Liz Cooledge Jenkins

Category: Stuff I’m Reading

  • Where We Meet (A Lenten Devotional)

    Hi friends, Who knew that The Upper Room had a progressive side? Maybe you did; I sure didn’t.  So I was delighted when one of their folks reached out and asked if I’d like to take a look at their new Lenten devotional book: Where We Meet: A Lenten Study of Systems, Stories, and Hope.…

  • We predated evangelicalism

    Hi friends, Where did most of January go? I have no idea. But I do have a random thought for you today. I recently read poet Maggie Smith’s memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, and I was struck by this line: “I predated this shit, the music reminded me, and I would outlast it.”…

  • Fave nonfiction reads of 2023

    Hi friends, Happy Near Year! I read so much good nonfiction in 2023. It has been difficult to cull through and name a few favorites.  I think it’s especially hard because different books meet different people in different ways—or even meet the same person in different ways at different times. I’m very aware that for…

  • Fave fiction reads of 2023

    Hi friends, Whatever else this holiday season holds for you, I hope it involves at least a little bit of time to hole up somewhere cozy with a warm beverage and a good book. (Is that just an introvert’s vision of an ideal day?) So, this seems like as good a time as any to…

  • What exactly broke the world? Reflections on Fortune by Lisa Sharon Harper

    Hi friends, Something I love about Lisa Sharon Harper’s recent-ish book Fortune is that it raises—and then unpacks—this question: What exactly broke our world? I think this is a crucial question. But it’s not always one that we talk about—at least not with nearly enough specificity. In my experience in Christian circles, in particular, people…

  • If love conflicts with our politics, let’s change our politics

    Hi friends, I don’t often seek out Christianity Today articles, but sometimes people bring them to my attention. And sometimes I have some feelings and thoughts about them that feel worth sharing. For instance: this recent piece about a West Texas pastor who shelters migrants, despite holding generally Republican stances on immigration. It’s so complicated.…

  • Individualism twists our understanding of injustice

    Hi friends, Ally Henny was an (online) classmate of mine in seminary, and I’ve appreciated her voice on social media ever since. But I hadn’t really read much of her (non-social-media) writing until now.  I just read her recently released book, I Won’t Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You.…

  • Calling all with a “Grand Mother spirit”

    Hi friends, This week I want to offer you two poems. (Well, one’s definitely a poem; the other is debatable, but it’s not not a poem. So I’ll just be calling them “two poems” for short.) We talked about both of them in the “God, Gender, Power” class I’ve been facilitating at my church for…

  • Super chill book review part 2: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

    Hi friends, I’m back with a few more thoughts and quotes from The Nap Bishop Tricia Hersey’s book Rest is Resistance. (Check out part 1 if you missed it.) I continue to reflect on all these things. If you’re thinking about them too, let’s connect—drop a comment or email if you like. Starting where we…

  • Super chill book review part 1: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

    Hi friends, My general goal is to post here weekly-ish, so I kind of wanted to get a “super chill book review” of Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto (Little, Brown Spark 2022) out last Friday.  But then I was tired. There’s been a lot going on. And I thought, if I’ve learned anything…