by Monica A. Coleman | Mar 19, 2013 | Blog, Monica's Blog, The Beautiful Mind Blog
Communal prayer is a tactile experience for me. In my denominational tradition, African Methodism, we come to a wooden altar at the front of the church, kneel, and pray. In my favorite worship experiences, the “Altar Prayer” portion of the Sunday liturgy takes twenty...
by Monica A. Coleman | Feb 7, 2013 | Blog, Media, Monica's Blog, The Beautiful Mind Blog
Blogger Rachel Held Evans invited me to answer questions from her readers in her “Ask a Liberation Theologian” column. Here are my responses: From Benjamin: I grew up in pretty conservative evangelical circles, where liberation theology was generally...
by Monica A. Coleman | Dec 28, 2012 | Monica's Blog, The Beautiful Mind Blog, Uncategorized
The final article in my four-part series on Advent from the perspective of pregnancy. As I think about Christmas and the birth of Jesus, I can’t help but to think about the process of giving birth. Here I reflect on both spiritual and physical birth as I try to...
by Monica A. Coleman | Dec 21, 2012 | Blog, Monica's Blog, The Beautiful Mind Blog
I come from people who visit graves. My maternal grandfather died when my mother was an infant. She grew up going to visit her father’s grave. I grew up the same way. Whenever I’m in the general area of the cemetery, I go to visit, now to the graves of my maternal...
by Monica A. Coleman | Dec 20, 2012 | Monica's Blog, The Beautiful Mind Blog
The third in my four-part series on Advent from the perspective of pregnancy. I draw on the Advent theme of Journeying thinking of the scriptures that discuss Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, the expectant mother of John the Baptist. “Is your back killing...
by Monica A. Coleman | Dec 20, 2012 | Monica's Blog, The Beautiful Mind Blog
The second in my four-part series on Advent for the religion website Patheos.com. I’m writing about the time when we anticipate Jesus’ birth from the perspective of pregnancy. This second article is following the theme: Accepting I was not a young mother, but I was a...