What Tracy Says

A Vote for Conversation

November 2, 2017

(originally published as a Scholarly Musing Constant Contact email for NBSI) Being a lover of etymology, I found myself having a major “aha!” moment on a recent trip to Greece.… Read More

Storystitching a Sermon

July 8, 2016

(originally published in The Biblical Storyteller Outreach Issue) Dr. Tracy Radosevic is the dean of NBS’ Academy for Biblical Storytelling and adjunct professor of biblical storytelling and Christian formation courses at… Read More

3 Things to Remember When Telling a Biblical Story

July 13, 2015

(originally published in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, UMC, online Ministry Toolbox) 1) You’re Creating an Experience The advantage of hearing and seeing a story told, as opposed to reading it in… Read More

Text without Context is Pretext

October 17, 2014

(originally published as a Scholarly Musing Constant Contact email for NBSI) “Single-issue” Bible interpreters [i.e. homosexuality is wrong because 3 verses in the Bible seem to imply that it is… Read More

Facebook or Face-to-Face?

December 2, 2013

(originally published as a “Scholarly Musing” Constant Contact email for NBSI) Due to some recent blood work that indicated I was heading in the direction of diabetes, a nutritionist put… Read More

Follow Me: reflections on internalizing, embodying, and performing the Gospel of Mark

March 2, 2011

(originally published in Currents in Theology and Mission, Volume 38, Number 6) I’ve been around “church folk” most of my life. I have received seminary degrees twice and am now… Read More

But We’ve Never Done It That Way Before: Educating Church Leaders to Communicate in a Digital World

August 1, 2006

(originally published in The Journal of Biblical Storytelling, Vol. 15, Number 1) “So, is being a performing musician your fulltime job?” I asked. I had been brought in as one… Read More

The Rest of the Story

August 21, 2023

Earlier this summer, I was watching a news show online and one of the commentators kept clearing her throat. It would have been hard to miss, in and of itself,… Read More

Ain’t for Sissies

August 14, 2023

Ain’t for Sissies Two weeks ago, I enjoyed my annual biblical storytelling extravaganza: the yearly Festival Gathering of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, International, preceded by three days of the… Read More

Life in a Relatively Uncomplicated Bubble

July 17, 2023

Oprah had a feature in her O magazine where she would share “What I Know for Sure” and, in various ways over the years, she has invited her readers and… Read More

Midwestern Hospitality

July 10, 2023

Shortly after getting settled into my first real adult job in a small town in North Carolina, I made a dental appointment for a routine cleaning. The technician, who also… Read More

Heal the world. Cook dinner tonight.

June 12, 2023

A few years ago, I received a birthday present of multiple spices from Penzeys and included among the jars was a colorful tie-dyed-ish banner about 2-foot square with a big… Read More

The Universal Language

June 5, 2023

Music truly is the universal language. This past weekend was the annual Charles Village Festival. I finally got over there late Sunday afternoon for the final live band performance—Trinidad and… Read More

The Best Day of My Life

May 28, 2023

Today is the 7th anniversary of the best day of my life. Because I live in a culture largely based on the number 10 and its multiples, however, making a… Read More

A Surprising Lesson from Dino

May 22, 2023

I’m currently enjoying a three-month free trial with Amazon music. It’s fun to call out, “Alexa, play me some Catherine Russell” and then hear dozens and dozens of fantastic Catherine… Read More

Paul Is No Help

May 15, 2023

From the Mouths of Babes

May 1, 2023

Back when I was in seminary, I remember having to drop something off for my friend, Doug. When he met me at the door, he was laughing so hard he… Read More

So Much for Conventional Wisdom

April 17, 2023

Conventional wisdom tells us that it’s young adults who are idealistic and progressive and that the older one gets, the more conservative they become. That has not been the case… Read More

Has Tracy Risen?

April 10, 2023

Christ is risen, he is risen, indeed! Hallelujah! Among other things, this means that Lent is now over for 2023. Six+ weeks ago I came up with a plan to… Read More

Life-Long Conversations

April 3, 2023

Regular Game Night

March 27, 2023

As my siblings and I are slowly going through the MANY piles and files at Dad’s house, most everything is going into the trash or recycling. But I came upon… Read More

Tax-Inspired Year (’15) in Review

March 20, 2023

Re-examining Indifference

March 13, 2023

Pragmatic Practice vs. Pointless Luxury

February 27, 2023

“A change of heart or of values without a practice is only another pointless luxury of apassively consumptive way of life.”(—Wendell Berry, from the essay “The Idea of a Local… Read More

FOAT-inspired Lent

February 20, 2023

Parenting the Parent

February 6, 2023

What Message Do I Want to Leave?

January 30, 2023

Paradox of Choice

January 23, 2023

Writing prompt: I opened the refrigerator … I opened the refrigerator and stood there staring. How could there be nothing to eat when Ihad just gone grocery shopping? And had… Read More

MLK Day of Rest

January 16, 2023

Who, or What, Is My Guiding Star?

January 9, 2023

A Little Night Music

January 2, 2023

Writing prompt: The noise coming from the … The noises coming from the apartment below me were clearly those of love making. My bedroom is directly above the 2nd floor… Read More

Furnace Firsts

December 12, 2022

Writing prompt: The smell of the ____________ filled the … The smell of the furnace filled my nostrils as I slowly transitioned from sleep to consciousness. Autumn had been gradually… Read More

Who’s the Boss?

