Charlotte Johnson
@revcharjohnson
Episcopal priest, spiritual director, reader, knitter, and lover of mapless travel. She/her. www.revcharlottejohnson.com is my spiritual direction site.
Ten year-old Louie has finally been prescribed his first Cone. After discovering how useless it is for sniffing outside, he refused to walk anywhere or to pee. He just stood stock still in the bushes, looking at me. Now, he's resigned to never sleeping again.
The 158th Annual Meeting of Church of Our Saviour, Chicago is complete. This little guy was shaking with excitement when I got home, and it was all for this. Sunday afternoon snuggles are the best!⚓️
In case you're still waffling. I think Catlett's unmistakeable love for her subjects-- including women, children, workers, Black men targeted by state violence-- will probably capture your heart and make you feel for them. I know it did that to me.
If you're in #Chicago and can get to the Art Institute this week, you'll catch the Elizabeth Catlett exhibit. You're welcome!
I love having colleagues who take photos. In this gripping pic, I'm talking through my Christmas Eve sermon one last time.
I'm putting together my Longest Night Service bulletin to share this liturgy with a new congregation. It's a simple thing, offering candlelight, anointing for healing, simple prayers and scripture, and silence. But it holds space for a wide range of human longings and divine grace.(1/2)
You all, we're having real winter! I love this stuff so much!
This little guy loves poking that long snout into every single hole he can find in freshly fallen snow. So much for brisk winter walks!
Well, it didn't yet! But here's Bishop Paula Clark's visitation last Sunday!
⚓️The baptismal font that was used in 1911 when Dorothy Day was baptized has been brought back into the church. I rather like its placement right in front of the new ramp that allows easier access to our chancel.
Why I moved to Chicago-- yet another reason: free good music, less than 2 miles from my house. (Chicago Jazz Fest)
At Chicago's Federal Building, a diverse group of clergy and other faith leaders gathered to pray, sing, and call on Trump to keep troops away from our city. We don't need them. We need $ for education, healthcare, housing.Thanks to Live Free Chicago for organizing and leading us!⚓️ #Chicago
In a little over a month, we'll have our first Sunday back in the church, which today looks like this.
Gathering to honor labor organizers, workers, and those who support them in their struggle. Thanks Arise Chicago!
After some intense thunder and lightning, the sky cleared up for our evening walk. I am so blessed to live here!
Wedged between me and couch, Louie loves having his face squished.
I’m visiting family near Redlands, CA this week and it’s the first time I’ve been down here in years. Today we drove out to Joshua Tree NP. The unique and wild beauty of this landscape sparks my imagination. The stubborn insistence of desert life to keep going in an extreme climate inspires me.
Marching with about 30,000 other people on a damp, chilly day was the most life-giving thing I could have done today. Thanks, Chicago!
A month from now, I’ll begin my ministry as rector of the church where Dorothy Day was baptized and confirmed. When I interviewed, they showed me an icon of her and told me she’d been there, but it felt like a throwaway fact and I didn’t follow up. ⚓️
Little by little, Louie and I are making this new place our home. He’s already determined his favorite long walking routes and I’m finding homes for all the random things I boxed up ten years ago and never unpacked because my rentals were just temporary.