Can Love Build a Bridge Having tough conversations with loved ones about race, religion, homophobia & politics "Love can build a bridge. Between your heart and mine. Don't you think it's time?" These lyrics are from a beautiful love song written and sung by Naomi Judd, who along with her daughter Wynonna won a Grammy for ... Read More

The Rise of the Nones Why America is becoming less Christian and more compassionate Something significant happened recently. Did you notice? I would completely understand if you didn't. A world in chaos because of a global pandemic is still making headlines. Our nation's political tensions that pose a very real threat to our democracy are ... Read More

The Rise of the Nones Redefining Your Christian Faith We've been looking the wrong way. When I begin the process of creating content for my podcast, I check the calendar we use to review, schedule and organize everything. In that calendar are the themes laid out for the next several months. It's essentially a parking ... Read More

The Return of Warmth Spiritual Lessons from the Spring Equinox And if you think my winter is too cold, You don't deserve my spring. Erin Hanson There is an unmistakable hint of spring in the air. The magic and wonder of the awakening may be subtle, but sleeping seeds and roots heed the call and begin ... Read More

The Types of Christians You'll Meet Along the Way and Why it Matters I failed my followers this week. Perhaps my goal was too lofty. Perhaps it's impossible to hit this moving target. Perhaps the teaching moment for me is to understand that Christianity's 30,000+ worldwide denominations make it impossible to label. What is the ... Read More

The Spiritual Wilderness "Unless you have walked through it and have come out on the other side, you'll never understand. And when you're in the middle of it, there can never be enough reassurance that you are gonna be okay." I found this in my journal, written some time after my ordination in 2017. Looking ... Read More

The Dark Side of Kindness When the fear of being perceived as unkind forces us to remain silent Well, it happened again. Sometimes, a pattern emerges in our lives that isn't of our making. For me, it arrived in my response to comments on my social media content. In the beginning, there was an assumption ... Read More

Love Wins- Or Does It?   Does love always win? "There is love, of course. And then there's life, its enemy." -Jean Anouilh We are victims of our own simplicity. Sure, there's wisdom in simplifying your life or decluttering your space. But oversimplification can lead to missed details. This I believe, often occurs with language, specifically ... Read More

Healing from Radicalized Christianity & Religious Trauma   Recently, I was attacked in my video comments. It didn't go well for the commenter and I'm not at all sorry. Those sentences stand on their own as a complete thought, but the "it didn't go well…" bridge in the middle carries a lesson. Let's dive into ... Read More

Rescuing Christianity from Radicalization On January 6, 2021, our nation was attacked by home-grown terrorists. The aftershock of this insurrection will be felt for years to come. Millions of us watched in horror as newsfeeds streamed the carnage live. Equally disturbing was the footage being streamed by the insurrectionists themselves from within the Capitol. Outside, ... Read More

Forgiveness Some experts and spiritual healers disagree on what "true" forgiveness is. On one end of the spectrum are those who are indoctrinated into teachings within Christianity that place the onus entirely on the betrayed. They are expected to forgive and welcome the offender back into their lives as if nothing ever happened. This is ... Read More

Being Kind While Being a Sacred Activist "How can I be kind and still stand up for myself and my beliefs?" This is a common question I get asked, particularly after I post a video pushing back on racist, homophobic, misogynistic or bigoted ideologies (sometimes all of them at once). It often gives me pause ... Read More

The Radicalization of American Christianity I write to hold sacred space. What often arises are stories from my life or our collective humanity that build a bridge between us and God. However, every time I tried to write this particular blog I froze, unable to focus on anything other than the crisis facing our nation ... Read More

What Does Chaos Teach Us? The new year awaits you, Beloved. The journey here may have you yearning to collapse into the arms of 2021, seeking respite from the chaos that was 2020. The New Year has been the subject of many internet jokes suggesting that with its arrival, we'd awaken from this nightmare, and ... Read More

Reflection Beloved, it's time to get uncomfortable. No, I'm not talking about push-ups or a high-level sudoku puzzle, although challenging the mind and body in these ways has proven to build new muscle and stimulate the brain. We don't see mind/body work as threatening -- we simply dive in or don't partake. I'm talking about ... Read More

