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Missions 101: or How to Be More Like a Soldier of an Oppressive Imperialist...
My all-time favorite Bible character (yes, yes, excluding Jesus) is the centurion whose story is told in Luke 7. I don’t know much about him, yet I’ve loved him to the point of tears since I was a...
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I Wanna Hold Your Hand: Being Physical In A Sexual World
There’s a lot of talk about sexuality these days. Whether it’s about sex outside of marriage, LBGT issues, pederast priests, celibacy as a lifestyle, or gender change – everyone has an opinion, and...
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The Wolf At The Door
We little pigs build – Walls of straw or sticks, or of sheetrock and two-by-fours, block us in and the wolf out. The door is so frail A barrier between us and it. The wolf blows and straw scatters,...
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Musical Pews
A man spent several years stranded on a desert island. When he was finally rescued, the sailors, looking back at the shore, asked him, “You say you were all alone here?” “Yup, all by myself,” he...
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Consider The Dogs
I’ve had a few dogs over the years, but there are three that stand out in my mind: Mama Dog, Marshall, and Archie. Mama Dog came into our yard to starve to death when my husband and I were living in...
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The Rite and the Wrong Way to Live
I commute half an hour each way to work, and there are no decent radio stations in the wilds of western Indiana. I’ve discovered college courses on CD as an antidote to boredom while I drive....
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How We Become Human
Crucifixion, Antonello I know, as a tenet of my faith, that Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection somehow have set me free from death and given me new life. I know that God says that he will...
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Damaris Zehner: Why I Garden
Why I Garden Damaris Zehner What force is it that every year pushes upward from the pod, believing in foliage, flower, and fruit, believing that this year perfection will be reached? I’m not stupid. I...
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Damaris Zehner: What a Difference an “S” Makes
What a Difference an “S” Makes by Damaris Zehner There’s a phrase that strikes me whenever I hear it. It appears every week in the Orthodox liturgy and occasionally in the Catholic one: it is...
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Damaris Zehner: The Crossroads
Annunciation, Fra Angelico First posted in June, 2011. Last month, at Easter, my family and I joined the Catholic Church. Each of us would phrase our reasons for doing so somewhat differently, but...
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Damaris Zehner: The Perspicuity of Scripture? Hmm.
The Perspicuity of Scripture? Hmm. By Damaris Zehner I teach English at a community college campus in rural Indiana. This semester I have a remedial reading and writing class, required for those...
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Damaris Zehner: The Undeserved Grace of a New Beginning
The Undeserved Grace of a New Beginning A Villanelle by Damaris Zehner God blesses me with gifts of time and space To feel the rising warmth of one more day And from the darkness see the dawn of...
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Damaris Zehner: What Makes It Right?
What Makes It Right? By Damaris Zehner I’ve always had a problem with the concept of “two consenting adults” as the foundation for moral decisions. Often the phrase is uttered as a means to reconcile...
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Damaris Zehner: Ponderings on Permaculture
It’s almost spring, and I’m reading about gardening. It’s my yearly ritual to keep hope alive over the winter. This winter I’ve focused on permaculture. I like permaculture because it deals with...
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Damaris Zehner: Some Thoughts on Artificial Birth Control
This is such a divisive topic. I’ve tried for years to write about it and haven’t found the courage or the focus. Here’s my claim: I don’t like artificial birth control. I think it is spiritually,...
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Holy Week 2015: The Coup, the Queen, and the Resurrection (Damaris Zehner)
This is a good year: Orthodox Pascha and Catholic Easter are on different days, so I can go to both liturgies. My daughters and I, though not Orthodox, love the marathon of song, prayer, procession,...
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Damaris Zehner: My Dysfunctional Relationship with God
Rachel Hides Her Father’s Household Gods, Chagall My Dysfunctional Relationship with God By Damaris Zehner Have you ever been in a dysfunctional relationship? Of course you have. They are part of the...
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Damaris Zehner: Integrity of Life
Integrity of Life by Damaris Zehner For, with the old order destroyed, a universe cast down is renewed, and integrity of life is restored to us in Christ. Prayer offered during Mass: May 3, 2015 • • •...
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You’ve Gotta Hear This. It’s Amazing.
The Rock of Ages in the Big Room (Carlsbad Caverns), Ansel Adams You’ve Gotta Hear This. It’s Amazing. By Damaris Zehner Jeff Dunn insists that American readers will refuse to read poetry. He’s...
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Damaris Zehner: Yielding Rights
White Crucifixion, Chagall Yielding Rights By Damaris Zehner When discussions occur on Internet Monk defending abortion rights, contraceptive rights, rights to same-sex marriage, rights to divorce,...
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