Jonathan Ryan's Blog, page 27
February 8, 2018
Approaching Mystery: Maren Grossman on Unexpected Creatures
When I was a child I developed the curious notion that virtue could be measured by whether or not stray animals gravitated toward a person. This idea came from the books I was reading at the time, mostly James Herriot and Madeleine L’Engle. In Madeleine L’Engle’s novels, stray animals were always appearing at characters’ doors, […]
February 2, 2018
Dark Devotional: Demons
Art by the sinister and perhaps possessed Brian Jocks. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak […]
January 29, 2018
Things Keeping ME Alive
One of my favorite features at Sick Pilgrim is the monthly “Things Keeping Us Alive” post. A handful of people in the Sick Pilgrim community give me the names of what gives them a little bit of joy. What they write about can be very high-brow: a new icon, prayer, lecture, or book that causes […]
January 27, 2018
Write the Vision: Waiting for Educational Justice
Today, teacher and writer Kristen Allen shares her reflections on the God-given right to education that all people share, and the obstacles that stand in the way of educational justice that she has witnessed in her 34 years as an educator. Waiting for Educational Justice The Lord’s Answer to Habakkuk I will […]
January 26, 2018
Dark Devotional: Deciphering Voices
Art by the fiery and thundering Brian Jocks. “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” I first encountered Christianity at the age of nineteen. I was enthusiastic about the gospel, and wanted to learn. I searched for voices to teach me this […]
January 25, 2018
Approaching Mystery: The Mysteries of Girlhood by Joanna Penn Cooper
Caw-caw, caw-caw, I call out. Caw-caw, my son answers. I am standing in the kitchen finishing dinner, and my son (almost five) is sitting at the dining room table listening to a kids’ podcast and messing around with colored pencils. We have a running banter, my child and I, made of snatches of song and […]
January 22, 2018
Write the Vision: Earth’s Delicate Balance
Today in our Write the Vision series, author and farmer Rebecca Bratten Weiss shares her reflections on coming to intimately know the land of her childhood and how that land’s ravishment formed the backbone of her vision of God’s justice in light of Creation. Earth’s Delicate Balance When I was ten, we […]
January 20, 2018
Approaching Mystery: “Offering” by Carla Myers
My breasts are cold because they are made of cold compressed air, contained by cold, hard plastic, and placed under my cold, stretched, nerveless skin. I can only feel them with my hands, from the outside, just like anyone else. If I tap on them, they sound hollow and I remember going to the tiny […]
January 19, 2018
Dark Devotional: Hearing Your Call
Art by the flockin’ incredible Brian Jocks. As a lover of good stories, I recognize that the Bible is full of them, but I have a qualm about those stories: I don’t get excited by the ones where God is speaking directly to people and telling them exactly what to do. Jesus literally calls, and […]
January 11, 2018
Dark Devotional: Hearing God’s Voice
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. […]
