Couriosity: Pursuing the Divine Feminine
Where courage, curiosity, and mystery meet
A few weeks ago, my adopted Nashville church community issued an invitation for volunteers. Thanks to Roots Nashville’s generous and visionary work, six saplings were planted on the campus of Glendale Baptist Church. This is part of Roots Nashville’s goal of planting 500,000 trees in Davidson County by 2050. Recently, after an inspiring sermon on... Continue Reading →
The Anointing Woman – Unnamed but Not Unknown The story of the anointing of Jesus by an unnamed woman in Mark 14:3-9 touches me deeply. During breast cancer treatment six years ago, I chose not to receive communion due to my lack of immunity and the increased possibility of contracting sickness. As our UCC/Alliance of... Continue Reading →
One of my favorite ornaments on my Christmas tree isn’t the showiest. You may easily overlook the small, white crocheted angel, but the story behind it gives me pause every time I choose a branch to display it. And I remember the story of how Wiley made it. Wiley Dobbs learned to crochet on death... Continue Reading →
I can’t say I was raised on Winnie-the-Pooh, but once I discovered the brilliance of A.A. Milne, Pooh and his friends became my friends too. I was a first-year student in college, and I remember that after the initial luster of college parties wore off and the hard work of being a student set in,... Continue Reading →
Cloaked in bejeweled robes and adorned with crowns of gold, Black Madonnas inspire awe, devotion, and miracles, attracting pilgrims from around the world to Basilicas, Cathedrals, and tiny chapels. Black Madonna of Altotting, Germany In 2018, I too found myself wandering through Europe, visiting sites of Black Madonnas. My curiosity took me to Italy, Spain,... Continue Reading →
Couriosity. I wrote couriosity in my journal for 2021 and gave it another look. I misspelled curiosity, but then I realized that the word combines Courage with Curiosity. Couriosity: To have the courage to follow one's curiosity. Being fearless in taking the next right step towards ones curiosity. As in, "There are many reasons not... Continue Reading →
Isis and Horus, Montserrat Museum Intrigued by images of the Black Madonnas in Europe, I followed my curiosity. I traveled to five Black Madonnas sites in four countries during a three-month sabbatical from my nonprofit work. Midway through my trip, I visited the Black Madonna of Montserrat, Spain, in the spring of 2018. The mountain-top... Continue Reading →
I particularly enjoyed my Hebrew Bible class where we were encouraged to interact with the text through art, poetry, and modern interpretations of the readings. My analysis (or exegesis) of Judges 11:29-40 begins with a poem in which I name Jepthah's unnamed daughter. “Precious” Daughter What shall I name you, Dear One? Joy? Because you... Continue Reading →
Shortly after studying early Christian asceticism and the desert mothers and fathers in class this fall, I attended an online reading with Sue Monk Kidd featuring her 2020 historical fiction, The Book of Longings. During the time for questions, I asked her about the Therapeutae community’s timing in the first century since I understood that... Continue Reading →
To White People, Like Me The United States has the highest incarceration rate globally, incarcerating far more of our citizens than in Russia and China combined. The Federal prison population has skyrocketed from 20,000 people in the late 70’s to over 1,414,162 in 2018. Yet most distressing is the projection that Black men born... Continue Reading →
Couriosity: Pursuing the Divine Feminine 