It was one of those days when God felt distant, peripheral, like background noise in the dizzying rush of my hectic life. Then I stumbled upon the Bible of my youth, with its loose pages and underlines and notes from friends tucked in between parables and miracles and blessings. I found this nugget of interpretation, … Continue reading Still Speaking
Are you weary and discouraged by the stories and posts bemoaning the big-C universal Church's failures and irrelevancy? Me too. It feels like the kinds of stories that make it into my feeds and headlines are about the big-C universal Church’s failures and irrelevancy. It leaves me feeling discouraged and disheartened, wondering what’s the point. … Continue reading Still a Beautiful Church
My 2nd-grader lost her cash-filled wallet about a year ago. Today she found it. Overjoyed, she bounded up the stairs to tell me the good news. We celebrated with a little happy dance and off she went, down the stairs again. She was already moving on with her day. I wasn‘t done with the moment. … Continue reading Parenting With Parables
This week I was honored to have this essay called “Loneliness, Jesus, and My Mothering Spirit” published at a favorite online community called Mothering Spirit. I’ve been deliberating over this concept of the vocational loneliness of motherhood (or parenting) for the last many months, inspired by conversations shared with a small group of moms that … Continue reading Loneliness, Jesus, and my Mothering Spirit
Cheers to the women who haveloved me fiercely.The ones who called forth the me in me.Who weathered my storms andfaced my fears andcarried a snack just for me,sometimes sweet, sometimes salty butalways the word or gesture orbag of chips I needed. Cheers to the women who mothered meinto the mother I’ve become.To my mom, cheers. … Continue reading Cheers to the women
Mary Magdalene thought the resurrected Jesus was the gardener. The Gardener, whose job is to raise up new growth from a lifeless seed. The Gardener, whose job is to call forth new life out of the darkness of dirt. Perhaps Mary wasn’t wrong. Perhaps she was seeing Jesus’ true identity. The Gardener of the original … Continue reading She Thought Jesus Was the Gardener
Jesus walked willingly to the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his arrest. The courage in that act alone - it’s hard to fathom. God and humans don’t have a good history in gardens, after all. The last time God shared a garden with humanity, it didn’t end well. The humans betrayed God, eating … Continue reading Gethsemane
Let’s de-Hallmark-ify the Christmas story, shall we? Instead of a warm and cozy barn - try picturing a dark, grimy cave, full of loud, smelly animals who aren’t fond of sharing their home. Instead of a serene, beaming Mary - let’s imagine an exhausted teenager who just survived the risky business of labor, far from … Continue reading Let’s de-Hallmark-ify the Christmas story, shall we?
I slip a napkin note into my kids’ lunchboxes every day. Sometimes the note is as simple as a smiley face, other times I write silly jokes, but most of the time I write some version of: “I love you just the way you are.” When that time of day rolls around for my girls … Continue reading Lunchbox Notes…from God
Are we enslaved to Time? Must we march to its relentless rhythm, powerless as prisoners shuffling on and on under the watchful eye of such a dispassionate guard? This week I ticked off milestones, one after another. My six and eight-year-old daughters returned to school, growing up ever so slightly with every passing day. We … Continue reading (Never) Enough Time
Rev. Laura Johnson 