Original Blessing – Nov. 1, 2022
“If a child grows up being told she is ugly or stupid or selfish, at some level, she comes to believe that about herself. The descriptions haunt her self-understanding, and she lives in a state of doubt about her deepest identity. This is exactly what has happened in relation to the doctrine of original sin, […]
Seen
I saw a mother breastfeeding on the train. She covered herself as the child took what she was freely giving. A sacred sharing. Her tilted downward gaze, the shape of her eyes, the curl of her lips, glowed as if transfigured. Time stopped for one eternal moment, and on that specific day, in that specific place, I […]
Do Not Lose Heart – Oct. 15, 2022
October is the traditional time in the Church of the Saviour for annual membership recommitment. It is an unusual church practice, perhaps unique, joining and re-joining the same faith community year after year. Or not. When I first made this commitment, a long-time member told me it gets harder every year, just the opposite of what I […]
Deliver Me from Faint-heartedness – Oct. 12, 2022
O Holy Spirit, Give me faith that will protect me from despair, from passions, and from vice; Give me such love for God and men as will blot out all hatred and bitterness; Give me hope that will deliver me from fear and faint-heartedness. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, p. 140