Friday, July 18, 2025

The Daily Practice of Imminance

Why do we tend to so naturally separate God from our daily lives and everyday practices?

I'm talking about things like telling someone- I'll pray for you- when we "could" decide to just pray for them right there- silently or audibly. 

I'm talking about taking a walk with headphones pounding music when we could drink in creation.

I'm talking about all the ways in which we separate and fragment our lives, and then miraculously, no- robotically-  incorporate the Lord on Sunday mornings. 

Here's an extreme example- going to a fitness class at a church, only to spend the hour working our bodies to secular, (which nothing wrong with it, by the way) music. It just seems to me a huge missed opportunity to work our minds and actually engage in private and/or even a bit of corporate worship "naturally". 

It could also be applied to the way we withhold parts of our lives from the Lord. We grasp for control and only allow him true sovereignty over certain things, but not others. We think that our prayers have to be well articulated and holy, devoid of doubt and any negative emotions. Anotherwords- "inhuman"...


Imminance is:

the state of being inherent or exclusively existing within something

the theory that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world 


Sometimes when we are struggling with sadness or negativity, we feel alone. 

Imminance is somehow, someway, recognizing that there, in that messy moment, we are in fact, not. 


I think maybe its also bringing the Lord into our world, and our worlds into the church...

I've been dreaming of some ways to build more of a daily practice of Imminance, (and by the way, that act itself  of "dreaming with God" is one of them):


-Worshiping while driving or walking- even altering the words of popular songs to become worship songs 

-Asking for prophetic knowledge, words, images or senses in the moment or immediate midst of a situation

-Spontaneous singing of worship songs or even bits of scripture we know while showering or cleaning our homes. How about praying while cleaning? 

-If you speak in tongues, doing so throughout the day or in moments where emotions are distressing

-I leave space here for more ideas to be added.... I believe the endless possibilities are so incredibly simplistic they can be hard to grasp in the moment...


Essentially, continually finding ways to incorporate God into our routines-

combining practices we do everyday with spiritual ones!

This is also good news for those of us who are always in pursuit of efficiency!  :)

We know that God honors the small things, and that God is not only in our Sundays, 

therefore, I am convinced that taking the time to pursue him "in all our days" (of the week) 

is a holy endeavor, very much worthy of our time and creativity...


Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:7-11


Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day... 
    
Gen 3:8

   

         So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

         1 Cor 10:31


        Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as         a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

        Rom 12:1


        My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working

        John 5:17


Monday, October 23, 2023

Finding my Roots

 

Finding my Roots



It seems like my hair has always been dyed. 

At some point, I just started to hide. 

Starting in sixth grade, when it had to be a bright, bleached blonde- or bust. 

I was so desperately yearning to be like my best friend, I must

fit in

to the mold 

so out with the old

the boxed dye came out- 

and so did the orange tinged fail of tiger stripes throughout. 

My dark eyebrows screamed out so stark 

against the bark 

of the screeching blonde. 


The blonde said: I can be light, I can be bright 

But try with all my might,

I couldn’t fight

the hurt,

I would pretend

I could fit in

desperate to blend in

 at any cost

I was lonely, lost


My dark roots like a secret would sprout. 

The real me could not dare come out. 

Looking back, I was hurt, I look rough

It wasn’t enough


My high school senior year

It was fire engine red.

Screaming out 

I was strong

I’d stay ahead

Approach me with dread,

Mess with me, you’re dead.

Red said: No one dare

I don’t care

But I lied,

I never cried,

It was all power and sex appeal

I don’t feel

I don’t kiss

And I don’t miss

You

Because you can’t hurt me,

If I hurt you first.


My prom pictures show, 

Along with too much purple eyeshadow 

Thin, with orange tan skin

I knew how to hurt, knew how to win

But I couldn’t tell then,

It was all too much.


Time went on, 

my roots continued to grow

Each time not allowing them to show

the colors would change, would ebb and flow

over the years

my roots hinting of all my fears 


Later on, my hair became as black as midnight

I can conquer, I can fight

I know what’s right.

