SheLoves Magazine

A Widening Light: Poems of the Incarnation, edited by Luci Shaw,  is one of my favorite collections of poetry, and the one I hold close during Advent. This is my favorite poem of the collection, penned by Madeleine L'Engle:   After annunciation This is the irrational season When love blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason There'd have been no room for the child.   I loved these words from the first reading, when I was young…

I am a holy contrarian. I don’t deck the halls, play merry, shine bright or sparkle. I dim the lights and lean into the hush. It is Advent, after all. I crack open my spirit and let the dissonance cry out, I rend my soul and allow the discord to seep in slowly, engorging every chamber of my seed-sized heart. I drop all pretenses shielding me and look the weary world straight in her tear-stained eyes. The suffering doesn’t stare…

“There is power in the name of Jesus,” we sang full force. “There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain,” we repeated with arms out-stretched. “There’s an army rising up,” the refrain assured those gathered in a synagogue-turned-church. I stopped singing. That very day a youth militia was rising up across Burundi, armed and ready to suppress opposition with guns, grenades and machetes. Every text and tweet confirmed what war looked like. The metaphor got caught…

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land. What does it mean to be called blessed? To be meek? What did Jesus mean when he used these words on a sun-drenched hillside surrounded by the curious ones? My son and I have been exploring these questions for a couple of weeks and learning together what it is (and what it isn't) to be meek. Today I share our discoveries over at SheLoves Magazine...

Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like sourdough starter that a woman took and hid in 40-60 pounds of flour. The Greek word means encrypted. The woman hid a small batch of starter in copious amounts of flour, knowing full well the leaven would be revealed when the dough rose, as it was baked off and the loaves ready for distribution. This story hints at an intentional hiding and an equally intended revealing. Read the full post over at…

I felt empty. I felt nothing. I felt no inclination to say yes or no, to ask another question or devise another strategy for success or resolve. Faced with an unexpected opportunity, spending more than a week wrestling and wrangling, I found myself one Saturday morning as empty as my dried up fountain pen. There was nothing more to work with–a blank page with no ink. I felt emptier, though. Empty like the Grand Canyon–big, wide and utterly vacant. I…

Idelette and I had a juicy conversation about what it means, and doesn't mean, to be a Dangerous Woman. We talk about Walter Brueggemann's sermon on Isaiah, the woman who leavens dough with a little yeast and Jesus feeding the crowds. We unpacked what dangerous means to each of us in relation to God, our self and our world. It's the start of a great new season at SheLoves Magazine! Join us! Click here to watch the video!  

Christendom often seemed like a safe camp. I, for one, grew up safe within its walls. Campfire songs, flannel graphs and water colored storybooks fanned my beginner’s belief with sweeping and salvific stories. As I matured into Study Bibles and adult services I found a sturdy faith anchored by creeds, sacraments and plenty of sermons–so many of them about how to be good, stay above the fray of sin and keep out of trouble. In retrospect, the catechism of the…

Born into privilege, Pharaoh’s daughter was nursed on narratives of Egyptian greatness. She grew up among the elite, watching them parade through the palace with their curried favor and entourage of servants. She never lifted a finger and never knew any different. Life was good alongside the Great Nile River, which seemed to wind and bend to her father’s command. She’d often visit the various balconies of his household and observe the slow rise of the mighty pyramids. She marveled…

Each month SheLoves Magazine selects a theme for reflection. This month the word is GATHER. What stirred in my memory was Jesus saying he wanted to gather us like chicks under his mama-wings... Jesus wanted us huddled and pulled in close enough that we could be fed. But once I was in the thick of the text I noticed another gathering. Jesus alluded to The Great Gathering that all the prophets spoke of, that God dreamed of, people from every…