by Seth McManus
I thought that I knew Jesus—until I met him. I met him in the refugee, the poet, the social worker, the survivor, and the activist. None of them looked like me. But they sure looked like Jesus. Taking up space in the spotlight is easy. Learning to see and transform your own ignorance is much harder. But it’s worth doing.
by Ashley Valenzuela
I am learning to trust more deeply that my spirit can sense a gentle nudge of wisdom that leads me in the right direction. I pay closer attention now to what my intuition is saying because I truly believe that the Spirit lives within me and that the same Spirit that called me will lead me.
Azucena “Ceni” De La Torre
Death has this convincing manner of making space. It bends time, disregards the best of plans, and halts the world in one breath—or lack of it. Tradition calls us to contemplate our dying and therein reconcile with our living in ways that make us ready for resurrection.
By Delaney Anderson
In the airport again and realizing, as I watch very rushed people, that I do not want to live stressed but free! We can’t control the circumstances of life, work, school, or family but we can choose to live into God’s unchanging character, nearness, and joy!
By Justin Warner
I am younger than most of my parishioner’s children and many of their grandchildren. The younger leaders within my church are closer to my parents’ age. However, I have found my voice and ability to lead this church into the future that God prepared for them through contemplative leadership and humbly acknowledging my needs.
By Brooke Foster
When I contemplate Lent, I hear a call not only to repentance, but to reparation and restoration. We cannot stop at acknowledging our complicity in injustice; we must seek God’s help in restarting and ask God to renew right and clean spirits within us.
By Azucena “Ceni” De La Torre
It is not wasted on me that this dust is what He calls to preach, to serve, to tell the truth, to love and to die in order to live, forever. The irony is poetic. Funny, even. On this Valentine’s Day let us remember that we need love and we need Lent. And we need them together.
By Lynne Onishi
While I haven’t always understood my own potential, others have lifted me up and believed in me. What once made me feel insecure and doubtful has now become my motivation to empower new leaders to lead in their own ways.
the Rev. Beth Putney
Matt’s ministry is not about him but about God and God’s people. That—his commitment to the ministry—he takes very seriously. I have to imagine that this posture— this John-the-Baptist’s-finger way of being —is what helped him recognize a leader for the church in an awkward teenager and name that call as sacred.
Shari Oosting
Unfortunately, faithful discernment doesn’t necessarily lead to circumstances we would choose. And it’s not as simple as discovering the correct destination and then finding a way to get there.
