Life. Love. Liturgy.
  • Gathering place
  • Thealogical Lady: A Blog
  • Thean Psalter
    • Thea House Church
  • About
    • Books
  • Contact

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts: One Mom's Comparison

10/17/2017

0 Comments

 
The CEO of the Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scout Council, Tamara Woodbury, shared the following letter this evening with all the troop leaders, family members, and friends of Girl Scouts in our council regarding the move announced by Boy Scouts last week to include girl members in its ranks.
October 17, 2017
 
Dear Girl Scout Friends and Families,

Last week, the Boy Scouts announced they will begin accepting girls into their programs in 2018. The announcement has created a lot of media buzz and a multitude of conflicting opinions on this development. The biggest question, however, is how will this impact Girl Scouts.

Certainly, the Boy Scouts become another activity choice for girls and their families, adding to the Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H, sports teams and more. 

The Boy Scouts are framing their move around families and the convenience of taking their sons and daughters to the same activity. Some girls may want to join Boy Scouts because they think Boy Scouts do more, especially outdoor adventures. Yet, according to a recent Time magazine article, "There's actually a great deal of overlap among the different badge skills, including camping, car maintenance, first aid, fitness, budgeting and even robotics." Both organizations offer strong STEM programs and each offer a high award - the Gold Award for girls and the Eagle Scout rank for boys. Some girls are drawn to the Eagle Scout rank because it's better known and seemingly more prestigious. While it may be better known, the Gold Award is actually more challenging to earn since it requires making a measurable, sustainable impact.

Yes, Girl Scouting is different. Very different. Our program is all about girls, informed by research on how best to empower girls to lead, thrive and gain skills, beginning in kindergarten. We give girls the safe space of an all-girl environment, where they are free from the gender stereotypes entrenched in our society. Girls gain confidence and build grit and leadership qualities through experiences that are girl-led and designed to encourage learning-by-doing and cooperative learning. 

Girls face unique challenges and they need support from the very beginning to build the resilience and confidence to overcome peer and media pressure. The Girl Scout program is designed and proven to change these sad statistics for girls.


  • Beginning around 6 years old, girls start thinking that boys are smarter than they are.
  • In elementary school, girls are as excited about math and science as boys, but lose interest by middle school.
  • One out of three girls say they are afraid to lead because of what others might think of them. 

A report published this past summer by the Girl Scout Research Institute, The Girl Scout Impact Study, shows that participating in Girl Scouts helps girls develop key leadership skills they need to be successful in life. Compared to their peers, Girl Scouts are more likely than non-Girl Scouts to be leaders because they:

  • Have confidence in themselves and their abilities (80 % vs. 68 %)
  • Act ethically and responsibly, with concern for others 
    (75 % vs. 59 %)
  • Seek challenges and learn from setbacks (62 % vs. 42 %)
  • Develop and maintain healthy relationships (60 % vs. 43 %)
  • Exhibit community problem solving skills (57 % vs. 28 %)
  • Take an active role in decision making (80 % vs. 51 %) 

In short, Girl Scouting works. As CEO of this council for more than 20 years, I have seen the impact our program makes in the lives of girls. 

I continue to strongly believe that Girl Scouts is THE best leadership program for girls. We know the unique needs of girls and the work required to overcome the gender bias and gender gaps that exist in every facet of business and society.

Please share your Girl Scout stories and how you've seen Girl Scouts build girls into confident leaders. Thank you for all you do, each and every day, to help make the world a better place.
 
With love,

Tamara Woodbury
​
Some folks in Girl Scouts may feel threatened by this move. I, as a troop leader, find it curious and interesting, rather than threatening. As a troop leader, I have a special view into just how much Girl Scouts offers girls. I am beyond thrilled that I get to journey with my girls through this leadership program. I am interested to see what Boy Scouts will offer girls; what they will offer very much remains to be seen.

What I know as a troop leader is that my daughters have more opportunities than they could possibly take advantage of in a given year to earn badges and gain confidence in their skills and in themselves. Girl Scouts offers girls every opportunity I've ever heard of Boy Scouts offering boys--and then some.

On a personal note: I have lived the consequences of a male-dominated society my entire life. I was told as a girl and as a woman that I could never be a priest because Jesus, the male man-God, wouldn't have wanted it. I've been told countless times in countless ways to defer to the authority of males--in church, in the academy, in my career path, in virtually every aspect of my life. I've been taught to be silent in the face of male harrassment, abuse, and assault, lest I bring shame or humiliation unto myself. I've been boxed in to "feminine" stereotypes and roles again and again and again. But in Girl Scouts, girls aren't told what they can and can't be. We don't tell them, explicitly or implicitly, that their voices matter less than those of their male counterparts. We lift girls up to be whoever and whatever they want to be. Every time I lead a Scout meeting, every time I go to a Troop Leader meeting, I catch myself looking around in awe at the talent and interest and curiosity and leadership in the girls and women I see, uninterrupted by the casual sense of superiority/privilege that boys and men so often bring.

I think it's great that Boy Scouts are going to accept girls--because maybe those boys will figure out that girls can do anything they can do (and just as well, if not better).

As for Girl Scouts: if the Boy Scouts come up with a great idea, girls will examine it and make it even better for themselves, without asking for some boy or man's permission. Because we we are G.I.R.L. Scouts: Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders.
Picture
0 Comments

Hand to Hand, Mother to Daughter: Part 1 (Guest Post)

10/7/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture

Keeley Bruner

Keeley Bruner is the mother of two daughters and a devoted, progressive member of the Disciples of Christ Church. In this three-part series, she writes of the challenge of handing on her faith in ways that mirror the best of her own religious upbringing while reflecting the ways in which her faith has matured and widened in adulthood.

Growing up in my home, faith was always a part of my life. It was woven into the fabric of our family through weekly worship services and prayer meetings, blessings before meals, bedtime stories and prayers, and frequent conversations with family members. As I got older, my involvement in church activities increased, and my own understanding of my faith and what was framed as my personal relationship with Jesus Christ grew. I remained cozy in evangelical Christianity throughout my college years, continuing to attend church, engage in daily personal Bible study and prayer, and serve through my college’s Campus Crusade for Christ ministry.

