The cinematography is amazing! The production design incredible! The acting top-notch! The directing visionary! Eh. I was bored.
Debra RienstraMarch 23, 2024
We’re not talking about a language, or a dialect, or even current slang, but rather those little ways of speaking that are idiosyncratic to a particular person or family unit. In other words, the weird little turns of phrase that only you and maybe your…
Debra RienstraSeptember 2, 2023
But you, especially, young women, should go see this movie. Will it tell you everything you need to know about women’s history and feminism and the experience of being women today? No, it will not. But there are a couple moments in it where you…
Debra RienstraAugust 5, 2023
I wonder: Would knowing when people are lying be a gift? Or would it just make life worse?
Debra RienstraMay 13, 2023
I’ll be processing this experience for a long time, but for now I'll share just a few key words that focused my thoughts during and after the trip.
Debra RienstraMarch 18, 2023
I want to focus on the power of meaning-making narratives. In the wearying events of the last few years, we’ve seen two tiny little denominations struggle to figure out (once again) what narrative we are living into. Is the future of our denominations a game…
Debra RienstraJuly 9, 2022
It's a modern day Cinderella trope, isn’t it? The long-suffering, virtuous-and-talented high schooler is visited by a talent agent/scout/special teacher/fairy godperson who provides them with the means to zing through the Dress Ball of Admissions and be whisked off to Handsome Prince University, which of…
Debra RienstraApril 30, 2022
And so we pray. Or try to. Our prayers—well, mine anyway—seem awfully puny against the grand machinations of world events. Actually, my prayers also seem puny and ineffective against the small machinations of my own personal troubles. So I keep thinking about that line in…
Debra RienstraMarch 5, 2022
My faith these days sometimes feels as thin and dry as that little wafer. So the presence of these familiar, faithful people—even if we can’t chat over coffee after the service—that presence feels like a balm. This whole pandemic disaster has taught me—probably many of…
Debra RienstraFebruary 5, 2022
