Ritualizing transitions
What do a hornet’s nest, a self-portrait, a banjo, a philosophy book, and a narwhal stuffy have in common? These were some of the many items that showed up at the church last evening for the closing mini-retreat of the Transitions and Ritual group. Each participant was asked to bring…
Beauty Saves?
The headlines aren’t getting any prettier, but here in the remnants of the temperate deciduous forest you can’t take a step these days without encountering beauty. The fiery sugar maple in our backyard has let go of enough leaves to blanket the ground beneath it, still holding on to enough…
Indigenous People’s Day and the stories we must tell
This Monday was Indigenous People’s Day, a refocusing of Columbus Day. While in Minnesota last month, I had a morning to walk through the Minnesota History Center in Saint Paul. I spent the most time in the exhibit Our Home: Native Minnesota. It focused on the long history of the…
Midweek Blog: Listening, Mourning, Connecting
The September issue of The Christian Century magazine had a monthly theme exploring the topic of the “Earth’s agency,” with a number of articles looking at various aspects of ecotheology. This was a timely read to lead up into last weekend’s Fall Retreat and gave me plenty to reflect on…
Sacred listening
“Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference.” – David Augsburger, Mennonite teacher and author Throughout the next year Central District Conference is conducting Sacred Listening conversations across the conference. The goal, as I understand it, is for conference leadership to get…
