Chicago, Cows, Creation and Childbirth
The idea for this blog has been brewing in my head for about six years. That's when I purchased the domain. The concept, sustainable theology, was inspired by Chicago, cows, creation and preparing for childbirth. For the first time in my life, I was starting to see the story God was writing, and I realized I was a teeny, tiny, minor character in the greater narrative. I was beginning to see that my story mattered, and I was capable of living a better one!
Everything was coming together.
There's an intersection in Chicago where 3 roads come to a point. Irving Park, Damen and Lincoln all join cars from north and south, east and west, northwest and southeast. If the light is green and you don't intend to turn, you can speed right on through and you might not even notice it. If your are trying to change directions, turn left or turn right, then you are in for a maddening experience, especially if you aren't familiar with the intersection and whether you need to make a soft left or a sharp left. Someone is bound to be honking at you, a biker will buzz by, and a mother and stroller will dart out of nowhere. You will miss the green, but you'll already be out in the middle of the intersection and have to finish you turn on a red, with cars coming at you from five different directions.
If you've never experienced an intersection like this, you probably should. For no other reason than to come face to face with mortality. Or maybe immortality. It will either make you realize death is immanent or you will feel invincible because you survived the experience unscathed.
The culmination of this blog is like that intersection. At the time I paid $14.95 for the domain, all of the oddities and passions and dreams had all hit a central spot on the map. Everything was colliding and I could begin to see that all of it was exploding into a transformed version of myself.
At the time, I had just finished reading 2,000 pages of Wendell Berry's diverse works. I had watched the documentary Food Inc, and I was very idealistic about changing the trajectory of the earth. I was also in my early twenties and incredibly idealistic. I'm now in my late twenties, so my idealism has been squelched just enough that I realize when I'm being wildly unrealistic!
I was in my first year of seminary. My mind was overflowing with Biblical history, theology and God's creation that was made good. I was experimenting with different spiritual practices, and trying to find ways to make what I was learning relevant to every day life.
I also found out I was pregnant for the first time, and I could not stop watching documentaries about natural childbirth. Partly because I thought I wanted to have a natural birth, but mostly because I was horrified and I couldn't stop watching them.
I had just graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies and had taken courses on feminism and global slavery and I was learning how to think for myself. I was full of energy, passion and drive to change the broken systems of the world. I thought the time for this blog seemed right. I thought it was the right time to uncover what the Christian life was all about, and how to live simply in the complexities of the technological age. But the time wasn't right.
The last six years have given time for the stew to simmer, and hopefully enough time for the passion to meet practicality. I've added a slew of experience to the wreckage in the middle of the six-way intersection. I've been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I'm serving my first call as a full-time solo pastor. I've birthed two additional children, parenting a grand total of four little women. I'm a working mom, married to a stay-at-home dad, and I'm living deep, deep in the middle of rural America.
And now, now it is finally time for this blog to see the light of day!
