the smitten word

everyday poetry, practical theology.

Anything, Nothing, or Something Well (a #FitchTheHomeless follow-up)

[Find my original critique here.] When I was a youth pastor, my students and I volunteered in some sort of ministry or community service capacity every month. We generally connected with local...

4 days Like

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help or harm? power, intent, & objectification #FitchTheHomeless

I tried not to click the link, the one about sticking it to the elitists at Abercrombie & Fitch by outfitting the homeless in their branded gear. It reeked of gimmick and exploitation, so I didn't...

May 16, 2013 Like

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so beautiful it hurts to look at you

April's end is fling-wide-the-windows coffee on the porch lunch al fresco and honest to goodness dandelion-and-dogwood Spring, God be praised. Resurrection smells of fresh mown grass, tastes sweet...

May 15, 2013 Like

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raising daughters & sons to subvert purity culture: 7 things

1. Each of us derives our inherent, unshakable worth from being created in the image of God. Human worth cannot be measured by appearance, achievement, or "sexual purity" (a dubious and harmful...

May 12, 2013 Like

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purity of heart is to will one thing (sex & the evangelical over/under-sell)

I. Ann Voskamp wrote a compelling response to the verdict in Steubenville, framed as a letter to her sons. It offered prophetic affirmation of men and women, and I was grateful she turned her grace...

May 11, 2013 Like

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the space between

It’s trickier cultivating friendships as an adult, isn’t it? Babies and kids complicate the equation, but it was hard before that, too, like I graduated from college and my natural ability to...

May 7, 2013 Like 1 person likes this

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the mermaid of brooklyn

In tv land, there are generally two roles for the thirty-something woman: the (sexy) childless career woman or the (sexy) mother of a (sexy) teenager, a decidedly more supporting role. Motherhood...

Apr 29, 2013 Like

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what it is is beautiful {giveaway}

I'm thrilled today to introduce you to Sarah Dunning Park, although since she is poet-in-residence for a little media empire known as Simple Mom, you may already be thoroughly charmed by her...

Apr 25, 2013 Like

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carry on, warrior

If you visit the internets now and again, it is likely that you have come across the words of Glennon Doyle Melton of Momastery. Even if you've never read her, your sister, neighbor, or mom...

Apr 25, 2013 Like

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Dove's "real beauty" is a charade

Jim and I had the tv on this weekend, and a certain ad had me shaking my head and waxing feminist about the difference between the marketing of products to men and women. Drink this beer...Get a...

Apr 18, 2013 Like 1 person likes this

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bread & wine: a love letter

Bread & Wine, Shauna Niequist's latest offering of essays are as charming and disarming as we've come to expect from this warm-hearted storyteller. The icing on the cake is the additional treat of...

Apr 17, 2013 Like

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waging peace: conflict, christian unity, & power

There are people who hate conflict. It makes them sweaty and sick, and they avoid it like the plague. I am not one of those people. It's not that I like to fight or anything. I'm not all balls-out,...

Apr 10, 2013 Like 1 person likes this

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come on now, sugar

It was a long winter. The kids were sick, Jim traveled, and I drank coffee for breakfast and forgot to eat proper meals. It was dark, grey, and white, and there were days we never changed out of...

Apr 5, 2013 Like

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to love is to serve is to liberate

When Jesus removed his outer garment and knelt to wash his followers' dusty, dirty feet, it was a profound act of humility. Taking the very nature of a servant To love is to serve, to bow low that...

Apr 4, 2013 Like 2 people like this

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saving my life {& a pass-along book club?}

It's been a while since I've counted, and since I'm feeling a bit grumpy about the interminable cold and cooped-up-ness we got going here, I figured it was time to dust of the old list. an ongoing...

Apr 4, 2013 Like

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beyonce & policing female sexuality

Last night, Miss Representation hosted a conversation on Twitter called #NotBuyingIt to push back against sexualized and sexist messages in big budget, big audience Super Bowl ads. (The hashtag is...