Whenever someone begins a spiritual autobiography this way, the implication is often that something then happened, that some shift occurred to change the trajectory of the expected path. And while these things did happen, I can’t trace it to a single event or even period of time. Maybe it was meeting my husband the summer before my senior year in college, a deeply intelligent and thoughtful man whose own faith had undergone significant dissembling and reassembling in the months before we met. Maybe it was traveling to Uzbekistan on a cultural exchange with my college ministry buddies and experiencing the love and hospitality of people of different, or no faith, there. Maybe it was moving to Cambridge, MA after getting married right out of college, where we experienced a definite cultural shift from our suburban Bible-Belt environment. Maybe it was hanging out with Jesuits, Franciscans, Benedictines, and other Catholics at my husband’s graduate school there, or experiencing the social activism of our Baptist church home in Cambridge. Maybe it was moving to Princeton, NJ and finding our spiritual home at a United Church of Christ congregation in the middle of that small, idyllic town, and witnessing the fire of older saints’ faith which had been forged through decades of practicing progressive Christianity. Maybe it was Obama, and the way he engaged people of all faiths to see the possibility and necessity of using government to care for the least of these. Maybe it was the work of Jim Wallis, of reading issue after issue of Sojourners and seeing the ways that Christians are jumping in and doing the real work of caring for the poor without keeping cost, without needing numbers and conversions to bolster their faith. Maybe it was experiencing pregnancy and giving birth, and realizing the magic of growing a person inside my body and nourishing a baby with my own milk, with my own life, twice. Maybe it was moving to Tempe, AZ and being pulled as if with a magnet to our faith community here, the most ragtag, loving, beautiful bunch of misfits I ever saw, with our hearts open wide to whatever, and whomever, may come through our doors.

It’s possible that the shift had something to do with the guilt of never doing enough in my previous Christian tradition, of always falling short but never fully being able to count on God to still love me or the grace of Jesus to fill the gap between who I was and who I should be. It’s possible it had to do with the bean-counting I found here and there, of how many testimonies shared and how many souls converted when the work of Christ encompassed so much more in my mind. It’s possible it had to do with the boiling down of the broad, deep, wide, incomprehensibly beautiful work of the Spirit into 4 sentences, each illustrated by pertinent cartoons. And most recently, it’s possible the final shift slipped into place with the realization that 82% of my former cohorts used their rights, and privilege, to catapult the coarse, vulgar, greedy celebrity we know as the leader of our land into power.

The fact is that it’s done, that the trajectory has been different than it might have been. While I have faith in God, love for Christ, and a kinship with the Spirit that are true, deep, and meaningful to me on a daily basis, how these are manifested departs significantly from what I might have expected based on my early life. But as I expressed above, I like to think of that conversion as a moving towards something, rather than away from something. I think of it as embracing a much larger God than I had imagined, with a much more expansive love than I had been told and a closer knowledge and presence with us than I had ever envisioned.

While my faith surely remains simply a part of my identity, another reason it matters at this point in my life is my children. Having come from where I did (mark my husband’s beginning at roughly the same place on the spectrum) and having traveled to where I am now (repeat), how do I foster a life of faith in my family in a thoughtful, genuine way? The church we attend has a small and hardy children’s ministry but, as my own mother decided, I don’t want to depend on that alone to impart the beauty of Christian faith to my daughters. I may not want them to grow up in the cradle of Evangelicalism the way I did, but there are many facets of my upbringing I certainly wish to convey to them. So, what is a Progressive Christian to do?
1 Comment

Psalm 78

7/15/2016

0 Comments

 
This is a psalm that originally spoke of the stubborn hearts and repeated rebelling of God's people, despite God's goodness and generosity. In the original psalm, God grew angry and finally allowed the people to die off to see if it would make any difference with them.

I believe my rendering of this psalm speaks to a Thean worldview, one in which we as Creatures still rebel and in which God still resists that rebellion, but in which rebellion, resistance, and resolution are imagined in a very different way.


Psalm 78

 
Hear my teaching, my sisters,
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
 
I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.
 
That which we have heard and known,
and what our foremothers have told us,
   we will not hide from their children.
 
We will recount to generations to come
   the liberating deeds and loving power of Thea.
 
She established wisdom,
   which she gave us to teach our children;
 
That the generations to come might know,
and the children yet unborn;
   that they in their turn might tell it to their children;
 
So that they might discover their divine identity
   and live as icons of her in the world.
 
She worked marvels in the sight of our foremothers,
   in the land where they were once slaves.
 
She split open the sea and let them pass through;
   she made the waters stand up like walls.
 
She led them with a cloud by day,
   and all the night through with a glow of fire.
 
She split the hard rocks in the wilderness
   and gave them drink as from the great deep.
 
She brought streams out of the cliff,
   and the waters gushed out like rivers.
 
And she said to them, “This!
   This is what I want you to do for your fellow Creatures!”
 
But they strayed from the path she had given them,
   rebelling in the desert against her.
 
They tested her in their hearts,
   demanding food for their craving.
 
They railed against her and said,
   “Can you set a table in the wilderness?
 
True, she struck the rock, the waters gushed out, and the gullies overflowed;
   but are you able to give bread
   or to provide meat for her creatures?”
 
When Thea heard this,
   a fire ignited in her heart,
 
For they had no faith in Thea;
   how could they possibly have faith in themselves?
 
So she commanded the clouds above
   and opened the doors of heaven.
 
She rained down manna upon them to eat
   and gave them grain from heaven.
 
So mortals ate the bread of angels;
   she provided for them food enough.
 
She caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
   and led out the south wind by her might.
 
She rained down flesh upon them like dust
   and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
 
She let it fall in the midst of their camp
   and round about their dwellings.
 
So they are and were well filled,
   for she gave them what they craved.
 
But they did not believe in her promise,
   that her power to work miracles was also their power.
 
They remained steadfast in their stubbornness
   and had no faith in her wonderful works.
 
Then Thea woke as though from sleep,
   like a warrior refreshed with wine.
 
She set her eyes on her Creatures,
   whom she had always loved;
 
And she whispered in their hearts once more,
   that they might recognize their true calling, their deepest yearning,
   and become her miracle-working hands and feet and heart in the world.

