Author: Jill Crainshaw
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Star-Watchers, Re-Routed
JILL CRAINSHAW — Epiphany opens our eyes not only to divine presence, but to the costly work of hope born in daylight.
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Rituals of Belonging : Liturgical Pathways for Aging, Health, and Spirituality
JILL CRAINSHAW — What rituals carry you? What liturgical pathways might your community open to honor all bodies, all ages, all seasons of life?
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Dust to Dust Indeed
JILL CRAINSHAW — I used to think we face our mortalities and shortcomings when our foreheads are ash-smeared. This wisdom endures, but this year? I see both the fragility and wonder of human mortality in the eyes and actions of those whose shoe-dust mingles with mine along life’s myriad highways and byways.
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Words Made Flesh
God’s Word and words made flesh in preaching and worship matter. Communication and not the noise of slogans or the repetition of cliches is becoming more and more difficult. . . speech is in danger of perishing or being perverted in the amplified noise of beasts. . . .There is therefore it seems to me…
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God’s Hands, Our Hands: A Holy Week Reflection
So many people across the globe have been on my mind throughout this Lenten season. One image haunts me even as it steadies my thoughts. Hands.
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A Widow’s Mi(gh)te
I have been wandering a writing wilderness. My human dustiness has fogged my brain and smudged my creative vision for many months now. A few weeks ago I experienced an unexpected stirring of my imagination. Some friends and I were gathered together near a park in my city. A wonderful water feature, a fountain with…
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Writing Prayers Together: Mercy Embraced and Grace Discovered
. . . out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34b God spoke life and beauty into being in the beginning. Through psalm-singers and shepherds on hillsides, through prophesying women and dreaming men, through a teenager in Nazareth and an angel in Joseph’s ear, through prophets, priests, princes, and kings, God…
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Some Stones, a Little Oil, and a Good Night’s Sleep
I teach worship and liturgical theology at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. After many months of “Zoom worship,” we returned to our beloved chapel on campus several weeks ago. I had the honor of serving as the proclaimer for the August 31 chapel service, our second service of the semester. The text for the…
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“Words Are Turtles”: Some thoughts for a new season of teaching worship
A new semester has begun! As a teacher this semester, I am excited about reading the written work of my students. I know from past experience how many wonderful insights, questions, and big ideas surface from mysterious depths as students craft reflections and essays. I celebrate the gifts that await our shared discovery, springtime gifts…