“It is childbirth,
But it is also resurrection.
A body broken.
Breath fractured.
A long night.
A sunrise.
Breath returned.
New life,
And a love that won’t let go.”
— Excerpt from “Light” by Rev. Sarah Are
Image: “The Promise” by Lisle Gwynn Garrity | @sanctifiedart
“Gracious God, Scripture says that you are my keeper, which floods me with images of cradling hands softly catching me. I imagine I could slip through your fingers if I wanted to—the freedom is there. However, as long as I want to be here, you have me. What a comforting idea that is. I think…
“For God so loved. For God so loves, that like light, God keeps traveling to reach us with that redeeming love. In this abstract painting, the gold leaf marks become like a wave gliding through the cosmos, moving endlessly until it reaches everything.”— from the artist statement for “Light Wave” by Lisle Gwynn Garrity |…
“’A MAN WAS LYNCHED YESTERDAY’ These words were stitched onto a flag that flew outside the Manhattan headquarters of the NAACP between 1920 and 1938. When a Black person was lynched, the flag was raised the following day… You should understand that what happened to Jesus was a lynching. …Do not look away and do…
“Great potter, if I am clay, then I fear I am being molded by the world. I fear that I am in the hands of news feeds, social media, to-do lists, and social pressures. However, what I want is to be clay in your hands. I want to be shaped by you. I want to…
“God who knows, most of us walk around begging to be seen, begging to be known. However, I don’t have to beg with you. You know me completely. You see me. You hear me. You walk with me. There is no fighting for your attention. I have it. What a gift that is. Help me…
“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…
