Day 35 – 3/23

“Jesus shines like a beacon atop the high mountain while former prophets appear. The disciples are terrified, but also want to live this moment forever, making the glory-filled rock face their home. At once a cloud descends, obscuring things further, and God’s voice echoes down, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!’ (Mark…

“What I am left withIs myselfAnd a big, open sky.It’s colder here.It’s quieter.I can hear my thoughts.And in this big, wide opennessI am able to say out loud,‘Maybe I wasn’t right.Maybe I need to learn.Maybe it’s time for change.Maybe that’s okay.’”— Excerpt from “Keep Digging” by Rev. Sarah AreFrom the Again & Again poetry collection…

“I somehow came to religion in my teens. I came to my denomination in seminary after learning more about the Reformed tradition. Reformed theology emphasizes God’s initiative, which is consistent with my own experience. I can’t tell you that I ever really found God. It was God who found me, and kept finding me throughout…

“In this image, I have represented a woman spinning up out of a whirlpool, her face shining up at the sun. She rises above the ruins of ancient cities. Background motion spins up with the energy of the woman who represents the Holy Spirit, who represents the oppressed breaking free from the yoke, breaking ‘forth…

“Patient Jesus, when you walked this world so many people did not understand. They tried to pin you down with logic, throwing stones at their confusion, throwing stones at what they did not understand. I know I am guilty of the same. So today I pray: Stretch my mind. Open my heart. Give me the…

“The kind of religion [Jesus] promoted wasn’t performative, as so much of religious life can be. We give because it is necessary. Prayer prioritizes God’s will, not our words. Fasting produces spiritual, not physical evidence. What we value is different. … Again and again, God invites us into fuller ways of being. There is no…