I can handle it all, absorb it like the night


A time of extremes

Living in a vintage dream

I’d silence the screams

By the performance; be bold

Anything meaningful stuck on hold

I wasn’t mean, just cold. 


The black said: I won’t cower

I can build more power

Work more hours

No time for flowers


Red lips, pale skin

I should stand out, not fit in

This is the way to be,

that’s the color, that, could be me

But really I was just trying to achieve 

A new look that still wasn’t me


As my roots grew out and needed a retouch

I was quick to hide them, to shut them up

Kill myself with stress, overexert.

I knew how to hide the hurt


After all the obsession,

The divorce and depression, 

I got curious about my roots-

I needed intercession

What was under all that dye?

What was true, what was a lie?

Finally ready to face my fears,

I hadn’t seen them in over 20 years. 


“My roots don’t matter, the problem isn’t me”

But I decided to try anyway, try to just let it be 

I was ready to finally see 

All the train wrecks

Trying to protect

Myself, face all my crimes

Admit, all my trying times

Terrified to let my roots be exposed, now knowing

But I let it go, let it grow, and they kept growing


Then the memory of the past came back clear

All my hopes, dreams, failures, traumas, fears

First became vibrant & near

Then, slowly fading out

I could finally see my roots growing out


And then came, a hint of light.

Is that blonde coming in, or gray, or white?

Is it too late? 

What will be my fate? I’d just have to wait. 


As my true color started to come around,

I found 

it had spun into a glimmering golden brown

Unlike any other, or another,

It was the real me

This is how I was created to be

a new color had emerged 

I finally knew how to hurt


Now, nothing has touched it

I don’t want to crush it

I don’t need to color

Make it brighter or duller

I don’t need to cover

who I am, a lover

a future mother

& everything else I’m learning to discover.


-Jenn Thorne

(This is a poem I wrote which essentially sums up my whole life)




Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Black and Gold

























































































































Child's Play

Came across this silliness on my computer from last year... here I am in a dress I found in the kids department while out thrifting. No, I didn't actually wear this little ensemble out in public, just apparently had the free time to clown around in this.








































-Jenn


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

My 1960s Paper Dress

What an incredible birthday gift I received recently from my husband....an original paper dress from the 1960s- 1966 to be exact! Part of the reason I've been absent lately is that I've been working on a series of articles I am contributing to a new volume of fashion textbooks. I wrote an entry on paper dress of the 1960s and thus when my husband located one of the original dresses produced by Scott Paper Company on eBay, he grabbed it for me!

Wondering what paper dresses are all about? I know I wrote the entry but I'm still slammed :) so check out here and here to learn more. I will say that the dresses are surprisingly sturdy. Please pardon the fold lines as its been folded up for almost 50 years!


























"Paper Caper By SCOTT."  "Your Paper Caper is an all-paper dress and is intended for one time wear only. It is flame resistant but washing, dry cleaning, or soaking will make the dress dangerously flammable when dry." 





















































































Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Frugal Girl's Guide to Tree-trimming

This will be my husband and I's first Christmas together and we don't have a go-to stash of Christmas decorations and ornaments. I can't bear the thought of purchasing these items at full retail so- I challenged myself to see if we could actually decorate a tree using only items already in the house. I felt confident that if we could stick to whites/silver/gold we couldn't mess up too bad! ( I must reveal that we did already own a few special ornaments and the pretty angel topper- a gift from Therese.)



























Garland= alternating rows of old thrifted lace trim and rows of broken necklaces
Ornaments= existing + metallic drink umbrellas, jewelry (pearls, pendants, brooches, earrings) using a pack of dollar store ornament hooks, fake roses, white feathers from an old hat
Tree skirt= a thrifted 80s full-skirted tulle dress  
Presents under the tree= sequin pillows and a Victorian-look collage chest (holds our DVDs!)





















-Bride & groom ornament for our 1st Christmas (a gift from The Wilson's)
-A cameo from a thrifted dress gets new life adorning a tree branch 
-Metallic drink umbrellas in gold/silver/greens add much needed glitz and glimmer
-Vintage silhouette pictures (a gift from my Aunt Sandy) re-purposed from wall to tree hanging