what is your spirit animal?
A little while ago in our secret Facebook group a discussion centered around what our spirit animals were. I had taken a test on this last year after Lisa, who is part Choctaw Indian, had visited an Aboriginal couple near here who had provided her with tons of helpful...
Exercise: give someone something
My cartoon today, iTithe, challenges the legal idea of tithing. But I do believe in generosity. I said, "I believe that when we are generous we live in a more generous universe." Now that Lisa and I don't go to church where we used to give generously, we like to find...
differences and tears
Yesterday was a lovely day so Lisa and I walked down to the river beach and sat while the waves rippled in. We had a heart to heart talk. She's feeling sad because she doesn't know how to pray right now. The old comfortable way no longer suffices. She asked me if I...
Meet a Member Podcast: Jeff Prideaux
Hey everyone! I finally got to interview one of our own members, Jeff Prideaux! What a great guy. We're trying to keep our podcasts down to 20 minutes and we just about succeeded here. Plus, I found out something I never realized about Jeff until I talked with him....
from stupidity to harmony
One of my most favorite authors, Wendell Berry, writes in Standing By Words: "To think better, to think like the best humans, we are probably going to have to learn again to judge a person's intelligence, not by the ability to recite facts, but by the good order or...
what the bible is trying to say
Some people when they deconstruct their faith and beliefs they can just leave the bible in one fell swoop and never think about it again. Not me. I had to form a new relationship with it over time. Here's how I look at it now. The bible has three epochs: The Yahweh...
I still have triggers.
Many of us have had terrible church experiences. Many of us talk about "triggers". Is it any wonder why? Read about one story in this forum thread, Angie's Story. It takes courage to talk about it and, therefore, to relive it. But this is the first step in disarming...
“the notion of hell was my undoing”
One of our newest members, merlentz, who is married to another TLS member Rob Lentz, posted a very vulnerable and honest post about the passing of her mother and her spiritual journey through that experience. You can read about it in the forum thread, "Hello 2", where...
leaving a church under conflict
Some of us are still in the church. And I love that about us. Actually, there are some of us who are in ministry or preparing to be. I applaud that. I stayed as long as I possibly could. Some say I stayed longer than I should have. Maybe. Although it was time for me...
