Faith: Our Response

The way I understand God has changed the way I do some things. It's caused me to be more intentional about the things I do, rather than just going with the flow of what's popular or easy (and our culture does so much simply because it's "easy"). 

Here are some things that I’ve been interested in, gotten interested in, started considering, changed in my life, care about because of who God is, etc. These are things that might (hopefully!) start popping up on the blog. These are things that may seem trivial or unrelated, but are tied up with my experience and understanding of God. 

• Fair Trade - if every person on this planet is God (and the author of the Gospel according the Matthew assures us they are), then every person deserves to be treated with dignity. They deserve to work reasonable hours, receive reasonable pay, and be safe on the job. 
• Organic food - Eating organic, for me, is not about nutrition. Studies show that organic foods don’t really have more nutritional value than other farming methods. I choose organic when possible because of the way it cares for the land. We should all care better for the land. It’s our home. For folks claiming Abrahamic religions, God said a lot about how to treat the land in the Hebrew Bible! 
• Minimalism - As I grow deeper in my understanding of God, the more I realize that STUFF won’t make me happy. We don’t need more stuff! Our consumeristic and throw-away culture tries to convince us that we need the newest stuff all the time - whatever bought last week isn’t good anymore so we should throw it away and buy this new toy! So people work themselves ragged to afford the new, cool stuff that they “need” to have, but no one’s happy with that. My goal is to do more with less. To spend less time working for money to buy stuff. To make enough money to buy what I need, and spend the rest of my time actually enjoying life, rather than running on the treadmill to get more things. 
• Low Waste - This kind of goes along with the previous point. A consumeristic culture is a wasteful culture. Our culture encourages us to throw things away at the first sign of wear (or even before that!) and buy something new. We mistreat our planet by taking more resources than we need, mass producing goods in factories creating pollution and abusing workers, and then dumping those good in landfills to buy the next thing. It’s ridiculous! Lately, I’ve been trying to reduce waste where I can. And surprisingly, it’s been easier and more unintentional than I intended! I might say the Holy Spirit is leading and encouraging me in the work - showing me simple ways to reduce waste. Really, it’s easier than I thought, and I find myself transitioning to low-waste alternatives almost without thinking about it!
• Feminism - If we’re all one, then men and women are one. We’re the same. That’s about it. Sushi rolls, not gender roles.
• “Natural” movement - We are gods and goddesses, y’all. Kings and queens. We are existence itself, we have the breath of the Almighty in our lungs. We have evolved over millennia into one of the most complex creatures on our planet (the most complex? I'm not a scientist). However you swing it, we are divine. I think our bodies pretty much know how to operate. I won’t say we’re perfect, because things DO go wrong. But for the most part, I believe that our bodies know what they’re doing. When we’re ill, I believe the power of our bodies to heal themselves. When we’re giving birth, I believe the power of our bodies and our babies to know what to do. When our body does something without us thinking about it - like heart beating or hair growing or uterine lining building up and being shed - I think it’s probably a wise thing for our body to do and that maybe we should let it do its thing. I believe in the power of living things to feed and heal other living things. I try to eat food and use “medicine” that’s as close to being alive as I can get it - fresh fruits and veggies (grown locally is ideal!), meat and from local farms, teas and other herbal remedies for minor illness. 
• Social Justice - This one is so broad. Some of the above bulletpoints can be included in this one (fair trade, feminism), but I need to include it because it encompasses so much more. Racism, economic inequality, and more. Biblical religions should be fighting for social justice because the Hebrew Bible so clearly calls for it. And religions like Hinduism or other indigenous traditions call for social justice in their claim that every person is a manifestation of God. We are called, whoever you are, whatever you believe, to care for others. And that can't always happen individually. Greed and pride have woven a system in our society, a system that benefits some at the cost of others. In order for a truly just world, these systems have to be broken down. We can't fix the problem simply by handing out sandwiches on street corners (though that is GOOD work and it is a vital part of the solution) - sandwiches are not the whole solution. The whole solution calls for people to come together and fight systemic injustice and work for the establishment of a new system. 

There’s more for sure, but that’s what I can think of right now. God, y’all. God has changed me. Believing in God and surrendering to the idea that I’M NOT IN CONTROL has been life changing. Understanding that we are all one and trying to live in a way that honors that belief has been life changing. 

I’m young and I haven’t been been doing this faith thing for that long. I know I have SO MUCH to learn. I know I won’t know it all even before I die. And that’s become an okay thing for me. I’ve surrendered my need to understand it all. 

