I read this morning that there are more churches closing in the wake of the pandemic. I have seen the reports about attendance and listened to how hard it is to wait in that Zoom room for anyone to join the room. The church will be forever changed by this pandemic. We will be foreverContinue reading “Pandemic Pentecost Affirmations”
Tag Archives: faith
Pandemic Easter Affirmations
I wanted to write a statement about what it means to be a person of faith when everything feels uncertain for the service I wrote for the Longest Night in 2020. I did it partially for myself. I needed words to speak to what I believe right now, but I also wanted to provide someContinue reading “Pandemic Easter Affirmations”
Pandemic Prayers for Proper 12
It has been over a month since I shared these pandemic prayers. I got swallowed up by the logistics surrounding our move across Texas.
Pandemic Prayers for Easter 6A
When this all started, there were lots of reflections about God’s absence. It wasn’t my experience. I didn’t feel like God had given up or disappeared anymore than I felt like God had brought this pandemic upon the global community. It’s eight or nine or fifty-two weeks later and I’m not quite sure I haveContinue reading “Pandemic Prayers for Easter 6A”
Easter at Home with Babies and Toddlers
When I was in my very first call and was still saying I wasn’t sure I was called to be a parent, I led a conversation for the monthly potluck shared by parents and children about faith at home. It felt like a new idea all those ten years ago. Children were supposed to learnContinue reading “Easter at Home with Babies and Toddlers”
Embracing Wonder with Children
There are specific things with instructions that parenting requires. Potty training, I am learning, is one of them. There are steps that your child must understand for success. First, she’s got to pull down her pants and then sit on the potty before she pees. There is an order to this process. It’s important notContinue reading “Embracing Wonder with Children”
Bless This Mess
In the days before my second child was born, I watched my toddler play while I flipped through the pages of Bless this Mess: A Modern Guide to Faith and Parenting in a Chaotic World. I read every word offered by my United Church of Christ colleague Molly Baskette and her former church member EllenContinue reading “Bless This Mess”
New Traditions for Our Family
My husband is an atheist. That’s right. I am an ordained minister in the Christian Church and I married a man who could care less about anything remotely related to God. He will be quick to amend that. He will say that he does care. He cares because I care but it’s not quite theContinue reading “New Traditions for Our Family”
A Blasphemous Question Just For You
Before I officially became Mrs. Cook, I went to a writing conference. This is, of course, what everyone does in the last few days before they get married, right? They go to a four-day conference. Well, it’s what I did. Before we hopped on a plane and flew off to get hitched, I went toContinue reading “A Blasphemous Question Just For You”
A Failure of Imagination
On the same day when my article appeared on New Sacred about how a progressive faith isn’t defined by issues, Susan Jacoby was interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air. It was in fact just yesterday. Just yesterday, on my way home from the gym, I caught the end of Terry Gross’s interview with Jacoby. She’s the author of the newContinue reading “A Failure of Imagination”
Cooking with Elsa 