Apr 2, 2013 Like

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darkness came over the whole land

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar!” He did not open his mouth. See him there, bruised and beaten. A man of suffering, familiar with pain. We esteemed him not....

Mar 29, 2013 Like

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speaking life, disarming love

Spring lies waiting. It’s twenty-odd degrees, but daffodils arise unflappable. If they can believe in spite of the evidence, so can we. You’re best friends. I speak it like prophesy. The...

Mar 19, 2013 Like

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not less than everything

This born and bred Protestant found Not Less Than Everything: Catholic Writers on Heroes of Conscience to be a timely and thoroughly engaging anthology. Some profiles were familiar (Oscar Romero,...

Mar 18, 2013 Like

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without walls

Grieve not the Spirit, sister; your brothers' blood cries out from the ground. Be not afraid to claim your kin, for Christ is not ashamed to call us his and he our peace. For once, we are not...

Mar 14, 2013 Like

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i am the 47%

As it turned out, government cheese is Helluva Good. We ate it for four and half years, and I really did see it as part of God's provision for our family. Uncle Sam's garbanzo beans floated us...

Mar 6, 2013 Like

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all oppression shall cease: a feminist theology of power

One time at Jesus camp, a stranger called the office to ask if I would "give my sexual testimony" at a local purity retreat. I declined their request, because WHAT, but it still cracks me up every...

Mar 3, 2013 Like

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the word of life

The Logos of God is not the scripture but the Son; the Word-made-flesh who spoke creation into bloom moved in next door. I AM and it was; it was good. It can be still, if we will go and do...

Feb 23, 2013 Like

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beyond the possible

Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani have been at the helm of one of the most extraordinary churches in America for over fifty years. Beyond the Possible: 50 Years of Creating Radical Change in a...

Feb 22, 2013 Like

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five years long (and counting)

On this day in 2008, I published my first post here. I told stories, wrestled, and wrote my heart to keep from losing myself in the diapers and demands of new motherhood. At first, I wrote essays...

Feb 18, 2013 Like

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burying the alleluia & signs of repentance

At the Episcopal church where we worship, lent is a penitential season. The liturgy is somber, and on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we bury the alleluia. The children letter and decorate...

Feb 14, 2013 Like

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let love

{image by Annie Barnett, available from Be Small Studios. used with permission.} Because Love that protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres is more dazzling than diamonds and more enduring than...

Feb 14, 2013 Like

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i love the 90s (skanking to the beat)

Katie’s dad took us to our first concert in middle school, enduring 100 degree temps, ear plugs, and a sea of rowdy youth to win his firstborn’s heart. My parents would never in a million years...

Feb 6, 2013 Like

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tragically hip: privilege & the emerging church

I. Conversation heated this week surrounding a recent Emergence Christianity gathering and some anti-feminist sentiments offered by Phyllis Tickle in her closing keynote. Julie Clawson (and other...

Feb 2, 2013 Like 1 person likes this

the smitten word

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the smitten word

Anything, Nothing, or Something Well (a #FitchTheHomeless follow-up)

help or harm? power, intent, & objectification #FitchTheHomeless

so beautiful it hurts to look at you

raising daughters & sons to subvert purity culture: 7 things

purity of heart is to will one thing (sex & the evangelical over/under-sell)

the space between

the mermaid of brooklyn

what it is is beautiful {giveaway}

carry on, warrior

Dove's "real beauty" is a charade

bread & wine: a love letter

waging peace: conflict, christian unity, & power

come on now, sugar

to love is to serve is to liberate

saving my life {& a pass-along book club?}

beyonce & policing female sexuality

darkness came over the whole land

speaking life, disarming love

not less than everything

without walls

i am the 47%

all oppression shall cease: a feminist theology of power

the word of life

beyond the possible

five years long (and counting)

burying the alleluia & signs of repentance

let love

i love the 90s (skanking to the beat)

tragically hip: privilege & the emerging church

pale the winter days after dark

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