It's allergy season in Iowa and my husband is suffering. Sneezy, red, watery eyes, head stuffed. It's rough. So rough that we decided -- for everyone's sake -- he should sleep in our guest room for a bit. Usually this means I don't have to use the white noise machine placed perfectly on my bedside […]

I love the newsletter The Marginalian by Maria Popova. It's brilliant and so well curated it is almost as if you read an entire life-altering book (or two!) when you immerse yourself in her musings. She wrote this recently and I cannot stop thinking about it: "You are the only custodian of your own integrity […]

I am in the midst of re-reading one of my favorite books, The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality, by Ronald Rolheiser. I seek out Rolheiser's writing when my weariness about the American church and its unhappy romance with politics causes me to feel despair. I ground myself in the deeper truths of […]

When my daughter was young, she had a ruthless Eastern European piano teacher. Ruthless. My girl was learning to overcome some shyness and self-consciousness, and we had hoped learning to play the piano would instill confidence. Not with this instructor, though. Our daughter practiced and practiced, playing the same song over and over again until […]

As most of my readers know, I left a church I loved several years ago after preaching and teaching there for 23 years. I left because I followed Jesus right into officiating the marriage of two of my dearest young friends. Two of the best people I know: Kind, genuine, faithful, humble, loving women … […]

As Christianity in America has been hijacked by people for political gain, the great message has been lost. Throughout history, from the time of Constantine on, this has always been the tragic fallout of the unhealthy merging of political power and faith. When this happens, the simple good news gets lost, it gets marred and […]