In my head, the teacher still taps her ruler on the backboard, saying, “A noun is a naming word. A verb is a doing word.” Now I want to ask, is the word God noun or verb? Surely it has to be a verb. I suspect that God as noun is an idol of my Read more
This morning I sat with two lots of readings. Early prayer was with John 15, verses 7 – 11, the beautiful love commandment in which Jesus uses the word “love” nine times to emphasize its importance, finishing with, “I am giving you these commands so you will love one another.” Then at breakfast, I opened Read more
Sometimes we see life on earth as teetering between consistency and chaos; and yet really, the teachings of life are about neither. They’re about contradictions. We recognize this as paradox; but we don’t always see the tension between opposing states as being necessary for our spiritual development. I guess I’m trying to say that in Read more
When we were young, no one in our house was allowed to swear. Except Dad, of course. But his oaths were limited to “Damn” and “Hell.” We thought these words very daring and wondered if they were okay with God. On the other hand, Dad could yell at us, “I’ll thrash ye tae an inch Read more
There is a joke that my husband and I revisit with much pleasure. It concerns two elderly men who had memory loss. One said to his friend, “At last I’ve found the solution! I’m going to a wonderful memory school. They give you strategies you can put in place to remember things.” The other said, Read more
It is said that God walks behind us, picking up those parts of our life that we choose to discard. The imperfection, failure, shame we try to leave behind in our desire to live “good” lives, is God’s treasure, the true gold of our life story. It is the precisely that part of us, and Read more
I like Jonah. You know the story? God instructs Jonah, up, go to Ninevah. Tell the people If they don’t mend their wicked ways, they will be destroyed. But Jonah won’t go to that dangerous place. He boards a ship in another direction, and runs into a storm. He’s the cause of the storm and Read more
When reading church teaching on sin, I tend to walk a parallel path, acknowledging the principles but interpreting them a different way. Many women do this, because feminine spirituality tends to be different and complementary to the masculine model. Our gender differences are shaped by our biological roles. For a man, sin usually affects personal Read more
Whatever we say about suffering will be largely subjective. It will come from our life experience and our beliefs. My brokenness will relate to the brokenness out there. Some will call that projection. Others will call it empathy. My own journeys through crucifixions and resurrections will prompt me to help others find the freedom of Read more
Years ago, a woman who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, asked me to pray for a miracle of healing. As she talked about this, I was aware that her body was in advanced labour to give birth to her soul. I wanted to tell her I believe we have our definitions back to front: Read more