How I Gave Myself Permission to Listen to Podcasts I remember the day so well — siting on my couch in my old apartment on Woodmont Boulevard. Hardwood floors, windows open, coffee in hand, as I pressed play on the…
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Bridges I have an invitation for you. But first an image. You’ve heard of the Bridge on the River Kwai? A Bridge over Troubled Waters? How about the Bridge to Terabithia? War. Grief. Escape. The search for relief. A bridge…
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Friends, here is a blessing for you this Christmas Eve and Day. A Blessing for Christmas Eve Whatever your year has been, wherever it has taken you, Whatever difficult or easy pathway, And whatever winding or steep road, You are still…
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How will you survive the holidays this year? Listen up! The holidays are here, and children everywhere are thrilled. But many teenagers and adults are wondering, how will we survive the holidays? Great question. Even in a normal year, so…
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This month I am sharing Advent reflections and stories. They gather up moments that I love. And they bring to life blessing and promise, silence and singing, grief and vulnerability, and moments of joy and hope. I am also recording…
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This Advent weekend was full. What about yours? And my weekend felt more like other Advent weekends of BP (before pandemic). I love circling through the season of Advent. Because it is my favorite. Yet important differences mark this year…
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Sometimes life and loss and longing and love are more than our words can contain. Through these challenging days, only a prayer of silence is enough. Because the deep peace of silence is all that can hold life as it…
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Editor’s Note: Today we welcome Rev. Elizabeth Hagan as our guest! Most recently Elizabeth served the Palisades Community Church in Washington, DC as senior minister. She is a graduate of Samford University and Duke Divinity School. She is also the…
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So you’ve been hearing the phrase pastoral imagination? And you’re thinking hmmmm, that’s interesting. Sounds kind of fun. Maybe a little mysterious. I’d like to know more…. But what is it exactly? You have come to the right place. I…
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In the past nine days I attended two seminary graduations, three worship services where we blessed graduates, and one live-stream ordination. Each event gave me a sense of joy. Yet the joy was also rooted in something more complicated. Something…
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Graduation Blessings take many forms. Big accomplishments receive most of the praise. Public words of blessing ring out for awards, achievements, and milestones. And this is right and good. And yet. Much of the substance of life is mostly not…
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What does it mean to care with holy fierceness? Let’s begin with what we mean by holy fierceness. In Chapter 48 of Pastoral Imagination, I introduce this idea. I first heard the idea when interviewing cohort of divinity school graduates…
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Perhaps you have been hearing about the concept of pastoral imagination for a while. We hope so! And maybe you are wondering: how would someone teach that? Today, let’s talk about teaching pastoral imagination, the concept, the book and the…
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Today we want to offer you some Easter blessings and thanks. If you follow the Roman calendar, then you are now in Eastertide. It’s Easter Monday and that means it is time for laughing, jokes, putting your feet up for…
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After a long trek through Lent, Holy Week is here, and we have a Labyrinth Guide for you. My hope is that helps you keep moving through this final week leading to Easter. More than 15 years ago, I created…
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This week we are celebrating mentoring! And we are also going to celebrate the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) of Central Seminary. I know we are still on the Lenten journey for two more weeks. And I am so grateful for…
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As we come to the end of Women’s History Month, I want to reflect briefly with you about my past week. My vocation began with a call to ministry while I was still in high school. I certainly could not…
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This week I want to share with you PART II of my interview with Rev. Dr. Angela Parker and her thoughts on freedom and liberation. In PART I of our conversation we talked about her new book, If God Can…
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What are you reading this week, and have you considered how to read with your fully embodied and relational self? Lent is fully underway. And the world is watching an entirely unjust war unfold in Ukraine. Refugees are flooding out…
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