We are currently working on normalizing things in our public lives. There are intentions to normalize mental health care; people are talking about their diagnoses, therapy, medications. We are normalizing talking about trauma (when it is safe to do so), rather than whispering about it, like it is something of which to be ashamed. BreastContinue reading “It’s okay to talk about poop, especially if it keeps you alive.”
Author Archives: jshimota
#NoPlasticsForLent
I’m a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and many of us have taken on the Lenten discipline of fasting from single-use plastics. I used to be a teacher, and there’s a teaching method called frontloading we could use here. Frontloading is that thing your teacher did when, before you read aContinue reading “#NoPlasticsForLent”
Where Two or More…
Today, as two first-year students and two staff members gathered for evening prayer (our pattern for Lent), I named something I recognized. Besides the student who had planned and was leading the service, our organist, and me, who was the cantor, one student came to prayer this evening. It has been raining for what IContinue reading “Where Two or More…”
Home
I think I need to let you in. There are parts of this that are a little too much, and I never really know how much to share…but then, I remember how healing it is to have company in pain and joy and wondering. So, maybe you’ll join me. Early this morning, my generous daughterContinue reading “Home”
On Healthy Leave-taking
As I prepare to leave my first call, I am desperate to do it faithfully. In the ELCA, there are rules in place for every pastor who leaves every congregational call, and those rules all really boil down to one thing: You are no longer the pastor of that congregation, and God is calling someone else toContinue reading “On Healthy Leave-taking”
Back Down the Mountain
Not quite 100 of us gathered at Lutheridge this weekend for the Create In Me retreat. Not quite 10 of us were men. This blog is about women. As I schlepped my stuff to my car this morning, I met a woman doing the same. She shook her head a bit and said, “This isContinue reading “Back Down the Mountain”
Evolving Responsibility
~ make yourself at my home, tell me where you been ~ Flo Rida Many months ago, I registered for a conference led by Rachel Held Evans and Sarah Bessey at a beautiful conference center in the Blue Ridge Mountains. My wonderful congregation affords me a week for continuing education each year, and I knewContinue reading “Evolving Responsibility”
Sabbath – from different angles
I’m on vacation this week. It’s important to be sure this week is Sabbath-y. Yesterday, I slept in and got a 90 minute massage…but I also went to the bank to manage some things, grocery shopped, and cooked a lot for the week. So, was it Sabbath? Today, I got up very early (before dawn)Continue reading “Sabbath – from different angles”
Was It Worth It?
It was worth it. Every dollar. Every minute. Every drop of sweat. Every late night. Every early morning. Every long line. Every ounce of sunscreen. It was all worth it. Before leaving for the ELCA National Youth Gathering, I wondered on my blog about the cost of it all. Is the $1,000+ for each personContinue reading “Was It Worth It?”
Is It Worth It?
It’s a whole lotta money. 9 people. 9 airplane tickets 4 hotel rooms 9 registration fees 27 meals a day It’s more than a thousand dollars per person to attend the ELCA National Youth Gathering – and the pre-Gathering conference called MYLE (Multi-cultural Youth Leadership Event). When I think of what that kind of moneyContinue reading “Is It Worth It?”