December 5, 2022

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. All of us are, and every part of every one of us is. Kind of reminds me of a joke … One day, all… Read More

That Poor Turkey

November 28, 2022

Bird by Bird

February 10, 2013

So here we are at the end of the season of Epiphany. Boy, time sure flies when you’re having fun! When this season started the first week of January, I… Read More

Redefining “Should”

February 3, 2013

Back in August, I bought a book by Julia Scatliff O’Grady entitled Good Busy: Productivity, Procrastination, and the Endless Pursuit of Balance. It’s a little gem aimed at, as the… Read More

Rocks or Water?

January 27, 2013

In mid-December, I read a Newsweek article by Oliver Burkeman on why resolutions, particularly at the beginning of a new year, fail. Apparently, willpower is a “depletable resource: the more… Read More

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

January 20, 2013

Do you remember as a kid, or more likely a teenager, defiantly declaring that you were NEVER going to be like your mom or dad when you grew up? Well,… Read More

Healthcare by Groupon

January 13, 2013

Back in June of 2011, I broke my left heel (the calcaneus) and had surgery to insert two screws that pulled the pieces back together. I was on crutches for… Read More

Epiphany, Entropy and Energy

January 6, 2013

Today is Epiphany, the start of my favorite liturgical season. It’s not most people’s favorite, maybe because it’s not as “sexy” as Christmas and Easter or as “Christian” as Lent… Read More

Fragile (must be Italian)

November 25, 2011

I just went back and reread my last half dozen or so blog entries. Goodness! A lot has happened in the past four months since that first physical therapy visit!… Read More

The Next Chapter

July 21, 2011

My poor, pitiful, atrophied leg.

View from the 50-Yard Line

July 6, 2011

Today marks one month since my initial heel surgery. I was originally told that I’d have to stay off my left foot for 6-8 weeks, erring more on the side… Read More

Doctor’s Orders (really!)

July 1, 2011

Normally on a person’s first Coumadin Clinic visit the people there spend a good bit of time counseling the patient. A large part of that deals with what foods to… Read More

I’m Thick!

June 29, 2011

So, I finally got discharged this past Monday. It came as a bit of a surprise, actually. I’d been taking Coumadin (in addition to the Heparin drip they’d immediately put… Read More

P.E. Buddies

June 27, 2011

When I finally got to my hospital room at 3:00 a.m. last Thursday morning, I was acutely aware that there was someone else already in the room on the other… Read More

Just Like Being on a [very expensive!] Vacation!

June 26, 2011

OK, I’m just going to say it: I’m weird! I’ve been saying this in one way or another for a long time. In many aspects of my life I don’t… Read More

It Takes a (global) Village

June 25, 2011

I have been amazed — and delighted! — at the number of foreign-born doctors, interns, techs, and nurses who have taken care of me. I would have expected a couple… Read More

So, What You’re Saying Is …?

June 24, 2011

Having been around death since a young child, I’ve always been fascinated by the euphemisms used for it: passed on or away, expired (like old milk!!), pushing daisies, gone on… Read More

What a Difference a Day Makes

June 23, 2011

On Tuesday I had my first post-op appointment where they took off all the wrappings/splint/cast and I got to see my very hairy and somewhat atrophied leg (not to mention… Read More

Depending on the Kindness of Strangers

June 20, 2011

Well, I passed my “big test” by successfully completing a VERY full weekend of activities in Rochester, MN. (Note: This is where the Mayo Clinic is so most people who… Read More

My Left Foot

June 12, 2011

The surgery last Wednesday went well. I did NOT get nauseous (for which I’m immensely grateful since I don’t “do” throw up!) and I’ve been in very little pain. I… Read More

Slow Down!

June 5, 2011

I’m one of those people who is so afraid of missing a life lesson that I sometimes don’t even let the complete experience play out before I’m deconstructing it, analyzing… Read More

“Breaking” News

June 4, 2011

I’ve been vexed with various foot issues for well over a year now. Turns out (among other possible things!) I’ve had a stress fracture in my left heel for some… Read More

Doing Unto Others

March 6, 2011

There’s doing unto others and then there’s DOING UNTO OTHERS. I remember once as a kid giving my explanation of the Golden Rule to one of my younger siblings. “If… Read More

True Strength

March 5, 2011

A strength taken to an extreme becomes a weakness. This adage isn’t new to me but I experienced it in a different way on my latest pilgrimage to the Middle… Read More

L’chai-im!

March 4, 2011

It’s official … I’ve outlived my mother. On November 28, 2010, I was the exact age my mom was when the cancer finally won the war the two of them… Read More

Be All You Can Be

March 3, 2011

No, this isn’t a plug for the army. Nor is it a plucky DaleCarnegieAnthonyRobbinsJackCanfield-esque attempt at motivation. It’s simply a helpful reminder. Many neighborhoods in Baltimore, like most cities, set… Read More

Tell Me a Story

March 2, 2011

Are there sweeter words to a storyteller’s ear? This past fall I performed at my sister’s church in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Among other things, I told a number of stories… Read More

Always Be Prepared

March 1, 2011

The Boy Scouts may have made this pledge their own but it’s not a bad piece of advice for any of us. Over the years, I’ve often been asked if… Read More