From the 2023 Unsettling Advent Devotional: Christmas Eve

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell explores 'hidden' stories that stood right next to the biblical scriptures as having a valuable word to say about who we are as a people of faith.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell champions the idea that churches can offer counter-cultural recreational programs to put youth sports back at the right size and scale.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that children are walking around each day speaking the language of the world, so it is powerful when we can take those stories and translate them into our own religious language.

"Stories are important — they have the power to make a difference in people’s lives. We may not remember all the details, but we recall how they made us feel."

There is something deeper in this annual beach pilgrimage that goes beyond convenience and tradition, though. For many, this time by the shore is a sacrament or “a thing of mystery and sacred significance.”

There are several reasons why this ritual is a spiritual practice.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that future Christians will point to the names of our colleagues and friends as those who first navigated the waters of leading a church and serving as a wife or mothering a family at the same time.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell argues that the unfortunate consequence of separating ministries into silos based on age and stage of life means churches miss out on one of their biggest monopolies in the world today: being a place of true intergenerational community.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell has watched a generation of young people she worked with over the last two decades walk away from the church and organized religion — and she's not alone. So, what did we do wrong?

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that in our emphasis over the last four decades to tell our girls that they could be anything they want to be, we missed a critical step: we forgot to liberate the boys as well.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that this MLK day, we should honor his great teacher Dr. Howard Thurman by walking in nature, sitting in reflective silence, looking at the ways creation works together, and then applying these lessons to our lives. We might even find ourselves talking to trees.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell believes we are teaching our young people a version of reading the Bible that resembles the game Operation. They often have little concept of “connective tissue” and can only pluck out quotations like the stylized versions of body parts in the board game.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell writes that in our country, we often think about pilgrims in the way that our Thanksgiving traditions teach us — that it is all about the destination. She has always relished pilgrimage stories and dreamed of lacing up her own shoes and traveling by foot to the sacred spaces of her faith. But recently she realized there was nothing stopping her from being a pilgrim within her own hometown.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell offers her thoughts on how the church's model of the larger group tending to the few in need was swept away during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our pastors were like skippers left on ships trying to throw out as many lifelines as they could while keeping the whole ship from going down and rescuing their own families. But now it's time to turn back to the boat and give each other some grace.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell contemplates the seemingly insurmountable task that looms over the Southern Baptist denomination regarding what to do about the recent release of an internal database of abusers. Each of the recommended steps to remedy this problem seems so minor, so insignificant — are they even worthwhile?

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell examines how to go about learning who we truly are at our core through engaging in a few specific practices that might help bring clarity to the view from within. There may be an instinctive draw to know ourselves better, but often we do not really investigate or learn about ourselves as a spiritual practice.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell explores the moment that many Christian parents anticipate from when they first become a mom or dad: their child making a profession of faith. So when her son made his earnest and heartfelt desire to be part of the church global, why did she find a mix of melancholy and even anxiety creep over her?

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on why our kids need church in ways that extend far beyond Bible stories and learning to be nice. There is no doubt our teens are being overcome by waves of anxiety, loneliness, and self-doubt – so how can the local church help without being just “one more thing” that teens have to keep up with or feel obligated to?

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that as we feel the pace of the world quickening again, it is our obligation to fight the urge to keep up. Reconnecting to our wonder allows us to spend time with God in a way that is not transactional.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell examines how the technology that rests at our fingertips can be used as a spiritual practice. After all, many of us only made it through the isolation of the pandemic because of some well-timed memes on group chats.