Beth Wise

Tag: the church

  • On the Death of White Saviorism

    Alex and I got married when we were 20. We were two young farts who chose to get married at 2pm on a sweltering August day in Dallas in a historical home that had two window A/C units, no chairs, and very little cross ventilation. To say that our guest remember only one thing about…

  • Peace, Peace

    “‘When people fall down, do they not get up?     When someone turns away, do they not return? Why then have these people turned away?     Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit;     they refuse to return. I have listened attentively,     but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of…

  • Faith and Deeds

    I’m teaching Sunday school this month. My first day was yesterday. Usually, teaching Sunday school is a hellish experience, more akin to a cage fight than the idyllic picture of children learning quietly about Jesus around a table. We are lucky if we can get through the lesson without someone using the word ‘boobs’ or…

  • There is more room! There is more room! There is room for all of us!

    I just finished reading Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey. It kind of rocked my world (in probably a different way than you would think). If you’re my friend, I’m going to force you to read it, so watch out. It’s an important book. Important for women. Important for men. Anyway, Sarah Bessey writes beautiful prose.…

  • Jesus Loves the Criminals

    A few weeks ago, I finished a book at the behest of a friend. He had been bothering me to read it for about a year, but non-fiction is hard for me, ya’ll. But I finally picked it up at the library. I devoured it. I think it took me three days. And that’s with…

  • I Hugged an African Today

    I Hugged an African Today

    Full confession: I work .8 miles from where the infected ebola patient was staying. Yep, Google Maps tells me that I could walk to his apartment in five minutes. The chance that he passed by the ESL school where I work is pretty high, considering that all roads in the neighborhood lead to Wal-Mart. I…

  • Fight the Pharisee: Woe #1

    I washed my hair with moldy apple cider last Sunday. It was unintentional, I assure you. Last year,  I found out that rinsing your hair with alcohol (i.e. beer) was really good for it and so I’ve been doing it every so often since November (read: During our home study, there were cans of beer that…

  • Finding Freedom in a Coffee Shop

    If you wanted to find me on Sunday mornings, before church, you’d have to drive over to a little coffee shop that has been tucked away in a small strip mall in Richardson.  If you went in to that coffee shop, you would be surprised that they let me continue to come each week because…

  • The Prodigal Daughter

    You probably know this verse: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30…

  • 2013: A Year in Review

    Well, friends, Man, what a year. I, for one, am glad that the world did not end in 2012.  If I had to characterize this year as one thing, I would say it was the YEAR OF LEARNING. I’m getting older and, I actually feel it, a little wiser. Yes, I still have BIG FEELINGS…