Always Reforming

Within myself I find, Within my soul I discover, This feeling,  Latent, This inclination, Unspoken, yet  Assumed, Constant, Nagging, A way of life, Incessant, Woven into my DNA, This mindset, Suffocating, This worry, Enslaving, The inherent impermanence  Of life (So fragile), Of breath (So brief), Of friendship (So brittle), Of churches (So petulant), Of parents (So mortal). Within my heart I sense, Within my mind I uncover, This haunting, Familiar, This anxiety, Comforting, This white noise, a Whisper, Breathe , Surrender , This impermanence cannot last Forever .

I just wanted to offer a brief PSA. In case you were unaware, the cultural norms with which you (and maybe your parents and your parents' parents) were raised  are not the Bible. The Bible doesn't tell the women to do all the cookin' and the cleanin' or that they can't wear pants.  The Bible doesn't even say that a woman has to take her husband's last name.  The Bible never prescribes a form of government, nor does it tell us to say the Pledge of Allegiance at school every morning.   The Bible doesn't tell you to vote Republican or even that you have to vote at all.   The Bible never mentions wearing your Sunday Best to church on Sunday morning or even worshipping on Sunday morning, at all! Now, perhaps these cultural and familial norms were based on Biblical principles at one point in the distant past, and maybe your family and church actively observe such practices in an intentional effort to apply Biblical principles, but we must never make our cus...

Warning: I'm about to get snarky! The TR (Truly Reformed) boys were out in full force on October 31st.  They wanted to make sure that, whether you were celebrating Halloween or Reformation Day, you knew you were an evil papist, pagan, and/or idolater!  Like their spiritual forefather, The Grinch, they wanted to ensure that no fun was had and no joy was felt, but, I am happy to report, most people casually want about their business with little or no attention paid to these sourpusses.   I am being overly harsh here for comedic effect, I admit, but I do have a point to make.  There are a variety of motivations (genuine piety, pride, tribalism, etc.) that lie behind this conservative cancel culture, but I believe that it is generally destructive and destabilizing. That's a pretty bold statement, so allow me to explain. I was raised within this segment of the Reformed community.  Many things can be said about it, but the simplest is that it is not a healthy pla...