Bob Marley and the Wailers | Protest Archives closures | Friends, I can't believe it is August! I insist that summer lasts all the way through September. Still I have three more weeks before I start my travel routine again. Quilting, the pool, games with friends. -Liz Separation is Violence We are meant to live in community. We are meant to be with others. I was just at the Episcopal Province V gathering in Kalamazoo Michigan. We opened with a presentation by local tribes telling their...
about 10 hours ago • 3 min read
Wild Goose Festival | The Rainbow Railroad | Friends, I spent the weekend at the Episcopal Church Province V Big Event. (Province V is Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and some of Missouri. We met in Kalamazoo.) This is gathering of church leaders grappling with how to do church better. I represented Episcopal Divinity School and offered workshops. These events always remind me: I really like church. I like the people, I like the structures, I like the worship, I like the music....
3 days ago • 3 min read
Song: Iris DeMent Sweet Forgiveness | Politics and Lefty Christianity Friends, I'm in beautiful Kalamazoo Michigan. Worth it just for the name! But I'm excited to be offering workshops on small church mission for the Episcopal Province V gathering. Liz Forgiveness Helps us Act In Mark 2:1-12 Jesus is preaching to a crowd and some friends, certain that getting their paralyzed friend to Jesus would result in his healing, lower the friend through the roof. While Jesus focuses on his ability to...
7 days ago • 2 min read
The Olmstead Decision | The importance of living in Community | Friends, I walked 1.25 miles on my new ankle! It's a pretty exciting time for ankle life. I've done enough exercise to make it clear that the repaired ankle (left) is in much better condition than the other (right). I'll have that surgery in September. Of course right ankles affect driving. Still I'm hoping to be one soon enough to be able to ski in January, maybe even in December. Liz Keeping people in Community I'm often...
14 days ago • 3 min read
John Lennon's Imagine | Project 2029 | Friends, I'm just off a relaxing weekend of playing strategy games and quilting. Some time in the pool. Connecting to my friends and neighbors. I hope your life has some moments of peace. Liz Can You Imagine it? To what shall we compare the reign of God? Because it is beyond words, we have is like phrases. It is like a tiny mustard seed, like yeast that makes bread rise, like a treasure or like fine pearl which we would sell what we have to obtain it...
17 days ago • 3 min read
book suggestions by bell hooks and Barbara Kingsolver | Friends, A Mighty Girl Facebook group raises up the works of amazing Girls and Women. This article from last week struck me as a beautiful example of resistance! If you'd like to follow the page, it is here. I made a rule sometime in my thirties that I would only read books by women and/or people of color. Of course that means I miss some great books (and I couldn't follow that rule in seminary). But no matter what we are missing great...
21 days ago • 4 min read
Song: Pulling Weeds | Book: Marvelous Myths | Friends, Back home, back to work, back to writing every day. Sometimes we say "back to the grind" but I will admit that I like the steady rhythm of an ordinary week. Some workouts, some walks, some quilting, a good book. Liz What to do with weeds among us? I am a universalist--I do not believe in hell. Also, I want some people to suffer. I mean, yeah, I really believe they were probably wounded by someone in their early childhood and I wish we had...
24 days ago • 4 min read
Song: My Lord Did Trouble Me | Ignatian Spirituality | Friends, Today I offer an excerpt from by book When Did We See You? A Lenten Exploration of Poverty & Wealth, Upper Room Books 2026. While it's written for lent, it can be used for any 6 week study. -Liz Spiritual Poverty and Dependence On Each Other [Spiritual Poverty] is also a matter of dependence. It includes the realization that the things we possess in the material world are not really ours. Instead, everything belongs to God. As...
28 days ago • 2 min read
Song: Thy Word Is Lamp Unto My Feet | Song: Why is Your Heaven So Small | Friends, We are flying home today. Flying west across time zones is somewhat unreal--we get home to Boston just 2.5 hours after we leave Dublin. I've planned a day off for my body to catch up! -Liz God's Word I’m not sure I ever noticed this lectionary reading from Isaiah (55:10-13) before. It’s kind of an interesting evangelism text. God’s word goes into the world and it does not come back “empty”. It accomplishes...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read