Our Lady's Lamp

Halloween has little joy for me. Maybe that's because I didn't really celebrate it much growing up because my family didn't do Halloween. But I think it's more than that. Every Halloween, my Facebook feed fills with "Happy Reformation Day!" While at school, there were literal parties celebrating the day Luther pounded those 95 theses on the Cathedral doors and liberated the Holy Spirit from the clutches of the Evil Catholic Church. Do I sound overdramatic? I only wish I was.  It breaks my heart, and I often take a haitus from Facebook around this time if I think about it because of how much it hurts to see our brokenness being celebrated.  “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25) Jesus' words could not be more clear, and I believe we reap the results of the dissent we sow.  "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, tha...

No place is too dark for the Healer; no place is too deep. With little effort, she walks to landscapes hidden from sight and obscured from memory. No landscape is too desolate for her calloused feet to tread. She is the moon, granting a soft light to walk by, the stars twinkling to remind those below of beauty, the gentle pool for the weary to rest their feet and refresh their minds. No place is too far for a Healer, no place too foreign, for inside her is the ability to speak the language of the heart. Her mouth may be still, but her heart surges forth. Her body may be far, but her soul is near. The Healer dreams hope, breathes love, and whispers strength. She does not fear the darkness, for it is not any different than the light. The Healer illuminates the beauty in both and helps mend the broken paths that make the darkness treacherous. She will sing in the sunlight, dance in the rain, sway in the moonlight, and praise throughout the changes.  She may never get to see ...

((Contains Spoilers for The Greatest Showman)) As I wrote in my last post , a Dream has the power to shake the world, change lives, and bring about radical change in individuals and society. But the first time I saw the movie, the thought I came away with wasn't the power of the Dream. It was a bit more depressing, but equally profound for me: "It's the story of a Dreamer who forgot why he was dreaming and had to find his way back." The Dream Can Be A Drug If you are a Dreamer or have ever loved a Dreamer, you know the fierce pain that comes with the ever-present Dream. As a child, Barnum had "A million dreams," and he held to those dreams through the struggle of his father's death, being homeless on the streets, and even while working the railroad so he could be presentable to Charity. Building a world for them was his Dream, and he was willing to fight for it tooth and nail. Not being able to realize your Dream is painful. Hunting for how to...

"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for Been searching in the dark, your sweat soaking through the floor And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore, taking your breath, stealing your mind...." While many people complained about the inaccuracy of The Greatest Showman, I was blown away by the deep, beautiful truths hidden in this achingly beautiful movie. I have seen it five times in theaters so far, and each time, I have taken something new away from it.  And each time I see it, I'm again reminded of - and humbled by - the power of a Dream and the liberation a Dreamer gives the world. I'm reminded, in fact, of the Beauty of the Christ, of that desire of Christ's heart: "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)   Dreams Can Change the World - of Individuals and Groups "Every night I lie in bed The brightest colors fill my head. A million dr...

I'm a dreamer. I'm pretty sure I always have been, and that hasn't always been easy for me. It means I dreamed up crazy things I wanted to do with my life, didn't always hold to the proper ideals for a young Christian woman, and I utterly despise practicality when it imposes itself upon my life. And I had many, many people when I was growing up speak caution to me. Most of them were well meaning, I'm sure. But unbeknownst to them, their words of caution crippled me. They made me start to doubt myself. I allowed their words of caution to clip my wings. So, when I would have a crazy idea, I'd slap it down and chastise myself for not being practical. "Don't you know you can't do that?" "You cannot travel the world and be a responsible adult." "Do you really want to waste your time on school when you really just want a family?" "You know, if you'd just settle, you'd be married by now." "You'll ...