My name is Nurya Love Parish.  I live on ten acres called Plainsong Farm.  Sometimes in the morning, or at night, plainsong can be heard in my study.  It sounds like this.

The farm is not nearly so evident.  Maybe next year…

Who am I?

I’m a wife, a mother, and a priest.  Trying to glorify God with my days. Failing, falling, and trying again.

I can’t stop wondering how to preach the gospel with my whole life.

And I can’t stop dreaming about restoring the health of Christ’s church.  Not for my own security, but for the sake of generations to come.

Once upon a time, I wasn’t a Christian; I wasn’t raised to be.  When I was baptized at the age of 25, my whole life began.  I have a feeling this is the place where that story will be told.

Other places you can find me: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids; Building Faith, an online Christian education community; and Acts 8 Moment, praying for and re-imagining the Episcopal Church.

 

13 Responses to About

  1. This is too funny. | Plainsong Farm says:
    November 23, 2011 at 4:47 am

    [...] About [...]

    Reply
  2. Yetki ve Sorumluluk says:
    March 1, 2012 at 10:44 am

    Glad to read this blog! Keep it going!

    Reply
  3. Mark harris says:
    March 13, 2012 at 4:14 pm

    Great blog. Thanks. As soon as I can I’ll respond to yours on budget.

    Reply
  4. Dyskalkulie says:
    March 16, 2012 at 6:52 am

    “Failing, falling, and trying again.” is wonderful Mantra!

    Reply
  5. We begin again in love. | Plainsong Farm says:
    April 4, 2012 at 8:41 am

    [...] About [...]

    Reply
  6. Jackie says:
    January 14, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    I think I know you. You were at one time the RE Director at First UU, Watertown, MA. I followed you in that position during a tumultuous interim period. This was over twenty years ago–how fleet is time! If I recall correctly, you went to Starr King. I, too, am now an Episcopalian, and would love to hear of your journey. The world is so very, very small….

    Reply
    • Nurya says:
      January 14, 2013 at 2:20 pm

      Hello Jackie!
      It is a small world, but in this case I am not the person you have in mind. I was never the RE Director in Watertown and I did not attend Starr King. It is interesting to find that our paths led in the same direction however!
      Blessings,
      Nurya

      Reply
      • Jackie says:
        January 14, 2013 at 2:29 pm

        Wow–how odd. I wonder why I thought you were she. I am gogin to ask an impertinent question: was Lindberg ever part of your name? I know I know you from somewhere–probably UU circles in the Boston area. Do you know Dorothy Emerson? Did you intern as a chaplain at Tufts?

        Sorry to be so nosy, but I am fascinated by how paths intersect, diverge, and cross again. When I read your response to the NYT piece, something glimmered int he back of my brain, and this morning, the name ‘Nurya Love Lindberg came to the fore of my consciousness.

        Again, apologies for poking around in your life. You blog is lovely, and you seem to be living a graceful and balanced life. BTW, aftyer an abortive start in the UU ministry years ago, I was granted an MDiv from EDS in 2001. Although the peculiarities of the ordination process did not play to my favor in Massachusetts, the education I received was excellent, and those days in the academy were happy ones indeed.

        Reply
        • Nurya says:
          January 14, 2013 at 2:34 pm

          Now you’ve got it! Thanks for your kind words. All blogs indicate that their authors are living graceful and balanced lives, don’t be fooled ;-)

          Yes, my maiden name was Nurya Love Lindberg. I was an intern with Dorothy Emerson in Medford and UU Chaplain at Tufts University in 1993-94. I am glad to make a reconnection! Now… where do I know you from?

          Reply
          • Jackie says:
            January 14, 2013 at 2:40 pm

            I have known Dorothy for years, and I think I met you at one of godknowshowmany Mass Bay District functions/conferences/gatherings. I feel better now that we got that little mystery sorted. And as I type this, the name of my predecessor in Watertown just came to me. There is a bit of a physical resemblance, and being very visual that was my initial connection. After rummaging around in the mental archives, it all became clear :)
            As for the “graceful, balanced life,” you have acreage! What more does one need!?

  7. Sam says:
    January 27, 2013 at 12:04 am

    I’m sure you’re an excellent blogger, keep up the good work.

    I just wanted to point out that your profile picture is gigantic. It’s being displayed at 150 x 200 pixels, but the file itself is 3,000 x 4,000 pixels in size.

    If you clear your browser’s cache, and refresh the page, you’ll notice it takes at least a minute for your picture to load. This can be easily corrected with Photoshop, or IrfanView (free), or GIMP (free), etc.

    If you use any of those programs to resize the photo to 150 px wide by 200 px tall, which is how it’s displayed on the webpage, it will load instantly.

    Reply