The Ordinariness Of Grace (Guest Post by Ashley Hales)
Today I’m honoured to host Ashley Hales on the blog. Ashley is a blogger, author and mum who loves talking about story, and believes deeply in the power of story to shape us. She’s an excellent writer & become a good friend, I’m delighted to host her here, talking today about grace. So without further ado, over to Ashley:
This post was going to be about how grace is violent, how it knocks us down and changes our categories and realigns our desires. Something akin to how Flannery O’Connor unites grace with the grotesque in daily ways. Grace does do that – it rushes in and knocks you down.
But it’s the quietness of grace, its small and ordinariness, that I want to tell you about.
You see, I grew up on a diet of “you can be anything you want to be” and “the world is your oyster.” And as an entire generation who is coming to age now knows, such statements just don’t hold water anymore.
You can’t be anything you want. You can’t just live an exotic life and get rich quick. You can no longer simply work your way up the corporate ladder and arrive at the pinnacle of success.
Together At The Table: A Glimmer Of Heaven
It’s been a privilege these last few weeks sharing this series on LGBT and faith. I’ve shared my story, we’ve heard stories from a gay Christian and bisexual Christian, and I’ve shared some resources to help you on your journey. And after this series is over I’m going to continue advocating for this issue, on social media and occasionally here.
But I want to finish on a positive note, with a story of hope.
You see it’s been a long time since I’ve been truly hopeful about the church, and the Christian faith. I often stand back from both of these and see such brokenness, such fear.
I’ve seen fear controlling much of the Christian faith and Christian church. This fear we all have of the unknown, the unseen, the mysterious. Circumstances and forces outside our control. And it’s perfectly human to feel this way – most of us do. I do, much of the time.
This I see most of all in relation to the issue of sexuality and faith. So much fear. But I also see a lot of hope too.
10 Things To Know About Bisexuality (Guest Post by Liz Mallory)
Today we continue the series on LGBT & faith. We’ll conclude next week with a personal story, but today, we have a guest post from Liz Mallory, who I guest posted for last week. She’s a Christian, a great writer, a married woman, and a bisexual.
Bisexuality is rarely talked about in context of faith – and today Liz bravely dispels some common myths surrounding bisexuality & bisexuals.
I’m delighted to welcome Liz here.
I am a woman. I’m attracted to women, men, and genderqueer individuals. I’m married to a man whom I love dearly. And I’m a Jesus follower.
I’ve known for years my attractions weren’t “normal.” But it took me until 2014 to have a name for what I am: bisexual.
Bisexuals are called a lot of things we aren’t: polyamorous, loose, unfaithful, sex-obsessed, questioning, slutty. None of those things describe who I am. For a long time I went back and forth between calling myself lesbian and straight. Neither fit right.
All this could have been avoided if I’d known what bisexual actually means.
Building Bridges – LGBT & Faith: Resources
Hi friends, hope you’ve been enjoying the series on LGBT issues/stories & faith. Next week I’ll be hosting Liz Mallory, a bisexual Christian who has written a comprehensive series on God and sexuality/LGBT issues on her blog, which covers every dimension of this issue, and the series will conclude with me sharing another story.
I’m privileged to say I’m guest posting for Liz today, and my post goes live at about 8.30pm UK time today. You can check it out here.
But in this post I’m going to do something slightly different in relation to this issue & maybe help you on this journey in a different way.
Why Authenticity Can Require Sacrifice
One thing which keeps me blogging is the opportunity to interact and build relationship with you, my readers. As regular readers will know, one thing I am passionate about is authenticity. For us all to be true to who we really are, to discover our true identity & calling.
Maybe it’s because of my own past – a victim of bullying, feeling an outsider, growing up in a broken home & losing my Mum relatively young, and being shy & introverted – but I’ve always felt a passion, a desire to speak out for minority groups. For those oppressed, rejected, outside, misunderstood, either by church or culture, or both.
For me to be true to who I am, to practice what I preach and be authentic in my writing, at least some of my writing is going to involve speak out for some of these groups. This is what’s led me to speak up & blog about gender equality in church. And it’s what’s now leading me to speak up on one of the most contentious issues in the Christian church today.
A topic which is divisive, and which makes this one of the bravest blog posts/series I’ve ever written.
Because the group I’m speaking out for is the LGBT community.
