Rev. Jenn's Blog
Release and Claim: A Spiritual Checklist for the New Year
Now that the holiday frenzy is over, we can continue on our way. Not with the resolve to slog through life, but with the intention to feel more fulfilled and content. So, if we’re ready to reach new destinations, we need to release what doesn’t work so we...
Journey Forth
In bleak Winter, under blackened sky, chirps ring out. Robin, great harbinger of Spring, perched above tundra. Song shattering night. Sustenance revealed below frozen ground. Artic air. Bitter chill. Darkness. Silence. Stillness. And that soft, sweet song, like a...
Grateful All Ways
Thanksgiving is here again, and all around us are reminders to give thanks. However we celebrate the holiday, many of us can easily list the “good” things for which we’re grateful: comfortable dwellings; a well-stocked pantry; loving friends and family; fulfilling...
It Could Happen to You
That kind of thing can’t happen here. But it could happen to you. It could happen to you . . . . . . buying groceries at Kroger. . . . gathering the prayer circle at church. . . . comparing notes in 4th period English. . . . reading Torah on Saturday morning. . . ....
Trust the Steps
Our egos are making headlines again as people try to comprehend the chaos and conflicts we’re experiencing in the world and determine how to stop them. Ego, as defined by psychoanalysis, helps us determine our sense of personal identity and self-worth. Derived from...
A Higher Standard
Several years ago, when I finally settled on my own spiritual path, a mentor reminded me: “Life will still have challenges. And, no matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, believes, or does, you decide how you want to be.” Her wisdom sounds simple enough,...
Face the Change
Early September, and already yellow leaves appear amidst a green tapestry. Air is cooler, crisper here, in the morning, and skies are darker, too. September already, we say. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas wait in the wings. It’s this way, more or less, every...
Relieved to Let Go
As we travel our own faithful journeys, many of us notice that some things and people don’t change, no matter how much we wish they would. And many of us have fought, labored, and struggled to change or fix something or someone unready for change. It’s like trying to...
Be A Light
One of our discoveries on this life journey is that we have divine gifts and talents to share. Whatever these are, they’re the light of God, expressing through us, shining as us. Jesus taught in the “Sermon on the Mount”: You are the light of the world. A city set...
All Humanity Included
As a sociology undergrad in Washington, D.C., I learned a lot about protests and civil actions. And as a participant observer, I canvased communities, conducted surveys, organized protests, marched for causes, and rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court. As I’ve...
End of a Road
During graduate school, I had a friend who served as both BFF and life-raft. We often shared coffee after class, discussing lectures, classmates’ literary interpretations, and various life events. At that time, I enjoyed my friend’s perspective. She excelled in...
Time for Balance
As the summer months approach in the Northern Hemisphere, many calendars already are full with graduations, weddings, parties, barbecues, concerts, and/or vacations. In the midst of this, many of us still have our usual work to do, grocery shopping, house cleaning,...
Didn’t Know That
In 5th grade, my honors English class had an assignment to teach something. At that time, I was creating a hooked rug. The process, as I learned from the yarn store lady, required particular steps and specific methods. During my presentation, I felt confident...
Face Everything and Rise
A reference website I use sometimes runs ads along its margins. One has a caption which asks, “Will 2018 bring change?” and shows a young woman staring into space. She reminds me of my younger self in Washington, D.C., several years ago when a new administration...
All Children of God
As a pastor, I’m sometimes perceived as being closer to God than others. Though I believe that we’re as close to God as we allow ourselves to be. When tragedy strikes, as it did again, now in Parkland, Fla., people often ask: “Where was God when this happened? And...
The Best That Can Happen
Years ago I knew someone who often asked, when an uncomfortable situation presented itself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” He prided himself on living by Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. One day he produced a product with a fatal flaw. So,...
Give in Love
During my senior year of high school, I helped write a local, social history for our town. In the process, I interviewed several residents who shared stories about their younger days. Of them all, the only person I remember now is Ann, a widow and philanthropist, who...
Walking in Faith
In the famous story about Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33), Jesus goes alone to a mountain to pray, after he’s already worked a full day and fed 5,000 people. Meanwhile, the disciples are at sea, in a boat battered by waves. During fourth watch, (between...
No-Challenge Thanksgiving
If we’re following current news streams or social media feeds, then we’ve likely noticed that we’re in Gratitude Challenge Season. It’s presumed to be a time when we challenge ourselves to be grateful for people, places and things in our lives. Sometimes we do this...
Preparing for Joy
As we journey toward the holidays, many of us already are noticing our stress levels rising and our calendars overflowing. We notice how much we could do, buy, have, or accomplish. Sometimes we wonder how it, whatever our “it” is, will get done. Yet, the truth is, we...
Today, I Didn’t
Sometimes, we can’t. So we don’t. A poem about that kind of faith: “Today, I Didn’t” Today, I didn’t make the bed. And I didn’t hang up my robe. I left it crumpled on a pillow, where I tossed it on my way to the kitchen to get more coffee and reheat the leftover...
Remember Where and Who
When I was younger, my father shared his memories of walking along Madison Avenue in New York City on November 22, 1963. He remembered hearing the news pour from doorways that President Kennedy had been shot and was dead. He recalled complete strangers talking and...
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