Viriditas is a latin word first used by Saint Hildegard of Bingen and it translates to “the greening power of God.” For Hildegard, spiritual growth and vitality was as important as physical growth, and its how she articulated the way we experience God’s generative power in our own lives.
In this newsletter, I narrate my experience of viriditas. It’s where I hope to invite you into an awareness of where you experience it, too. As a result, I hope that we can consider together our formation as spiritual people in relationship with ourselves, one another, and the Divine.
Viriditas is a space which holds in tension our humanness and God’s divinity. I share my own stories and I hope you’ll trust me with yours.
I hope to curate a space where we sit together in hardship and joy. Where we can ask tough questions as we seek to rediscover a Christianity that has room for everyone and is for everyone. Where we wonder about the reality of the good news in the midst of pain and grief. Where we bear witness to the Spirit of God at work when it feels like God is absent. And where we find God tucked away in unexpected places.
Of course, much as I hate to admit it as an enneagram four, not everything has to be DEEP and HARD and EMOTIONAL. So there’s also occasional chatter about books and television and travel and memes and Taylor Swift and women’s sports.
About me
My name is Janette and I’m a native Texan, former expat in the UK, current homebody, and forever Anglophile. I live in Kansas City with my family of four and our three cats. I spend my days wandering a retirement and nursing community as its chaplain; the rest of my time is made up of family life, being a devoted church lady, and finding new corners of my city to explore. I’m a postulant for holy orders in the Episcopal Church, which means I’m in the process of discernment for ordination as a Priest. My friends describe me as “the most extroverted person they know.” I love big ideas and Taylor Swift.
In my work and in my home, I talk with people about the stories that make up our lives: stories of life and death, hope and despair, suffering and joy. We talk about the relationships, beliefs, and practices that enable us to live with and bear witness to ourselves, those we love, and the world around us. And sometimes we talk about when those things fail to help us feel hopeful at all.
At the end of the day, I hope I manage to convince you there really is a Taylor Swift lyric for everything.
