Woman, why are you weeping?
(spoiler alert: it was because her daughter had become an Episcopalian)
Probably my most-read piece of my writing is a blog post I dashed off eight years ago after seeing a woman crying in church. Rachel Held Evans linked to it when she wrote about her own movement into the Episcopal tradition, and that link still sends new readers to the essay every month (thank you, Rachel, and P.S., happy birthday, we miss you!).
Back then, I was writing to address some common misconceptions evangelicals in my world had about the Episcopal church, and I was writing long before I had any inkling that I would be called to the priesthood.
As I approach the one year anniversary of my ordination, I’ve been thinking that I’d like to write a follow up (or maybe two!) — this time, not to allay evangelical anxieties, but simply to name, with gratitude, some of the things I love about the Episcopal church, and some of the signposts along the way that directed me here. But I’d also love to hear from you, especially if you grew up evangelical like I did, especially if you’re wondering whether church has a place in your future: do you have questions about the Episcopal church or liturgical traditions? Please, ask away in the comments (or send me an email!).
Three things:
Jack made Ottolenghi’s Brussels sprout and parmesan salad with lemon dressing (scroll to the third recipe) for us this week, and it was a perfect blend of tastes and textures (we topped with cashews rather than hazelnuts).
The New York Times profile of the author of Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds, and shape our futures delighted me… and made me wish I grew up with/made me roll my eyes at wealth and its eccentricities.
”We imagine ourselves to be individuals, Sheldrake observes, when we are in fact communities, our bodies so thoroughly inhabited by, and dependent on, microbes that the very concept of individuality begins to seem bizarre. Why do we think of a ‘self’ when it’s more accurate to identify ourselves as a walking ecosystem?”Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry is hosting its first annual conference here in Asheville next week — and many of the sessions will be available online! Register and pop in for a reading or two!
Don’t forget to send me your questions about church!
Where Goodness Still Grows is available wherever books are sold. My first book, Dangerous Territory, has a second edition coming out this fall; sign up for the Bracket newsletter to learn more.