I’ve been thinking lately about the one and only white Christmas I have ever experienced: 1997, Winter Park, Colorado, during a season of record-breaking snowfall. For this Florida boy, Colorado at Christmas was a strange, exciting new world: skiing, snowmobiling, hot chocolate in front of the fire, snowball fights with my siblings, watching a thermometer […]
As the mystery of Advent and the frenzy of the holidays culminate in this day, the day we celebrate God’s embodiment in our midst, may we find space for rest and reflection. May the hope of Immanuel grow new life, new joy, and new compassion in our lives and in our communities. And may this poem, […]
Last week, Kelsey Paulsen wrote about encountering the fighter within herself, the one willing to wrestle with past wounds and present realities in pursuit of goodness. Here, Charlie Howell, a third-year MA in Counseling Psychology student, reflects on coming to terms with his privilege and the kinds of fights he is choosing to engage. It’s […]
For many of us, the holiday season is a time when we are particularly aware of our mistakes, wounds, and broken relationships, and we are left with the choice to bury them and try to run the other way, or to dig in and fight—against all odds—for goodness and hope. (Like Dr. Dan Allender says, […]
The spiritual and therapeutic work we strive for at The Seattle School is marked by personal integration—the capacity to bring the disparate parts of ourselves into conversation, including the parts we might prefer to keep hidden. Here, Ryan Kuja (MA in Theology & Culture ‘14) writes about how a seemingly ordinary walk forced him to […]
In the wake of the recent attacks in Beirut and Lebanon, Content Coordinator Beau Denton began to ask around for resources that members of The Seattle School community had found encouraging or enlightening. You can read some of those responses, and Beau’s reflection, here. In this post, Dr. Keith Anderson, President of The Seattle School, shares […]
This year, as we planned for The Seattle School’s End of Calendar Year campaign and our upcoming Advent reflection series, Isaiah 40 emerged as a guiding theme. Something about Isaiah’s call to speak comfort in the midst of injustice, the desire for the powerful to be humbled and the ground to be made even, resonates […]
Dr. Ron Ruthruff, Associate Professor of Theology & Culture at The Seattle School, has released his second book, Closer to the Edge: Walking with Jesus for the World’s Sake. In the book, Ron wonders how the world’s perceptions of Christians—and, therefore, its perception of Christ—might change if our way of doing justice work is as […]
We love the work that Megan Peters-February (MA in Theology & Culture ‘13) is doing through Cedar & Soul, a wellness site dedicated to yoga, trauma recovery, healing, and faith. Here, Megan writes about the difficulty of transitions—and the possibility that transitions might offer an essential glimpse into the most fundamental parts of ourselves. This post […]
Recently, The Seattle School community was invited to participate in a special advanced screening of the film Room, based on the 2011 bestseller by Emma Donoghue. Here, Kate Davis—who recently graduated with her Master of Divinity and is now Human Resources Generalist at The Seattle School—writes about the universal themes of captivity, transitions, gratitude, and […]
For many of us, engaging the tangible, felt brokenness of humanity around us can be easier than stepping into the spiritual mysteries of our lives and the lives of others. Here, Joshua Longbrake (MDiv ‘10) reflects on what he learned about prayer and pastoral care from a woman on a pier. This post originally appeared […]
Is there room for each of us to contribute and thrive? What are the messages we consume about the need to be smarter, better, more successful, more popular than everybody else? Here, Matthias Roberts, a second-year MA in Theology & Culture and MA in Counseling Psychology student at The Seattle School, writes about learning to […]