4 Secrets To Inviting Creativity (Guest Post by Shannon Trindade)
Today I’m delighted to be hosting Shannon Trindade here on the blog. Shannon is a writer, blogger and communications pro who helps business & individuals all over the world connect better with their audience.
She’s an excellent writer & communicator & has a powerful message about creativity to share with us today. So, without further ado, over to Shannon…
If you’re like me, you’d do almost anything to experience more “ah-ha moments”. Those moments of pure creative energy are priceless.
In addition to feeling euphoric, creative moments allow us to experience being connected to something bigger than ourselves. More accurately, it’s a type of connection beyond what our brains can comprehend, control, and measure.
So how do we get more creativity in our lives?
It’s clear you can’t force creativity and ah-ha moments into your life, but you can help them evolve naturally.
Why Talent Is A Sacred Gift, Not A Possession
I love to write. Tapping a keyboard, putting words into a document, for the betterment of others, it’s what brings me most joy. It’s my therapy, it’s my solace, and yet it’s also the medium I do most good in the lives of others. It’s both my most public and most private voice. The space which is mine and mine alone.
I’ve often worried about dying young, and not fulfilling my potential, and leaving nothing behind. But over Christmas, watching documentaries about Freddie Mercury and how he approached his own death – which unlike many of us, due to his condition, he had time to prepare himself for – one thing stuck out.
He threw himself into his creative work.
He knew that was his legacy, and like all great artists, when you listen to the words and music of his later life, they all seem like a goodbye message to us all. They’re some of the most authentic songs ever written. All with a raw honesty which suffering and death tends to expose in a way nothing else does.
For me, it was a reminder of the sacredness of every single word I put on a page. And I suddenly felt a sense of responsibility. That my words are a gift which has to go beyond myself.
Beyond, even, my lifetime (which hopefully, has a while to go yet).
And isn’t this the beauty of creativity?
Muppets, Umbrellas & The Truth About Story
I’ve always loved the Muppets. And every time I’ve watched a Muppet TV show or movie I seem to learn a lesson. Over this last Christmas, they might have taught me their biggest lesson of all.
So what do I mean? Well, let’s backtrack a little.
All life is a story. It’s a story which is being told by each of us, and somehow each of our stories intertwines with many others to create a bigger story. There’s stories being told around us each and every day.
But there’s two things we often forget about stories.
First, we have the power to shape our own story – we get to define our stories, they don’t just happen to us unless we give them the power to.
Second, our stories are like delicate flowers or ceramics – fragile, easily breakable, and delicate.
How do I know this? Because my until recently I’ve given authority to my circumstances to define much of who I am, rather than realising the power I had over my story.
Why ‘Transformation’ Is My One Word 2015 (#OneWord2015)
For the last two or three years I’ve adopted a ‘One Word’ for the year. The concept is to choose a word which will define your year, which will guide and direct all you do and be at the centre of everything that year.
For 2014 I chose ‘courage’. And this turned out to be very prophetic. I was confronted with the worst of myself and the best of myself.
The best? That I have a writing gift which God wants me to use to benefit others for good – and which actually makes a difference in the world. That I’m well-liked, respected person and writer with a lot to give to the world, and have infinite value and worth as I am.
The worst? My abysmal management of my finances which was going to land me in major trouble unless I took action. How disconnected I’d become from God, and from my own calling. And in what bad health I was in, physically, mentally, emotionally, professionally and spiritually. And above all, my epilepsy-related depression.
This is what happens when you choose a word for the year. In some strange, cosmic way, it comes to challenge you, and incapsulate everything you are in that year. And it’s not exaggeration to say it changes your life for the better.
Why To Begin 2015 With Grace – Not Plans or Goals
I’ve lost count of the posts I’ve seen in the last week about ‘making the most of 2015’, or ‘reviews of the year’ or ‘setting goals for the next year’ or a topic related to it.
There’s nothing wrong at all with these.They can be useful – and many of them have challenged and inspired me. It’s good to make plans and set goals with a new year coming.
But to me there’s something else we need to do first.
My biggest challenge to you all for this coming year, is before you execute any plans, goals or anything else,
to begin with grace.
To realise your true identity, your true self, as you are right now, with all it’s complications, mess, and difficulties
is enough. Already.
It’s healthy and important to make plans and set goals for our year – I’ve been doing some of my own – but remember whatever the outcome of your plans, whether you achieve your goals or not
you’re already enough.