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Ellen Painter Dollar

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Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

March 2016

March 15, 2016

A Mother’s Call to Care for Other People’s Children

My good friend Sally has been traveling to the West Bank for a dozen years as...

March 10, 2016

Lenten Compline for the Weary Parent

I need to make room for confession that goes deeper than my grimy kitchen floor...

January 2016

January 16, 2016

The Limits of Gratitude

Gratitude is having a moment in our culture. Lifestyle gurus, including Oprah, tout the positive...

December 2015

December 24, 2015

My Christmas Pageant Moment

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Café web site on January 21, 2010, and has...

August 2015

August 03, 2015

Big Gifts of a Small Life: Meeting God in Sticky Floors, Carpools, & the Needy People I Call My Own

We must believe that it's necessary to go on with small acts of daily care...

July 2015

July 18, 2015

Suspicions Confirmed: Local Volunteer Does Not, In Fact, Have a Life

I've been on a wonderful family vacation and recovering from the whirlwind end of the school...

June 2015

June 13, 2015

On a Difficult Anniversary, Making Room for the Better Stories

I will always remember that terrible June day in 2009. But I’ve reached a point...

April 2015

April 22, 2015

“Why don’t you just adopt?” is the wrong question to ask infertile couples. Here’s why.

Besides making people feel defensive for experiencing the fundamentally human urge to conceive and bear...

March 2015

March 26, 2015

Natural Family Planning Isn’t the Only Ethical Option for Christians: Why I Chose an IUD

As I cradled my third newborn in his first hours of life, I was seized...

January 2015

January 29, 2015

The Perfect Pair of Boots and the Essential Work of Parenting

I wonder if, as our children grow and their increasingly complicated needs outgrow our capacities...

December 2014

December 16, 2014

How Much is Too Much for Holiday Giving to Kids?

Three perspectives on why holiday gifts and giving traditions need to be thoughtful, meaningful, and...

November 2014

November 21, 2014

On Three-Parent IVF and the Act of Begetting

Every few months, a story pops up about a new frontier in reproductive medical technologies:...

October 2014

October 31, 2014

Bittersweet Bedtime Stories

My two younger kids were feeling nostalgic the other night. While they have long been in...

September 2014

September 08, 2014

Kids, Kidneys and Other Distractions

It's normal for me to be less productive in the final weeks of August, as...

May 2014

May 21, 2014

Abiding with the Living and the Dying: Thoughts on “Holding Silvan”

This assumption—that a life marked by suffering is not worth living—leads us to believe that...

May 14, 2014

The God of Laundry and Transformation

It makes sense that God became incarnate as a man. Not because God is one...

May 07, 2014

A Broken Body, Redeemed

Eight years ago, when my three children were still very young, we traveled to Omaha...

May 06, 2014

Resemblances

“Look at those fingers! And her toes! So long and skinny…just like yours, Ellen.” I...

April 2014

April 28, 2014

How My Daughter (“the Mensch”) Taught Me About God’s Love

Saturday night, as we drove south on Route 9 in the rainy twilight, a billboard...

February 2014

February 20, 2014

Separate Sex from Procreation….& End Up in Dystopia?

We progressive Christians like to roll our eyes at the Roman Catholics for their official...

February 14, 2014

On Valentine’s Day, Love (Not Romance) is What Matters

Our Valentine's Day celebrations are even more pathetic understated than usual this year. Many years, Daniel...

February 10, 2014

Ode to a Minivan

I love my minivan for lots of reasons having to do with convenience, but also...

February 05, 2014

Lessons from the Renovation

Our kitchen renovation has been going on for one entire day, and I'm already tired...

February 04, 2014

God Does Not Make Me Happy (or Three Things I Learned About My Relationship with God)

Last weekend, I went on a one-night retreat with my church's vestry. (In an Episcopal...

January 2014

January 29, 2014

Our Home’s Resurrection Continues with a Kitchen Renovation

Next week, we start a major kitchen renovation. I promise this will not morph into...

January 23, 2014

What We Can and Can’t Know About Our Babies Before They are Born

In using genetic screening to ensure that our baby would not inherit my painful bone...

January 22, 2014

An Op Ed Loaded with Oversimplifications about Abortion & Adoption

I've avoided writing about abortion for a while. It's an issue tangential to my core...

December 2013

December 17, 2013

Broken Ribs, Crooked Backs, & Seeing Our Vulnerable Selves Reflected in Another

Having a body that defies cultural norms as mine does (it is crooked, uneven, lumpy,...

November 2013

November 26, 2013

What is Your Deep Gladness?

This past weekend, my church parish hall resonated with the voices of young actors and...

November 21, 2013

Should Able-Bodied People Ever Use a Handicapped Bathroom Stall?

Last week, writing for Everyday Feminism, Erin Tatum offered a terrific list of 10 Ways to Avoid...