized we could live on less than we thought. We could…
Shedding A Faith
I have been formed by a culture of newness. Even my existence is a testimony to the strength of the Shepherding Movement, and the only dead theologians I knew of until I was an adult were C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther. It was my two years at a Lutheran school that cemented the belief…