It’s between semesters so am back in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but just for two weeks. Due to circumstances out of my control, I’m not able to spend my usual month—mid-December to mid-January—here in the high desert. When I am… Read More ›
Community
A Review of Decembers Past before We Move into the New Year by Marie Cartier
Last month I looked back over six years of postings I have done for FAR. In November, I noticed that I usually during that month tend to review the year and find something to be grateful for. I decided this month… Read More ›
Christmastime for the Self by John Erickson
We’ve all been there.
Sitting around the tree watching the kids open presents. Attempting to enjoy a holiday meal with extended and immediate family that you may or may not have traveled thousands of miles to see. Trying with every fiber of your being to not talk about the elephant, or red hat, in the room.
Emotional Policing from Within: Choosing Right Relationship Over Being Right on FAR by Lache S.
I have something hard to say. It is about some of ourselves, some of the time. Let me start by offering you my perspective on negativity on the internet: people are not always conscious or mindful. We let our bitter… Read More ›
Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Barbara Ardinger
Even though Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus, first Roman emperor, the empire didn’t celebrate that birth until three centuries later when his birth date was moved to mid-winter to match the birth date of the sun god… Read More ›
Navigating Social Space as Power-Struggle, Pt. 2 by Lache S.
Disclaimer/Trigger Warning: This post contains details about unwanted sexual advances. Read Part I here. After Sicily, I went to the English countryside for an intended two weeks in a work exchange. A retired, but part-time, lecturer of Greek and Latin… Read More ›
And the Pies! Ongoing Grateful Thanks for Tradition by Marie Cartier
In November 2017 I wrote about pie baking. And in November 2015 I also wrote about pie baking. In November 2016, I was destroyed by the “election” and wrote a post in November of that year “For Strong Women” just… Read More ›
Compassion. Simply Be. by Karen Leslie Hernandez
From November 1-7, I attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Canada. With a myriad of religions and spiritual traditions represented, this was my third Parliament. Inspiring people from all over the planet gathered to teach, to listen,… Read More ›
The Hate U Give by Esther Nelson
These days I live in a perpetual state of simmering outrage given the popular support of the “goings on” and happenings within our current administration. The lies, the deceit, the xenophobia, the racism, the misogyny, the homophobia, the anti-intellectualism—things that… Read More ›
The Hershee Bar: Saving A Lesbian Sacred Place (While there is still one left) by Marie Cartier (Part II)
Why is this bar still important? (Read Part I) For the gender queer, marginalized community who are testing the waters of gender difference by frequenting this bar, many for the first time, for the pool leagues, and yes, the college… Read More ›
The Hershee Bar: Saving A Lesbian Sacred Place (while there is still one left) by Marie Cartier (Part I)
I spent last weekend in Norfolk, Virginia. I was brought there by the folks at Old Dominion University; my visit was brainstormed and facilitated by y Professor Cathleen Rhodes who teaches in the Women’s Studies Department and also manages a… Read More ›
…and The Pub Church, Boston was Born by Xochitl Alvizo
See Part I of Pub Church series here The question arising among a group of friends gathering for fish and chips on Fridays – why can’t church be more like this? – was the clarion call that sparked the birth… Read More ›
Women v. Religion: The Case Against Faith and for Freedom BOOK REVIEW by Katie M. Deaver
In the book, Women v. Religion: The Case Against Faith and for Freedom, editor Karen L. Garst puts together the voices of women from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to present a case against faith. While the introduction… Read More ›
“First Blood” Celebration by Esther Nelson
This semester I’m teaching a course titled “The Abrahamic Traditions: Women and Society.” Because I believe story is one of the best ways to understand a point of view, I use a novel or memoir to accompany each tradition. The… Read More ›
The Cost by John Erickson
Brett Kavanaugh is a piece of shit.