0 Comments

Daughters

9/24/2015

2 Comments

 
I was brushing my teeth tonight when my husband came in to say that the girls had requested a lullaby. I used to sing them a lullaby every night, but it's been a long while since I've sung to them in bed. I went in quietly and sang "La la loo" from Lady and the Tramp.

La la loo, la la loo, oh my little star sweeper,
I'll sweep the stardust for you.
La la loo, la la loo, little soft fluffy sleeper,
here comes a pink cloud for you.
La la loo, la la loo, little wandering angel,
fold up your wings, close your eyes.
La la loo, la la loo, and may love be your keeper.
La la loo, la la loo, la la loo.

I turned to make a quiet exit, but my two year old grinned up at me and said, "Mommy, seen! One, two, free!"

So I sang again, and both of my girls smiled at me from their beds, and my cup overflowed.
2 Comments

Sacred Rebels

9/15/2015

0 Comments

 
A good friend of mine, a fellow writer, introduced me to the Sacred Rebels Oracle, which is a deck of cards akin to a Tarot deck. It includes forty-four cards and a 180-page guidebook with descriptions of each card, and it's designed specifically for creative types (and even more particularly for women).

I looked through the deck for the first time today, and the cards swept me away not only with their images, but their themes. The tenth card particularly stood out to me as I contemplated my next creative project, which is to write a gospel according to Kate.
Picture
I thought immediately of Luke 14:26 as I looked at this card: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters...such a person cannot be my disciple." When I think of my own allegiances, I think of my long-time devotion to the Roman Catholic Church, and then to the Episcopal Church, and especially the Benedictine Canons (a Benedictine, Episcopalian religious order for men and women in which I was a novice for nine months). It was to my great surprise that I had to let go of my allegiances to my former Christian communities in order to turn my focus entirely to Thea.

As I break down the doors of the early medieval canon of Christian scripture by writing my own gospel, this oracle card resonates with me profoundly. By writing a gospel of my own, I am turning inward, where the light of Thea burns brightly.

I'm excited to write this gospel, to reimagine religious narratives as a Thean narrative, and to use this gospel in my house church liturgy when it is finished. My daughters will grow up hearing and learning from a truly feminist gospel, and in that, I know that my work and call as a house church priest will not be for nothing.
0 Comments

Mother God

7/22/2015

0 Comments

 
I have a thurible at home that's made of wood. It has eight sides and a spire leading to a point at the top. Dozens of holes are carved in the wood to make way for the smoke of lit incense.

My older daughter picked up my thurible today and asked me what it was for--it's not something we use very often for our home liturgies. I told her it was for incense, and she asked me what incense was. I told her that incense made a nice smell. She asked if we could smell the incense. So I went to the cupboard, pulled out matches, charcoal, and incense, and readied the thurible.

When the sweet-smelling smoke began to rise, she asked if we could pray. I pulled her into my lap and asked her who we should pray for. The usual litany of names began. When she had run out of names, she jumped off the bed, gathered up all our liturgy books, and placed them side by side on the bedspread. "Let's read about Mother God," she said, so we picked up Heart Talks with Mother God and read about God as mother eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11).

I am grateful that my daughters are able to imagine God in the feminine. Thea is their name for her. I never imagined myself rearing Theans, nor did I imagine myself self-identifying as a Thean, but here I am--here we are--making our way in the midst of the enveloping and awe-inspiring divine feminine.
0 Comments

Living Lent: Insights

3/22/2015

0 Comments

 
Sunday is the day of the week when my daughters and I celebrate Eucharist together. We've been doing our own house-church liturgy for about two months now, and each week I tweak the ordo, trying to get it just right for us. Somehow, in all these weeks, I've forgotten to include intercessory prayers between the homily and the Eucharistic prayer, so I added a place for them today. I didn't write them out ahead of time; I wanted to see who my older daughter would want to pray for. I let her take the lead during liturgy.

"Miriam," she said first. I asked her who else.

"Daddy and Mommy," she said next. I added Anastasia's name to the mix, and a few more names came up.

Then she said, "I want to pray for everybody--for all the people."

I nodded and grinned a wide grin. If I ever want proof that I'm doing this mommy gig right, all I need is a dose of Anastasia's thealogical insight. Every single Sunday, when we gather for liturgy, she'll say something that makes me think to myself, "If only adults got religion like you did!"

Her intuitions about God and the way we relate to God are right on the mark. During our shared homily today, she talked about Thea as the mother hen, and she said that Thea loves all her little chicks, and she said she and Miriam were Thea's little chicks. "Yes, you are," I said, "and she's very proud of you, just like I am." It was Anastasia's turn to grin then, and I gave her a big hug before continuing on.

God is indeed with us.
Picture
0 Comments

76

3/17/2015

0 Comments

 
Thea,
bless adoptive mothers with your generosity and love,
especially my grandmother, who was born this day.
Amen.
0 Comments

61

3/2/2015

0 Comments

 
Thea,
my daughter wants to know where you are,
so I told her where you are:
in her, in me, between us, around us,
among us;
present as bread and wine,
as soil and seed,
as papa and mama,
as sister and daughter.
I pointed to you in all of our everydays.
I said you loved her as much as I do,
and she got you.
Thank you for being vivid and immediate;
thank you for being as close as our fingertips touching.
Amen.

0 Comments

32

2/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Thea,
you are a wise, loving, and proud mother,
attending to the cares of your children.
Over the course of each day, attend to me:
be witness to my stumblings and successes,
and be my guide on barely worn paths.
Amen.
0 Comments

30

1/30/2015

0 Comments

 
Thea,
your voice hovers over the deep
of the turbulent heart
like a mother bent over her young.
Speak,
that I may hear your presence
once more.
Amen.

0 Comments

Spirit Whispers: Israel or Palestine?

7/21/2014

1 Comment

 
Does God take sides?
Does God cheer for Israel's victories,
or cheer for Israel's losses?
Does God pump his fist when Palestine succeeds,
or weep when Palestine stumbles?
Is God on the sidelines of Gaza, rooting for his team to win?

If God were mere man
perhaps the Gaza Strip would be one great football field
and God's whole life would rise and fall
according to the victory of his team.

