Author: sarainrealife
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Series- Learning to be an Anti-Racist: Work
I am learning to be an anti-racist. More than just “not being a racist,” which I don’t think is a thing, since I benefit from a system put in place by privileged people in power to keep the privileged in power; being an anti-racist is an active, continual practice of holding up a mirror to…
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Pentecost Sunday: An Invitation to Justice
Pentecost Sunday is my favorite day. In the Christian tradition, Pentecost celebrates the giving of God’s spirit to the church. Everyone gathered in worship on that day heard the word of the Lord to them in their own language. The concept of a “heart language” speaks to me deeply as a “Third Culture Kid,” having…
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Lift Every Voice: Amplifying People of Color, Learning to be an Anti- Racist
I wrote this in the summer of 2020. Seems appropriate to revisit. In the wake of the modern -day lynching of Ahmaud Arbery in February which resulted in an arrest of the perpetrators this week, only after video footage of the murder went viral, I want to add my voice to the fight against systemic…
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Alive Day, 2020
In my family, May 5 is known as “alive day,” because of the time on May 5, 2005, when I had a rollover accident on I-20. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. In a matter of seconds, before I knew what was happening, my car swerved into the grass median headed quickly toward…
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Working from Home: Lessons in Adapting
Working from home is a new world for a lot of us, it certainly is for me. The most familiarity I have with not working in the office is sermon-writing in a coffee shop. These days, I am my own coffee shop, office and everything in between. When I was little, if we had family…
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Grieving in Song
*Trigger warning: child trauma, death of a child, children’s hospitals, ER chaplaincy, pediatric chaplaincy* Seven years ago, on March 28, during my chaplain residency, I had what I would call the on call shift from hell. It was a Saturday shift, which means I spent 24 hours in the hospital from 8:30 AM Saturday to…
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Hosanna
“Hosanna in the highest!”That ancient song we sing,for Christ is our Redeemer,the Lord of heaven, our King.O may we ever praise himwith heart and life and voice,and in his blissful presenceeternally rejoice.” Hosanna, Loud Hosanna has been one of my favorite songs for a long time; the hymn tune ELLACOMBE even longer. ELLACOMBE is the…
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Coffee in a Tidy Living Room and other Tales of Quarantine
I finished this painting today. This weekend, Andrew and I deep cleaned the living room and kitchen, as we work our way through the apartment – decluttering and tidying up. Reese is beside herself because everything is where it belongs, and she did not approve of this change in her environment. Cats, am I right?…
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Notes on A Tulip Tree
The Japanese Magnolia was first introduced to me as a Tulip Tree. The most beautiful blooms cover the tree for a few brief weeks, and usually a frost will squelch the beautiful, brief life of these glorious beauties. I noticed the other day that it feels they have been in bloom much longer this year…
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A People, A Legacy, and the Spirit of God
A sermon on Ezekiel 37:1-14 (The Valley of Dry Bones) My first experience with the congregation of Scott Boulevard Baptist Church was memorable, friendly and caring. It was everything you’d expect from this group of people-lovers, complete with a poppy seed muffin meet and greet. On May 18, 2014, I met one of the most caring…
SaraInRealLife 