A Reflection on Being a Visitor About 8 years ago I attended a regional Catholic Worker gathering for families like mine: people of faith who operated houses of hospitality. I lamented to the other leaders that our first resident volunteer had prematurely announced her departure the week before, leaving the co-founder and me to lead […]
unity
Let’s Not Chase the Spotlight
Stage lights shone on my two friends as they belted out “Making Our Dreams Come True” at our high school pop concert. For weeks they had practiced this arrangement of the theme song from the TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley. The time in rehearsal had certainly paid off. The three of us had done everything […]
Under this Same Sun
It wasn’t cued to play today. It’s been years. But somehow between My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Imogen Heap, and all the other music encroaching the playlists of parents with teens, it surfaced: This fragment of life Lora gave me a lifetime ago. I listen to The Weepies, as the Steve Tannen from 16 years […]
Grace in the Middle
Editor’s Note: Don’t miss the audio addition of Nicole’s piece below – where she narrates her journey into liminal spaces and delves deeper into finding grace there . . . in the middle. (The Mudroom Podcast, Episode 5) I was falling behind, dragging them down. I glimpsed it on their little faces—the fear gathering in […]
Podcast: What Are You Afraid Of?
Season 1, Episode 4 Catherine McNiel is asking this question of herself and others: “What are you afraid of?” Why, she asks, are we, as Christ-followers, often taught to fear our neighbors, withhold hospitality from strangers, and vilify the “others”–those whose beliefs, appearances, and lives look different than our own and perceive them as a […]
A Spool of Thread and a Piece of Pie
I was searching for a spool of black thread last summer. I couldn’t find one. Supplies were depleted in brick and mortar stores, and nothing was available at the online marketplace named after a gargantuan river. A simple roll of black thread proved to be a scarce commodity. All I needed to do was mend […]
Broken Body
The Deacon walked from group to group administering the sacraments. Each family stood masked, in front of their camp chairs, in an empty parking lot. Our church had pivoted during the pandemic, which allowed my husband and I to feel safe bringing our asthmatic 18-month old to worship. But while our church’s new protocols kept […]
How Much Cultural Discomfort Can You Put Up With?
I know it’s hard to embrace someone else’s cultural values. Whether it’s their noise level, the smell and look of their food, their communal gatherings, the way they look at you, talk, dress, or act, another person’s way of life often feels like a disruption. Their actions and words can annoy us or make us […]
What’s in Amanda Gorman’s Name
You know her titles: National Youth Poet Laureate. Inaugural poet (youngest ever). Harvard University graduate. Super Bowl show-stopper. Amanda Gorman: The one with her hand uniquely positioned on the pulse of a nation past, present, and future. But from a recent interview with Michelle Obama (Time Magazine),1did you know this about her name? “President Biden […]
February in The Mudroom
We are exploring the virtues together this year. February’s theme will be STABILITY. Submissions are open and the deadline is February1. Click here for writer’s guidelines. “For many of us, stability is an uneasy concept; we don’t think about it much except to worry that if we remain in one place while the world changes […]
Silent Night, Transcendent Light
Lyrics & Light image designed by Amanda Tingle Taylor.
Unmasked
We wait under a warm October sun—in a long line of anxious and eager pretenders. Princesses, pirates, and Baby Yoda wiggle away in excitement as parents corral them back to their designated, socially distanced marks. In front of us stand a pair of brilliantly-costumed frappuccinos (pool noodles attached to headbands for straws = brilliant) and […]
A New Way of Seeing (Saved For Each Other)
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. –The New Zealand Anglican Lord’s Prayer I wanted to savor each sip of chai in the tiny aluminum cup. I didn’t mind its heat on my hands even though my scarf already stuck […]
I am a Threshold of Flesh and Blood
I was young when I first realized that my biracial existence inhabits liminal space. We piled into the sticky church van, and left the Californian mountains where I’d spent a week at an Asian American Christian summer camp. It was my first experience at a summer camp, my first experience with a large group of […]
Every Anxious Thought
Editor’s Note: Words fail, we find, in these extraordinary days. We stumble to enunciate this new life with them. Often, we have no words—even for God. Twenty writers and ministry leaders (Mudroom sisters included) joined together to offer theirs. The Pandemic Prayerbook: A Pray-at-Home Guide for the Corona Crisis is a collection of 30 prayers […]
Women Working Together Toward Liberation
A woman of valor is a sight to behold—just read Proverbs 31 to see her in her glory, shining like a solitary stone perched in a pronged setting. Industrious producer, blessed mother, purveyor of wisdom, she even finds time to tirelessly advocate for the poor of her community. No wonder she is praised at the […]