Diana Butler Bass is a one of a kind human being. Everyone is one of a kind, of course, but there is something about Diana that is magnetizing to me. Almost like Barbara Brown Taylor, which is likely why people tend to get them confused!
She is so full of wisdom and knowledge and yet so humble and accessible and easy to talk to.
As I mentioned in the episode, I had a list of questions I wanted to ask her but I quickly threw them away when she started peeling back various layers of the topics of “deconstruction” and “reconstruction”. Without even knowing it, she was speaking to a part of me that (at that time) was super confused and super raw and, honestly, on the verge of throwing in the towel on deconstruction.
I was tired.
I was exhausted from receiving people’s unsolicited feedback.
I was done trying to explain myself to people who were mad that the “old Glenn” was gone.
I was tired of being made to feel like I was losing my faith.
I was tired of defending myself.
I was tired of being ghosted by my Evangelical “friends”.
AND.
I was wondering if I had made a big mistake. Like, “is all the pressure and stress that comes with deconstruction worth it? Should I have just done this in silence? Done the work on the inside and let everyone on the outside think I still believed and thought all the same stuff? Was this podcast a mistake?”
So many questions, so many feelings, so many emotions.
One thing Diana said that really stuck with me is that “deconstruction and reconstruction change us … and that’s the point … and that’s why so many people are afraid of it.” Maybe not those exact words, but something like it. And this made a lot of sense to me because the people in my life who are most AGAINST the evolution of my faith hate the fact that it has changed me.
“Why did you have to change?”
“Why couldn’t you just keep believing?”
“Why are you so different?”
You hear it so many times from so many people … I don’t know … you begin to wonder if you’re crazy, if maybe everyone is right, if maybe change really is bad and change really is a sign of weakness and the loss of faith.
“Maybe they’re right.”
I left the convo with Diana, though, feeling refreshed, feeling revitalized, and feeling less alone.
I hope you did too.
✌🏻
Glenn || SUPPORT THE SHOW: PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE
NEW BLOG POST ✍️
Here’s an excerpt …
“I've heard this story a thousand times and have taught about it a handful of times, but the application has almost always been the same:
Don't be like this wealthy man.
Why?
Like many people, he was curious - curious about what action he needed to take in this life in order to ensure that he would be taken care of in the next (in the "age to come").
"What must I do to inherit eternal life?", he asked.
And so he came to Jesus to ask his question and when Jesus challenged him to sell all of his stuff and give the profits to the poor in order to ready himself for life in the Kingdom of God, he went away sad.
Why did he go away sad? Who knows. We aren't told, but we tend to assume that he went away sad because he chose NOT to sell his stuff and, therefore, realized he would be unable to inherit the eternal life he so desperately wanted.
We imagine him drooping his head down low and walking away muttering to himself ...
"I can't possibly do that."
"What a bummer."
"That's a shame."
"I guess I'll never receive eternal life."
BUT.
Does the text say that? Although we can certainly read it INTO the story, I'm not so sure it's actually IN the story and so that frees us up to imagine and wonder, "what if there's another way to look at this story?"
NEW VLOG POST 📺
Last week I talked to Nate Postlethwait on the podcast about the idea of "the inner child". I shared with Nate some of my own religious trauma and some of my current struggles with doubt and how my Evangelical background taught me that doubt was merely a demon that needed to be cast out. He had some insightful things to share, and I process through a little bit of it in this week’s vlog.
PODCAST VIDEOS 📺
Don’t want to listen to the podcast? Try watching the videos! I don’t have videos for all of the episodes, but I am slowly putting some up. Go check them out on our YouTube Channel!
SUPPORT THE SHOW 🤝
I quit my job to do this.
My wife picked up a part-time job and I picked up some social media gigs and a whole lot more time pour into the What If Project. If the podcast or any aspect of what we have done has impacted you in any way, shape, or form, please consider becoming a monthly contributor to the show. Every bit helps and goes towards groceries, gas, mortgage payments, etc, etc, etc.
Thank you!
MERCH 👚👕
Get your heretical gear at the Heretic Shop! We’ve got t-shirts, hoodies, long sleep tees, hats … and lots more to come!