“I believe God is a fan of people connecting and I think the enemy of God is a fan of people breaking off into paranoid tribes. And I think all the clanging pots and pans in the kitchen to scare people from the territory we feel compelled to defend is playing into the hands of dark forces. I think a lot of the shame-based religious and political methodology has more to do with keeping people […]
The decision to be Brave is vulnerable because it reveals the parts of us that feel undesirably under-developed. Especially to the eyes that surround us. Brave is vulnerable because it requires action in the very space our preference would be to hide. Because “what will people think when they see me wobble with even *this.*” I think for this very reason we need to take care that we don’t measure brave according to the bigness […]
“What if you’re the rough around the diamonds. Or you’re the awkward swan amongst the ducks. Or you’re a straw tucked in a stack of needles. Or a three-leaf clover filled with all the luck. What if you don’t know the role you’re playing. And your story isn’t in the tales you’ve heard. Well it means your character is still unwritten. And it’s up to you to fill the page with words.” – Dallas Clayton Just dove into a weeks worth of […]
Deep in the night Where light is most known in some place other than here At each gust of wind The wind chime moves And with each movement, she makes her simple sound Lets us know that she’s here That the wind tonight moves her Makes her feel Draws out melodies words Important to note though, As simple her melody It goes heart-deep It is not empty noisy words The wind simply blows And in […]
Could it be that when we commit to being authentic, we experience more tension than we would if we hadn’t made such a commitment? Rather than seeking to be the impressive idea of what we think others think we should be, we represent what we are, which is something that might often fall short of what we *should* be? It’s less neat. Less perfect. It makes mistakes. Says the wrong things. Wobbles lots. Is selfish […]
With the rise of the internet and social media – we have access to so much information, all of the time, and not only do we have access to it, it’s practically always in front of our nose – without our asking. I sometimes wonder if whatever we have come to know of the various ‘hot topics’ through these mediums, not only influence us, but, at times, override the valuable insight that the nature of our […]
What makes you different? (Your faith? Your current sense of mental or physical health? Skin colour? Body Image? Insert your *thing* here) When you enter into a room full of people and become aware of your difference, before words, if any, have been exchanged, What do you feel about that difference? Why is that for some of us, our first inclination is to hide whatever of our own differences are most apparent for us? Why […]
“God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Master God, only you know that.” Ezekiel 37:1-3 (MSG) It was as if something had momentarily suspended whatever it was that […]
A few years ago, I spoke to a wise person about fear, but shortly after explaining it, I rushed to say, as any good Christian would, that, like Peter, I was well aware that despite this fear, I had to get out of the boat, always. That’s how one walks on water, after all. For me, to stay in the boat, felt very, very wrong. Because, it meant that I wasn’t responding to Jesus’ call, […]
Sometimes we look to people around us to reflect back to us something of who we are. We are relational creatures by nature. To do so, I don’t think, is wrong, but actually a God-ordained way of being. I think the people around us, are the ones who hold some degree of power to reflect back some of the truth of who we are. But I think one of the effects of this is that […]
anne-marie elizabeth 