Lisa Cole Smith

A few weeks ago church leaders from across the country got together in Alexandria, Va., for the Missio Alliance conference. They met to proclaim a shared sense of call to re-imagine church, how we tell the gospel story, mission and…

In Living Theatre, we would each day approach the rehearsal putting yesterday’s discoveries to the test, ready to believe that the true play has once again escaped us. But the Deadly Theatre approaches the classics from the viewpoint that somewhere,…

Last week my husband and I had dinner with a couple we hadn’t seen in two years. We spent the evening catching up, having heated debate and laughing loudly. At one point the wife leaned over to me and whispered,…

Inspiration and passion are tricky things. We need them to create, to write, to have meaningful interactions with our family, our friends and our world. Inspiration and passion are key ingredients to making us feel alive. We are excited by…

There is a bridge to nowhere where I love to go. The sculpture is a meandering walkway of wood and steel that rises into the trees with seemingly no real purpose whatsoever. As I approach the entrance I have two…

In a live performance there is always the possibility of messing up. Anyone who has been on stage in front of people has experienced that moment when the next words don’t come out or the sounds that do are all…

On Friday, my friend Tori Lane held a benefit to raise money for HEART, a program of healing for victims of sexual assault. As a poet and visual artist, Tori thinks in metaphors and striking images. As a performer, she…

Everybody loves Raymond. Or do they? The hit comedic sitcom lasted from 1996 to 2005 and can still be seen regularly in syndicated reruns almost any day of the week. It was created around the universal themes of family and…

A short poem by Mary Oliver: Instructions for Living a Life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. I wonder what it would be like to live with this as a motto for my year. Lisa Cole Smith I sometimes…