Here are the wedding vows that we used for our ceremony, as well as the sermon that my friend Katie Langston preached when she married us. Katie and I met online almost 10 years ago when I was mostly blogging about Mormonism, where she was one of the Mormon commentators on my blog. She is […] Read more…
Tragedy + Time = Gratitude
15 years ago, I said, “I do.” 11 years later, I said, “No more.” Something stronger than pain engulfed me. Not just loss of happiness, but the loss of any sense of purpose. I had been Mrs. Interfaith Marriage for so long, I had no idea who I was or who I might be without […] Read more…
Jesus on Mothers
I’ve never understood how belief in traditional gender roles survives an actual reading of the Gospels. Case in point: when I thought about what the Bible specifically says about mothers (as distinct entities from fathers), this verse immediately came to mind: “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, […] Read more…
We Need to Talk About Heavenly mother!
[Part 2: mother! Explained, Heavy Spoilers] There are two main theories on Darren Aronofsky’s provocative mother!: It’s a film about environmentalism. Jennifer Lawrence is Gaia / the Earth Mother / the Spirit of the Earth. The house is Earth. The people who assail the house, invited in by Javier Bardem (“Him” on the credits, but […] Read more…
We Need to Talk About Heavenly mother!
[Part 1: Spoiler-Free Review] Darren Aronofsky’s mother! (yes, the title is uncapitalized with an explanation point) has been getting some well-deserved buzz in spite of a lukewarm performance at the box office. The film ekes out a 67% “certified fresh” rating among critics at Rotten Tomatoes, but received a rare F grade from audiences at […] Read more…
Anna: The Woman Preaching in Your Bible
“Women are not called to public preaching!” I’ve honestly never understood people who take this position given that the Bible contains a very specific example of a woman preaching in public: There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her […] Read more…
Can History’s Flawed Heroes Save Robert E. Lee?
We’re all upset about that Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, it seems. Either we’re upset over its proposed removal or we’re upset that it’s still there. The rally carried out by a group of torch-wielding “white nationalists” was probably counter-productive in that, now, any chance that the statue had of being seen as a […] Read more…