Happy Saturday, friends! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, so I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve been doing, reading, watching, and thinking about lately. I have a few other posts in the works, but nothing finished enough to publish yet – and a few more in my head that I hope to find time to actually write over the next few weeks. Stay tuned! But in the meantime – seven things on a Saturday:
I have to say, my first winter in Brooklyn spoiled me a bit. I’d expected a good snow storm or two based on last year’s experience, but we’ve yet to get a good one. I know, I know – my friends from the Midwest would probably happily trade winters right about now, and I sure don’t mind having missed out on the polar vortex… but I do miss the snow. So I was delighted when I woke up this morning to a good couple of inches, with skies that looked like they might bring more. Of course. it warmed up during the day and most of it’s gone again, but I got a snowy morning! It made me happy.
And then I remembered that the last time we got some snow turned slush, I’d found out the hard way that my boots are no longer water-resistant. And had yet to actually get around to buying new ones. So I went shoe shopping this afternoon.
Y’all – NYC is full of ridiculously over-priced and impractical footwear. You have no idea.
If you’re looking for some brain candy, I highly recommend the Harley Merlin series. It’s about a girl with magical gifts who grew up in the foster care system and finally learns the truth about her family history. The books are definitely young adult fiction, and nowhere near as well-written as the Harry Potter or The Unwanteds series – but it’s a good storyline with compelling characters.
I also just finished reading Nadia Bolz-Weber’s Shameless: A Sexual Revolution. It was incredibly thought-provoking. In truth, I don’t think I agree with all of Nadia’s theology, but I do love the empathetic way in which she speaks about difficult things, and her emphasis on the importance and the power of love and grace. I appreciate the honesty with which she talks about how hard it can be to love people who think very differently than we do about things that matter deeply to us. And I liked the way this book made me question my own assumptions. (It also made me laugh. For example: “In the beginning the Word was born and kept interesting company and said super-confusing things that to this day we are still trying to figure out.” (p. 149) Yes. Pretty much.
In an article published in the Washington Post this week, Jonathan Merritt writes: “Allowing for diversity of thought in a religious institution has well-documented benefits, and creating religious echo chambers can be organizationally deleterious…. a faith community that allows for a wide array of views and varying types of people are better suited to face the challenges of a quickly evolving world.”
One of the things I’ve observed since moving to New York is that being in exactly this kind of environment – a faith community that isn’t afraid to lean into differences and embrace the tensions as opportunities to love and to learn, a community that celebrates diversity of thought, culture, and opinion rather than fearing it – is incredibly freeing. We are far more concerned with making sure people feel welcomed and experience the love of God than we are with passing judgment on anyone’s thoughts or life choices – which makes it a lot easier for everyone to be authentically themselves.
It’s no secret that I am secretly still a kid at heart and that I do love a good fairy tale. It’s not quite as good as Beauty and the Beast, but the live action version of The Little Mermaid that came out last year was quite good. I highly recommend it.
In addition to an enduring love for fairy tales, I’ve had a bit of a Camelot fetish since the first time I saw the musical as a kid. It was my introduction to Arthur and Guinevere, and I’ll watch pretty much any adaptation of their story. I’ll let you know when I get to the end what I think, but so far, I’m halfway through Season 1 of Merlin and quite enjoying it.
Have a great weekend, friends!
More to come,
Happy
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