One of the tools that I have gained in therapy is something called a feelings wheel, and if you are looking for someone to point you to ways to connect with a therapist, I will gladly do so because many of us have never lived through times of traumatic national or global events whileContinue reading “Remembering Our Baptism”
Joy Always Breaks Through
Traditionally, whether it’s Father Steve or me, the preacher doesn’t typically follow the children’s dramatic retelling of the Christmas story, but like almost every other aspect of this year, things are not quite as usual. I’m so grateful that I got to see our virtual Christmas pageant early so that I could know whatContinue reading “Joy Always Breaks Through”
Don’t Wish It Away
It’s going to be a long winter. This has been a refrain in my head on every dreary cold day; I’ve said it almost like it’s an inevitable curse. The heavy sigh that has become my pandemic side-kick finds its way out of my mouth, and I typically say it again, adding a couple ofContinue reading “Don’t Wish It Away”
A Year Without Alcohol
The question is almost always, “what happened??” Folks want to know what happened whenever I have shared over this past year that I’ve decided to step away from alcohol being a substance that I use. What happened to make me take this drastic move away from something so standard in our society? There is aContinue reading “A Year Without Alcohol”
God Is In The Waiting With Us.
When I was a preschool teacher, one of the greatest joys of that work was watching kids learn how to transition from chaotic scribbles with crayons to slowly learning to control their hands and their writing utensil. It was a great joy because of the pride that the kids had once they finally learned toContinue reading “God Is In The Waiting With Us.”
Suffering and the Reign of Christ
It doesn’t take much to invite a spiel from me about how much I love Dolly Parton. Growing up in Tennessee, she was always a constant in our lives; from Dollywood to the presence of her songs to the early days of her charity, the Imagination Library, which at the time was only inContinue reading “Suffering and the Reign of Christ”
Pervasive Love
There seems to be people out there who take naturally to learning another language, and after studying four languages to varying degrees of success, the one word that stands out to me, throughout all that study is a Hebrew word that my seminary professor told us was best kept in the original Hebrew, because thereContinue reading “Pervasive Love”
Praying in the Shadows
It wasn’t until I was sitting in the sanctuary at the parish where I spent my final year of seminary that I had a realization that I think most Christians have much earlier in the life of their faith. The choir stood in their blue robes with their music binders balanced upon their hands andContinue reading “Praying in the Shadows”
Who Do You See?
Throughout human history, the desire to see oneself reflected back in something has been persistent. There are prehistoric mirrors that were made of intensely shined rocks, or pools of still water kept for just such a purpose. We even have a biblical reference to a mirror in which Saint Paul compares something to “seeing inContinue reading “Who Do You See?”
Deliver Us Not
Taking a break from the podcasts that I had lined up to make the long drive from Abilene to Tennessee to see my family for my first Christmas break from the GST, I keyed into a local radio station, but rather than some popular song that I immediately recognized, the voice coming through the speakersContinue reading “Deliver Us Not”
Becca Kello 