Writing about religion, psychology, politics, and other impolite dinner conversations
I began writing my spiritual memoir back in 2013, writing that now feels like the AOL / dial-up internet version of the book I am working on now. I have been transforming those memoir pieces into a book that examines fundamentalist evangelical Christianity and how it so frequently creates trauma in its adherents.
This sounds like a morbid post, but hang in with me here. This book is a memoir of sorts of 6th generation funeral director Caleb Wilde. He shares his thoughts about death, life, love, and heaven – but perhaps not in the way you might think. If you think about it, the descent into fall … Continue reading “Confessions of a Funeral Director” whaaat?
I don’t know about you, but this has felt like a rough week. Honestly, the last two years have been disheartening (to put it mildly) and soul-crushing (if my feelings speak for themselves), in a way I wouldn’t have guessed political situations could make me feel. There is so much hate, distrust, and lying in … Continue reading using our voices
Omygourd… SCIENCE!! Recently I heard a brief presentation from a lovely, caring, passionate woman who was speaking about providing Christian religious education to elementary school children. I was on board with what she was talking about (sharing about the love of God to kids whose parents opt in to the program), but then she said … Continue reading omygourd… SCIENCE!! (why Genesis and science are not enemies)
There’s no way around it. I am a pastor’s wife. (I suppose I might also say that I have a pastor husband, but either way, my life is becoming deeply intertwined with the church). We have moved from the big city to a small town, to be an integral part of the life of the … Continue reading and Jesus was moved by her faith
Andrea Lingle – mother, writer, lay theologian – has written the book I hoped to write. (Also that I still hope to write). It is a memoir of faith, filled with personal stories as well as her own theological ponderings that meander through quantum physics as easily as they do the Bible. She believes in … Continue reading “Credulous” is worth the read
(written early 2015) On Good Friday of 2014, my mom and I are vacationing during my spring break in a tourist town of northern Michigan, a town where spring doesn’t arrive until May or June, thus planting us in the middle of winter during our April visit. We spend Holy Week, the week leading … Continue reading Good Friday Longings
(12-28-15) My friend unwraps Reese’s bells with the greatest deliberation and sets them before himself on the counter. One, two, three, four. He stuffs them all into his mouth at once because they taste better that way. Tears roll down my cheeks, my abs ache, I can’t breathe. I laugh every time just remembering it. … Continue reading joy, and undoing the knowing
I was talking with some Quakers recently, and they agreed that "we tend to collect a lot of religious refugees." That's a kind of neat way to say something that is probably true, I thought to myself, not yet thinking that I was one of those religious refugees. When asked about my faith tradition, I usually offer … Continue reading Religious Refugee: Why I’m not home yet
Faith is hope deferred and sometimes deferred, deferred, deferred Do I play the fool in holding on Or is it pride speaking in refusing to let go, Refusing to admit I am wrong? Or is this hope real In a year, five years, ten Can I look back and say "Your best decision was never … Continue reading hope
