We bought a lemon tree a couple of years ago. Bonnie Sue Ellis came home with what appeared to be a scrawny seedling from friends at our neighborhood garden store. Bonnie is a strong, passionate, observant, prayerful, exuberant pillar of our community life. She is also the unchallenged maker of our sweat teas and saladContinue reading “When Lent gives you lemons, make a curd”
Tag Archives: Jesus
Listening as a Radical Act
Years ago, I sat before my friend after a particularly hard week and said, “I don’t know if I can take this anymore.” I was thinking that I didn’t deserve to live anymore. He looked at me and didn’t try to talk away the pain. He listened. And all he said in reply was, “IContinue reading “Listening as a Radical Act”
The little way today
My three-year-old daughter, JoyAna, loves the garden. She walks around smelling flowers, searching for worms and almost indiscriminately exclaiming, “Whoa, daddy, this is amazing.” Last week she got a hold of a red and yellow zinnia and, with all the free-spiritedness of an exuberant toddler, ran up and down the sidewalk unpetalling and tossing theContinue reading “The little way today”
Marlena Graves: The dangers of money, power and influence
Marlena Graves: The dangers of money, power and influence Season 1. Episode 9 of Messy Jesus Business, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In episode nine, Sister Julia speaks with Marlena Graves the author of The Way Up Is Down. They discussed her new book and its message about downward mobility andContinue reading “Marlena Graves: The dangers of money, power and influence”
Jason Odhner and Laura Ankeny: Nursing as a Work of Mercy and Justice
Jason Odhner and Laura Ankeny: Nursing as a Work of Mercy and Justice Season 1. Episode 8 of Messy Jesus Business, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In episode eight, Sister Julia speaks with two nurses who are serving during the coronavirus pandemic. Jason Odhner is nursing on a COVID ICUContinue reading “Jason Odhner and Laura Ankeny: Nursing as a Work of Mercy and Justice”
Kateri Boucher, Geez: Contemplative Cultural Resistance
Kateri Boucher / Geez magazine: Contemplative Cultural Resistance Season 1. Episode 7 of Messy Jesus Business, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In episode six, Sister Julia speaks with guest Kateri Boucher from Geez magazine. Together they discuss contemplative cultural resistance, prophetic voices, composting, urban gardening and how the United States is an empire. ABOUTContinue reading “Kateri Boucher, Geez: Contemplative Cultural Resistance”
Sister Alison McCrary: Challenge the Status Quo with Love
“If we’re really doing the Gospel work, our work is not to be loved by everyone. If we’re really challenging the status quo in the way that Jesus did we’re not going to make everyone happy. It is uncomfortable. It also means taking risks, it also means putting your body on the line.” -Sister Alison McCrary SFCC
The coronavirus, the cross and our vocation
I wasn’t sure what it would look like, or how terrible it would be, but deep in my gut I felt something squirming. An awareness. A knowing. An intuition. I had a feeling that bad days were ahead. I am fairly certain that my intuition that we were heading toward a humanitarian crisis wasn’t unusual.Continue reading “The coronavirus, the cross and our vocation”
Back to the basics in a time of war
In the light of the epiphany star and the glowing headlines this week, the Spirit is convincing me that it’s time for us to get back to basics, to recenter on the core values of the Christian faith. It seems that from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, theContinue reading “Back to the basics in a time of war”
Meat
When I walked the Camino de Santiago, I survived on a steady diet of ham sandwiches and beer. I subjected my body to a pack that weighed more than was healthy for my frame, moved my feet over miles of terrain, felt my muscles fatigue and my flesh blister and bleed. Every day, somewhere alongContinue reading “Meat”