let’s put our hands together and welcome guest blogger Jim Henderson of Off The Map as he adds his thoughts to the Women’s Day blogfest…

If Men Were Mothers

If men had to endure (even one time) what their mothers went through to bring them into the world (a.k.a. give birth) Mothers Day would have been declared a national holiday 100 years ago. Bands would march, politicians would attend and the men/moms would be feted beyond recognition and the children’s birthdays would be about the moms not the kids. Kids would ritually remember to thank their men/moms for the pain they went through to bring them into the world.

The world is mostly screwed up because men run it. We are … {read more…}

This is not a complicated post. It is not eloquent or finely nuanced. It is simple, straightforward, and hopefully very clear. You do not need to try to read between the lines. I’m telling it to you straight. This is a call to action—a request for people who find themselves in my story to become vocal.

[Look here for a list of other participants in this grid blog.]

I live in Seattle. I am an ordained, seminary-trained minister. I will tell you up front that I have a generous theology and a generous life. I have an unapologetically postmodern hermeneutic, firmly established egalitarian views, and a very open house. I am unashamedly Jesus-y. I love the guy, body and soul. … {read more…}

Update March 10th: I can’t keep up with all the folks who are sending me news that they posted, so the below list is a little truncated. So readers, once you’ve made it throug this great list, check in the comments and see more bloggers who have linked to thier posts. Oh, and everyone be sure to read Christy Lambertson’s post. Stellar writing and thinking. love, R

Today is International Women’s day.

We’re making it the day we raise our voices, the day we use our hammers to dismantle patriarchy and build something that looks more like kingdom. Below you can find links to most of the participating bloggers. I’ll update the list throughout the day. … {read more…}

i put it all away today.

-the storyboard for the ‘zine i was hoping to have up by spring

-the supplies for the art journal class i was trying to teach at Fremont Abbey

-the file for my writer’s group

-the business cards for the publishers who had approached me about writing a book

-the plans for a spiritual direction practice

all of it is in a file box, like the kind they store evidence in in tv crime shows.
evidence that i once had a life that was bigger than pain. but now pain dominates, and everything else gets put on hold.

it’s all i can do to move through a day, take care of my family, be present to my children.

i can’t … {read more…}

the basin is dry again. the stones lie at the bottom bereft of holy water. the cathedral, though nearly empty, is loud. someone laughs raucously in the hall behind the high altar. i feel resentful. i resent.

all day i have been slow to move and heavy. the pain like a skewer driven through my skull at either side of the median. the hopeful three days of cure a hoax. the botox a failure. my eyes are dry and tired and i doze in the face of to-do lists, sleep before stacks of laundry. the euphoria of yesterday’s lenten anticipation is gone.

now i am only
hollow

a rattling knuckle
loose inside my skull
a dog’s bone
a chewed on joint
rolling and clanking
with any subtle movement
loosed … {read more…}