Yesterday I gave a poetry reading at a local library beginning and ending with thoughts about how Climate Change is affecting all living things. I am a naturalist who holds the radical belief that all living things are sentient. I… Read More ›
Feminism
Joan of Arc from The Goddess Project: Made in Her Image by Colette Numajiri
“I’m not afraid. I was born to do this.” -Joan of Arc Women are inherently valiant. In extreme situations we armor up and lead others through whatever we are battling at the time. Joan of Arc was a human woman… Read More ›
Adoring God in Labor by K Kriesel
The day before the 2019 Nevertheless She Preached conference at First Baptist Church of Austin, TX my own Catholic church’s young adult ministry hosted Eucharistic Adoration. Although I’ve enjoyed Adoration dozens of times, several factors made this evening different. I… Read More ›
Let Us Now Practice Her Presence by Barbara Ardinger
I’m giving you a twofer this month: a poem and a ritual. I’m writing this a few days after the latest mass shooting in Texas by a crazy white man and a few days before the next debate by Democratic… Read More ›
A Place Below the Cattails by Sara Wright
As a woman with Passamaquoddy roots when I first came to Abiquiu I was invited to participate in the six pueblo celebrations along the Rio Grande which made me feel blessed, grateful, included, and at “home.” My own people’s lives… Read More ›
Call Out Culture vs. Mentor Culture: Which one will save us from the apocalypse? by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
Have you felt the satisfaction of putting someone in their place? Have you ever felt the rush of power that comes with delivering a cutting set-down? Have you ever felt a glow of pride after making fun of a horrible… Read More ›
The Dying Time by Esther Nelson
At the end of Anita Diamant’s novel, THE RED TENT, Dinah—the same young woman who is only briefly mentioned in the biblical account (Genesis 34)—dies after a long and full life. The biblical text tells us that Dinah “went out… Read More ›
In Dreams by Natalie Weaver
I am grateful for dreams. I don’t know what they are, of course, in any absolute sort of way. Defining dreaming is as elusive as dreams themselves. Moreover, I find that understanding dreaming is complicated by the vastly variegated quality one finds in… Read More ›
Autumn Equinox with the Ancestors, or after ecstasy indeed the laundry*) Eline Kieft
As I hang the laundry back home, I remember how just 24 hours earlier I arrived back on the beach after an incredible time at the ancestral burial mound where I spend the night in ceremony at the Autumn Equinox…. Read More ›
Climate Change, the Generations and Religion’s Bad Rap by Susan de Gaia
As I reflect on my experience at the climate strike on September 20, 2019, I see a connection between climate change and the bad rap that religion has today. When asked what they think about religion, many are quick to… Read More ›
THREE POEMS OF LIFE by Janet Rudolph
As Above So Below Yes, I believe we are made in god’s image. If god is the wild, passionate, loud, sexual, sizzling, dancing fires of creation. And should I ever forget my fiery, heavenly vision, the sun comes out every… Read More ›
Pro-Choice and Christian: Reconciling Faith, Politics, and Justice BOOK REVIEW by Katie M. Deaver
In 2015 Kira Schlesinger wrote piece for Ministry Matters about how her own pro-choice stance on abortion had become more complicated the more she explored the issue of abortion. The article was widely read and shared, as well as hotly… Read More ›
A Blinding Light? by Sara Wright
Nature is a Living Being. Animals and plants have souls, and a spirit. Each species is unique, and yet we are all interconnected, human and non – human species alike. This is more than a both and perspective; its multi-dimensional…. Read More ›
Harriet Boyd Hawes, Marija Gimbutas, and the Religion of Ancient Crete by Carol P. Christ
One of the projects I am working on these days is an essay on the religion of ancient Crete for a series of books on various aspects of the Minoan site of Gournia. Harriet Boyd excavated the Minoan town of… Read More ›
I’m That Trump Voter You Hate by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
There are people in my family who believe Christianity to be so inherently oppressive and harmful, that anyone who identifies as Christian is culpable for all of the harm done by all imperial colonization by Christian empires and nations, all… Read More ›
