Remembering 9/11 at 21

I, like anyone over the age of 25 in the United States, remember where I was on September 11, 2001. My daughter was four-months-old, and we were living on the campus of Andover Newton Theological School. I watched the events unfold live on Good Morning America. As horrific as that day was, we could never have imagined the fallout. The trauma of those who survived the attack and that ...

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Eight Quotes About Encouraging Others

Everyone needs a little encouragement--especially right now. And because we're all dealing with our own sh...um, stuff, we may not be as intentional about encouraging others as we would like to be. Here are a few quotes to encourage you to be an encourager. It matters more than you know. Want to make the world better through encouragement? Take our online class You Got This! The Intentional Encourager. Use the ...

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A Doubting Believer Guide to Masks

Wearing a mask is the official way to love your neighbor in 2020. Studies (many studies) have shown that if everyone wears a mask, the risk of transmission is ridiculously low. Some even say as little as 1.5%. In NYC, where masks have been mandatory for weeks (months!) now, we just hit the lowest death rate since March--while the rest of the non-masked country is experiencing rapid expansion of ...

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What If It Were Your Son?

What if it were your son?What if your unarmed son had been killed by armed men sanctioned by the government? Maybe your son had been casing housesMaybe he had been trying to pass a phony billMaybe he hadn't been doing anything but walking around in the color of his own skin. But whatever he did or didn't do, he was dead. And there was no justice. You called the police.You badgered the district attorney.You ...

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Community in the Midst of Corona Virus

The Corona virus (or COVID-19) is disrupting our sense of community in so many ways. Events like South by Southwest in Austin and Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con have been canceled or postponed. These are events that many people attend year after to year to gather with others who share their interests. They gather with their people, to be in community...and those gatherings aren't happening. In some communities, religious congregations ...

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I Care Food Hacks

Obviously, Doubting Believer is not a food blog or recipe site, but it is about living a life in Christ and becoming the people God calls us to be. A life in Christ is a life of service and care for others. We all know that one of the best ways to show that we care when someone has just had a baby, is dealing with an illness or has ...

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Here’s Hoping

In the midst of the darkness, we hang on to the light.  The prophet Isaiah said, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me,because the Lord has anointed me;he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,to bind up the broken hearted,to proclaim liberty to the captives,and release to the prisoners;To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,and the day of our God.” Hope is convinced that God will keep ...

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For all the Saints

All Saints and All Souls day are coming up November 1 and November 2, respectively. Historically, in the Catholic tradition, All Saints Day has been a celebration of the communion of saints, those people who were believed to have made it to heaven. All Souls was a day to pray for all souls--particularly those who may be lingering in purgatory. Today, many Protestant liturgical traditions use the days interchangeably. ...

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