Telling the Truth

connecting the dots of my life

Category: Spiritual Formation

December 22, 2015

Muslims shielding Christians | CNN newsfeed

CNN reported this out today with an interview and more details about this incident. Take a look right here. Also, check out the short text below the video. Most of the passengers were women! Yes, there were also men. And most of the passengers were women!

To see my post yesterday about this event, click here.

So why is this important? It raises the bar high when it comes to courage and risk-taking in our highly charged global situation. With you, I’m starving for stories like this. Indeed, we’re all starving for proactive kindness and solidarity with people we may not even know. Strangers, and neighbors near and far.

Thanks, CNN!

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 22 December 2015

8 Comments
December 21, 2015

Who is my neighbor? | today’s headlines

Seen in this morning’s headlines: “Kenyan Muslims shield Christians in Mandera bus attack.” How so? By refusing to be divided into two groups—Muslim and Christian.

The article was sobering and uplifting. It also left me wondering this: Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments
December 20, 2015

I love thee for I must | From an Old Soul

Have you ever prayed  for healing? Here’s a challenging entry from George MacDonald’s Diary of an Old Soul. My comments follow.

July 26

Some say that thou their endless love hast won
By deeds for them which I may not believe
Thou ever didst, or ever willedst done:
What matter, so they love thee? They receive
Eternal more than the poor loom and wheel
Of their invention ever wove and spun.
I love thee for I must, thine all from head to heel. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments
December 18, 2015

Advent | A Lament

Bleak-Winter1

Eyes ache
Ears miss birdsong
Body tires of
Indoor exercise
Confining
Repetitive
Winter

Tell me, Winter
Why so sparse
So barren
Even potted plants
Grow tiresome
Droop
Fade Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments
December 16, 2015

Going to Seminary | Part 8

Nora Ephron quote

By fall 1974 the number of women enrolled in Fuller Seminary’s three schools (Theology, Psychology, and World Mission) had grown to about 50. Male students numbered well over 500.

The Ph.D. event I attended highlighted what was missing at the seminary: Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments
December 15, 2015

Going to Seminary | Part 7

1973 Sep Altadena Family Pic 2

Altadena, California style, Sept 1973. Dresses by Elouise; D’s tie by a friend.

Nothing like the experience I describe in Part 5 and Part 6 ever happened again. Going to seminary, and to Fuller Seminary in particular, was the most wonderful thing I could have done at that time of my life.

Nonetheless, this post is also about hard stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

8 Comments
December 13, 2015

A terror-haunted wold | From an Old Soul

A “wold” is a hilly, elevated, somewhat wild stretch of land found especially in Great Britain. Often unsuitable for human habitation. Often windy, with unpredictable weather and dark nights. Prone to terrors like those Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments
December 11, 2015

Contempt wears many faces | A Dream, Part 2

Contempt, best teacher

My dream is calling out to me. If I take the dream as reality, it’s already too late! There I am with those young girls and women in a relatively safe place. What do I do? Nothing, really. Read the rest of this entry »

11 Comments
December 10, 2015

Contempt wears many faces | A Dream, Part 1

San_Bernardino_Tunneleinfahrt

Last week, two days after the December 2 San Bernardino attack, I had a vivid dream. I’ve been puzzling over it for several days. In the meantime, public rhetoric and political talk about what to do and not do about terrorism Read the rest of this entry »

8 Comments
December 9, 2015

Going to Seminary | Part 6

Maya Angelou quote, tumblr_mhan4eWS1o1rv1fi2o1_500

Why write about this now? Because the issue raised by my professor didn’t go away. To his credit, he raised an important issue. Pornography. Yet even if there had been only men Read the rest of this entry »

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