Faith, Grace, and Hope

How do we measure the impact of 65,000 words? A novel is considered a piece of writing that is a least 40,000. So 65K is a book, for certain. Now, imagine 65,000 words in 1543. Those words have to be written out with ink and a quill. They must be scratched onto expensive paper. Then to print and distribute your work of 65,000 words, each page must be set out carefully in the moveable type of the time, inked, and printed. Then the pages must be collated and then tightly handsewn together. If a book had an illustration, it was likely a block print- carved out of wood, pressed in ink, and the image transferred onto the paper. All of this sounds tedious, and it was, but it was so much faster than the hand-copying of the previous centuries, prior to Gutenberg and his glorious printing press. What was carefully written up and printed in 1543? What ideas were worth carefully laying out the moveable type, carving a block print, and distributing far and wide? What topic could inspir...

I am in the middle of a big life transition. There are many, many, many feelings associated with any kind transition. Change is hard. The change- a big move- also affects my children and my spouse (and the dog, though he doesn't know it yet). It also affects many other people- adults and children. Most people experience a variety of feelings in the midst of change. While a change can have many positive aspects, it is also a kind of death. What was is passing away and what will be is being birthed. In reflecting on Western, white culture, my experience is that we do not give either much space or much credence to feelings. Since they cannot be seen or proven, they are treated as suspect. Additionally, as our cultural language has tried to make space for people to identify their experiences and associated feelings, we have perpetuated a value system wherein the validity of one's feelings are ranked depending on one's level of cultural power. While it is possible to prov...

Bible passages: Genesis 2:18-24 and Mark 10:2-16 . Before tackling the passages together, it is worth noting that both the Genesis passage and the one from Mark, listed above, have been used to great injury inside the church and among church people. They have been wielded as weapons, not as tools. They have driven people from the community and caused people to believe they might be outside of God's grace. This is a misuse of the written word and it is terrible when and where it occurs.  The Genesis passage is actually the older of the two creation stories. It has the shape of a story told around a fire, a just-so story to explain the world all around and to share with younger generations a comprehension of Who is in charge of all things. This story has hints of amusement in that God, wanting a companion for the h'adamah  (the dust person), holds a tryout for the position with all kinds of animals. None of the critters prove sufficient as a partner for the dust person....

This prayer was originally posted as the Friday Prayer on 9/28/18 on revgalblogpals.org . Since I am feeling the same sentiment today, I am posting it here. If you share it, I encourage you to click the Friday Prayer link above and share from my original post.  Look. I try not to treat You like a divine vending machine- prayer in, need out...  But in the present situation, that awareness means my prayers are more along the lines: “FFFFF#$)*#0&&#$(&(*^&(#^&^$()*@&#)(*@&&@!#(*&!!!!!” That’s me releasing a fraction of my deep feelings into the deep and wide well that is the Holy Repository for Grief and Frustration. Between You and me, though, that’s not cutting it right now on the human end. I guess I’m saying I want a little less talk and a lot more action. (Of course, You’re probably saying the same thing to me.) Noted. Maybe Your vastness is the problem. Maybe if You had a hard limit, this would be easier because shifti...