As I write this in late June, the news is still pretty depressing. Pandemic. Politics. Corruption. No no no. I can’t write anything current and cheery, so here’s another bit of distracting nonsense from my so-called archive. Back in the… Read More ›
Women’s Voices
Eve, Revisited by Jill Hammer
About six months ago I was hired to write a curriculum for a Jewish organization on biblical women in ancient and contemporary midrash. Midrash—the ancient process of creative interpretation of sacred text that began two thousand years ago and continues… Read More ›
Poem: An Ode for Nurses during a Pandemic by Marie Cartier
— for Alex, a nurse I met who is also a poet, and all nurses I heard that you are a poet and a nurse. I imagine all the nurses who also are something else—a chef, a Mom,… Read More ›
All the Perils of this Night: a preview by Elizabeth Cunningham
When I wrote Murder at the Rummage Sale, my agent warned: “You have to have a sequel in mind!” I was supposed to write a second domestic cozy, same setting, same characters, different victim. But what came to mind was… Read More ›
On This Fourth of July by Natalie Weaver
I woke up this morning with a terrible itch in my mind. I want to sue the government. I’m not a lawyer, at least not yet, and I know that governments have sovereign immunity that typically prevents them from being… Read More ›
Robert E. Lee Gets a Makeover by Esther Nelson
For the past four Sunday afternoons, I’ve walked along Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, to observe firsthand the changes happening to the statues of Confederate generals placed there a century or so ago. I focus here on the Robert E…. Read More ›
No, I Don’t Fucking Need Anxiety Meds: The Covid Misogyny Epidemic by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
“I think you should take medication for anxiety.” This was my doctor’s response when I calmly listed my Covid symptoms, which had been going on for a month and had landed me in Urgent Care twice and the ER twice,… Read More ›
#SharetheMicNow: Social Justice and Christianity by Laurel E. Brown and Anjeanette LeBoeuf
In the midst of recent events and protests, a social media campaign entitled #sharethemicnow has emerged. The campaign asked white people and people of influence to use their platforms, quiet their voices, and highlight, heighten, and listen to their Black… Read More ›
Splitting (Grey) Hairs by Karen Leslie Hernandez
We’ve all seen it on Social Media – the hair. Wild hair. Unkempt hair. Grey hair. #Quarantinehairdontcare. Covid19 has changed it all up. No more regular hair appointments and in turn, hair around the world is out of control. I’ve… Read More ›
The Song of the Forest by Sara Wright
When He comes I forget who I am. My story vanishes. Boundaries dissolve. Emerald green, leaf filtered light, clear mountain streams, trees, lichens, moss – become ‘all there is’. In the still dawning animals speak. Nature’s ultimate gift is… Read More ›
A Ladder to the Stars by Sara Wright
A Ladder to the Stars Every evening at twilight she climbs a ladder to the stars… Venus is her guide … As the Evening star (who also rises at dawn) this Goddess of Love is her Muse. As a woman… Read More ›
Coming Out of Quarantine by Angela Yarber
As Pride Month and Black Lives Matter protests co-exist, the spirituality of queer women of color teaches white allies how to listen. After nearly eighty days of sheltering in place, I feel like I’ve stepped out and found the world… Read More ›
Nourishing Wholeness in a Fractured World, by Molly Remer
List for today: Rescue tadpoles from the evaporating puddle in the driveway. Look for pink roses in the field. Look for wild strawberries along the road. Listen to the crows in the compost pile and try to identify them by… Read More ›
The Eldest, Truest Olympians by Barbara Ardinger
Scene: A comfy lecture hall in the temple on the summit of Mount Olympus. The feminist historians have taken their seats. The eldest Olympians rise to speak. Let us attend to their words. I am Hera, Queen of All, Daughter… Read More ›
“Side of the Angels Statement” by Natalie Weaver
As a feminist, I have learned how important it is to limit the scope of my claims to a reasonable space, demarcated by some genuine historical or current investment, connection, or participation. There are many things in this world about… Read More ›
The Sacred Love We Can Share through Kindness and Patience by Lache S.
