Jillian Jasper

“I became more comfortable with God being a mystery, a mystery too holy for words. I realized that when people were asking me to agree with (or deny) this or that belief about God, this or that set of words about God, they were only acting out of their scripts as members of Stage One, Two, or Three groups. They were trying to be good people, good soldiers, and they were trying to help me as best they were able. I could respect that, even though some of their well-intended actions actually hurt me. I realized that their acceptance of me was highly conditional, based on my agreement with their beliefs about God. But I became increasingly confident that God’s acceptance of me (and them) was different: unconditional, preemptive, non-discriminatory, free. And that felt, and feels even now, like truly good news, like liberation.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It

“you, be gracious to you. May God give you grace never to sell yourself—or God—short. Grace to risk something big for something good. Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, And too small for anything but love. So may God take your mind and think through it. May God take your lips and speak through them. May God take your hands and do good with them. May God take your heart and set it on fire. Finally, I offer this simple benediction, modeled on the beatitudes, to remind you that your honest doubts are not a curse but, rather, a blessing indeed: Blessed are the curious, for their curiosity honors reality. Blessed are the uncertain and those with second thoughts, for their minds are still open. Blessed are the wonderers, for they shall find what is wonderful. Blessed are those who question their answers, for their horizons will expand forever. Blessed are those who often feel foolish, for they are wiser than those who always think themselves wise. Blessed are those who are scolded, suspected, and labeled as heretics by the gatekeepers, for the prophets and mystics were treated in the same way by the gatekeepers of their day. Blessed are those who know their unknowing, for they shall have the last laugh. Blessed are the perplexed, for they have reached the frontiers of contemplation. Blessed are they who become cynical about their cynicism and suspicious of their suspicion, for they will enter the second innocence. Blessed are the doubters, for they shall see through false gods. Blessed are the lovers, for they shall see God everywhere. Reflection”
― Brian D. McLaren, Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It

“The essence of the gospel of Christ stands or falls on the question of black humanity, and there is no way that a church or institution can be related to the gospel of Christ if it sponsors or tolerates racism in any form.”
― James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation