Seeking Authentic Voice

Kathrynjz over at RevGals is pondering the various ways her life is blessed and some of the signs of those blessings. For her these include reognzing the blessings of our priviledged life like having computers and internet, and a morning cup of coffee. She asks us to reflect on the blessings of our lives, that which helps everything feel "right with the world the moment I am enjoying them." Those who know me are aware that over the last few years I have faced some profound challenges. There's no need to go into the details, but suffice it to say that I have struggled deeply with the question of God, life, faith, "happiness," and what it is that enables my soul to be at peace even when EVERYTHING is challenged..... In fact I wonder, even now, if I can "play" this game. So, here's my attempt at five "perks" I give thanks for, even if they don't exactly make everything right with the world: 1. Exercise. Or, at the moment more speci...

I'm laying low today, tending to a cold. It all began with a sore throat last week and now has moved to other areas of my respiratory system. I'm consuming lots of herbal tea and water and keeping the hand sanitizer and Lysol disinfecting wipes near by.... I want to get well because in a few days I head north for a conference called Not In Our Pews . This conference is designed to help congregations understand domestic violence, support victims, and work toward ending it. I'm going to write a report on the conference for the Episcopal Women's Caucus newsletter. I've also written four prayers for the Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence . I don't know how or if my prayers will be used, but I wrote them. And I'm preparing to head off to Seattle in December to lead another workshop on "Words Matter." I've been working on this language project, with the National Council of Churches for ten months and we are about to launch the tri...

photo by David Skidmore on Ann Tiemeyers camera Words Matter: by The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski “For slightly less than half my life I was an intentionally de-churched person. Although the faith of my childhood had been a source of great comfort to me I also found that church to hold a very narrow view of God. My own prayer life suggested to me that God was much more expansive than the church was teaching me. And so while I left the institutional church when I was 15, not to return until I was 31, I never left my relationship with God, or at least I never left my pursuit of a life of faith. “ “A few years after I became de-churched, sometime around the year 1975, I found myself, and my college roommates on a pursuit for enlightenment. By the early 1980’s I’d wandered through a variety of new age pursuits, crystals and yoga, and meditation. One day, while meditating it occurred to me that I still celebrated Christmas and Easter. And not just in a social way, for the gifts and the ...