“Love is patient, love is kind.” – 1 Cor 13:4. I think it was either Simone de Beauvoir or Betty Friedan who mentioned we live in a “sea of hostility.” Mainly it is the comment section of almost any post… Read More ›
My Green Spaces by Esther Nelson
I don’t do well being cooped up (staying at home) all day and every day. Thankfully the state of Virginia, where I currently live, has kept their parks open during the COVID-19 pandemic. For two months, I intentionally scheduled a… Read More ›
Hagar and Intersectionality by Marilyn Batchelor
I began to follow Kimberlé Crenshaw a little more than five years ago when I first learned of her theory of intersectionality as a more concise description of oppressions stemming from race, age, gender, sex/sexual orientation, religion and socio-economic status. … Read More ›
May – A Time of Becoming by Sara Wright
Returning home to Maine in April has allowed me to experience winter turning her ancient wisdom filled face towards the maiden of spring. Although the month has been chilly, and until two days ago snow covered tree stripped mountains still… Read More ›
Unorthodox: How Looking for “Truth” Misses the Point by Ivy Helman.
A few weeks ago a Slovak journalist reached out to me about the new Netflix four-part series entitled Unorthodox. In the email, the journalist wrote that they had read about my work as a Jewish feminist and wanted some insight… Read More ›
The Messy, Wild Mystery that’s Stronger than Wrong by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
I am an annoying feminist. I annoy pretty much everyone about it, because I’m never NOT applying a feminist lens to every aspect of life: science (looking at you, Larry Summers), politics (Joe Biden is a rapist), art (objectification is… Read More ›
Community Immunity by Natalie Weaver and Nathan
My eleven-year-old son, Nathan, a fifth grader, is doing his best to deal with changes the coronavirus pandemic has brought to his life. Before this time, Nathan’s biggest daily worries have been keeping his school papers organized and staying on… Read More ›
Trauma Healing in Collective Crisis by Laura Shannon
My previous post on this site, Trauma Healing through Communal Dance, on February 1, told of a traumatic event and its lingering effects, including insomnia, brain fog, nightmares, tearfulness, migraines, anxiety, and fear. Now I’m hearing reports of similar symptoms… Read More ›
The Benefits of The Plague….and Trump by Karen Tate
You might be asking yourself, “Is Karen losing her mind?” Last post she’s asking us “Are Your Shackles Showing?” as she writes this morbid and scary piece reminiscent of movies where someone is being held captive by a serial killer,… Read More ›
Earth Day Reflection by Sara Wright
I awakened this morning to frozen raindrops hanging from trees – jeweled beads, snow capped hills, and a cacophony of spring songs – I was serenaded by robins, chickadees, phoebes, goldfinches, and nuthatch tweets as I walked out the door… Read More ›
The Phenomenology of Embodiment—a poem by Marie Cartier
In these United States and across the world we are in quarantine. Lockdown. Shelter in place. We’re alone together. And I miss it all: restaurants, coffee shops, movies, hanging out with friends in real time, But mostly I miss hugs—and… Read More ›
Beauty, Blessings and Bistros: The Hawaiian Huna approach to dealing with the virus as well as everyday stresses by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
One of my favorite trainings I have received on my spiritual pathway is with Aloha International. I was ordained as an alaka’i (Hawaiian spiritual guide) in 2016. I began studying Huna intensely in 1997. In 2015, I personally met and… Read More ›
Self-calming with Syllable Counting and Rhyme Finding by Elizabeth Cunningham
In times of stress, I like to count syllables. It soothes me the way the click of knitting needles might soothe others. Finding rhymes is also calming. Below are poems in forms that require syllable count and/or rhyme, the last… Read More ›
When the Tomb Feels Safer than the Garden by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee
I have always loved Lent and Holy Week. When I was young, I enjoyed the challenge of fasting. Holy Week was the powerful culmination of it all, so I would try to make the fast even harder then, like a… Read More ›
The Practice of Bearing Witness by Stephanie Arel
She looked away and stared out the window, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. “The tents,” she said and shook her head looking down at the ground. The tears were coming, but softly. I asked her what… Read More ›
