I'll show you my scars and you can show me yours.
And we can both come back from the dead.

Will you help me see when Hope in your possibilities became expectations for my own privilege?

Cover Image: Talking Friends by Liviu Mihai

What do you want to carry out of the wilderness?

What keeps you from letting go, reckless in your love?

What if we didn't hoard the good seed of our lives? What fruit might grow?

If you would enter into the wilderness,
do not begin without a blessing.

Do not leave without hearing who you are:
Beloved, named by the One who has traveled this path before you.

Do not go without letting it echo in your ears,
and if you find it is hard to let it into your heart,
do not despair.

That is what this journey is for.

I cannot promise this blessing will free you from danger,
from fear,
from hunger,
or thirst,
from the scorching of sun
or the fall
of the night.

But I can tell you that on this path,
there will be help.

I can tell you that on this way,
there will be rest.

I can tell you that
you will know that strange graces
that come to our aid only on a road such as this,
that fly to meet us bearing comfort and strength,
that come alongside us for no other cause
than to lean themselves toward our ear
and with their curious insistence
whisper our name,
Beloved.
Beloved.
Beloved.
-Jan Richardson from "Circle of Grace"

Cover Image: Pittman, Lauren Wright. "A Choice" from Art in the Christian Tradition

What do you hate so much that you would make a scene to confront it?

What do you love so much that you might act the fool?

Confession: O God, I recognize I have not done all I can to provide access to your house, your family, by my actions and inactions. Forgive me. O Christ, may the passion you have for hospitality toward all be my passion as well. Contemplation and Action: Pay attention to the spaces where you feel known at home. Who’s being left out? What can I do to welcome them? Cover Image: Miguel Henriques on Unsplash

Return to wonder.  There are mounts of transfiguration.

You may not be able to tell it and be understood.  It’s okay.

These transfigurative events are to remind us that in Christ there is no distance. 

These transfigurative events are God’s reminder that you are uniquely known and loved

Practice radical humility

Resist the temptation of shortcuts

Receive sustaining presences

Remember who you are

Cover Image: Otl Aicher, Walking In the Desert, 1982

There is still work to be done against the sin of racism, with justice. Love is justice, and justice is love. These are the times.

Cover Art: "Frustration" by Nester Formentera

Cover Image: Nandi & Natalie, Bisa Butler, 2007

We all have our truths, and they are already fully known by God. Will we tell them honestly? Will we listen to the truths of others with compassion and empathy?

In a time to condemn, Jesus created a time to pause and consider our hearts. Will we hear his invitation towards this healing? Will we listen?

Cover image: "Just as We are One" by Laura James