in-the-whisper

[in-the-whisper]

hey you mentioned john green and i did not understand a single other word in that sentence but am curious, why do you know/like/remember him?

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hello!! i actually know john green primarily from his Hit Spotify Podcast Dear Hank & John (or Dear John & Hank, as it will be known in 3 years) but I think I'm really drawn to John Green because of a lot of reasons, the biggest being that he is so earnest. I'm pretty annoyed that I can't come up with the word I want to use here and it isn't earnest but earnest is pretty close to the right word.. he just cares about things very deeply and he says things he feels and he lets things be meaningful and significant and I love that.

I'm also deeply curious about John because he's a very happy Christian who finds deep meaning in God and in life and in relationships and I am a Christian who is in the middle of what the Green brothers might call a Journey of Meaning where I'm trying to learn how to redefine my relationship with God as an adult who's able to have thoughts about religion that are a more my own than my parents (although the impact of my family/culture/context is not lost on me) and I haven't figured it out yet. I've been thinking a lot about hell recently and John Green doesn't even believe in hell and I want what he has I guess? I need to read more Episcopalian literature but I'm not sure it will help me because my background is so almost cultishly Baptist I'm not sure I can separate the Biblical literalism I'm used to from the religion itself although he did say he doesn't think hell is evident in the gospels and I want to know more about that because it seems like Jesus talks about hell a lot and I'm not sure what he means.

Anyway I just find their podcast really nice and comforting. It's nice to know that he exists and is happy and it makes me feel like maybe I can exist and be happy too and it makes me feel like it's okay to take things seriously and be earnest

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okay man we get it you’re being tested by god

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Probably one of the worst takes on God I've heard was that being afraid is a sin as if Jesus didn't sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemane before being crucified. We aren't expected to be fearless we're meant to trust that God has better plans

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Yknow. Even on my more atheistic days? I still feel like I, personally, need God, even if it turns out there is no substantial theological reality to the idea at all, because if nothing else, I want there to be something out there I can say thank you to. There are birds chirping in the first full-leafed trees of mid-spring right now, and the sky is clouded enough to highlight the enormity of the blue. I am still able to breathe fresh air, to do work enough for a solid night's rest. I need to send out a thank-you, even if it's into the void.

But beyond that, I also want something I can hold accountable. Something to take my frustration and rage out on, something that will graciously accept it, at least enough so that I can move to more productive states of mind to help fix whatever it is I'm outraged my Maybe-God would allow.

And beyond that still? I want something that will suffer with me, that will rejoice with me, within me, beyond me. And so I, personally, need this idea of God, if nothing else.

And because I need all this specifically of my God (and not a little because of the culture that taught me my first language of divinity), I always find myself turning back to Christ.

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I have been doing so much biblical research I want to share but I think it's tied up in some deep seated hurt I haven't recovered from yet and I'm just so tired and incoherent:( but at some point I hope I can finish it and I hope it will help other people too

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i LOVE women and im a christian and sometimes reading commentaries on the Bible makes me feel fucking crazy stay safe out there girls

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are angels alive?

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my dog is really sick, i think he's going to die within the next couple of days, will you guys pray for my family?

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sometimes im angry and sad but then i remember that flowers dont have to come in every shape and color and size but they do. things dont have to be beautiful but they are. we’re going to be ok

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Praying for your family. I'm so sorry for your loss ❤️🕊️

thank you <3 i appreciate it

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my grandpa is dying fairly slowly from leukemia and my mom has been so upset. im feeling like it's real for the first time, will anyone who believes in prayer pray for us? im just really sad

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And after the fire...

A still small voice.

[@ardvarzk]

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Something something let the little children come to me for they will inherit the kingdom of god

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@pagesofkenna YES YES YES

the first person in the bible to give God a name is hagar (a slave woman) who called him "the one who sees me"

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– Christine de Pizan, "The Book of the City of Ladies" 1405 (x)

‘‘My lady, he says that Nature is completely ashamed when she sees that she has formed such a body, as though it were something imperfect.”

‘‘But, sweet friend, don’t you see the overweening madness, the irrational blindness which prompt such observations? Is Nature, the chambermaid of God, a greater mistress than her master, almighty God from whom comes such authority, who, when He willed, took the form of man and women from His thought when it came to His holy will to form Adam from the mud of the ground in the field of Damascus and, once created, brought him into the Terrestrial Paradise which was and is the most worthy place in this world here below?

There Adam slept, and God formed the body of woman from one of his ribs, signifying that she should stand at his side as a companion and never lie at his feet like a slave, and also that he should love her as his own flesh.

If the Supreme Craftsman was not ashamed to create and form the feminine body, would Nature then have been ashamed? It is the height of folly to say this! Indeed, how was she formed? I don’t know if you have already noted this: she was created in the image of God. How can any mouth dare to slander the vessel which bears such a noble imprint?

God created the soul and placed wholly similar souls, equally good and noble in the feminine and in the masculine bodies.

Woman was made by the Supreme Craftsman. In what place was she created? In the Terrestrial Paradise. From what substance? Was it vile matter? No, it was the noblest substance which had ever been created: it was from the body of man from which God made woman.”

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update god is love

omw to learn about the love of god from the existence of kitties will report back at some point

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Do you go to church

Not really. For a very long time I didn't go because I had too much anxiety and depression and church services just brushed up on my mental injuries and it just hurt too badly. I've had a much greater capacity to handle disagreements with people even when the beliefs I hold are informed by some traumatic experience - something I have not had the mental energy to do in the past. But even after recovering more I still don't really feel the desire to attend.

The way I see it, there are three main reasons to go to church. First, it's important to have a community that can encourage and support you when you're having a bad time, as well as to just talk to, get advice from, and generally just not be alone. I'm really lucky to already have a community of Christians who can mentor and encourage me, so that isn't really something I would go to church for, and I'm not quite in a place where I'm healthy enough to go to contribute by mentoring other people.

Second reason is to worship God with other people. I find i can't connect to God through worship at church because I find the singing and the crowd so overstimulating. I also find worship really personal and I'm just not comfortable doing that in a big group of people I don't know. So that doesn't really benefit me spiritually.

The third reason is the teaching. Because of my background, I just don't find most sermons at churches in my area very helpful. I just think most of the time pastors tackle subjects that need more than an hour to be fully fleshed out, and I think they're trying to reach as big of an audience as possible. Im not trying to sound like I just think I'm so special or anything but I've found that I just have to work really hard to apply the sermons to my life, whereas I could pretty easily find podcasts and books that are more tailored to the type of spiritual content that I need.

I think I'd probably be better suited to a house church environment since most of my issues are just "big church scary & unhelpful" but I haven't gotten around to finding one and I feel pretty fulfilled as I am right now.