“Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” The Angel startled Mary. Her prayers cracked open with the unexpected visit. Her mind swirled with the greeting of high honor. No one, not even Joseph, called her ‘favored one.’ She forced herself to focus as the angel kept speaking. “The Holy Spirit will come upon […]
Why I Keep Returning To Palestine
by on October 23, 2019 Leave a Comment
Why do I keep returning to Palestine? Why, for the third year in a row, do I pack and board planes and change dollars into shekels? Why do I keep coming back to this place, and not Zanzibar or Paris or Morocco? I remember a conversation I had once with the then-U.S. ambassador to Burundi […]
I Remember Her as a Young Miriam
by on May 6, 2019 Leave a Comment
This past weekend, we lost a sister. Rachel Held Evans was a woman of valor. My thoughts went to Exodus—as they often do these days. // A woman stands near the reeds, holding a baby boy. She lives on the right side of the Nile, under Pharaoh’s roof and patriarchal purview. The boy cries out. […]
Liberating Hagar
by on April 8, 2019 Leave a Comment
Hagar gets the short end of the stick. Sunday School lessons describe her position as a servant, waiting hand and foot on Abraham and Sarah in Canaan. When barrenness got the best of Sarah, she eyed Hagar who was ripe for the picking. So she sent the servant into Abraham’s tent. This is how Ishmael, […]
Kneading Enough, A Picture of Empowerment
by on March 7, 2019 Leave a Comment
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.” Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It […]