The Christians say
God became flesh and dwelt among us
They say God became mere man.

They also say the God-Man's great victory was accepting death on a cross
that others might live.

But if Israel and Palestine's men keep taking one another's lives
in God's name
who will be left to bear his cross?

Perhaps the Second Coming
that the Christians await with bated breath
(as smart phones offer updates about their team)
will
be another Incarnation,
a child born in the midst of blood and turmoil and rage.


Maybe the Second Coming
will be
a child born of love spilling over
between a child of Israel and a child of Palestine

Maybe, instead of a cross
there will be
a stand
silent and gentle and unwavering
Palestinian hand in Israeli hand

the fruit of their living bodies
God's own child, swelling the mother's belly:
an invitation to end life no more.

What will it take for the beloved children of God
to perceive that the people they murder
are the beloved children of God
to understand that the people they hate
are their sisters and brothers and fathers and mothers
and daughters and sons
?

What will it take for Jews
and Muslims
and Christians
and other religious people
and anti-religious people

to
quit

taking
sides
to say
"It is done"?


Will it take a new Yeshua?
A new martyr?
A new cross?

Will it take a wise mother among many wise mothers
who learned long ago that only love can yield a victory?
Will it take a woman among many women
who has seen the futility of this fight all her life

to rise up and teach the foolish men what they refuse to learn?

God, how long before you touch the hearts
of the children who think you take sides?

How long before you assure them that they are equally,
infinitely loved?

How long  before they cease their fire
and offer open arms of
sorrow, repentance, forgiveness?

What do you mean
to whisper that
this assurance
this peace
this love
this transformation of the hardest of hearts in Gaza
begins
with my own heart?

1 Comment

Spirit Whispers: Ash Wednesday

7/20/2014

0 Comments

 
Lent is kept church-wise in a portion of three consecutive months in the calendar year, but Lent herself regularly bumps her nose against my face, refusing to be held to my schedule. This is one of those times. I find it is better to acknowledge her than to ignore her.

I offer the final verses of T.S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday" in Lent's honor:


Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.


0 Comments

Spirit Whispers: Peace

7/15/2014

0 Comments

 
Last night this news alert came to my e-mail from the N.Y. Times: Israel’s Security Cabinet Accepts Egyptian Cease-fire Proposal.

The war over God-given land rights that's been taking place between Israel and Palestine since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 continues to escalate. I woke up this morning to another headline: a young Palestinian was murdered after three young Israelis sought a victim to avenge the murder of three young Israelis who went missing last month, whose bodies were discovered a couple of weeks ago.

I received an e-mail from a local synagogue yesterday asking for help in the form of protein bars for special teams of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Do I support the murder that springs forth from this terror-filled war by helping the soldiers? Do I support murder if I don't help the soldiers? As I scroll through the social network feeds of my Jewish and Muslim friends, I see anger and shame at the failure on both sides to seek peace. I see two controversial Facebook groups, "Israel Loves Palestine" and "Palestine Loves Israel," decrying the hatred and violence.

How long will the fight over this holy land continue? How long will bloodshed reign? How long will terror beget terror?

I am aware that this is not my fight, that I am a privileged, white, Christian American who has little reason to fear for her safety on the basis of borders or religion. But it is my fight, because we are all human, and all the world is the household of God.


Did you read the story about the 16-year old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was kidnapped and murdered about a week and a half ago by a gang of Israeli young men and boys?

It's this picture of what happened afterward that stands out for me:
Picture
Photo: facebook.com/unify
Over four hundred Israeli mothers came to offer condolences to Mohammed Abu Khdeir's family.

Perhaps it will be women who end this horrific fight. Perhaps it will be women who illumine the way to kindness that knows no boundaries, compassion that transcends religious ties, and self-emptying, hatred-deflating love that witnesses to God's embrace of all creation.

May peace come swiftly--in Palestine, in Israel, and in my own stony heart.

What in me needs to change so that my religion and my nation's borders do not threaten the lives and joy of others? What in me needs to change so that I might become a bright beacon of God's enveloping peace?
0 Comments

Spirit Whispers: Mother

6/30/2014

0 Comments

 
When Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica, he compares the ministry of himself and his fellow leaders to that of a mother.
But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
   -Thessalonians 2:7b-8
This ministry is one of gentleness, of refreshment, of steady abiding-with that overflows with love. He regards the members of the Thessalonian church as very dear.

Belonging now to a church in which the vocations of women to ordained ministry are recognized and fully accepted, I find fresh meaning in this. In this passage, Paul is unafraid of comparing himself and other leaders to devoted women. In recommending himself to the Thessalonian church, he embraces a maternal image. In mothering, goodness may be found. In mothering, loyalty may be found. In mothering, unfettered love may be found. In mothering, all the nourishment a young one needs may be found.

To be a gracious, loving, effective, Godly minister, in this passage, is to be a mother.

I am grateful to be part of a church that embraces the title of "Mother" for its female priestly ministers. When I consider the call I hear to priestly ministry, considering it in terms of mothering enriches it beyond what any book on priesthood might say. Mothering is something I get. Mothering implies total commitment, total love, and totally deep joy--even in the midst of difficulties and trials. I would give anything for my children, including my life.

Isn't this what the high priest, Jesus the Christ, does?
Picture
0 Comments

Easter: Day 49

6/7/2014

2 Comments

 
PictureThe Rev. Br. Chad-Joseph Sundin
This morning my Benedictine brother, Chad-Joseph, is ordained as a transitional deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona at Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix.

As I reflect on my brother's call and ministry, I hear the music that God plays through his life, as God played the music of Jesus through Mary. He is a good and faithful servant; he empties his life so God's life might live in him, saying yes to the impossible as Mary did, protecting and up-lifting God's faithful servants without regard for his own image as Joseph did, becoming God's life-giving, light-imparting, nourishing presence in the world as Jesus did.  I am one of many blessed witnesses to the working of God through Br. Chad-Joseph's life, because I am one of the many people who has looked at him and beheld God's gentle, undemanding, welcoming presence.

On this day when my brother receives the sacrament of Holy Orders, the Magnificat resonates in my heart.

