Monthly Archives: June 2017

Credible claim of bona fide relationship

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Maren

I am a child of God, a refugee like Jesus, a neighbor to anyone who walks down anybody’s Jericho road, a seeker of sanctuary in a country with churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, stacked three deep on every block, a lover … Continue reading →

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gOOD nEWS

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Maren

Thanks to Todd Jenkins for this poem, for this truth. Read more of Todd’s work on his blog here When the gospel no longer sounds like good news, maybe our measure of what is good – and the people for … Continue reading →

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Prayer from Matthew 10: 29-30 for Xinmo, China, for Islamabad, Pakistan

Posted on June 25, 2017 by Maren

Not a sparrow falls to the ground, you say — how much more those trapped beneath the landslide in Xinmo, Sichuan Province, or those caught on the highway in the explosion of the Islamabad tanker? They do not fall without … Continue reading →

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Poems from a Silent Retreat, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Maren

Erice Fairbrother writes that leading a silent retreat over the last couple weeks gave her an opportunity for much writing of poems. Compline Those that lie here Beneath these crosses do not lie;   This green, tended place marks the … Continue reading →

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World Refugee Day, June 20

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Maren

Today is World Refugee Day, a commemoration of the United Nations since 1976. It has many themes, often a call to compassion for refugees (and I put before you a petition asking governments to: Ensure every refugee child gets an … Continue reading →

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For Finsbury Park

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Maren

An old story When my children were small they read a book, “cars and trucks and things …” and they loved it – do you remember? Now the story is, car and trucks and things that kill, and instead of … Continue reading →

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Prayers for a young transgender person

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Maren

A friend asked me to write these prayers — for an elementary school aged kid coming out as transgender, for that person’s parents and for the church. For a young transgender person Thank you, O God, for knowing who I … Continue reading →

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A Father’s Day Morning Walk

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Maren

The morning comes early in June and I go walking. First I hear and then I see a big red-headed woodpecker, hammering away at a tree to get his bug breakfast, and then he swoops away and begins on a … Continue reading →

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A Hymn for Justices of the Peace from Aotearoa / New Zealand

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Maren

Prof Colin Gibson gives us permission to post a hymn that he wrote last year for New Zealand’s Justices of the Peace. What an incredibly practical new hymn … leading me to ask — what would be the hymn for … Continue reading →

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Response to the shooting in Virginia

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Maren

With prayers for those who were injured in today’s Congressional baseball practice and for unity across party, politics, race, faith, age, ability, orientation. Take us out to this ball game. Pitch us hope without hate. Bat as colleagues, not partisans … Continue reading →

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