I have always enjoyed reading that challenges me. In the past that has come in the form of classic and contemporary literature. Reading slowly and deliberately well crafted stories helps deepen my own writing and storytelling.
This year I have intentionally expanded my discipline of challenging reading to include non-fiction. My reading has mostly focused on race and racism. Since January I have read close to a dozen books on the issue of race and racism in our society. They have changed me but I am not done. There are many more to important books to read and voices to hear.
With that in mind, I invite you to read this article from the Christian Century. It is not on the subject of race but on the evolving way individuals self-identify in the area of gender. It is called Being They: God and Nonbinary Gender by Emily C. Heath.
I know I may be asking you to step out of a clear everything-in-its-box comfort zone. That is not always easy.
I have a colleague in ministry that prefers the pronoun they-them (instead of the use of he or she). While we do not have much face-to-face communication, I try to use those preferred pronouns when I think of them or we interact on Facebook.
I do not want to be stuck in my way of thinking. The world and the beautiful mysteries it contains are bigger than my thoughts and ideas.
Writer Anne Lamott has said, "The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty."
For me, faith is seeing the beautiful mystery of God in all that surrounds me...even the things I do not know - yet.
~Pam
This year I have intentionally expanded my discipline of challenging reading to include non-fiction. My reading has mostly focused on race and racism. Since January I have read close to a dozen books on the issue of race and racism in our society. They have changed me but I am not done. There are many more to important books to read and voices to hear.
With that in mind, I invite you to read this article from the Christian Century. It is not on the subject of race but on the evolving way individuals self-identify in the area of gender. It is called Being They: God and Nonbinary Gender by Emily C. Heath.
I know I may be asking you to step out of a clear everything-in-its-box comfort zone. That is not always easy.
I have a colleague in ministry that prefers the pronoun they-them (instead of the use of he or she). While we do not have much face-to-face communication, I try to use those preferred pronouns when I think of them or we interact on Facebook.
I do not want to be stuck in my way of thinking. The world and the beautiful mysteries it contains are bigger than my thoughts and ideas.
Writer Anne Lamott has said, "The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty."
For me, faith is seeing the beautiful mystery of God in all that surrounds me...even the things I do not know - yet.
~Pam