Instead, I trust. I trust that there is a Ground of all Being. I trust the Way. I trust that what has happened was meant to happen. I trust myself to know what to do. I trust others to do what they need to do. I trust the universe to cradle me or break me as fate would have it. I trust the earth to provide my needs. I trust my body to heal. I trust my mind to learn, grow, understand, feel. I trust Jesus. I trust salvation. I trust that there is a salve for our hurts. I trust that there is saving from calamity. I trust that I AM my brother and sister’s keeper, that I am God to them. I am responsible for comforting them. And I trust that the God who is within my brothers and sisters will be the God I need in times of trouble. We are One. 

We are One.

And that makes all the difference. 

Dear Pastor, Shaming Women is not the Word of God

Dear Pastor,

I recently listened to you speak in my hometown, and while I enjoyed and was uplifted by the majority of your message, there are two comments that I need to respond to. 

I say these things not to tear down, but to build up and encourage in love and kindness.

The first comment came towards the beginning of your message, during a story about your teenage girlfriend, Charmaine. When you dated, she was “FINE.” When you came to Christ, God told you to break up with her, which, of course, was difficult. After your wedding, you saw Charmaine. You implied that Charmaine had gained weight. And you thanked God for subtracting her from your life - implying that a fat person is unattractive and not worthy of marriage. 

This comment is hurtful to everyone. Women and men receive countless messages in our society about what their body is supposed to look like. When you include messages against certain body types in the context of a sermon, you are encouraging people to reflect the image of what the world defines as beauty. I do recall you beginning your message with a call to reflect the image of God - not the image of the world. 

When you gave this message, the building was packed. The message was streamed online. It may have been recorded and posted online for later viewing. Your message reached many people. Doubtless, some of those people were women and men whom society deems overweight or unattractive. Statistically speaking, a not insignificant portion of the people who heard your message have or will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. This comment, which implies that fat people are unattractive and unmarriageable, tore those people down. This comment perpetuates society’s standards of beauty and repeats the message of “not good enough.” It is this kind of culture that contributes to our alarmingly high rates of eating disorders. These disorders are prisons. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all mental illness. Your comments contribute to that. 

The church should be a place where people are uplifted. Where it doesn’t matter what you look like - you are a child of God and you are loved and that is all that matters. Women who struggle with body image or eating disorders should not have to worry about triggering messages such as the one above when they are worshipping and hearing the Word of God. That message - that fat equals bad - is NOT from God. That is NOT that Word of the Lord. Thus, you as a man of God should NOT be preaching that. 

The second comment came in the second portion of your message, in discussion of your wife’s pregnancy. Pregnancy changes your appetite, you said. When we’re pregnant with God’s dream and plan for us, we’re hungry for God, and the things that used to fill us don’t fill us anymore. A wonderful point. And one that could have been demonstrated without the following harmful comment. Your wife was hungrier during her pregnancy. When you and your wife were out to dinner during her pregnancy, you hoped the night might end with some married intimacy. She finished her plate, and what was left of yours after you finished. According to you, she scarfed down the meal, with food dribbling down her chin - “Nah, now I’m turned off,” you said. 

A woman’s hunger is unattractive to you. The mention of this comment communicates that women are accountable to you for their attractiveness, that women are to be attractive to you at all times, even when sustaining normal bodily functions. Your message communicates that in order for a woman to be attractive, she must not be human. She must not hunger. She must not eat. She must not desire. 

And what a harmful message. It is the God-given nature of humanity to hunger, to fill ourselves with food, to choose food that pleases us, to enjoy the food we eat. God made us to enjoy food. But your comment teaches that this is not the case for women. Women are not to enjoy food. Women should suppress hunger and not enjoy food. Women should ignore and suppress their humanity. 

This is a message that, frankly, contributes to female oppression. In this comment, you position yourself as the head and command that woman deny her humanity in order to please you. You command that women live not for herself, but for your pleasure. 

Now, you may argue that “that’s not what I meant.” That’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t. I’m sure these things were said as jokes, to lighten the mood. The problem with that is that these jokes are harmful. Maybe you didn’t know that or hadn’t thought about these issues. That’s okay. The point is not to worry about what we did or knew in the past, but to concern ourselves with what we do and what we know now and in the future. Maya Angelou wrote, "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” That is my concern. That after reading this letter, you will be equipped to improve and build a better world. I come not to chastise in hatred, but to correct in love. 

These kinds of comments are hurtful, plain and simple. 

As someone who has suffered from an eating disorder, I must react to and call out messages that shame people because of their body size. 

As a woman, I must react to messages that imply women are to remain small, silent, and hungerless - that women are to be anything less than fully human. 

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am required to call out injustice and oppression wherever I see it. Comments that shame people for their body type and women for their natural hungers are unjust and oppressive. Christ came to break every chain, and comments like yours keep people in bondage. 

Thank you for your time, Pastor. 

Sincerely,

A Jesus Feminist in Recovery