Turning Toward the Light - the Winter Solstice Our ancestors understood the significance of this day, which, in our time, has been minimized to represent the "first day of winter." In my childhood, the first day of winter was cause for celebration - it was the herald of school breaks and gift giving. But it's ... Read More

Wisdom in World Religions I remember it well. For eight weeks, I bundled up my two young children and headed to mid-week Bible study at our Christian church across town. This was a time in my life when my personal and spiritual identity were firmly wrapped up in my spiritual community. That meant if the ... Read More

Preparing to Receive the Holy The holiday season for Americans officially kicks off with Black Friday - a highly commercialized shopping day filled with deep discounts and frantic shopping. That type of shopping isn't for everyone, including me. The thought of massive crowds and endless lines are enough to keep us safely at home while ... Read More

Spiritual Reset 2021 Most of us would agree there isn't a more powerful display of humans' physical abilities than when the athletes convene from around the world for the Olympics. These athletes have dedicated their lives to this moment of time - moving away from home to be nearer to training facilities and coaches, foregoing ... Read More

Gratitude Journey "In all things, give thanks… " Those words are found in the apostle Paul's closing to the people of Thessalonica. Some iteration of this phrase is commercialized by being placed on everything from coffee mugs to bumper stickers to offer a gentle reminder about the importance of gratitude as a state of being ... Read More

Holy in Our Everyday "We'll make heaven a place on earth." Belinda Carlisle sang those words. At the height of her career in the '80s, Belinda's "Heaven is a Place on Earth" hit #1 and solidified her as an American music icon. Besides its flowing melody that held the words to this love song, the ... Read More

A Name By No Other Name   God is… What a fun project it would be to poll 200 people to answer that question! Based on my own spiritual journey and my work in spiritual care and comfort, I can offer some ways that people may answer: God is… Love. My Heavenly Father. Energy. Misunderstood. ... Read More

You Worship Jesus with That Mouth?   "Please know I'm asking from a place of love." Well, I know how this is going to end. This type of statement precedes a judgment disguised as a question. "If you were a true Christian, wouldn't you be telling people to go to church?" "Why would you accept ... Read More

Honoring What Was Unveiling the History Behind Halloween and a Fusion of Sacred Traditions Read Time: 3 Mintues "It's time to close some tabs, Karla." That thought often arises in the wee hours when I awaken for an early morning round of writing only to find my computer is unresponsive, a victim of being plunged ... Read More

Is That God Speaking to Me? Is that God speaking to me? I often receive hundreds of comments and questions each week, and one of the most common questions I get is "How do I know I'm hearing from God?" My first response is usually not helpful, but it's truthful, which is, "Join the club." ... Read More

The Bible Doesn't Say That   The receiving line is long, stretching beyond the visitation room of the funeral room, into the main lobby and out the door. Cancer won the battle, and this young girl was gone much too soon. As expected her family was devastated, and her family and friends now gathered to ... Read More

Being Spiritual in a Religious World   "What does interspiritual mean?" "It means that God can be found outside of religion." "Oh. I hadn't thought of looking for God outside of religion before. I just alway thought that if you didn't go to church, it meant you were going to hell." I've had more than ... Read More

Where is God in the Unknown?   Someone said to me the other day they feel like they've lived five years here in 2020, and it's only September. I concur. Is there a spiritual perspective that can help us find firm footing in this year? In other words, where can we find God in the ... Read More

Facing the Darkness   Before pumpkin spice lattes were even a thing, one of the sure tell signs of autumn's arrival were the turning of the leaves. They usually appear as only a few golden or orange ones, hidden among the green foliage of the trees. With the arrival of the first of the fall ... Read More

When Sin Became Weaponized Hate the sin - love the sinner. My God. Can we please remove this phrase from our lives? I'm going right for the jugular this week. This phrase has done more damage than it ever has done good. Prove me wrong. Now that we have established the energy surrounding this week's ... Read More