Third Sunday of Advent (Year B, RCL)

The psalms of ascent press hard against the norms of our bootstrap culture.

John the Baptist had no chance at being ordinary—but he takes his outlier status to new heights all on his own.

I probably shouldn’t treat my own son like he’s the Messiah. Imagine the pressure.

In the wilderness, trying to find joy can be like trying to make a fire with wet matches.

Vida Dutton Scudder, an early 20th-century radical, points Christians to solidarity and martyrdom.

His followers realized there was no quick exit from the discomfort of his words.

Navigating agency and surrender with my namesake, the mother of God

If anyone is expecting a lullaby, they better think again.

Evolving Faith’s Sarah Bessey and Jeff Chu believe that a person’s deconstruction can’t just be for them.

They put us in touch with essential things that we know to be dear or wrong.

Abortion is about real lives enmeshed in the realities of home and work and wages and debt.

My Grandma Violet was the black sheep of our family. I think of her when I pray.

I think Jesus learned his prophetic ministry from his mother.

John the Baptist has a brand.

The biblical foundation for a holy practice

I've long identified with Mary's fire. Now I want to learn from Elizabeth.

Unabated cultural frivolity rules our churches, too.