Soul (and Brain) Food: August Edition
Having trouble keeping up with our Facebook page? If so, don’t fret — we’ve compiled some of our favorite stories from the past month here to share again.
(Pssst … don’t forget the most recent stories over at Sisterhood Chronicles!)
“I affirm that the Father loves LGBT people, the Son calls them and the Holy Spirit guides them. I deny nothing about God’s love for them.”
Seven simple ways to respond to the #NashvilleStatement from Rev. James Martin. (See also Rachel Held Evans’ powerful response.)
“From The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1 — which also gave us Twain on how morality and intelligence hinder each other — comes a moving anecdote about how his mother taught him the essence of empathy.
Half a century before “African American” came into popular use as a politically dignified term, Twain recounts his childhood friendships with black slaves.”
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/10/24/mark-twain-on-slavery-empathy-compassion/
“Don’t let them get you to hate them.” — a dispatch, as Anne Lamott puts it, from the Land of Hope.
“Too long, white Americans have clung to the myth of innocence. But Christianity isn’t about innocence: it’s about knowing the face of evil, and choosing what is good.”
https://seekingthesacredblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/the-myth-of-innocence/
Preach, Jen Hatmaker! “I honestly believe that being uncomfortable is a great deterrent of the church in our generation — that, for whatever reason, we have elevated the majority’s comfort over justice. The truth is, those days are behind us. If we are unwilling to stand by our friends on the margins, then we have no business being leaders.”
“I have been asked by two dear friends, “how can I be a stronger ally?” Being the slow emotional processor that I am, I wanted to spend some time with this before I answered them. I surely appreciate and love these two individuals, and I appreciate their vulnerability in asking me this question.
I am not going to do much coddling here; I don’t know that I believe that love requires coddling. Here are six things you can do to be stronger allies.”
https://sojo.net/articles/our-white-friends-desiring-be-allies
“I was in Charlottesville on Friday.
A group of clergy in Charlottesville invited clergy across the nation to join in an alternative event than the rally planned by White Supremacy groups on Saturday.
I knew I couldn’t be there on Saturday, but I drove down for the mass prayer service on Friday night.
…
I didn’t feel confident and powerful and strong any longer. I was frightened.
But I also had the strong sense that I was exactly where I was meant to be.
Sometimes I think Jesus sends us into the storms;
Sometimes God places us in frightening circumstances;
Sometimes the faithful thing to do is not to avoid the storm,
But enter into it.”
https://sermonsgslc.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/move-on-over-hes-getting-in/
“Millions of Christians across the world take the teachings of Jesus seriously, of course. They work in soup kitchens, homeless shelters and orphanages. They help people overcome addiction. They support the most vulnerable, advocate nonviolence and compassion, fight for human rights. They care about the pain climate change will cause. Unfortunately, they are not the Christians running this country.”
“Examining the roots of our nation, we see that the Bible was used to subjugate, enslave, force off of land, and kill indigenous peoples. We must look at those roots — when white leaders talked about slaves as objects and justified their actions with their faith convictions. We need to remember that people considered undesirable in this nation have been sterilized and treated as lepers. While some in the church stepped out to speak against such acts, many were simply silent, encouraging their children to “not be yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship can light have with darkness?” The Bible was used to separate and divide us based on our righteousness, and directly encouraged us to discriminate and judge others who wouldn’t or couldn’t step foot in a church because of the color of their skin or the state of their dress.”
Need a laugh? Even Blue Apron is having a tough time right now.
“This is four eggs. We were going to do a whole soufflé thing, but we had a bunch of stressful meetings and then someone turned on CNN in the office kitchen and everyone got kind of depressed. We all kind of wanted to go home early, sit down on the couch with a glass of wine and watch a few Great British Bake Offs before going to bed. Honestly, this could also be fried eggs if you wanted.”