John Michael Talbot, my favorite sacred singer from when I was a little girl, offers a Magnificat meditation that honors my brother's response to his call in a beautiful way:

2 Comments

Easter: Day 30

5/19/2014

1 Comment

 
PicturePhoto by Monty Carson
I didn't expect to have this conversation with my toddler daughter this morning:

Toddler: "Mommy, what's wrong?"

Me: "Remember when Else and Anna's mommy and daddy died on the boat and Else and Anna were sad? My friend died. Mommy's sad."


This was after I found out while perusing Facebook that a highschool friend died unexpectedly last night. She was married and a mom of two young boys.

I am crushed, even though I haven't seen her face-to-face in years. I am devastated,
and she's not even my family. My heart aches for her husband and sons. And that's all I can say that makes any bit of sense. I see Easter all around, but Good Friday has returned with a mighty, forceful blow, knocking the wind out of me and all the people I know who knew her.

I invite you to join me in remembering Stephanie and her family in your prayers.

Meanwhile, I'll sing something we sang together in our highschool Women's Chorus:

The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make his face to shine upon you
and give you peace
and be gracious to you
The Lord be gracious unto you
Amen

1 Comment

Easter: Day 25

5/14/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
We're halfway to Pentecost, the feast of God's Spirit. In the West the color of the Spirit is red, just as the color of Jesus as Lord is red. In the East, however, the color of the Spirit is green, marking the Spirit's greening, creative, birthing work.

As I struggle through the labor of giving birth to the vocation that's been gestating in me all my life, I am in need of a skillful, experienced midwife. I find myself wondering if I'm fit for the mothering I'm preparing to engage in. Will I have the energy to do it? How will I maintain balance so I don't fall apart? Is this sort of mothering my true call? What if that which I birth is nothing like what I expected?

I have a whole team of midwives to help me through this process, but their skill and encouragement doesn't make my birthing easier. It hurts. It's one of the most difficult things I've ever done. And there is the horrifying-because-it-seems-so-selfish possibility that I will disappointed with what emerges from me. I am conscious of wanting things to go a certain way, and aware that they may not, and aware that that's out of my hands. The Spirit has something in store for me beyond my imagining, and my job is to let my expectations roll off me so I can focus on laboring it into the world.

The above image is from Matthew Fox's Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen. It's called "Sin - Drying Up."


1 Comment

Easter: Day 22

5/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Six years ago today I graduated from St. John's University with an M.A. in liturgy/scripture. It was Pentecost and Mother's Day.

Today, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is Mother's Day, and it's also the World Day of Vocations, at least for Roman Catholics.

Yesterday I read a book on shared discernment (required reading by my diocese) called Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community by Suzanne Farnham. It included a prayer from Thomas Merton (from Thoughts of Solitude) at the end--a prayer that I had hanging from my graduate school dorm door at St. John's:

God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.

To what am I being called? How can I place myself in a posture of listening?

0 Comments

Easter

4/20/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Resurrection Icon (Courtesy of oca.org)

This is the day the Lord has made!
Let us rejoice and be glad!

Christ is risen from the dead,
trampling down death by death,
and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life!

Christ is risen indeed!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Furthermore,

My toddler Easters when she wakes up crying and seeks my early-morning arms.
My infant daughter Easters when she utters "Ma-Ma" as her greeting for the first time.
I Easter when I behold my sleeping beloved and smile.

The world Easters every time it loves without fetter.

Easter!

Alleluia!
0 Comments
<<Previous
    Picture

    Rev. M. Kate Allen

    Thean. House church priest. Published author. Mother and wife. Vocal feminist. Faith-filled dissenter in the face of the status quo.

    I address G-d as Thea more often than not.


    Welcome!

