I actually stuck the below snippet in here last week one day (as a draft, not published). Then, this Sunday our pastor mentioned "words of grace." I don't know if it it was a coincidence or not, but anyway, it's simply keeping track of good words that you hear or read. It could be Scripture passages, something on Facebook, or anything, really.
My daughter posted an article on Facebook last week dealing with why evangelicals are losing people her age. It was a good article, but that's not what I wanted to remember. Below is a comment a friend of hers posted on Carrie's post, and also a response Carrie made to her (and others). Not only do I think it's a very insightful comment by Carrie, and not only do I admire her resolve and passionate faith, but mostly I wanted to keep it because of what she said about me and her mother. It brought a tear to my eye, and I have yet to be able to even respond. She is quite a gem, and she makes us very proud. :)
Comment from a friend of Carrie's, written on her FB post:
I’ve been thinking about how to write this, because I saw this post yesterday, read through it, and loved it. It really, really resonated with me. I left the church about 8 or so years ago, after becoming disillusioned with a lot of the things this author mentioned. Especially the progressive ideology. Even the couple of times I’ve gone back since then have made me angry and depressed (one of the last experiences I had was at a Christmas service, where the pastor somehow managed to denigrate gay people. At a Christmas service!). Anyway, I’ve been noticing your posts, and posts from a couple of other Christians that actually seem reasonable. More than that, inspiring. Like, people who actually think like me, who respect others’ choices and want to live in a world of equality and love. It gives me hope. Anyway, sorry for the long rant. I just wanted to say thanks for posting this. It was an awesome read, even for someone who isn’t necessarily an Evangelical.
Carrie's response:
I've truly, honestly, never wanted to walk away from the church more than I've wanted to these last 3-5 years. I've seen some horribly nasty stuff, both personally and in the news, and I'm sure I haven't even seen the worst. But I've also seen and experienced some of the greatest things come out of the church. The church is not bad, people just suck. And they tend to suck even worse in groups, right? I haven't left the church because I see a movement rising. I first noticed it 10 or so years ago (I noticed it because my parents are awesome and my dad is usually about 5 years ahead on major trends.) Anyway, there are tons and tons of great thinkers challenging the mainstream christianity fluff who refuse to accept the lame ass answers we've been given to life's toughest questions for the last 30-45 years. There's a movement of brilliant intellectuals who arent afraid to ask questions anymore. But if we all quit going to church, what will happen? I think very bad things. I think very bad things are happening with the American church at large because too many people who need to be at the front lines have quit going, but I cant give up. I think we all need to be prepared to do church different (ahem, Dan Horwedel, I'm still waiting on you to organize a beer study and Bible tasting.) I wish there were an easier way to organize believers who are completely disillousioned with whats happening in this country's church.
That's basically one large rant that says nothing but that, I feel you girls. I want to leave as well. But I see our generation and some of our parent's generation opening our eyes to whats going on, and I want to be a part of the revolution :)
Ok.... this is me just smiling now. :) Carry on.