spirituality Archives - Page 2 of 7

Michigan nature spirituality

Farm Refugia and Church on the Edges

People were doing this. Churches were organizing community gardens and small farms, trying to combine faith practice, community, discipleship, health, justice. Healing land and community at once, reconnecting faith to place.

Debra RienstraSeptember 19, 2020

climate change nature spirituality theology

Shrub Whispering

Questions of what more-than-human creatures are worth, what they mean, what is their ultimate value—these questions become more urgent as the species extinction crisis accelerates.

Debra RienstraAugust 8, 2020

climate change liturgical year spirituality

Come, Then, Lord Jesus, Come

Lately I’ve been feeling a lot of emptiness. Deus absconditus. This darkness is evidently nothing new, seeing as there’s a Latin name for it. Where are you?

Debra RienstraDecember 14, 2019

spirituality

Water in the Wilderness: The Evolving Faith Conference

And here we were, camping out in the wilderness for the weekend with people fleeing the church of empire and searching for what we might call the church of refugia. They were looking for community, hope, and sustenance, a place of healing and resilience. Maybe…

Debra RienstraOctober 12, 2019

college life spirituality

Word of the Lord, Thanks Be to God

It's disturbing to recognize that in the Noah story, God does the same sort of thing that the Babylonian gods do in their flood story.” That’s what she said, this bold and thoughtful student in world lit class. We had been pondering the flood story…

Debra RienstraSeptember 28, 2019

climate change nature spirituality

Little Pockets: Refugia Basics

I've been working this summer on a podcast based on the idea of “refugia.” I wrote about this idea here at The Reformed Journal blog last May. Thanks in part to the encouragement of my colleague Dave Koetje, Professor of Biology at Calvin University, I’ve been exploring…

Debra RienstraAugust 17, 2019

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

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

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

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

spirituality

Farm Refugia and Church on the Edges

Shrub Whispering

Come, Then, Lord Jesus, Come

Water in the Wilderness: The Evolving Faith Conference

Word of the Lord, Thanks Be to God

Little Pockets: Refugia Basics

Learning about Gratitude from the Onondaga

Refugia

Disappointed in a Disappointed Jesus

Please Stop: Calvin Seniors on Vocation

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