After he left, I lay in bed, hung over, and the sun was shining into my room for the day. After all, one does have to get back to work. Added in about 4,000 words, bringing it to 56,000. Actually, he is looking around the world for another girl, and because of who he is, he will find her and be with her. Can you, like me, see yourself in her words?
She wanted to see the patterns that she returned to and the way that she viewed herself and her own life over time.Īnd it’s a fascinating read. But if you want to give input or recommendations, fire away! I’d love to hear what resources and stories have spoken to you as well - thus far, I’ve not included anything informational and I’ve not recommended any accounts to follow specifically. Read: Meghan O’Gieblyn’s essay collection, Interior States, is a stunning reckoning with her Christian upbringing from a writer who has left the faith. Read: Priestdaddy is Patricia Lockwood’s memoir of growing up with a dysfunctional Catholic priest as a father. Read: On Her Knees : Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel chronicles Brenda Marie Davies’ unconventional journey from purity culture to sexual freedom. When you’re no longer a Christian but still have church baggage: Science Mike and Michael Gungor tell their deconversion and reconversion stories. Listen: “Lost and Found, Part 1” and “Part 2” from the Liturgists Podcast. When you leave the faith, but your spouse wants to stay: The wives of Science Mike and Michael Gungor describe what it felt like when their husbands’ faiths shifted. Listen: “The Other Side of the Mattress” from the Liturgists Podcast. Read: Stina Keilsmeier-Cook’s readable and moving memoir, Blessed are the Nones: Mixed Faith Marriage and My Search for Spiritual Community tells the story of staying committed to your marriage even when your in-laws believe your spouse is going to hell. When your spouse leaves the faith, but you want to stay: Winner, a memoir of divorce and God’s voice going quiet. Read: Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Listen: “When the Church Harms You” episode of the podcast, Where We Find Ourselves, a therapy podcast that interviews psychologists (like, real, qualified therapists) of faith. Read: Addie Zierman’s memoir, When We Were on Fire is an account of a devout teen (all the youth group culture!) questioning her faith. When growing up within evangelicalism was confusing or harmful: Read these alternative Christian and religious publications: Sojourner’s Magazine, the Christian Century, Commonweal, Comment Magazine, American Magazine, Religion Dispatches, Religion News Service, Red Letter Christians. Welcome to the idea of the cosmic Christ and to the mystical and kind teacher, Father Richard Rohr (gotta love those Fransiscans).
Listen: The Cosmic Egg series from Another Name for Every Thing podcast. When you need to remember that Christ is bigger than our denominations: Watch: “The Heretic,” a documentary that follows Rob Bell after his controversial book Love Wins was skewered by the evangelical community. When your former church labels you a “heretic”:
Read: Barbara Brown Taylor’s Leaving Church is an understated and moving story of a minister leaving ministry. Listen: “Quietly Out the Side Door” episode from the Dirty Rotten Church Kids podcast tells how the hosts-a former youth pastor and worship leader-were shown the exit at the church where they’d ministered for years. Listen: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast documents one of the most dysfunctional churches and the fall out of its ministry. When your church “family” harmed or abused you: Read: Dante Stewart’s memoir, Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle, which echoes the themes of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, while directly addressing the racism inherent in the white American church. Mayfield’s essay collection, The Myth of the American Dream : Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety and Power breaks all the party lines. Read: Anne Lamott’s essay collection, Traveling Mercies was one of the first books I read by a serious Christian who was also a democrat.
Listen: The Holy Post podcast’s “Jesus and John Wayne series” with Kristen Du Mez gives the back story for how Republican came to mean Evangelical Christian. When you want to stay Christian, but you have the “wrong” politics: So, today, I’m sharing the stories and artistic expressions that document deconstruction or refreshed me during reconstruction as I began to journey toward Jesus in fresh ways. I am never interested in the extreme ends, but more, the middle journeying. Nor are they “f**k all Christians and churches everywhere” resources. These are not “fixing your doubts” resources.