Last week we discussed the thinking of a few Western philosophers on the mind/body connection. These men siloed the mind from the physical body, which has influenced our present day fragmentation of the self.

Since the physical body and the mind are NOT meant to live in isolation of one another, what are some practical ways we can integrate the...

At Religion for Her we seek to lift up the full person (body & soul) as we engage with scripture. We desire for women to engage with sacred texts from their own lived experiences. However, many of us have been trained to read scripture intellectually, often without noticing subtle cues from our intuition, our physical bodies, or our...

Buried within the description of the building of the Tabernacle at the end of Exodus, is a curious phrase:

(Bezalel) made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. (Exodus 38:8).

Who were these mysterious women ministers and what was their role?

This...

I first fell in love with the Hebrew language because it is so image-driven. You don't just get angry, your two nostrils redden; you're not just a male, you are one who pees against a wall. Reading the Hebrew Bible is like a treasure hunt, with new imagery jumping off the page in each passage. I have long found it thought-provoking and moving...

It is the beginning of a new year, which means many of us are making goals or resolutions. I would like to reorient our thinking some. Instead of goal focused, I would argue that aligning our core values alongside daily habit formation is what makes the biggest impact on our lives.

Why should we assess our values and habits instead of making a...

by Melissa Ramos

Netflix’s Wednesday is a pretty Christmas package of fantastic noir comedy. This series includes the visually stunning cinematography we have come to expect from Tim Burton, a clever and humorous soundtrack with soaring notes in Danny Elfman’s haunting and jaunty style, and a sensational performance by...

As I sat down this week to prepare a message for a Christmas Eve service, what loomed large in my reflections was the birthing and nursing mother as an icon of love, and how complicated this imagery is in society and also in church communities.

In her recent book The Biblical Mothers Deliver, Nancy Klancher cites a “job description”...

For thousands of years people have documented their communication with the divine. Archaeology has uncovered countless prayer texts written on papyrus or inscribed on stelae (upright stone slabs). A few weeks ago we looked at the Thanksgiving Hymns, a set of prayers similar to biblical Psalms, which were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. These...

The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 tells the extraordinary story of outsiders who become insiders. 

Most people think genealogies are boring. Long lists of names are rarely considered inspirational. But buried in the lists of the family tree of Jesus in Matthew 1 are surprises that tell a story of radical inclusion. This long list of...

This week we are featuring another artist conversation, adding a new voice to a growing dialogue about art as an important facet in religious interpretation. 

Melissa Webster is an artist, art teacher, and art historian, who has agreed to share with our community some of her woodcuts illustrating themes of Advent.

JODY W: ...

This week many in the United States pause, gather together, and give thanks. Giving thanks is a practice preserved in cultural memory and recorded in written texts. In Jewish literature, the Psalms are a testament to this tradition of giving thanks. For over two thousand years, psalms of thanksgiving have been read in services and in homes.

But...

Artwork by Diane-Blair Goodpasture at www.goodpastureart.com. 

She is considered a “black feminist pop icon” to some, and to others the ancestor of Ethiopic kings. But to all the Queen of Sheba is a powerful figure of biblical narratives who is portrayed as an auspicious authority in international politics and whose...