The Truth About Humans by Natalie Weaver
I have greatly enjoyed an odd little book I read over the summer. It is Lucy Cooke’s The Truth About Animals (Basic Books, 2018). Cooke takes us through a journey of animal behavior, chronicling the curious narratives that naturalists, philosophers, theologians, and… Read More ›
The Swan-Bone Flute by Rachel O’Leary: Reviewed by Max Dashu
A girl leaps out of her tree perch to warn a pregnant doe that a hunter is drawing his bow against her. For this act of defending the mother deer, who should never be hunted, her uncle beats her. And… Read More ›
Finding Missing Pieces of My Ancestral Story: Scotland and Ireland by Carol P. Christ
When I began researching years ago, I knew the names of my grandparents and what country in Europe their ancestors were from, but not much more. I have now traced most of my ancestors back to the Old Country, some… Read More ›
Insect Conversations by Barbara Ardinger
“She’s doing it again,” Mrs. Cockroach is saying to her friend Old Mrs. Spider. “You know? The giant? She’s been blowing on me and telling me to live somewhere else. Like, I’d leave a good home?” … Read More ›
Siddur – An Amendment by Ashley Roque
July 24, 2018 “Blessed are you O God, King of the Universe, Who has not made me a Gentile Who has not made me a slave Who has not made me a woman” Blessed are you Yahweh Elohim Jehovah Jireh… Read More ›
“Ursula Niebuhr, Ursula Niebuhr”: Unacknowledged Co-author of Great Works of Theology? by Carol P. Christ
A few days ago while watching the movie The Wife, I kept hearing the words “Ursula Niebuhr, Ursula Niebuhr,” in my mind. I knew the reason was Ursula’s unacknowledged collaboration on the work of Reinhold Niebuhr, which I discovered while… Read More ›
Movement of Moving and Spiritual Journey by Lache S.
It looks like it is time again for me to pack up and drive a few hundred or more miles to a new destination, a place I will finally try to plant roots, this time offering commitment + endurance, hoping… Read More ›
On Believing Things That Are Not True by Carol P. Christ
Anyone who is following American politics these days knows that the American President and his acolytes have little respect for what the rest of us consider to be the truth—or at least the best approximation of the truth that we… Read More ›
“If All Knowledge Must be Reinterpreted, Why Not Religion?” Says Islamic Feminist
Vanessa Rivera de La Fuente is Muslim, feminist, and a human rights activist Photo: Personal archive Background: Journal O ‘Globo, one of the most important newspapers in Brazil, belonging to the transnational media group of the same name, published this… Read More ›
PENTECOST a time to FILL THE WORLD WITH SPIRIT by Mary Jane Miller
Pentecost is followed by Ordinary time, the longest season of the church year. It gives us plenty of time to think about what happened when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles. I have always loved the idea that this… Read More ›
Bent on Kindness by Esther Nelson
Recently, with some fear and trepidation, I underwent spinal surgery. When the surgeon visited me the day after my operation, he assured me that the procedure was a success, even though it will take several weeks to ascertain whether or… Read More ›
Pain and Pausing, by Molly Remer
“I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transforming events take place.” —Rufus Jones Last year in August, I wrote here at FAR about my own pattern of getting sick each July and the… Read More ›
Greenness, Whiteness, Blackness, and the Nature of the World by Marisa Goudy
There’s magic in hiking alone, but as women, we’ve been taught to worry about venturing far on our own. In fact, we’ve been taught to worry about a lot more than that. Though once I merely shrugged off the warnings… Read More ›
The Devil’s Bargain: “If You Can Convince a White Woman” by Carol P. Christ
This week’s news from America. Where to begin? When will it end? The President of the United States is a racist who incites racist violence. Republicans have been slow to condemn the President and are not likely to pass a… Read More ›
On Va’etchanan: Do Not Murder, Rather Love by Ivy Helman
Va’etchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11) gives us pause for thought in its contradictions. First, the parshah (Torah portion) contains the aseret hadibrot (Ten Commandments), among which is: you shouldn’t murder (5:17). Then, pasukim (verses) 6:4-5 contain the shema (Hear O Israel! The… Read More ›
