“At any time, you can ask yourself: at which threshold am I now?… At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter?” —John O’DonohueWhen I was a professor, I always stayed one move ahead of my students. Before an essay was due, the assignment was ready and last essay returned. E
“Your grandparents were called to war. You’re being called to sit on your couch.” —Internet memeWhile it’s true that we are not being called to war, it's also true that these are challenging times. I would argue that some of us are being called to do far more than sit on our couch. Most of us, in fa
In this community, we hold hope close. We don’t always know what comes next, but that cannot dissuade us. We don’t always know just what to do, but that will not mean that we are lost in the wilderness. We rely on the certainty beneath, the foundation of our values and ethics. —Rev. Theresa I. Soto,
“There is nothing unusual about feeling the suffering (or glory) of another life. This is how we are designed, to live in intimate relationship with all life around us.” —Susan RaffoThe video ended and the speakers were buzzing again while the professor lectured. I tried to ignore the sound but I co
Breathe deeply, until sweet air extinguishes the burn of fear in your lungs and every breath is a beautiful refusal to become anything less than infinite. —D. Antoinette Foycontent warning: pregnancy lossI’ve always found early morning a holy time—not that I necessarily want to be awake then; someti
“Search engines find the information, not necessarily the truth.” ― Amit Kalantri"How do you make the best vegan chocolate?” This simple question started a three-hour journey down an internet rabbit hole. One video led to another: Coconut oil or cacao butter as a base? Raw cacao or cocoa powder? Sug
"I live constantly with the awareness that there are no maps for what I am doing; that I am making the path as I go. Yet …even as I move across what seems like uncharted territory, there is a way that lies beneath the way that I am going. We are all creating the road as we go. Yet beneath this, und
“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” —Amelia EarhartMy friend Ty is a rock star. I mean, he’s literally a rock star. His band Vintage Trouble has played shows all over the world, headlined music festivals, and opened for the likes
“Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it will go next, so it is with the Spirit. We do not know on whom [the Spirit] will next bestow this life from heaven.” —John 3:8 (The Living Bible)Fred didn’t have very long to live; that’s why he had called me to see him. I
“Shards of glass can cut and wound or magnify a vision. Mosaic celebrates brokenness and the beauty of being brought together.” ―Terry Tempest Williams, "Finding Beauty in a Broken World"I made a beautiful piece of art in a mosaic class this summer, but there were times when I was frustrated at my o
“Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee.” ― Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsI remember once leaving a party, held at the house of some friends from church, and being told, “You shouldn’t use the alleyways to get home.” I had not been living in the city
“…and the ones who stood without sweet company will sing and sing back into the mountains and if necessary even under the seawe are the ones we have been waiting for” —excerpt, “Poem for South African Women” by June JordanWe are gathered at a Walmart in downtown El Paso, forty-six days after the Aug
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice.” ―T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"New Year’s is without a doubt the most meaningful winter holiday for me. As a religious humanist, none of the other winter holidays have ever really called to me. But to me
Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes— your heart a chapel, an altar where in the deepest night can be seen the fire that shines forth in you in unaccountable faith in stubborn hope in love that illumines every broken thing it finds. —Jan Richardson, "Blessed Are You
"Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make
“Level Two is where you become privy to the giant mystery, the fabulous conspiracy that is Santa. You are entrusted with the secret, that Santa is SO much bigger than you imagined, that you, in fact, get to be Santa, too.” —Rev. Joanna Fontaine CrawfordOne year—but not the year the Christmas tree fe
“My storehouse having burned down, I can now see the moon.” — Mizuta Masahide, 17th-century Japanese samurai poetContent warning: This reflection refers to the author experiencing abuse as a child.In Japanese, “crisis” (危機) and “opportunity” (機会) share a character: 機. This character has many meaning
“The most delicate flower is still a badass, it sucks food from roots, stares at the sun and basks in it. It wrestles the wind, and drinks rain.” —Rob GradThe world feels like a hot mess and while this isn’t breaking news, it seems like every other Tweet, Facebook post, or article is a wind causing
“What one does is what counts. Not what one had the intention of doing.” —Pablo Picasso I heard the incoming screams from the far end of the parking lot of the home improvement store. The vehicle swerved crookedly into the lot and abruptly stopped. Someone inside was forcefully hitting the driver
“…[L]et the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” —Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”On August 29, 2018, Roger Cooper (@RogerC137) tweeted plaintively:“Could we, without relentlessly criticizing, let people have their pumpkin spice, and avacado toast, and their fandoms, and their D&D, and their too-e
“Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realize that nothing really belongs to them.” ― Paulo CoelhoEver since the beginning of this school year, I've had a hard time getting ready in the morning. Hard time getting out of bed, unfocused, glued to my phone, jus
“Gardens are a form of autobiography.” —Sydney Eddison, “The Wilds Within,” Horticulture Magazine, August/September 1993.The six-year-old and the nine-year-old, co-creators of our neighborhood garden this past spring and summer, survey the backyard plot after our first good, hard frost: “Ooo, that’s
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” —Maya AngelouI’m delighted by how Spirit moves through our spiritual communities. A few summers ago, a member of our congregation drafted architectural plans for a Little Free Library (LFL). The brilliance of the d
“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.” ―May SartonI spent an entire year brooding over whether and when to come out to my family. I had had a little practice with some close friends in college, and later with a few friends from high school. Looki
