The Changeling's Cottage

 I've been thinking a lot recently about how I was raised to believe that rebellion in and of itself is a sin. It was a very consistent theme throughout my childhood. This idea that questioning authority, let alone going against it was a terrible mistake that would lead you further from God. Further from heaven.   My mother insisted that if we were to be godly then we as children needed to learn to have unquestionable obedience to God and to the authority figures in our life. She hated when we would ask "why" or when we would struggle to transition from one task to the next as quickly as she expected. To hesitate was to disobey.  Obedience was such a big theme even in the media that I was allowed to consume as a child. It was in the shows that I watched. The books I read. It all created this idea that we need to be perfect obedient soldiers in the army of the Lord. That if we were going to truly live out the great commission then we only needed to be cogs in a missio...

Recently I've been thinking about a passage in the Bible that talks about how we treat "the least of these" is how we treat The Divine. It's Matthew 25:40-45, for those of you who are interested. While this particular section is talking about people in need, I think that it can also be applied to nature. It makes sense to me because along with the command to take care of our fellow humans, the Bible also offers the charge to take care of the earth. It's one of the first things that God commands us to do (Genesis 2:15). Apart from any Christian ideology, the earth is precious in it's own right. She takes care of us even when we do a poor job of taking care of her. This is something aknowledged by many religions and cultures. The way that you treat the smallest of creatures says so much about who you are as a person. I chose a spider, pigeon and rat for this because they are often very misunderstood and treated poorly by people. The least of these, so to speak. 

Here is an older piece that I made a few years ago. I have to remind myself of this often. That my worth is not rooted in how useful or productive I might be.  I hope this can serve as a reminder to you as well. You are worthy of a good life because you are alive. You don't have to prove it to anyone. You can rest and breathe and feel safe.  You deserve joy and peace.