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    1 John 4:16
    2015
    2018
    26 June 2015
    2 April 2014
    4peregrini
    750words.com
    Abide
    Absence
    Abstinence
    Abuse
    Accountability
    Acedia
    Aching
    Addiction
    Adoption
    Adults
    Advent
    Advent Journeying
    Adventure
    Affectionate
    Affirmation
    African American
    Age
    Agency
    AIDS
    Alive
    Allegiance
    Alleluia
    All Shall Be Well
    Allusions Of Innocence
    Alms-giving
    Amdg
    America
    Amok
    Anam Cara
    Anastasia
    And Every Stone Shall Cry
    Angel
    Angelus
    Anger
    Animating
    Anniversary
    Anoint
    Answer
    Anxiety
    Apology
    Apple
    April
    Archbishop Desmond Tutu
    Arizona
    Arms
    Arthurian Legend
    Artist
    Ascension Day
    Ash
    Ash Wednesday
    ASL
    Aspects Of The Heart: The Many Paths Of A Good Life
    Audience Participation
    Augustinian
    Aurora Chapel
    Author
    Authority
    Autobiography
    Ave-maria
    Awareness
    Awe
    Baby
    Bad
    Baggage
    Baking
    Balance
    Balm
    Baptism
    Bear One Another's Burdens
    Beauty
    Beginnings
    Behold
    Belief
    Bell
    Beloved
    Beltane
    Benedictine
    Benedictine Canons
    Benedict XVI
    Benevolent
    Bible
    Bible Belt
    Birth
    Birthdays
    Bishop
    Bishop Kirk Smith
    Bitterness
    Blame
    Blessing
    Blogs
    Blood
    Blossom
    Body
    Body Of Christ
    Boko Haram
    Bold
    Book Of Common Prayer
    Books
    Boundary Crossing
    Bouquet
    Boy Scouts
    Brainguys
    Brave
    Bravery
    Bread
    Bread Of Heaven
    Break For Beauty
    Breath
    Bridge
    Bringbackourgirls
    Broken
    Brother
    Brush
    Cab Calloway
    Cake
    Call
    Call For Submissions
    Calm
    Camping
    Candlemas
    Candles
    Canon
    Canvas
    Care
    Carols
    Caryll Houselander
    Catechesis
    Celibacy
    Chant
    Chanukah
    Chapbook
    Charity
    Cheerios
    Childhood
    Children
    Chocolate
    Choices
    Chrism
    Christ
    Christian
    Christianity
    Christians
    Christmas
    Christology
    Chrysalis
    Church
    Cleaning
    Clergy
    Clericalism
    Cleveland
    Cloth
    Clothing
    Cloud
    Cloud Of Witnesses
    Clover
    Codependency
    Cody Unterseher
    Coffee
    College
    Collegeville
    Coloring
    Colors
    Common Good
    Community
    Communityofstpeter
    Community Of St. Peter
    Compassion
    Competition
    Complacency
    Confidence
    Conflict Resolution
    Connections
    Constitution
    Context
    Contraindicated
    Control
    Conversatio
    Conversion
    Conviction
    Cool
    Corn Dog Mama
    Corporal
    Corporations
    Corruption
    Countenance
    Counter-cultural
    Courage
    Covenant
    Crafty
    Crawling
    Creation
    Creativity
    Creed
    Crimson
    Critic
    Cross
    Crowdfunding Campaign
    Crucifixion
    C S Lewis
    Cultivation
    Culture
    Cup
    Cursing
    Cyril Of Jerusalem
    Dance
    Dancing
    Daniel 9:3-10
    Darkness
    Dark Night Of The Soul
    Daughters
    Dawn
    Deacon
    Deadly Sins
    Death
    Deception
    Deep Within
    Defenders
    Delight
    Demons
    Denise
    Depression
    Desert
    Desire
    Despair
    Detachment
    Deuteronomy 32:11
    Devotion
    Dialogue
    Diamond
    Difficult
    Diocese Of Cleveland
    Dirt
    Dirty Word
    Disappointment
    Discernment
    Disciples
    Disciples Of Christ
    Disobedience
    Distress
    Ditl
    Divine Feminine
    Divinity
    Divorce
    Dl-smith
    Doll
    Dominican
    Dom Virgil Michel
    Doubt
    Drama
    Dreams
    Dry
    Dust
    Dwell
    Ears
    Earth
    Earth Day
    Easter
    Easter Friday
    Easter Monday
    Easter Saturday
    Easter Thursday
    Easter Tuesday
    Easter Wednesday
    Ecmasu
    Ecstasy
    Editing
    Ego
    Egypt
    Elizabeth
    Elizabeth A Hawksworth
    Embers
    Embrace
    Emmanuel
    Emotion
    Empowerment
    Empty
    Encounter
    Endings
    Endurance
    Enemies
    Energy
    Engagement
    Enneagram
    Enslavement
    Enslaving
    Enveloping
    Epics
    Episcopalchurch
    Episcopal Church
    Eucharist
    Evening Prayer
    Evil
    Excommunication
    Exodus
    Expectation
    Exposed
    Extraordinary
    Eyes
    Face
    Facebook
    Facets
    Failure
    Fair Trade
    Faith
    Faithful Word Baptist Church
    Familiarity
    Families
    Family
    Famine
    Father
    Fattuesday
    Fear
    Feast
    Feast Of Martha Mary And Lazarus
    Feast Of St. Joseph
    Feast Of The Annunciation
    Feeding
    Feeling Good
    Feet
    Fellowship
    Feminism
    Fertile
    Fetters
    Fever
    Fey Publishing
    Fight
    Fingers
    Fire
    First Communion
    Fish
    Flame
    Flannery O'Connor
    Flourish
    Flowers
    Following The Path
    Food
    Football
    Footprints
    Footwashing
    Forgiveness
    Fortitude
    Fragrance
    Franciscans
    Franciscan Sisters Of Pepetual Adoration
    Freedom
    Friends
    Fruitful
    Full Moon
    Funeral
    Furies
    Future
    Galatians 6:2
    Game
    Gardening
    Garment
    Gary Dreslinski
    Gathering
    Gaudete Sunday
    Gaza Strip
    G D
    G D
    Generosity
    Generous
    Genius
    Gentleness
    Genuine
    Gift
    Gifts
    Girls
    Girl Scouts
    Glass
    Glass Ceiling
    Glow
    God
    Goddess
    Godmother
    Gold
    Golgotha
    Good
    Good Friday
    Goodness
    Goodness Is Stronger Than Evil
    Good News
    Goodreads
    Gospel
    Gospel According To Kate
    Gospel According To Luke
    Gospel According To Mark
    Grace
    Grandfather
    Grandmother
    Gratitude
    Green
    Greenville
    Grief
    Grin
    Guest Post
    Guilt
    Gulabi Gang
    Habit
    Haiku
    Halloween
    Hands
    Happiness
    Happy
    Happy Feet
    Harm
