We are entering the season of Advent. I feel like, sometimes, in our rush toward Christmas; the hustle and bustle of gift giving and making memories and carrying out traditions and reveling in the revelry…
Essays
Behind The Scenes of Writing A Book
I’m now in the process of writing my second book and I thought some of you might be curious about the behind the scenes. Each process has been quite different. For the first book I…
Listen To Your Body
As a young person I was taught not to trust my body. “The flesh is sinful” was trotted out to explain all sorts of things: selfishness, disobedience, desire, lust, pride, you name it. But the…
The Stories We Tell
We tell ourselves stories all day long. We tell them about the person who cut us off in traffic, about our spouse when they say something (or something in a tone) we don’t expect, about…
How do I talk to people about church (when they don’t seem to care)
Two questions that come up a lot, especially in progressive faith circles (but that at the root are the same question) are: I don’t know how to talk about my faith with other queer/trans folks…
How to Get Unstuck
Sometimes when you’re working on something you get stuck. Maybe it’s that the project feels too big and you don’t know where to start (or what to do next). Maybe you can feel something isn’t…
The Gift of Discipline
If you, like me, grew up in an environment that was strict (whether that’s parenting or religious practice or even just a strong sense of “this is how it is”) you may get a bit…
What Are Your Rituals?
What are your rituals? You can think about religious ones, sure: Going to church, taking the Eucharist, morning and evening prayers, reading Sacred texts. You can also think about secular rituals: brunch with…
What Kind Of Soil
What Kind of Soil? Preached at First Presbyterian Church Based on Matthew 13 I grew up in a rural community, but it wasn’t a farming community. We were the kind of family who went…
Show Up For Yourself
Show Up For Yourself “You know how you find joy? It’s right there in the word: Jesus, Others, You.” I can’t tell you how many times this was taught to me growing up. I heard…