Co-authored by Dana Porter & Rita Mock-Pike
So many of us are “One Day Novelists.”
“One day when I have the perfect plot…” “One day when I am retired…” “One day when …” Just fill in the blank.
We find a plethora of excuses to give so that we can justify to ourselves about not taking the time to be creative. However, nothing happens without planning.
The Pyramids of Giza and the Great Wall of China were not the products of some haphazard late night planning. …
Yesterday, someone asked me when I had “gone off the rails” of the fundamental faith of the evangelical churches I grew up in. I did not have the opportunity to reply because the angry vitriol between he and another was removed by him (which is just as well — I would have removed it anyway). But today, as I hear my heart beating with sorrow over the angry responses I have received thanks to my freedom in Christ, I wanted to give answer. …
Until recently, I hadn’t been very open about many beliefs on social media because I am incredibly sensitive. Life is so much more vivid for me than many, not in just the good, but in the bad things that happen. And social media is a highly volatile place. Opinion reigns supreme and actual discussion instead of “yelling” is rare.
But in recent months, I’ve become more open about my lack of political affiliation, my stance against Trump, my beliefs in human rights, my anti-racism standards, and other “controversial” subjects. I cannot remain silent, even though I know deep wounds will…
It’s impolite. It’s in bad taste. And it’s downright disturbing. Not to mention wrong. That you, a white “Christian pastor,” would call me, a Jewish descent Christian woman a fascist because you don’t like that I stand against Trump’s racist actions and hate crimes is more than just insulting. You accused me of seeing only one side of the senseless attack on the Episcopalian church the other day and then you asserted that I was believing and becoming a fascist.
Do you understand what that is?
What is your definition of fascism, Mr. white pastor?
According to Miriam-Webster, fascism is…
Guest post by Dana Porter
I have a request for the church. Can we stop pretending that we know the sciences better than the actual scientists do?
To quote John Oliver, “Experts should stay in their lane.”
As a theologian, I am an expert at theology and church history. I know little about viruses and how they work. Since science is not my field of expertise it means I must trust that virologists know what they are talking about.
We are living in a dangerous time when political partisanship has already led to people needlessly being infected by COVID19 and dying. The time for Christian…
Guest post by Dana Porter
Greetings, Church, gather around please because we need to have a conversation that has been long overdue. First, to make sure we are on the same page, here are a few ground rules.
- The world is currently experiencing a pandemic that is deadly and no amount of sticking one’s head in the sand can deny this reality.
- Many scientific experts whose day jobs involve preventing the 1995 movie “Outbreak” from becoming a reality state that the best way to contain this virus is for most people to live in isolation for weeks.
- Human beings are notorious for missing the obvious…
Lately, we’ve been getting sick. A lot. And I’m the girl who never used to get sick at all, until I wound up working as a nanny for a family that appears to have had a very similar immune system to my own. We constantly passed illnesses back and forth, despite me only being in their home about 20 hours a week.
Then, I married a man who has several auto-immune diseases, including Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and others they’re still working on diagnosing. He has no gallbladder, a history of depression, anxiety, and migraines. …
It’s not like I have ever thought I knew everything there is to know about faith, the Bible, Jesus, and God. But I grew up in a very conservative environment with a knowledgeable dad, and an entire lifetime of attending church, and Sunday school. Plus, that whole graduating with a Bible degree thing…
And in all that upbringing, my parents were faithful to explain to me that I do not know everything, and I never can. …
So, recently I returned from a domestic road trip with a long-time friend. We’re both pretty chill people who enjoy adventures and unplanned side-trips. When we set out, we had three destinations and firm times in place — a ceremony in Ohio during which I was to receive an award on my grandmother’s behalf, the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum where my grandmother’s airplane resides, and a news interview I was giving in Ohio on the way back to Chicago.
Admittedly, the trip was for me — I was receiving the award. The plane is my grandmother’s. …
In 2009, thanks to some screw-ups by the bank, my car was repossessed. I brought the insurance paperwork in. I faxed it in. I called it in. But apparently, that wasn’t enough for the bank I was using at the time. And when I went outside one morning to head into town, I thought my Toyota Corolla had been stolen.
After playing phone tag for several days, one of the loan officers finally returned my call.
“If you wish to get your car back, you’ll need to pay the bank the full amount you still owe on the car.”
“How…
Rita Pike
Full-time freelance writer. Granddaughter of aviatrix Jerrie Mock. Lover of travel, tea, cats, books, fiction, faith, and pop-culture. Writing on these things.
