Grace and Peace, Joanne

“Art and Faith,” by Makoto Fujimura We would relish God's invitation to create without the inhibition of embarrassment or inability, or cringing in fear at the inevitable smack-down. We would throw ourselves heart, mind, soul, and strength, and with great joy, into the project. ... https://graceandpeacejoanne.com/2026/08/05/art-and-faith-by-makoto-fujimura/

“Primal Intelligence,” by Angus Fletcher (Part 2) Fletcher’s challenge to make new plans when the environment changes, and to junk our must successful plans (that was then, this is now) is bracing counsel that sits well, as is his exhortation to be bold. A mentor of mine once urged me to “fail fast and fall hard,” or something like that. “Cut away the tried-and-true and double down on the eccentric, until you make a breakthrough”... https://graceandpeacejoanne.com/2026/07/29/primal-intelligence-by-angus-fletcher-part-2/

“Primal Intelligence,” by Angus Fletcher (Part 1) The human brain thinks in story, and that kind of thinking can be observed in intuition, imagination, emotion, and common sense. Mentally, I was rubbing my hands with anticipation to read this book, and I was not disappointed.... https://graceandpeacejoanne.com/2026/07/22/primal-intelligence-by-angus-fletcher-part-1/

“Ecosemiotics,” by Timo Maran Perhaps we view Maran in the way we might view a Hebrew Testament prophet, as one who is telling us the awful truth while there is yet time to do something about it.... https://graceandpeacejoanne.com/2026/07/15/ecosemiotics-by-timo-maran/

Abigail: God’s Ambassador How could a marriage so broken, weighted by the burden of abuse and unchecked addiction, bring any good to Abigail? And yet, God had a magnificent purpose in this apparently mismatched couple, as Abigail’s story reveals....

Rebekah: Single-Hearted Faith Rebekah is most remembered for her elaborate—and successful—plan to fool Isaac into giving Jacob both the birthright blessing and the Abrahamic blessings, the promises of God. Her intelligence, persevering faith, and costly sacrifice are often forgotten in the negative reading of her account. Lessons about consequences and familial dysfunction are drawn from her story, but seldom is her single-hearted devotion to God and to God's word highlighted....

Martha: From Burdened to Beatified Most of us remember the Martha depicted in Luke’s Gospel, the busy beaver who is reprimanded by Jesus, and chastened to be more like her spiritual sister Mary. Or, at least, that is the sermon I’ve heard many a time. But I do not think that is the Martha Jesus knew and knows to this day. Imagine, with me, a very different story....

Leah: Tender-Eyed Faith How could God allow such an unhappy marriage of unrequited love, intense loneliness, continuing rejection, and Leah’s broken heart, with seemingly no hope for change? And yet the Lord did have a plan in mind, a purpose so crucial it involved the salvation of the world: for the faith that matured in Leah was the faith her sons would grow up in....

Mary of Bethany: Choosing the Better Part "... And it will not be taken from her." Mary of Bethany's account reveals an emotionally sensitive and spiritually attuned disciple of Jesus, one who was ready to break through the barriers of her culture and time. Each of the scenes in her story place her at Jesus's feet, in some of the more intimate moments in Jesus's own life....

The Witch of Endor, Unexpected Grace The Witch of Endor has been much vilified over the course of these thousands of years. She was, after all, a necromancer, one who communicated with the dead. God had expressly forbidden such interactions, not because the dark arts were counterfeit, but rather because God forbade intercourse with any other spiritual powers than God alone. Israel’s covenant was one of express fidelity to Almighty God and no other. Still, on second and third read, intriguing possibilities and perplexing questions arise....

The Sinful Woman: Faithful and Forgiven

Nobody is simply two-dimensional evil. There is always a backstory, as there was for Jezebel. She was fiercely faithful, just not to God.

We might get the impression that as a young girl, being visited by Archangel Gabriel she was soft, submissive, gentle, meek. And certainly, she had these qualities, but is it possible we’ve missed the real person underneath the patina of two thousand years’ worth of iconography?

Being a biblical woman, from Elizabeth’s example, means living faithfully even when it seems unrewarding, believing boldly, even when circumstances seem unlikely, speaking prophetically when filled by God’s Spirit.

Once we dispense with the popular but false paradigm so often preached, and reexamine Bathsheba’s story from God’s perspective (rather than man’s) as written in the scriptures, a very different story emerges.

Like the disciples before her, and unlike Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman moved from conversation with Jesus to conversion, to co-laboring with Jesus in his ministry. Jesus came to Samaria to transform this woman at the well into a disciple and an apostle.

The account of Jepthah's daughter as a young woman of faith, and God's call on her life is one of the more controversial in the Bible. And yet the impact her courageous faith had on the women in her community lasted for centuries.