Charissa

“Christianity is not a program for avoiding mistakes; it is a faith of the guilty. There is no “right” or perfect way to be. We learn from our mistakes; we extend grace to others and ourselves.”
― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Shameless: A Case for Not Feeling Bad About Feeling Good

“The Gospels are the canon within the canon. The Bible, as Martin Luther said, is the cradle that holds Christ. The point of gravity is the story of Jesus, the Gospel. The closer a text of the Bible is to that story or to the heart of that story’s message, the more authority it has. The farther away it is, the less its authority.”
― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Shameless: A Case for Not Feeling Bad About Feeling Good

“Our scars are part of our story, but they are not its conclusion. The past is ours and will always be a part of us, and yet it is not all there is. It’s a process, moving from wounds to scars to grief to showing those scars. It takes time, and maybe therapy, and maybe being vulnerable in community, and maybe working through the twelve steps, and maybe making a lot of mistakes, and maybe experiencing a tiny bit of joy.”
― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Shameless: A Case for Not Feeling Bad About Feeling Good

“The notion that religion is bound to disappear has become increasingly untenable. There are far too many spiritually serious, well-educated, economically sophisticated, civically engaged religious people in the world. There is no doubt that the nature and role of religion has changed, but these founding myths of social science have run their course. Rather than assuming that spiritual beliefs are irrational and religious participation is regressive, researchers are now asking whether and under what conditions different sorts of beliefs and spiritual practices have what kinds of effects.”
― Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life