A decade ago, I listed 54 random thoughts to commemorate my 54th birthday. You can read those here: https://wordpress.com/post/thewavereturns.org/167 Today I turned 64, so I decided to see what spills out when I try this again. I haven’t reread my old list recently, so it’ll be interesting to see if there are any commonalities.
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Churches do NOT have to have an official vote about disaffiliation with the UMC.
Read moreOn a Palm Sunday in the early 1970s, I was confirmed as a member of The United Methodist Church. I was excited to officially join my church, and I looked forward to being active in the large, dynamic youth group which became the cornerstone of my social life throughout my junior high and high school years. At the time, the
Read moreThe longest hours of my life were the couple times I went to prayer meeting with Grandma. I was young, not more than eight or nine, and I have gauzy memories of sitting quietly in a small-town living room littered with lace doilies, surrounded by serious women wearing hats, dresses and semi-sensible shoes. Not their fancy Sunday hats, of course–this
Read moreWe were talking about the Apostle Paul traveling around doing his apostle thing when this conversation took place (recreated as well as I can): Man: Well, I see the rules that Paul set forth and wonder why we’re not following them better. Teacher gets a gleam in her eye and turns to me. Teacher: Jeannine, do you have any ideas
Read moreYears ago, when I was a much younger teacher, I had a conversation with my Grandma Flo that I still mull over sometimes as I do lesson plans. Grandma knew I was an English teacher, but she was curious exactly what I did. She assumed meant I taught grammar and punctuation, “things that would help kids get a good job,”
Read moreCaveat: yes, I think too much. Just nodding and smiling and passing the Communion juice would make me a whole lot more fun. But…I went to church yesterday, and since no one answered my texts as the sermon was starting, I listened to our minister talk. (Another caveat: I like him. He’s a very good guy, and would undoubtably be
Read more2020 Note: I no longer am Methodist or want to turn Quaker, but St Clare is still my patron saint. Ok, so a Methodist who wants to turn Quaker probably shouldn’t have a patron saint. I understand that. But when I discovered St Clare, there was no choice. As a saint, she’s got impeccable creditials. She was one of St
Read moreEveryone talks about “reaching out” and “building relationships,” especially with people who are different than ourselves in some way–race, status, age. At school, the battle cry for 5 years has been “Rigor, relevance, relationships,” with the a priori that without relationships, we won’t be able to create rigor or relevance. And even though I understand the effectiveness at having good
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The Wave Returns 