Blogs

annerobertson2
Egrets and cows in Florida

My personal website needs a facelift and this is where I'm working on it. It will probably take months. So if you've ended up here and can't find what you're looking for, please still use annerobertson.com. All the old stuff is still there.  Some has been transferred here and any new blog posts are only here.  Clear as mud?  Hopefully things will get sorted out soon.

annerobertson2
Lightning Striking a city with Be Still and Know that I Am God

As January 6 unfolded, many of us were transfixed by the images on our screens, as we watched actions not seen since the British entered and burned the White House and Library of Congress during the War of 1812. Two pipe bombs were found on the Capitol grounds, as those carrying the flag of the Confederacy and sporting shirts that said "Camp Auschwitz" and "Civil War, January 6, 2021" roamed the halls of Congress, broke into both the House and Senate chambers, vandalized offices, and enjoyed taking selfies. For hours.

annerobertson2

A zombie fire is a wildfire that appears to go out but really just moves underground. There, it smolders and burns unseen until the conditions on the top are ripe for the fire to erupt again in its full, destructive measure. There are zombie fires erupting now in the Arctic as the planet warms.

annerobertson2
At Camp Canonicus with my mother

The earliest memories I have of my mother are her singing to me before bed. There are a number of songs that she sang--hymns mostly--but one was almost always in the mix, and it shaped me:

 

annerobertson2
We can't breathe sign at protest beside pandas at Hong Kong zoo.

Christians often turn to the Hebrew prophets for our holy days, which has given us a rather lopsided view of their message. We relish, "Comfort, comfort my people" and all the promises of streams in the desert, mourning into dancing, a return from exile, a savior to come, and life springing from a valley of dry bones.

annerobertson2
Body being loaded onto refrigerator truck

We all wish the times were different. Many of us are missing the comforts of sharing our rituals and traditions with others. But if you're actually mad that you can't gather for Holy Week services, let me gently suggest that you're missing the point of Holy Week. And, if you're opening your church doors and inviting people to gather, I would go as far as to say that you aren't just missing the point, you are negating it altogether.

annerobertson2
Captain Crozier leaving ship

Most of us today are not gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. If we are waving palms, it is at a computer screen and in most of the country we don't even have palms outside our door to grab and wave.

annerobertson2

"If the soul is vigilant and withdraws from all distraction and abandons its own will, then the spirit of God invades it and it can conceive because it is free to do so"

annerobertson2
Lady Liberty beside torch-wielding white supremacists

Our nation is at a tipping point. Racism, alas, is not new. It has at times been driven underground so that we who benefit from the privilege of our race didn't have to look at it. But it has been there, strategically ignored by too many in power. Ask any person of color of any economic background in any part of the country.

annerobertson2

The world is on edge right now. Troops muster, missiles fly; hate and violence cast a pall of fear at home and abroad. We feel a sense of unity with those who share our views on world events but more divided than ever from those who don't. New alliances are made but often at the high cost of once-cherished relationships that now lie in the dust.