St. Monica of Hippo

Monica was the mother of Augustine, the famous (!) Christian author (Confessions) and apologist who was major influence of on the reformers of the Roman church in the Middle Ages. Monica is well-known for her deep prayers and solid faith that led to the conversion of her husband and her mother-in-law to Christianity. Her prayers and confidence in the work of God were a contributing factor in Augustine's own eventual conversion and embrace of Christianity- turning away from the wild lifestyle he had previously embraced. Monica's deep faith is major building block in the church as it is today because of her prayers for change within her family.

Monica's saint day is observed on 4 May, but I thought it was also interesting to consider her in this week before Mother's Day. Not everyone is a mother, though everyone has one...somewhere. Regardless of how you feel towards your mother or how you, as a mother, might feel toward your children- we have all experienced that level of prayer that Monica must have known- continually beseeching God for real and painful needs to be answered and healed. Monica saw her prayers answered, but many mothers and many children do not seem to receive that same consolation in the same way.

This week, keep those children of God in your prayers- mothers and children full of prayers and mothers and children full of rebellion and distanced from one another.

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Religious Holidays in Anchorage

You may have read in the Anchorage Daily News about a new policy regarding certain religious holidays and the scheduling of school activities. If not, a link to the article is here . The new rules do not mean that school will be out on these new holiday inclusions, but that the Anchorage School District will avoid scheduling activities, like sporting events, on these days. The new list includes Passover, Rosh Hashanah , Yom Kippur , Eid al - Fitr and Eid al - Adha . They are added to a list which includes New Year's, Orthodox Christmas and Easter, Good Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. The new holidays may be unfamiliar to some: Passover is a Jewish celebration, in the springtime, that commemorates the events in Egypt that led up to the Exodus. The name of the holiday comes specifically from the fact that the angel of death "passed over" the houses of the Israelites during the plague which killed the eldest sons of the Egyptians. Passover is a holiday

Latibule

I like words and I recently discovered Save the Words , a website which allows you to adopt words that have faded from the English lexicon and are endanger of being dropped from the Oxford English Dictionary. When you adopt a word, you agree to use it in conversation and writing in an attempt to re-introduce said word back into regular usage. It is exactly as geeky as it sounds. And I love it. A latibule is a hiding place. Use it in a sentence, please. After my son goes to bed, I pull out the good chocolate from my latibule and have a "mommy moment". The perfect latibule was just behind the northwest corner of the barn, where one had a clear view during "Kick the Can". She tucked the movie stub into an old chocolate box, her latibule for sentimental souvenirs. I like the sound of latibule, though I think I would spend more time defining it and defending myself than actually using it. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure how often I use the

When the Body of Christ is Fat

Bitmoji Julia enjoys tea Within a very short amount of time, two people whom I love were called "fat ass". One of these slurs occurred in the church building and the other occurred in the same building and within the context of worship. Both incidents were the result of a person with already impaired judgment lashing out at the person who was in front of them, perceiving them to be unhelpful or denying aid or service. Regardless of the "why", the reality is that the name was uncalled for, hurtful, and aimed to be a deep cut. The reality is that a person who is under the influence of legal or illegal substances and often displays impaired judgment can still tell that body shaming- comments about shape, appearance, or size- is a way to lash out at someone who is frustrating you. That means those words and that way of using them are deeply rooted in our culture. An additional truth is that when we, as a congregation, attempted to console and listen to those who h

Faith, Grace, and Hope

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