Posts Tagged ‘Scripture’
3 Practical Tips When You’re Wrestling With Faith
1. Turn to well-worn prayers. Try these by Thomas Merton and St. Anselm of Canterbury if you need words for your wondering or wandering. 2. Pray with the story of Jacob wrestling with God. The same night [Jacob] got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the…
Read More3 Ways to Pray through Epiphany
1. Light a candle before dinner tonight. Ask your kids to see if you can sit in silence together for a whole minute. Enjoy whatever moment of quiet you can get with this symbol of Christ’s light. 2. Write down one new thing you have learned about God in the past year—even a small “epiphany.”…
Read More3 Ways to Pray through Christmas
1. Pray with Luke 2:41-52 that inspired Anna’s essay. What word or phrase speaks to you as a parent here? Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started…
Read MoreShe Never Regretted Her Yes
During the June after my triplets’ junior year of high school, I signed up for a five-day silent retreat about three hours north of my home. Right off the bat, I thought twice about going since I knew we were heading into their senior year, the last year they would live at home. Part of me…
Read MoreThe Fire for Justice: Your Turn
This Week on Mothering Spirit Stina’s essay shares the experience of reading Micah as a mother while the world burns. Rakhi’s prayer asks for mercy, hope, and light in the darkness. Resources to keep reflecting Rakhi’s shop Rakstar Designs offers a print of Micah 6:8 to support the Equal Justice Initiative founded by Bryan Stevenson. For more of Stina’s…
Read MoreReading Micah While the World Burns
This past summer some women from church decided to gather on Wednesday evenings to read Scripture. We rotated hosting responsibilities and, after the initial chit-chat and snack table perusal, settled into backyard lawn chairs to read a chapter aloud from the book of Micah. Yes, that Micah. The Biblical minor prophet, the “do justly, love…
Read MoreTime, transitions, and beginnings: your turn
This week on Mothering Spirit Vanesa’s essay invited us to reflect on the shifting experience of time through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Kayla’s prayer helped us to bless the beginnings and transitions in our callings as parents. Resources to keep reflecting For prayer during pregnancy, check out our e-books of Prayers for Pregnancy and Prayers for Birth. Exciting news: we’ve got…
Read MoreA Prayer for Infertility
God of Abraham and Sarah, wait with us and help us to believe. God of Rebecca and Isaac, hear our prayers and speak to our struggles. God of Jacob and Rachel, forgive us our envy and free us from jealousy. God of Hannah and Elkanah, hold our anger and weep with us. God of Elizabeth and Zechariah,…
Read MoreThe Extraordinary Ordinary Time: A brand-new e-book
Our 1st e-book is now available from Mothering Spirit! The Extraordinary Ordinary Time is a new collection from Laura Kelly Fanucci, the founder of Mothering Spirit, and includes: original essays on the spirituality of this holy season brand-new prayers for Ordinary Time best-loved poems that invite fresh reflection creative ways to pray through the longest…
Read Morecan these bones live?
He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” (Ezekiel 37:3) I miss your writing, she texts me. So I went back and read a bunch of the old stuff. I miss it, too, I write back. The next day another friend listens. (My latest litany of lament.) “So…
Read Morehow to pray lectio divina with kids
Want to pray lectio divina with your kids? I had never heard of lectio divina until I started graduate theological studies. Thankfully I was blessed to study with the Benedictines, who are steeped in this prayer practice (which St. Benedict wrote about in his Rule dating back to 500 AD). So I learned from wise sisters and brothers how…
Read MoreHow to Choose Life Today (Wait, You Already Did)
…I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life… Deuteronomy 30:19 You already did it today. When you rolled over and kissed your husband good morning. Or when you threw on that old bathrobe and trooped down the hall to feed the baby. Or when you scrambled eggs for…
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