I’ve done it since I was young. Focus on the absence of God, I mean. Not that any one group has any precise, theological understanding of exactly what happened the day Jesus was crucified. No one was actually there — in Palestine or in heaven. If that’s where God-the-Father resides. Which I’ve come to have dubious suspicions about. We’ve fought…
Film Production This past winter, Trinity Lutheran Church was host to local filmmaker Mark Koeppen (KTNexus), and video creator Katie Cutting (Big Sky Life, Lazy Kitten Productions), who shot and produced public service announcements for the importance of GSAs/QSAs (gay/straight alliances/queer straight alliances). The political and social climate in Alberta right now is incredibly tense, more so with the provincial…
The Welsh have a word that possesses no definite translation: hiraeth. Roughly, it means: missing something, longing for places and spaces that feel like home. It is a word heavy with sound, breath, beauty, and meaning. I’m reminded once again how impoverished the English language is, how careless. What’s worse, we English-speakers don’t even care about its poverty. We’re content…
I had the chance to participate in a pulpit swap this past Sunday. My Lutheran congregation occasionally trades pastors for a morning with the local Anglican church a few blocks north of us. It was a great chance to discover different liturgical perspectives as well as meet new folks. The pericope, however, was the prodigal son — familiar to the…
![Array of 3 photos of people standing with pride flags and signs at a rally. Text reads: "Without [cynicism], my curiosity revels in my privileges and permits me to question the world without questioning myself." www.reluctantmystcism.com](https://i2.wp.com/reluctantmysticism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-03-29_RMB-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
A rival political candidate in our upcoming provincial election announced that if he is elected, he will reverse the current government’s policy of supporting Gay/Straight, Queer/Straight Alliances (GSAs/QSAs). Essentially, he’ll allow teachers and school administrators to inform parents when their kids attend any such group on school grounds. His announcement, while not unexpected, remains devastating. It’s provoking peaceful demonstrations across…
Preaching on passages known for judgment during their integrative history is difficult. For some reason, we are overly attached to this notion of God as axe-wielder, ready to chop down the useless and pointless with divine gardening wrath. We want God to get rid of all that doesn’t measure up. Having said that, trying to preach a gospel of grace…
How do I stay curious about the people in front of me who act out in ways that are violent and destructive? I don’t want to. I don’t believe I should be forced to. I am supposed to write something inspirational about curiosity this week, but after the news of the shootings in Christchurch, NZ, I can’t seem to publish…
I feel a rather satisfied sense of irony that my post about Nadia Bolz-Weber’s new book “Shameless: A Sexual Revolution” is set to go live today, March 08, International Women’s Day. There’s something rather authentic and volatile about sharing openly about sex, purity culture, and patriarchy on the day women around the world are celebrating each other, and affirming how…
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday — the day in the Christian liturgical calendar that marks the beginning of Lent. The day we remember our mortality — we are dust, and to dust we shall return. The day we confess repentance and our need for God’s forgiveness. The text for the day was from Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 — Jesus criticising the religious…
The Celts believed there was another dividing line that all people could straddle, if only they stretched themselves out a bit. And that’s the divide between the world and the otherworld. -Steve Rabery, In The House of Memory I was lying in a tiny berth in a cabin supposedly made for three grown people, but really could hardly accommodate one.…