Renée Antrosio
– January 24, 2023
Vitality. Are you feeling it today? Gray skies, bad news on the airwaves, daily frustrations, and planks in our own eyes. Listening to a conversation with Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev leads me back to YHWH, the Living Presence, perhaps pronounced as the sound of our breath. I found myself wanting to rewind and listen again. They
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Ron Simkins
– January 17, 2023
I appreciate Ron Simkins’ reflection below about Jesus being CREATIVELY CONSISTENT and CONSISTENTLY CREATIVE, as we consider this theme for 2023. May it inspire you as well. –Renée I find myself thinking quite a bit about Renée’s recent teaching theme: Creatively Consistent and Consistently Creative. Either Jesus was very dull and unable to notice apparent
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Renée Antrosio
– January 10, 2023
God always loves us with a greater love than we have for ourselves.* This assertion surprised me. Do I believe it? Do you? Describing my experience in the desert mountains as a kind of mini-sabbatical, I was grateful to explore my renewed sense of energy and purpose. My nun asked if perhaps this was Jesus’ Christmas
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Renée Antrosio
– January 3, 2023
The wind in the Chisos Mountains basin blows through my brain, clearing out my thoughts, leaving awe and empty space. I couldn’t imagine this place. We’d been off-grid for a few days in the silence of the desert. More camping, more hiking, seemed perhaps beyond us. Saturated with beauty, I worried we were too tired
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Renée Antrosio
– December 26, 2022
My orchids are re-blooming. Some sending up a tiny new shoot, while others have seven gorgeous blossoms. I sip my hot tea, cradling the mug in my hands, looking out on a cold and snowy day. What are my senses telling me about the world? We announce to you what existed from the beginning, what
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Renée Antrosio
– December 20, 2022
The quiet of having adult children home, nestled in their rooms, feels different than an empty-nested house. My dining room table is ringed with silent figurines of carolers, mouths open mid-song, and crowded with post-it labeled gifts. I am indulging my dislike of shopping by searching my shelves for items to wrap for family members
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Renée Antrosio
– December 13, 2022
As the hyper-responsible oldest girl in my family, eager to please parents and teachers, growing up as a good American Christian, I said yes to responsibilities. Lead a Bible study- yes. Prayer group at noon- yes. Leadership team- yes. In our society, responses to requests to take on tasks are often gendered. Women tend to
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NCF Office
– December 5, 2022
For me, the beauty and challenge of Advent is experiencing hope and waiting together, in community. So I listen for the voices that call me to contemplate the promise anew. Sharon Chubbuck speaks warmth and wisdom in ways that I can hear and embrace. May her words bless you and welcome you this Advent. -Renée “Oh, Little
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Renée Antrosio
– November 29, 2022
Advent is the season of hope, expectant waiting, which is always a choice of faith in these darkening days. Sometimes our Advent theme comes early. Someone suggests a song, an image, a phrase to focus our minds and hearts. This year I was kept waiting, such that some wondered if Advent would even happen, since
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Renée Antrosio
– November 22, 2022
The Interfaith Grateful Gathering has become a treasured Thanksgiving tradition, and I was humbled and honored to contribute a prayer this year at Bethel AME. The mood was joyful as we joined in gratitude to be together and give thanks to our Creator. I chose Suellen Shay’s poem Boundless generosity to express praise and articulate
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