Author: ksnieder
-
Lessons from the Farm #1: Thinning for Abundance
Our family is blessed to be able to spend a couple weeks each summer at Sweet Rose Farm in Highland County, VA. Every summer we “unplug” for most of the day to get reconnected with one another, creation and the Creator. Working the farm always offers valuable lessons about a life well lived. Yesterday I spent…
-
Can a faith community serve as a community of resistance?
Nurturing communities of resistance requires first nurturing relationships, relationships where those involved are invited to bring their whole selves, this includes being aware and helping others to be aware that we all “bring vastly different histories and experiences, but at the same time, ….experience grief and love in some of the same ways.” Nurturing these communities…
-
Ash Wednesday Reflection
I have been craving the darkness, the self-reflection, the slowing down of Lent. A friend asked me yesterday about the words spoken over her as ashes were traced on her forehead. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Those words are inspired by Genesis 3:19 and here are some thoughts on their…
-
The Conquerors, The Conquered or something else…
As the political landscape of America continues to unfold around us, some classmates and I were left wondering how different Christian communities could envision and justify such different ways of being in the world? How can one Christian community teach that diversity and welcoming all is important while others insist that exclusion and purity are…
-
Christian Leadership for Resistance
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” -Martin Luther King Jr. One of the questions I am exploring throughout this semester is whether a Christian community can be a site of resistance against systems of oppression and more specifically, can. We have been reading The Long Haul by Myles Horton as well as exploring…
-
Creation through a new lens
Many Christians stake their faith on the fact that God is unchanging, immutable. His/her character may be but I can think of about 10 instances off the top of my head where God changed his/her mind or his/her approach to people (details for another topic). Interestingly, Christians then take the leap to claim some sort…
-
Initiation into what?
After some great biblical creation epiphanies, we explored baptism and initiation in the bible, the early church and today. The rites associated with baptism changed over time as did the meaning attached to baptism. Before the church was accepted and endorsed by the Roman Empire with Constantine, baptisms often involved natural bodies of water and generally…
-
Another step in the journey
Today marked the first day of my second trimester at Iliff School of Theology. I am beyond excited for my classes this semester and still reeling from everything I learned last semester. So what does this next step look like? For the next 10 weeks, I will be exploring the Hebrew Bible, Ancient and Emerging…
-
Love Adventure 