Cooking with Elsa

love

  • Thirty Three Years Later

    Last night, my baby girl couldn’t sleep. It has been many months since she was up every two hours but last night she returned to this familiar routine. She wasn’t always hungry. It seemed that she just wanted to know… Continue reading

    Thirty Three Years Later

  • Prayers for Epiphany 5C and 6C

    I am blessed and honored to continue to cook up liturgical elements for worship at the United Christian Church in Austin. Admittedly, it feels like I haven’t been in the kitchen in a very long time. I’m editing more. I’m… Continue reading

    Prayers for Epiphany 5C and 6C

  • Prayers for Baptism of Christ Sunday and Epiphany 2C

    I attend a church with a super talented and dynamic staff, but as it happens when a lead pastor leaves for a new call, they’re carrying more than they usually do. There’s more work for each and every one of… Continue reading

    Prayers for Baptism of Christ Sunday and Epiphany 2C

  • Tell the Children

    I sat there with my daughter in my lap turning the pages. Matt de la Pena’s book Love was sent to me by my cousin. She said it reminded her of me. So my heart was already in my throat… Continue reading

    Tell the Children

  • Recipe for Gratitude

    Many congregations, including the one that I am working with right now as a consultant, care for their members by putting in the mail cards full of love and support when someone has fallen ill or is bereaved. Some congregations… Continue reading

    Recipe for Gratitude

  • Leaving the East Coast

    Today I said goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean. I dip my toes in the cold water on this dreary day and hoped that I might get to come back soon. It was only last year that we moved to the… Continue reading

    Leaving the East Coast

  • Premonitions of Grief

    Yesterday, another United Church of Christ pastor dared to ask a group of her colleagues and friends if we share in her experience of receiving premonitions. Stories bubbled up from within this trusted circle as much as they bubbled up… Continue reading

    Premonitions of Grief

  • Worship with Fire

    This is a tough week. The words from the Revised Common Lectionary that will inspire our worship this Sunday are hard. It is hard not to feel like a finger is being pointed directly at you. It’s hard not to… Continue reading

    Worship with Fire

  • After Orlando

    I don’t want to point fingers or try to provide rationale. I don’t have any words to make sense of how someone could walk into a nightclub and open fire shattering the lights and the music and 50 lives in any town,… Continue reading

    After Orlando

  • 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… Continue reading

    A Failure of Imagination