Scarritt Bennett Center Blog

The Spirituality of Age

By Joyce D. Sohl On Saturday, December 5 a retreat/workshop will be held in the International Room in Scarritt Hall from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Dr. Carol Orsborn, author and teacher will lead the event. She and co-author Robert L. Weber have just published their...

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Reflections on Highlander

By BHB Fellow Karissa Deiter Waking up On a foggy Saturday morning in New Market, TN my fellowship cohort and I hiked up from the parking lot toward the Highlander Center Homecoming’s opening plenary. Once atop the green hill and catching our breath, we were rewarded for...

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Blow Your Fears Away

By Joyce Sohl, Laywoman-in-Residence We live in a society filled with fear. We are afraid of change; of people that are different than we are; of uncertainty; of the unknown. For some the solution is to buy a gun; others choose to remain in their own...

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For the Common Good

By Joyce Sohl, Laywoman-in-Residence Pope Francis’ messages to the American people, often referred to the “common good.” In his message to Congress he said: “You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common...

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Bold Faces

“The hair represents the loss of having it pulled out. The choker represents strangulation. The wire on the mouth represents being forced to keep quiet. The words on the back of the head represent what I am leaving behind. The words on the front of the head represent where...

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Holy Obedience

“God abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey” - John H. Sammis, 1887 Remember the story of Queen Esther. A young Jewish woman in the court of a mighty king who had to make a very difficult decision – Do I save...

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“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”

One of the best songs from show/movie South Pacific is this one by Rodgers & Hammerstein: “You’ve got to be carefully taught to hate and fear, You’ve got to be taught from year to year, It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear You’ve got to be...

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A Labyrinth in Midtown

four days before the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima August 2015, by Chance Chambers Ichi purgation I’ve never let go of anything. Napkin starship blueprints, pink guitar picks from 1993, my mother’s voicemail greeting from this side of the ether. It’s all there among my unpacked ruins, static in...

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Listen to God

Throughout our lives we have been told to “Listen.” Perhaps it was our mother, teacher, spouse, friend, or even the public media trying to sell us something. In every case we were/are told to listen to the message addressed to us. The scriptures also tell...

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