twenty-three

I just walked in the door, wet from a brisk, rainy Washington evening walk. I’ve been walking to work more these past few weeks. On nights like tonight, it’s easy to question why. It’s cold(ish). Wet. Dark.
And then I remember. It’s because in the wet, windy air, I feel something that reminds me that I’m [...]

as the big day approaches (the election tomorrow), i’ve been struck by the need to just shut up. maybe it’s the overwhelming ads on tv. maybe it’s the blog and facebook reading. maybe it’s the fervor with which i hear so many people speak passionately about the upcoming decision. something is beginning to overwhelm me.
i [...]

Last year we had the privilege of hosting Sylvia Wilson from the PC(USA) (Presbyterian Church denomination) at the INN for a few days to share a bit about what the INN does and is. The denomination’s collegiate website is now featuring a story, written by former INN intern Megan Goodwin.
http://www.pcusa.org/collegiate/inn-interns.htm

I’ve been reading Hebrews a bit this week, prepping for my talk at the INN tonight, and I’m just getting pretty excited about what it says. In a very new way, forgiveness and redemption, is hitting me. I’m excited about the ideas that the Holy Spirit is leading me towards as I study it and [...]

This weekend at the retreat I had an interesting conversation with our speaking guest, Mark Nelson, and a couple of students about the concept of "deconstruction" and trimming the excess fat off Christianity to reach into the essentials of our faith. We found ourselves on this topic as we pieced through some of Mark’s weekend [...]

I’m up for speaking again tonight at the last Summer INN of the quarter. We’ve been going through the book of Acts this summer, reading along through a new book called "The Dust Off Their Feet," a retelling of Acts and commentary. It’s been a good read, with some fresh perspectives on what can be [...]

With melodies and cadences, the song of life develops and develops. At times it begins to come to
a close, a sort of resolution of sounds, of experiences. At other times, the tension deepens
into a field of sound that is not resolved, but pulls in different
directions, driving the song forward. Musical tension can be what drives [...]

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I’ve begun going through "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope", a compilation of writings by leaders in the emerging church. This book has been a refreshing and thought-provoking read thus far. I’m planning to discuss it with a couple of INN small group leaders that I meet with regularly, [...]

Ahh, the academic break. What a wonderful thing. I don’t intend to gloat to my fellow working world friends out there, but after a year in the "real" world, it is much better to be back on the academic schedule. Winter break was quite nice.
And now, it’s really good to be back. I’m just getting [...]

Whether it’s the prolonged exposure to the 4 walls of my apartment, the dreary weather, the disconnection from church and work over break, or my recent studies in atheism, I’ve been experiencing a bit of doubt over the past couple weeks. Funny to think it was Christmas only two weeks ago, because I feel very [...]