Category:
Scholarly-ish
Infinite
At a recent Bible study, the pastor had us meditate on an excerpt of Jeremiah 29:11: For surely I know the plans I have for you… to give you a future with hope (NRSV). We were asked to identify the most important word in the verse. I started with hope, others started with give, one…
With Thanksgiving
Every once in a while I find myself ruminating on a piece of scripture in a curious sort of way. Not that ruminating on scripture is curious, rather I mean that I get curious about what I’m ruminating on. This happened recently with Philippians 4 and that oft-quoted passage: Do not be anxious about anything,…
Canned Brown Bread (Reflections on Taste and See)
You will read this post in a couple weeks when I have returned from vacation. But as I sit down to write, I am still on the anticipatory side of a 10-day camping trip. We’ll tour some new stretches of my beloved New England, get lost in the woods (hopefully just figuratively), and enjoy some…
Keys to Happiness
A note before I begin: I’ve been chewing on elements of this blog post for a couple years, and the specifics have been developing over the last several weeks. Coincidentally (providentially?) I learned only after I sat down to write that Inside Out 2 is being released into theaters this week. During all the days…
Make a Right Judgment
We’re tackling this blog the old-fashioned way: sweating it out at the keyboard one keystroke at a time. This is because for the first time in a long time, I’m sitting down to write with very little idea about what I’m going to say. Most of my writing these days has been voice to text…
Denominations: What I Love About Our Denominational Differences
I didn’t realize I was odd. Well, let me rephrase. I didn’t realize I was odd in this particular way, until I started to notice: when I went to the Methodist carry-in, everyone was Methodist. When I went to the nondenominational Bible study, everyone was nondenominational. When I went to the Catholic speaker series, everyone…
Scared and Unafraid: Video Presentation!
Back on December 3rd I had the opportunity to lead a presentation on fear. I promise something in here will make you think a bit differently about fear. I hope you take the time to watch. Click the image below to play. This link should start at 9:40 which is right before the start of…
The Speed of Change
I was reading an article the other day on the Catholic Synod that started earlier this month. If you aren’t familiar, this “Synod on Synodality” convened bishops from all around the world to pray for God’s direction for the Catholic Church. Through a series of meetings, this global gathering will culminate in a document of…
How to Handle a Hatchet (AKA, How to be Scared and Unafraid)
If you stumbled across this blog while looking for information on how to handle a hatchet, I recommend this YouTube video I discovered the other day. That video might get you closer to what you’re actually looking for. But while you’re here, you might be curious what kind of rambling connection I’m going to make…
What Are You Wrestling For? (You may need to change it.)
I’ve been wrestling with the deep and the hard these last few years. God knows it. I know it. The bell sounds and we go another round. I think of Jacob wrestling all night long and I think, wow, what a relief that would be if this only lasted one night. But I am persistent.…
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Meet Janet!
Janet Beagle, PhD is the founder of The Mustard Patch. She divides her time between the Midwest and New England, and if she’s not writing, she’s probably out hiking with her 2-and 4-footed friends.