Sitting With Sunday, Episode 1

I’m sitting here on a dreary, rainy Sunday midmorning with my third cup of coffee… contemplating life, the current state of the world, the nation I live in, the relationships I find myself in or no longer in, and the ways Sundays have so drastically changed for me over the years.

Religious trauma is a hard tale to tell. Especially when your religious trauma occurred within the unique position of religious leadership. People either get it or they don’t and so often the ones that don’t can be the loudest when they choose to respond. And even still, my story is one that I’ve felt increasingly like I need to share. But it’s a lot. So much. So instead, for now I’ll just say this…

Over the last 7 years I have waded through the deepest depths of deconstructing my religion and reconstructing my faith. I have run wounded from and then desperately crawled back after the Jesus of my childhood. And it is from that place that I say this: watching and listening to the ongoing gross misinterpretation of that Jesus in today’s highly charged political rhetoric is too much. It’s BEEN too much. For generations too long.

I have been told that speaking out won’t change anything. That life will go on. So what’s the point. But see… that didn’t stop Jesus. Who radicalized me? He did. And if that’s too much for you, feel free to exit this space… peace to you and yours. But in this space we don’t tolerate hate. And being quiet feels a whole lot like tolerating.