Debra Rienstra, Author at Debra Rienstra

nature spirituality theology

Learning about Gratitude from the Onondaga

I realize we’re planning way ahead here, but if you happen to be in charge of an Easter Vigil service next spring, you should definitely order a big beeswax candle for the occasion. Why? Because in the ancient liturgical prayer for Easter Eve, called the…

Debra RienstraJuly 20, 2019

dunes Michigan

Coastal Ingenuity: Up North Tales

In honor of the official beginning of summer, I shall relate some maritime history of the Great Lakes. I knew almost nothing about maritime history until last summer, when my husband and I visited the Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum near Glen…

Debra RienstraJune 22, 2019

liturgical year silly

Let’s Make Ordinary Time Extraordinary Again

Good news, bad news. The good news is that tomorrow is Pentecost, so we get to sing Spirit-centric songs and think about exciting things like rushing wind, tongues of flame, and sudden outbreaks of multilingualism. The bad news is that after tomorrow, the liturgical year…

Debra RienstraJune 8, 2019

review

Let Me Explain: Wolterstorff’s Life of the Mind, Life in Community

In This World of Wonders: Memoir of a Life in LearningNicholas WolterstorffEerdmans, 2019318 pages When vistas open up in life, extraordinary people awaken to them. Widening vistas and intellectual awakenings characterize philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff’s new memoir, in which he recounts a long and extraordinary life…

Debra RienstraMay 25, 2019

climate change nature spirituality

Refugia

When Mount Saint Helens erupted in May of 1980, it lost 1,300 feet of elevation and gained a new mile-wide crater. The debris avalanche and ashfall from the volcanic blast devastated the mountain and its surroundings, crushing, burning, killing, and coating everything in ash. Everyone…

Debra RienstraMay 11, 2019

Calvin events politics

Journalists Ponder a Fluid Moment for Faith and Politics in America

While I am normally happy to flop on the sofa and watch mindless TV on Friday nights, last night I pulled myself together and attended the 21st annual Paul B. Henry Lecture, sponsored by the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics. The lecture was a…

Debra RienstraApril 27, 2019

spirituality

Disappointed in a Disappointed Jesus

Dear Luke, Thank you for sending me your manuscript. I’ll try to respond honestly, as you requested. Those lyrical opening chapters: fantastic. Beautifully paced, full of poetry. Along with Zechariah and Mary and Simeon, I was dazzled by angels visitant and wowed by prophetic utterances,…

Debra RienstraApril 13, 2019

climate change nature

Psychoterratica: New Words for a New Earth

English has always been a hungry language: it readily devours words from other languages and from inventive word-crafters, assimilating new words into its own rich, varied vocabulary. English never seems to lose its appetite for new morsels, borrowed or fresh. These days, in response to…

Debra RienstraMarch 30, 2019

climate change theology

Does Theology Make Us Passive on Climate Change?

“Does ‘image of God’ make us lazy?” I jotted this in my notebook earlier this week, between phrases like “hinge point in history” and “geophysical tipping point.” I was listening to a lecture by Kathleen Dean Moore, a moral philosopher, nature writer, and environmental activist.…

Debra RienstraMarch 16, 2019

college life spirituality theology

Please Stop: Calvin Seniors on Vocation

Next time you encounter a college senior, you will inevitably be tempted to ask, “So what’s your major?” and “So what are you going to do with that?” Before you utter those words, please stop. Be gentle. Think of something else to ask. Why? Because…

Debra RienstraMarch 2, 2019

Debra Rienstra

Learning about Gratitude from the Onondaga

Coastal Ingenuity: Up North Tales

Let’s Make Ordinary Time Extraordinary Again

Let Me Explain: Wolterstorff’s Life of the Mind, Life in Community

Refugia

Journalists Ponder a Fluid Moment for Faith and Politics in America

Disappointed in a Disappointed Jesus

Psychoterratica: New Words for a New Earth

Does Theology Make Us Passive on Climate Change?

Please Stop: Calvin Seniors on Vocation

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