based on advent week 3 post: do we deserve joy? the advent of joycomes with a baby’s womb-leapingand a once-barren woman, familiar with shame,rejoicing over a pregnancy others called shameful;she calls out blessing instead:she names Mary blessed,and her words spark joy: in a woman fleeing a whispery hometown,full of those thinking they are better than […]
advent 2020, week 3: do we deserve joy?
What do you deserve? It seems like a weird question, but also one that I think most of us have a pretty negative answer for. For me, I tend to think I deserve “bad things.” I never out-right say that, and you probably don’t either. It comes out in a different way: “I don’t deserve […]
advent 2020, week 2: God understands our shame
The second week of Advent is meant to be about peace. Instead, I found myself stuck in shame. So here’s the question I asked this week: How does Advent speak to our shame? “Gloria, gloria,God has come to understand us.” — “Gloria Gloria” by Jess Ray This lyric undid me on a drive this week, […]
poem: the advent of our shame
a poem for Advent 2020, week 2 The advent of our shame was in the garden where we hid ourselves, clothed ourselves: Shame was our garment. God’s advent to meet us in that shame was to call out, “Where are you?” not— “What have you done?” Grace wanted to meet us, not shame us further. […]
advent 2020, week 1: only the beginning
Advent is only the beginning In the gospels For the last four months, I’ve been reading & rereading the gospels each month. This year has held a lot of division: from politics to injustice to how to act during a pandemic. I have felt this acutely, and as the peak of political season approached, I […]
Black Stories Matter, pt 2: Meet Katherine
Welcome to Black Stories Matter, a new series of guest posts written by Black women, bloggers, and influencers. I’ve asked them to share their stories with us, a safe place for us to listen to and learn from them. I truly believe that stories have power to change our hearts & our lives, so this […]