Rev Karla’s Blog

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…