I listened to the "Black Coffee & Theology" podcast episode you posted, too. It is a beautiful discussion. I think of the Buddhist saying, "The stronger you become, the gentler you will be." 🪷 It takes a lot of inner work/strength to be so vulnerable. Thank you. 💐
I love this Robert. And I feel this ever so deeply. The person I am today is a completely different human than who I was yesterday, not to mention years ago. Allowing myself to embrace this version of me, encourages me to do the same for those around me.
I love this and I feel it deeply. I’m not the same person I used to be. But I’m more me than I’ve ever been. And there’s a poem in my new book about looking at my body in a mirror. 🩵
I told my ex the following a few weeks after we broke up: "If I dream and hope for a change in the world, I have to believe that people can change too."
"Who I am now." Today I went to the installation service of a new pastor at the church my dad planted in the 80's. I was the only female pastor to attend, and it felt very weird. "If you sit with those guys, the whole church will fall down," one of my friends joked. I know her. I love her. She's a real friend, and she didn't know me from childhood, but...that was weird, too. One of my friends from the original days said, "Does it feel weird to come back here and everything is different?" and I was like, "I haven't attended here since 2008, so no." But what I didn't say was *I'm* different. I don't know what their new pastor thinks of female pastors.
Mostly it was a lovely day but I went into it with my eyes open and you're absolutely right that it's hard to find people who are invested in who we are *at any given time..*
This was lovely! There is so much grace in how you approach others with curiosity and compassion, and with how you perceive the world around you. Also, I enjoyed the Toni Morrison quotes on beauty, as I’m teaching her novel “Beloved” to my high school Lit class these days. Another person with so much grace in how she viewed the world and spun stories of the beauty that can potentially emerge from suffering.
I really gel with this because I've grown a lot and really enjoy who I am choosing to be in the present. That's the person I want people to know. Know me as I am, love me as I am. Thanks for sharing.
I listened to the "Black Coffee & Theology" podcast episode you posted, too. It is a beautiful discussion. I think of the Buddhist saying, "The stronger you become, the gentler you will be." 🪷 It takes a lot of inner work/strength to be so vulnerable. Thank you. 💐
"Love me as I am today, and every day after." Really, Robert 🥹❤️?! This was such a good read. Thanks for sharing!
Yes! We have all changed so much and we change every day. I am not the same person I was last year, last month, last week.
I love this Robert. And I feel this ever so deeply. The person I am today is a completely different human than who I was yesterday, not to mention years ago. Allowing myself to embrace this version of me, encourages me to do the same for those around me.
I love this and I feel it deeply. I’m not the same person I used to be. But I’m more me than I’ve ever been. And there’s a poem in my new book about looking at my body in a mirror. 🩵
I told my ex the following a few weeks after we broke up: "If I dream and hope for a change in the world, I have to believe that people can change too."
Thank you for this beautiful piece.
"Who I am now." Today I went to the installation service of a new pastor at the church my dad planted in the 80's. I was the only female pastor to attend, and it felt very weird. "If you sit with those guys, the whole church will fall down," one of my friends joked. I know her. I love her. She's a real friend, and she didn't know me from childhood, but...that was weird, too. One of my friends from the original days said, "Does it feel weird to come back here and everything is different?" and I was like, "I haven't attended here since 2008, so no." But what I didn't say was *I'm* different. I don't know what their new pastor thinks of female pastors.
Mostly it was a lovely day but I went into it with my eyes open and you're absolutely right that it's hard to find people who are invested in who we are *at any given time..*
This was lovely! There is so much grace in how you approach others with curiosity and compassion, and with how you perceive the world around you. Also, I enjoyed the Toni Morrison quotes on beauty, as I’m teaching her novel “Beloved” to my high school Lit class these days. Another person with so much grace in how she viewed the world and spun stories of the beauty that can potentially emerge from suffering.
I really gel with this because I've grown a lot and really enjoy who I am choosing to be in the present. That's the person I want people to know. Know me as I am, love me as I am. Thanks for sharing.