On a sunny morning in June, 2003, two days after my 37th birthday, I had an unsolicited, unexpected and unbelievable encounter with God. Put more simply, without asking, praying or seeking, I woke up one morning a churchgoing agnostic (following years of rabid atheism) and put my head to the pillow that night a newly minted, highly unlikely Christian. I wish I could say my radical conversion happened gently…all harps and angels and light…but that was not my experience. On the contrary, I was nauseous, had trouble catching my breath and felt like there was a 500 lb weight on my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack. But here’s the kicker. A lifelong skeptic who was, at times, militantly anti-Christian, I suddenly believed without hesitation that the Christian story that I had frequently railed against was true. I couldn’t have told you what that story was, but I knew without the luxury of details that it was all true. Now this might make some sense if I needed a spiritual experience. Say if I was fighting a serious illness or was down on my luck financially-or maybe if I were struggling with a painful loss or trying to navigate a tough personal challenge. But I didn’t need a spiritual experience. As far as I was concerned, my life was perfect. I was a successful PR executive making a healthy six-figure salary, married to my best friend who also made a six-figure salary. We had three healthy, happy kids and lived in our dream home about an hour northwest of New York City. I was seven years sober and had faced down most of my major issues/resentments in a program of recovery. Life was pretty good. Yet, there I was-sick, crying and convinced that something beyond my comprehension had happened to me. No one was more surprised than my husband Martin, who was there with me when it happened. He had been a Christian since he was a kid and knew the extent to which I thought the whole Christian thing was a contrivance. I had fought vigorously over coffee and cigarettes to convince him that religion had been created by leaders to control the masses or by weak individuals to soften the blow of their incapacity to deal with their day to day lives. He never did come around to my way of thinking, but I figured if he could overlook the fact that I was an alcoholic single mother with two kids and marry me, I could overlook the fact that he was a Christian and marry him. So here I was, convinced that this Christian thing was true, with no idea what that really meant. What followed was years of learning that is discussed in much greater detail in a book that I am writing. Suffice it to say that I learned that following Christ and living by the dictates of the Holy Spirit does not always add up to the overly simplified “join the team and your life will be wonderful” message that I have heard so frequently. As a matter of fact, the years since that day in 2003 have been some of the most difficult I have ever encountered. We have lost more than you can imagine-money, possessions, prestige and people. And yet, I would not turn back for the world. So, now I’m trying to make sense of this new life. Attempting to go beyond predictable platitudes in order to allow this change of heart to lead to a genuine change of life. This blog will chronicle the day to day joys and trials of my journey and raise some key questions and challenges I face as I find my place in a faith that still confounds me.
A recent Pew Research Forum study titled “Understanding the Participatory News Customer“, shows that many Americans view religion and spirituality is an underreported area in the news. According to the report:
“41% of Americans say there is not enough coverage of religious and spiritual issues. Women (44%) are more likely than men (37%) to seek more coverage of this area; young adults ages 18-29 (49%) are more likely than those over age 50 (35%) to say this; and bloggers (50%) are more likely than non-bloggers (40%) to say this. Race/ethnicity is also a factor, with African-Americans (57%) significantly more likely than both whites (38%) and Hispanics (43%) to say they would like to see more coverage of religion and spirituality.”
What do you think? Too much? Not enough? Two biased in one direction or another? Would love to hear from you…
posted March 4, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Wanting more of this sort of coverage is a noble idea, but it’s just not going to happen in mainstream media. The fledgling religion beats that were out there were cut years ago. Newsrooms are cutting staff in all areas every day. You’re lucky to find out about half of the day’s pressing issues at city hall or the war zone let alone cultural and religious coverage.
posted March 5, 2010 at 5:11 am
Hello, Joan…
Your site here is wonderful! I had the good fortune of meeting your sister Dory yesterday. She was telling me about your writings and your soon-to-be-published book. I do look forward to reading it.
Are you, perchance familiar with the writings of Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton? Below are links to two separate pieces I wrote on them a couple of years back:
http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2006/07/dorothy-day-and-catholic-w_115254184393075116.html
http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2007/02/thomas-merton-1915-1968.html
Before the day is out, I will put a link to your site on my blog.
All the best,
Tom Degan
Goshen
PS – Later on this morning, I will be dropping off at Dory’s office a DVD of a movie called, “Entertaining Angels”. It is the Dorothy Day story. Watch it with her when you have the time.
peace….
posted March 5, 2010 at 11:57 pm
There is more than enough coverage of the details in religious news – and the religious issues that divide us.
What is shocking is that there is very little coverage of the big picture – the overall process of faith development, a concept which could bring perspective, understanding and peace among the many warring factions on the religious scene these days.
I continue to search for the right words by which to express this….
posted March 8, 2010 at 3:28 pm
I live in Nashville and there is a lot of coverage of church and ministry related news in the paper and on TV. Unfortunately, it just often serves as fodder for the haters. It is difficult to have any kind of reasonable conversation on developments, without the threads being overrun by the flamers and trolls.