This pandemic is a storm, and all of us are out on the open sea. Some of us are in row boats, and we feel every wave that comes crashing against us. we are rowing as hard as we can towards the shore, drenched, exhausted, and worried we’ll sink before we ever get there. Some […]
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Out of Place Series – Christina’s Story It was a Thursday, only six weeks ago as I type this, but it feels more like several years have passed. Sitting in a teacher training seminar after school that day, I should have been all ears and fully invested. As a reading teacher, spending a few hours […]
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Out of Place Series – Twyla’s Story I paused at the line for “nickname” in the application for my first solo mission trip. Something in me leapt at the possibility of beginning afresh. Kat. No one would know I’d never been called this nickname before. Perhaps no one would guess that I was shy and […]
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I feel a pang of sadness every night as I crawl under the covers. The last thing I do before going to bed is record the day’s events in my Five Year Journal. It’s a “one line a day” journal with space for just a few sentences, so I can see at a glance what […]
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We typically think of an apocalypse as a final catastrophe, but when we look at its Greek etymology, it also means a “revelation, an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling.” (source) It is in this way that I think of the Coronavirus pandemic. […]
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Have you ever wondered why God didn’t announce that Jesus rose from the dead with a multitude of angels in the sky, like he did for when he was born? I mean, it’s kind of a big deal. No. God kept it small on Easter morning. He told one person. A woman at that. A […]
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I’ve heard Christians talk about this time of self-quarantine as a Sabbath, and though I believe this sentiment is well-intentioned, there are many reasons to make it impossible to think of it as such. The Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments: Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor […]
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Out of Place Series: Jenny Lynne’s Story At the check-in desk, my escort to the administration offices asked why I was visiting the building. I told him I was there for an interview for the for the position of “Outreach Coordinator.” He gave me a quick once over and asked, “You done a lot of […]
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In the spring of 2000, I sat with fifteen of my classmates in our twelfth grade Church History class, listening to Mr. Jones talk about early Christian monks. As we learned more about the monastic traditions of our desert fathers and mothers, he mentioned offhandedly how interesting it might be to try and live as […]
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It seems that our world has changed overnight, and we are now living in an alternate reality. Schools, churches, and businesses have closed for an indeterminate amount of time. Everything is uncertain, causing widespread anxiety. We are facing a crisis that no living being has encountered before and we grope in the dark, trying to […]
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Sarah K. Butterfield 