What’s Your Story?

First of all, I am sorry. I’ve been gone for, oh, five months? In my defense, this happened:

Yes, my dear, sweet, brain-eating zombie baby was born in April, and thus I have an excuse for everything. Or not. Whatever.

But, right, yes, I came here to say something, didn’t I?

I jumped ship from the S.S. Christianity a while ago. This is not a secret.

Yet, no one seems to know how to make sense of this. I’ve heard everything from “So you’re an atheist?” to “Well, you’ll come back someday” and everything in between.

Nonsensical as those comments are, I don’t mind them nearly as much as another response. One that doesn’t appear to be a response, but it says much more than you’d think. I’m talking about the silence.

Tally marks aside (Whovians know what’s up), this is not your average silence–the one that comes with disinterest or nonchalance. This is a heavy, anxious silence, one that knows there are so many questions but refuses to ask them, one that makes assumptions instead of being okay with open-endedness, one that keeps an open mind instead of placing limits on the realm of acceptable beliefs.

I feel like I caught some disease–“I think I caught the nonChristianity, dad!”

(Can we just take a moment to address the fact that, in the last three paragraphs, I’ve made references to Doctor Who, Spongebob, and Zoolander? I need friends that I don’t access via Netflix.)

But here’s the deal: I would love to talk about how I got here. It would be great if people asked questions instead of drawing conclusions without the necessary information. That rarely happens, though.

But, okay, I get it. I live in the Midwest. We don’t specialize in direct questions or touchy subjects. I am PRO at talking about the weather, and trust me, we have plenty of it to talk about. I’ll go first.

What words, movements, and ideas do you identify with?

What moves you towards faith?

How do you conceive of the Divine?

What is most important to you in your beliefs?

How did you reach this place in your faith?

Why do you keep believing?

What helps you relate to the Divine?

How have your beliefs changed over time?

How does your faith impact your daily life?

Who are you in relation to the Divine and to all of Creation?

What’s your story?