Category: Religion

History

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” John Wooden My family and I were long time members of a church before our eyes were opened to the dark under belly that ruled. We saw people come and go over the years but were never close enough to keep track of those who left. Interestingly, most that were well-known left with a whiff of gossip following them, that portrayed them in a negative light. Little did I know that we would...

Beautiful Outlaw

Healing the Memories I’m trying to talk my son’s college age friends into doing a study on John Eldredge’s book, Beautiful Outlaw. This book was vital in my spiritual growth when it came time for me to leave the institutional church for good. I have a poster in my closet on his list of differences between “religion & relationship.”* I like to write shit out, big surprise, huh? But the main reason I want them to study it and the reason I am thinking about it today is this one question he asked. “How have you learned Jesus?” Kind of...

Changeable

When I was a young girl, someone gave me a book-marker that had my name on it with a definition…a “your name means” type of thing. I often wondered about the accuracy of that card. It was well before the Internet, so I just wondered, never researched it. When I looked it up on an etymology site today, I was delighted to see how accurate it is. My bookmark said, “Jill = changeable.” If I wasn’t aware of my weaknesses, it would be slightly concerning as one definition is “changing often or suddenly.” Hello, mood swings, I can own that....