Carolyn Browender
Carolyn Browender is an activist and seeker living in Washington, D.C. She was raised Lutheran by a practicing Christian mother and secular Jewish father. You can also find her on Twitter.
Recent Posts by Carolyn
A Playlist for Seekers and Doubters
Music has consistently been a vehicle for my ponderings and prayers about and to the Divine, or lack thereof. These are a few songs that have stuck with me, organized by theme. Questioning “Doubting Thomas” – Nickel Creek The title is a dead giveaway. This plaintive tune ponders what plagues many when at the crossroads…
On Labels and Returning to Church
This past winter I started going to church again. Emotionally exhausted and spiritually drained from current events and personal circumstances, I made a point to actually set my alarm and show up to the 10:45 service of a congregation within walking distance of my home. It was the second Sunday in Advent, and the congregation…
The Praying Habit: Final Week
After four weeks of experiencing other faith traditions’ prayer texts and rituals, switching back to praying however I wanted was an unexpectedly dramatic shift. While I didn’t struggle as much as I did my first week of Lent, I was far from perfect. For one, I was indecisive about which tradition to attempt each day….
The Praying Habit: Jewish Week!
I think I chose to attempt Jewish prayer my last week of this project because I subconsciously hoped it would be the most spiritually rewarding. I should have known better. I’ve found that anticipating or hoping for spiritual fireworks leads to the exact opposite: boredom and sometimes even frustration. So why did I have these…
The Praying Habit: Catholic Week
This was the week I was most looking forward to doing when I made this Lent commitment. Catholicism has been an ongoing presence in my life despite not being raised in the faith myself. Many of my friends and classmates growing up were Catholic—I was extremely jealous of their beautiful First Communion dresses (I got…
The Praying Habit: Quaker Week!
My first encounter with the Religious Society of Friends was in history class. They’d usually crop up twice: once when we were leading up to the American Revolution (Pennsylvania was named for William Penn) and another time when the Civil War was discussed (many abolitionist leaders were Quaker). They sounded like a pretty great group…
The Praying Habit: Mormon Week!
My exposure to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a recent occurrence. My friends growing up were all from faith backgrounds that were accepting of, if not downright enthusiastic, about alcohol and coffee. When I accidentally stumbled upon the Bloggernacle a few years ago, I was astounded at the political and theological…
The Praying Habit: Week 1
Well, this is embarrassing. I forgot to pray on Ash Wednesday. I went to mass with two coworkers (the cathedral near our office had a service at a more convenient time than any of the Protestant churches near me), but completely forgot to offer personal prayers once I got home. I realized my mistake as…
The Praying Habit: Lent
I have a spotty relationship with Lenten disciplines. The season was commemorated at the Lutheran church I grew up attending with Wednesday soup dinners and Tenebrae services following them in addition to the regular Sunday church services, the sanctuary decorated in the liturgically appropriate purple. I recall some of my Sunday school classmates giving something…