    Harmony
    Harvest
    Hate
    Hatred
    Healing
    Healing Through The Dark Emotions
    Health Insurance
    Healthy
    Hear
    Heart
    Heartbeats Voices Against Oppression
    Hearth
    Heart Talks With Mother God
    Heat
    Heathen
    Hebrews 10:9
    Hegemony
    Heidi Chapel
    Hell
    Hen
    Henri Nouwen
    Here I Am
    Heresy
    Hermeneutic Of Suspicion
    Hiatus
    Hiding
    Hild
    Hildegard Of Bingen
    Historicstpeterchurch
    Historic St. Peter Church
    Hobby Lobby
    Holidays
    Holy
    Holy Is His Name
    Holy Land
    Holy Orders
    Holy-saturday
    Holy-week
    Homage
    Home
    Homer
    Homily
    Honeycomb
    Hope
    Hospice
    Hospitality
    House
    House Church
    Humanity
    Human Trafficking
    Humiliation
    Humility
    Hunger
    Hurt
    Husband
    Hymn
    Hymnal
    Hypocrisy
    Icon
    Icons
    Identity
    IDF
    Idol
    Ignorance
    Illumination
    Images
    Imagination
    Imagine
    Imagining Argentina
    Imminent
    Importuning
    I'm Sorry
    Incarnation
    Incense
    Indie-press
    Indifference
    Indulgences
    Infant
    Injustice
    Insiders
    Insight
    Inspiration
    Instrument
    Integrity
    Intention
    Intercessions
    Internationalwomensday
    International Womens Day
    Interview
    Intimacy
    Intuition
    Invitation
    Invitatory
    Iraq
    Islam
    Israel
    Israel Loves Palestine
    It's Amazing
    Jacob
    Jax Goss
    Jealousy
    Jean-janzen
    Jem
    Jericho
    Jerusalem
    Jesuits
    Jesus
    Jewish
    Jews
    Job
    John 1:29
    John-1516
    John-4129
    John Michael Talbot
    John O'Donohue
    John Of The Cross
    John The Baptist
    Joseph
    Journals
    Journey
    Joy
    J R R Tolkien
    Judge
    Judgment
    Julia Cameron
    Julian Of Norwich
    Julie Fowlis
    July 29 1974
    Justice
    Justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg
    Keeley Bruner
    Kenosis
    Key
    Kickstarter
    Kidnapping
    Kindness
    Kiss Of Peace
    Knock On The Door
    Knowing
    Knowledge
    Kristen-duvall
    Labor
    Lady
    Lady And The Tramp
    Laetare Sunday
    Laetare-sunday
    Lake Effect Voices Of Toronto
    Lake Pleasant
    La La Loo
    Lamb-of-god
    Lamentation
    Lamp
    Landscape
    Last Supper
    Latkes
    Laughter
    Laundry
    Lawrence-thornton
    Layer
    Lazarus
    Leadership
    Leaving
    Lectio-divina
    Lectionary
    Lent
    Lent I
    Lent II
    Lent III
    Lent III
    Lent IV
    Lent V
    Letting Go
    Leviticus
    Lgbt
    LGBTQ
    Liberation
    Liberty
    Lies
    Life
    Lifeblood
    Life Love Liturgy The Book
    Light
    Limbs
    Limits
    Lincoln Logs
    Listening
    Litany
    Liturgical-calendar
    Liturgical Renewal
    Liturgy
    Liturgy Of The Hours
    Living Lent
    Living Water
    Living-water
    Lj Idol
    Locked Rooms
    Logos
    Loss
    Love
    Luke 14:26
    Lullaby
    Lumen Christi
    Magnificat
    Magnificent
    Majesty
    Man
    Mandala
    Mandate
    Manger
    Mardisgras
    Mardis-gras
    Marginalized
    Marigold
    Marion Zimmer Bradley
    Marriage
    Martha
    Martin-luther
    Martyr
    Marvel
    Mary
    Mary Magdalene
    Masterwork
    Matthew 25:23
    Matthew Fox
    Matzo Ball Soup
    Maundy Thursday
    Maycrowning
    May-day
    Medieval
    Meditation
    Memories
    Memorization
    Memory Stands Still
    Men
    Mend
    Menorah
    Mercy
    Messiah
    Metanoia
    Michael Bublé
    Middle East
    Midwife
    Mighty
    Milk
    Mindfulness
    Minimum-wage
    Ministries
    Ministry
    Minnesota
    Miracles
    Miriam
    Miriam Greenspan
    Mirror
    Mission
    Missionary Cenacle Volunteers
    Moist
    Mommy Blog
    Monastic
    Monsoon
    Moon
    Morning Pages
    Morning Prayer
    Moses
    Mother
    Mother-angelica
    Mother God
    Mothers-day
    Mother-teresa
    Motivation
    Mourning
    Movement
    MRAs
    Multiplication
    Multi Religious
    Mummy
    Murder
    Murmuring
    Muse
    Music
    Muslims
    Mystagogy
    Mystery
    Names
    NaNoWriMo
    Narrative
    Nature
    Nausea
    Navy
    Need
    Negation
    Neighbor
    Nephews
    News
    New Testament
    New Year
    New-york-times
    Nicola-griffith
    Nicola Slee
    Nigeria
    Night
    Night Prayer
    Nina Simone
    Nine-months
    No
    Noach Dzmura
    Noonday Prayer
    Not-for-sale-campaign
    Not-for-sale-campaign
    Novel
    Novice
    Novitiate
    Nrsv
    O Antiphons
    Oasis
    Ob-audire
    Obedience
    Obsessions
    O Clavis David
    Odd
    O Emmanuel
    Ohio
    Olives
    Olive Trees
    Online
    Ontario
    Open-letter
    Oppression
    O Radix Jesse
    Orange
    Orange Blossoms
    Order
    Ordinary-time
    Ordination
    Ordo
    O Rex Gentium
    Original Sin
    Orlando
    O Sapientia
    Osb
    Other
    Out-of-the-depths
    Outsiders
    Pagan
    Pain
    Painting
    Palestine
    Palestine-loves-israel
    Pall
    Palm Fronds
    Palm Sunday
    Pancakes
    Parables
    Parents
    Parentwin
    Paschal-troparion
    Passion Sunday
    Passive
    Past
    Pastor
    Pastoral Care
    Path-ethic
    Pathways Of Grace
    Patriarchy
    Pattern
    Peace
    Pelagius
    Penance
    Pentecost
    Pentecost-season
    Pentecost-season
    Perfection
    Pericope
    Permission
    Persecution
    Personhood
    Pet
    Pharaoh
    Philadelphia 11
    Phoenix
    Phonetic Alphabet
    Pilgrimage
    Planting
    Play
    Playlist
    Poetry
    Polished
    Poor
    Pope-francis
    Possibilities
    Potty Training
    Power
    Practice
    Practice-makes-perfect
    Praise
    Prayer
    Prayer Book
    Prayer-requests
    Preaching
    Pregnant
    Prejudice
    Presence
    Present
    President Barack Obama
    Presiding
    Presiding-bishop-katharine-jefferts-schori
