Rachel Held Evans shared the above words, in a post which also says “even the most painful religious experiences cannot simply be discarded. They must be confronted, molded, repurposed. It’s a messy, sacred process” and “Yes, we are called to grow and mature, and yes, our convictions and denominational affiliations will likely change, but I’ve found I’m a better writer—and a better person—when I’m more focused on outgrowing the old me than I am on outgrowing other people in my community.” Click through to read the whole thing. It really is a very helpful piece, which does a good job of making the point that people saying “I’m done with X” doesn’t always mean that they are done with whatever “X” is. This applies in the realm of religion and ideology as much as in other areas. And it is often a big hindrance to our actual recovery and moving on, when we think that a mere decision to leave something or someone behind makes that a reality, or even possible.
That’s worth thinking about, especially if you are the sort of person who makes new year’s resolutions…
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