Kingdom of Women BOOK REVIEW by Katie M. Deaver
In her novel, Kingdom of Women, Rosalie Morales Kearns imagines a reality that is post-patriarchy, and post male violence while showing us what near-future women had to go through in order to get to that reality. Morales Kearns weaves this… Read More ›
On Vayelech, Its Context and Theodicy by Ivy Helman
The Torah parshah for this week (to be read on 15 September) is Vayelech (Devarim/Deut. 31:1 – 30). September 15th is also Shabbat Shuvah (return), the Shabbat that falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is the time of… Read More ›
Open Letter to the Pope and all the King’s Men by Natalie Weaver
Dear Sirs, It breaks me down. My anger, my revulsion, my powerlessness. I have been searching for the way since I was a child old enough to remember my mind. For a time, I thought Jesus was a white guy knocking on my… Read More ›
A Ritual to Bless Our Children by Barbara Ardinger
It was maybe twenty-five years ago that I first got addicted to the Sunday morning news/talk shows. I’d turn on the TV at 7 a.m., watch an hour of local news, then Stephanopoulos at 8 a.m., then MSNBC until noon… Read More ›
Vengeance Is Mine, Saith the Holy: Fear, Faith, and Divine Wisdom by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee
Be afraid. Be very afraid. That seems to be the refrain these days, particularly in politics. The more you terrify people, the more likely they are to vote, protest, and otherwise engage in political activism. Well, maybe not. Apparently, hammering… Read More ›
Some Thoughts from Experience by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
I am a woman, a feminist, a Muslim. These three things are me, they are things that I have become, in that order. One is born with feminine sex, but it is only a biological determinism. I was born female… Read More ›
Knowing my Voice through Writing by Elise M. Edwards
Over the summer, I’ve been writing more than I do during the traditional academic year when other tasks consume the bulk of my workday. I have spent more time experiencing the joy of creative discovery and production, but I’ve also… Read More ›
The Pub Church, Boston by Xochitl Alvizo
At times I am invited to speak about The Pub Church. When I lived in Boston, I was part of a church that met in a pub. A church in a pub is not a typical form of church, obviously;… Read More ›
The Blessing of Spiritual Direction by Elise M. Edwards
Five years ago, I moved to Texas from California. In that time, my spiritual practice and my feminist and womanist worldview has grown through contemplative practices. It’s ironic. “Everything’s bigger in Texas!” the saying goes, but in the presence of… Read More ›
When “Interfaith” Started Losing its Luster for Me by Valentina Khan
Interfaith, a wonderful term that brings only happiness to my mind. So many days spent sitting and planning out events at the local coffee shop (shout out to The Lost Bean in Tustin, CA. which was one of the first… Read More ›
Four Worlds Poem by Sara Wright
They came from Life giving Waters, emerging from a Lake at the Beginning of time. Avanyu – Serpent, Spirit of the River pecked into stone or painted on canyon walls embodies their story. The Tewa settled above the Great… Read More ›
Meeting my Disr by Deanne Quarrie
Who are the Dsir? Freyja, known as “Ancestor Spirit”, is viewed as the timeless, self-renewing energy in the universe. She witnesses and shapes the direction of creation and undoing. She is not the originating, creating Goddess, but rather a conduit… Read More ›
Reflection for the End of the Year by Sara Frykenberg
At my school, a religious institution, we start every faculty meeting with a reflection, meant to inspire us, make us think, help us to connect, etc. I am admittedly, sometimes very uncomfortable with these reflections. I don’t always like corporate… Read More ›
A Grounded Spirituality, in Community by Xochitl Alvizo
It was Sunday, April 1, we grilled corn and veggie-dogs and spent the day gardening with friends and neighbors. Each household with their own raised bed. We started seeds and planted starter plants. We spent all day outside, various friends… Read More ›
The Least of These, Are the Most of Us by Karen Leslie Hernandez
I’ve recently found myself in one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in San Francisco, helping provide over 2000 meals a day to those in need. Let me reiterate that number… 2000+ meals. A day. Not only does this number illustrate… Read More ›