    Presiding-bishop-katharine-jefferts-schori
    Prestige
    Pride
    Priesthood
    Princess Amanda
    Prior
    Prison
    Privilege
    Profession
    Progressive
    Proper-15
    Prophetic
    Prostration
    Protect
    Protest
    Psalm 1
    Psalm 10
    Psalm 100
    Psalm 105
    Psalm 106
    Psalm 107
    Psalm 109
    Psalm 116
    Psalm-118
    Psalm-121
    Psalm-130
    Psalm-136
    Psalm-138
    Psalm 139
    Psalm 141
    Psalm-143
    Psalm 144
    Psalm22
    Psalm 23
    Psalm 24
    Psalm 25
    Psalm 26
    Psalm42
    Psalm-44
    Psalm 51
    Psalm63
    Psalm-67
    Psalm 68
    Psalm 78
    Psalm 79
    Psalm 94
    Psalms
    Psalter
    Public Ministry
    Published
    Pulse
    Puritanism
    Queen
    Queendom
    Questions
    Quiet
    Quiz
    Radical
    Rain
    Rape
    Rape Culture
    Reading
    Realization
    Rebecca-longbow
    Rebellion
    Reb-zalman
    Reconciliation
    Red
    Reflection
    Refuge
    Rehearsal
    Reign-of-god
    Rejection
    Rejoice
    Relief
    Religion
    Religious Extremism
    Religious Formation
    Religious-right
    Remember
    Repent
    Repetition
    Reproductive-health
    Resentment
    Resistance
    Resolution
    Rest
    Restless
    Resurrection
    Retreat
    Revbobmarrone
    Reveal
    Revelation-56
    Revenge
    Review
    Rhythm
    Richard-rohr
    Ritual
    Ritualizing
    Ritual Stories
    Robert-pirsig
    Roman Catholic
    Roman Catholicism
    Root
    Rose
    Rosyfingered-dawn
    Royal
    Ruach
    Rubrics
    Rule
    Sacrament
    Sacred
    Sacred Body
    Sacred Rebels Oracle
    Sacrifice
    Sad
    Saint-catherine-of-siena
    Salome
    Salvation
    Sapling
    Sara Bareilles
    Sarnia
    Savior
    Scotus
    Scripture
    Second-coming
    Secret
    See
    Seed
    Seek And You Shall Find
    Selfawareness
    Self Awareness
    Self-emptying
    Self-emptying
    Self Sacrifice
    Serenity
    Servant Leader
    Sex
    Shackles
    Shade
    Shadow
    Sheep
    Shekhinah
    Shelter
    Shepherd
    Shepherdess
    Shiloh Sophia Mccloud
    Short Fiction
    Showing Up
    Showing-up
    Shrovetuesday
    Shrove-tuesday
    Sickness
    Sign
    Silence
    Silhouette
    Simplicity
    Sin
    Singing
    Sister
    Sister-act
    Sksm
    Sky
    Slave Labor
    Slavery
    Sleep
    Slippery-slope
    Sloth
    Slow
    Slut Shaming
    Social-networking
    Softball
    Softness
    Soil
    Solarwyrm-press
    Solarwyrm-press
    Solomon-21013
    Song
    Sonoran Desert
    Sons
    Soothe
    Sophia
    Sophia-network
    Sorrow
    Sound
    Space
    Spark
    Sparkle
    Spider
    Spirit
    Spiritual
    Spiritual Companioning
    Spiritual Direction
    Spirituality
    Spirit Whispers
    Spring
    Spring Equinox
    Sr-joan-chittister
    Srkate
    Sr-kate
    Sr-thea-bowman
    Stability
    Stars
    St-augustine
    St. Augustine Episcopal Parish
    St. Augustine's
    St Benedict
    St. Brigid's
    Stephanie-hogan-weber
    St-james-chapel
    St. John's School Of Theology
    St-johns-school-of-theology-seminary
    St. Mary Of The Annunciation
    St-mary-of-the-annunciation-benedictine-canons
    Stories
    Storm
    Strawberry Moon
    Strength
    Struggle
    Stubborn
    Stumbling
    Success
    Succulent
    Suffering
    Suicide
    Summer
    Sun
    Sunday
    Sunset
    Support
    Surprise
    Suzanne-farnham
    Suzanne-toolan
    Sweetness
    Swimming
    Symbol
    Synchronicity
    Table
    Taized97da0e93b
    Taking-sides
    Talking
    Tamara Woodbury
    Tamora Pierce
    Taste
    Teaching
    Team
    Tears
    Tempe
    Tenacity
    Tenebrae
    Terror
    Terry Pratchett
    Thanksgiving
    Thanksgivukah
    Thea
    Thea Koinonia
    Thealogical
    Thealogy
    Theanism
    Thean Psalter
    Thea Press
    The-artists-way
    The-call
    The-casa
    The Chronicles Of Narnia
    The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society
    The Lord Of The Rings
    The-miracles-of-santa-fico
    The Mists Of Avalon
    The-name-of-the-rose
    Theotokos
    The Reed Of God
    The Rev Dr Gil Stafford
    Thesis
    The Song Of The Lioness
    Thessalonians-27b8
    The Way
    Thirst
    Thomas-merton
    Threads
    Three
    Threshold
    Thunder
    Thurible
    Thursday-night-community
    Tiffany Aching
    Time
    Tired
    Toilet
    Tomb
    Torn
    Toronto Newsgirls Boxing League
    Touch
    Touch The Sky
    Tradition
    Tragedy
    Transcendent
    Transform
    Transition
    Translation
    Transparency
    Tree
    Trees
    TreeSisters
    Triduum
    Trinitycathedral
    Trinity-cathedral
    Troop
    Trope
    Truest-singing
    Trust
    Truth
    Ts-eliot
    Turning
    Twitter
    Umberto-eco
    Unclean
    Understanding
    Unexpected
    Unfruitful
    Unholy
    United Church Of Christ
    Unity
    Universe
    Unworthy
    Ups
    Upset
    Valentine
    Valley-of-the-sun
    Value
    Vase
    Vatican-ii
    Vicar
    Victim
    Victory
    Vigil
    Violet
    Vision
    Vocation
    Voice
    Voices
    Vows
    Vulnerable
    Waffles
    Walking
    War
    Watched-pot-never-boils
    Water
    Weaving
    Website
    Wedding Day
    Wedding-party
    Wedding Preparation
    Weed
    Welcome
    What-emotion-are-you-guided-by
    When-it-comes-to-healing
    Whims
    Whoopi-goldberg
    Wicked
    Wife
    Wilderness
    Will
    Window
    Wine
    Winter
    Wisdom
    Witchcraft
    Withdraw
    Womanatthewell
    Woman At The Well
    Womb
    Women
    Wonder
    Word
    Works
    Works-of-mercy
    Works-of-mercy
    World
    World-community-of-christian-meditation
    World-day-of-vocations
    Worry
    Worthy
    Wound
    Wrath
    Wreath
    Writers-block
    Writing
    Wrongdoing
    Year Of Prayer
    Yes
    Young-people
    Zechariah
    Zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.