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Divinely Queer: My Journey to Spirituality Through Sexuality
I am Divinely Queer and so are you. Maybe you don’t identify with the word “queer.” That’s okay. I didn’t either for most of my life. Like most people, I was straight until I wasn’t. For a while, I didn’t know what I was. I was in love with a woman, in a relationship with a man, and not feeling great about either of those things. After years of loving people whose energy was harmonious with mine - regardless of their other identities, “queer” just seemed to fit. At the end of the day, I believe we’re all a little bit queer in our own way. I also believe, despite the messages that our society perpetuates about God and religion, that our queerness is absolutely Divine.
Jennifer Miracle-Best is an author and speaker whose Calling is to help victims of spiritual violence find healing.
Jennifer Miracle-Best is an author and speaker whose Calling is to help victims of spiritual violence find healing.
298 pages, Paperback
Published September 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 20, 2018
Jennifer has always been one of the most genuine, beautifully strong women I know. I’ve heard parts and pieces of her story over the years, but to read the details shared in such an honest and raw way has been a gift. I’d say I’ve struggled with spirituality as an adult but the truth is that I pretty much ignore it. This work gives much food for thought, divinely queer, LGBT, straight, or otherwise. Thank you, dear friend, for sharing your light.
April 20, 2019
Upfront and full disclosure of the fact that I attend the same church as the author but that hasn’t affected my review of Divinely Queer.
On Ash Wednesday there were a handful of books that I wanted to read during my Lenten journey. This book was one of them but, sometime in the last 40 days, I had lost it. Thankfully I’ve been spring cleaning and I found this book underneath a pile of discarded winter blankets at the foot of my bed. I was able to read it this week. I’m proud of myself because I finished all four books I wanted to read during Lent.
I had a preconceived notion going into the book that Jennifer Miracle-Best was going to be in the same category of Marianne Williamson or Anne Lamott, and she would teach me how to be divinely queer. I don’t know where that notion came from and if others have the same notion, I don’t want them to be disappointed.
Instead, Jennifer takes the reader on a retelling of her own path of sexuality and spirituality and how she eventually began to understand how the two intersected to make her Divinely Queer.
The book is separated into 3 sections. The first section is entitled “Finding Me” and it talks about Jennifer’s late teen/early twenties realization that she might not be straight after she falls in love with a woman. The author has a Southern Baptist background as I do so I was taken back to all of those conversations I’ve had with myself and others about sexuality and can it/could it align with church teachings. There’s a moving thread in the book about Jennifer’s relationship with her father and the lingering “internalized spiritual violence” that she had to deal with. I found myself nodding along in recognition as Jennifer went on her journey.
The second section is entitled “Finding A Church” and it is about Jennifer’s quest to find a place that she felt she belonged while also wrestling with the same questions I wrestled with as Southern Baptist. Gay and Christian? Is that a thing? Again I nodded my head in recognition as she writes about going to a church in Mt. Pleasant and sitting in one of the back pews and making sure she left plenty of empty space around her. I think anyone that has left their home religion in order to find a religion that is more in alignment with who they are will enjoy this section.
The final segment is entitled “Finding God” and it’s a segment I was warned about by other members of my congregation. I was warned because Jennifer’s path to God isn’t a traditional path and it’s going to be hard to swallow by those that are more traditionalists. The people that warned me didn’t realize that my own path to my higher power was filled with metaphysical leanings or what Jennifer affectionately refers to as the “woo woo” stuff. She talks about law of attraction and light energy. She believes in meditation as much as prayer. I loved this segment and had my own God moment while reading. I follow a guy on Instagram that suggested his followers check out the meditations of Abraham Hicks. I heard this yesterday. Today Jennifer talks about finding Abraham Hicks while following her woo woo. I need to research.
All things considered, I enjoyed this book. I especially appreciate that she devotes time and energy into alternative ways of finding God, ways that are valid but rarely spoken about from the pulpit on a Sunday morning. She might not be what I thought she’d be but, oddly, she still was able to help me validate and own my own faith journey and to let me recognize that I too am Divinely Queer.
On Ash Wednesday there were a handful of books that I wanted to read during my Lenten journey. This book was one of them but, sometime in the last 40 days, I had lost it. Thankfully I’ve been spring cleaning and I found this book underneath a pile of discarded winter blankets at the foot of my bed. I was able to read it this week. I’m proud of myself because I finished all four books I wanted to read during Lent.
I had a preconceived notion going into the book that Jennifer Miracle-Best was going to be in the same category of Marianne Williamson or Anne Lamott, and she would teach me how to be divinely queer. I don’t know where that notion came from and if others have the same notion, I don’t want them to be disappointed.
Instead, Jennifer takes the reader on a retelling of her own path of sexuality and spirituality and how she eventually began to understand how the two intersected to make her Divinely Queer.
The book is separated into 3 sections. The first section is entitled “Finding Me” and it talks about Jennifer’s late teen/early twenties realization that she might not be straight after she falls in love with a woman. The author has a Southern Baptist background as I do so I was taken back to all of those conversations I’ve had with myself and others about sexuality and can it/could it align with church teachings. There’s a moving thread in the book about Jennifer’s relationship with her father and the lingering “internalized spiritual violence” that she had to deal with. I found myself nodding along in recognition as Jennifer went on her journey.
The second section is entitled “Finding A Church” and it is about Jennifer’s quest to find a place that she felt she belonged while also wrestling with the same questions I wrestled with as Southern Baptist. Gay and Christian? Is that a thing? Again I nodded my head in recognition as she writes about going to a church in Mt. Pleasant and sitting in one of the back pews and making sure she left plenty of empty space around her. I think anyone that has left their home religion in order to find a religion that is more in alignment with who they are will enjoy this section.
The final segment is entitled “Finding God” and it’s a segment I was warned about by other members of my congregation. I was warned because Jennifer’s path to God isn’t a traditional path and it’s going to be hard to swallow by those that are more traditionalists. The people that warned me didn’t realize that my own path to my higher power was filled with metaphysical leanings or what Jennifer affectionately refers to as the “woo woo” stuff. She talks about law of attraction and light energy. She believes in meditation as much as prayer. I loved this segment and had my own God moment while reading. I follow a guy on Instagram that suggested his followers check out the meditations of Abraham Hicks. I heard this yesterday. Today Jennifer talks about finding Abraham Hicks while following her woo woo. I need to research.
All things considered, I enjoyed this book. I especially appreciate that she devotes time and energy into alternative ways of finding God, ways that are valid but rarely spoken about from the pulpit on a Sunday morning. She might not be what I thought she’d be but, oddly, she still was able to help me validate and own my own faith journey and to let me recognize that I too am Divinely Queer.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews