By: Doug Bell When I was a father of three young girls, they would ask me, “Daddy what is the purpose of life?” Why are we here on earth?  I always said “we are here to love others and be loved.  They accepted that, but I realized they wanted something…

By Lize Burr             Last August, I wanted to go to Ireland. I wanted to forget the way Austin feels in the summer. I imagined spending a week in a cool, green place, far from the cloudless Texas sky. I also wanted to go to Ireland because I’ve experienced a…

Dr. Amy Moenke By Amy Moehnke On the afternoon of June 7, I found myself sitting on the ground.  I was at Huston- Tillotson University among a sea of mask-covered faces listening to the lineup of speakers at that day’s Black Austin Rally and March for Black Lives.   I had…

By Joyce Palevitz I have been thinking a lot recently about what it means to observe the Sabbath. I’ve returned to some books that have guided me along the way in the past 10 years or so: Abraham Joshua Heschel’s “The Sabbath” provides grounding in Sabbath-keeping from a Jewish perspective.…

By Ellen Jockusch The highlight of my summer, from when I was age 9 to 17, was spending a week at Camp Capers, the camp of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.  It’s hard to overstate how excited I was as it got closer to the date my parents would…

These are days of collective outrage and mourning. Deathly injustices and waves of protests across the country have jolted us. We grieve with those who grieve the killing of George Floyd. We say the names of those who have died as a result of systematic racism and police brutality. We…

By Jordan Perras The Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen. I’ve done pretty much every personality test under the sun and they all say the same thing: you are someone who likes routine and feeling in control… though of course, I don’t really need…

By Rebecca Hall Thus says the Lord,    who makes a way in the sea,    a path in the mighty waters,who brings out chariot and horse,    army and warrior;they lie down, they cannot rise,    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:Do not remember the former things,    or consider the things of old.I am about to do a…

By Janet Davis Janet is a local Austin spiritual director Count losses and blessings As I sat down to record a few thoughts from this oddly shaped season of pandemic, a voice within began to discount my story: “You haven’t been a big loser here. You are healthy. You can…

By Lynda Young Kaffie Artist, Spiritual Director Leaning against my mirror, there is a quotation on a card that I see every morning as I ready myself for the day. What do you want that you already have? In the midst of sheltering-in-place, constantly washing my hands, keeping socially distant…