They started talking about Julian of Norwich. As people do. In a casual conversation one day over Zoom, Rev. Nicole Pickens reminded Rev. Nicole Havelka about Julian of Norwich – a 12th - 13th century monastic and mystic who lived in times shockingly similar to our...
When you think of love, what immediately pops into your mind? I’m a little ashamed to admit that my mind most immediately jumps to my favorite rom-coms — When Harry Met Sally, Keeping the Faith or the 1980s TV show Moonlighting (Remember that?) I can’t get enough of...
I have a very good friend who I call when I’m having a lot of feelings. They tell me that they treasure these rambling voicemail messages that usually start sometime like, “I’m having two or three feelings at one time, and I’m not quite sure what to do …” So the fact...
Last year, my family attended a Christmas Eve Catholic mass, as we usually do. Though I grew up as a Roman Catholic, I left that church for the United Church of Christ many years ago. Over the years, I have learned to appreciate the richness of the Catholic tradition,...
Changing the words to the Metta meditation practice wasn’t even on my radar. I had started the month of practicing loving kindness meditation, specifically the Buddhist Metta practice, as part of my Meditation Teacher Training by following the script and recorded...
Why don't we each do ONE thing that is a true practice of love. Not the fluffy, romantic stuff of greeting cards, romantic comedies and flower shops, but the real hard work of loving people who are hard to love. -- Listen to someone with whom you disagree before...
This blog series, Family Ministry: Not Just for the Christian Right Anymore, explores how family-based faith formation ministry will help progressive Christian values take root first in homes and then throughout our communities and the world in order to spread justice...
This is part of my Listening in Lent series in which I reflect on my experience of practicing listening during this holy season. This winter I’ve really come to love the kind of darkness only present in the pre-dawn hours. Admittedly, I’ve always been a morning...
The horrific and heroic images at the bomb site on Boylston Street near the finish line at the Boston Marathon will be seared in our collective consciousness for decades to come. Just like the images of the World Trade Center attack on 9/11, school shootings at...