Currently, the list of contributors to this website is rather small. As a matter of a fact, it’s simply one person.
Hi.
I’m Katie.
I’m always learning – about myself, about the world, about anything that will teach me.
And the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. But I’ve also learned that the best and most abundant experiences of my life are always the ones grounded in love, compassion and shalom – a concept of peace that digs deeper than absence of conflict into the place of wholeness, healing and completion. If you’d like to know more about why I write – you can read Why Are We Whispering.
I guess, I *could* give you a list of all my credentials and qualifications for writing about these subjects, but I think I’d rather not. The only credential that matters is that I am alive and I want to live more abundantly.
I invite you to join me on this journey.
I’m always looking for contributions or other authors, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to become part of the Whispered Life!
As they say in Ireland, “Céad Mile Fáilte” or “A Hundred Thousand Welcomes”
from Forgettable to UnForgotten
I’ve been feeling forgettable recently. Like an afterthought. Disposable. Unremarkable. I know that it’s just the insecurity gremlins that have been jumping out to remind this extrovert that when she doesn’t connect she doesn’t have inherent value. Mind you, in my mind I know that this is ridiculous. It’s not true. Let’s be real. It’s bullshit. But knowing doesn’t change feelings. And we forget that feelings are actually some of our deepest wisdom. Because they bring to light those areas that...
read moreThe Return of Babel – a reflection on Genesis 11 for our Times
In my last post, I talked about the flood. The painful, messy, and beautiful termination of humanity by Mother God. But the story does not end there. After Noah lands the Ark, humanity begins again. And once they begin again, they begin to build things. Sacred monuments, towers of gathering, big walls. They begin to erect the Tower of Babel. In this text, we see God scatter people in order for them to fulfill the prophetic word that was spoken over them – to multiply, be fruitful, to steward and fill the earth. In our times, we are...
read moreThe Loss of a Mothering God: Exploring Noah
Most of our depictions of God are of the old, white guy with a beard in the sky, prepared for judgment. If we’re lucky, we’ve rediscovered the vibrant, multi-faceted and very non-white God who Fathers us with love and power and compassion. But if we’re honest, the concept of a Mother God disrupts us and makes us desperately uncomfortable. It’s no surprise that when The Shack revealed God as an older, loving black Mother that so many of us rooted in traditional Western Christianity lost our ever-loving minds. But some...
read moreMusic is for Losers
I remember the moment clearly. I was sitting in a pub on the north side of the Liffey after the world famous Musical Pub Crawl. It was the “open mic” portion where they allow people to share a song. My goto staple at that point was “At Last” but I didn’t want to sing after the slim, pristine blonde diva who had preceded me with her slightly nasally rendition of some pop classic. The evening had been spent in not only sacred musical listening, but also storytelling. That night, I heard a phrase that would shape me...
read moreHELP WANTED: A Village (or a Church?)
Those of you who know me personally, you know I’m a huge advocate of the Church. Especially the Big, Wide, Spacious, Generous, all over the place, hot mess Church. I’ve spent my life in some form of ministry and have even done reconciliation work on personal and broader levels in helping people, churches, faiths, and organizations reconcile. I believe in it. I think it’s amazing… when it’s done right. When it’s the “Household of God” like it’s supposed to be. And in Jewish tradition, that...
read moreWhy #metoo can’t be forgotten…
*trigger warning: descriptions of sexual assault The last few days, watching the students from Parkland has done something inside of me. It’s revitalized a 14 year old me that was fierce, furious, and fantastic. I want to stand with them, and will march with them, and will delight when I see them move mountains. Because they will, and somehow, #neveragain will actually move the mountain of gun culture in this country. I see it, I know it, I believe it. And even as I stand with #neveragain, and rejoice with these teenagers, I’m...
read moreLetting Go
10 years ago, I stood with a friend from Dublin, Ireland in a church in Belfast, Ireland. Now for many of you, that comment may seem innocuous enough, without knowing the history of the “Troubles” in Ireland. Leave it to the British Isles to take a religious conflict with violence, terrorism, dehumanization, and significant destruction of community, and simply call it “Troubles.” But there we were. I had come to support a friend deliver a message – I honestly can’t remember what it was, but she asked me to...
read moreI Believe In Us
I believe in us. I mean that. The last 9 months have felt like a train wreck for a number of those in my circles. People have felt threatened – have experienced personal violence and attacks because of the current political climate. We’ve watched the violence and hatred increase, and it seems like all of the most disgusting and vile things in our country are coming to the light like an infestation of cockroaches. I have never been more astonished by what I’ve seen in the political arena than I have been since November. And...
read moreFrom Easter, 2016
Today is Easter. It feels a bit arbitrarily dated this year, and I almost feel as if I didn’t catch up. I’ve been so caught up in Jewish rhythms this year that my own liturgical rhythms have been a bit more muted. I’m still wrapped up in Purim and deliverance and courage and honor – and so my reflection on Resurrection feels so different this year. We went to church, and it was so uplifting and fun. My “mom” up here in Canada is a pastor of a dynamic little congregation, and like many other evenings with...
read morePermission to Grieve
Well, it seems like grief is going to be my subject of choice for a little while. I missed February and March, and now, here in April, I’m circling back to the subject. I was listening to a podcast today, by Ben Katt (you can find it here: The RePLACING CHURCH Podcast), on having permission to grieve. Some of what he says is similar to what I’ve been saying for years: that we as a people – Western, individualized, bootstrapping (and particularly Christian) people – have rejected grief as an emotion of weakness and of...
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The Whispered Life by Katherine Sturm is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.