"Ex-Evangelical" cartoon by nakedpastor David Hayward
YOU CAN GET A PRINT HERE
They say you can take the person out of evangelical but you can't take evangelical out of the person.
I was an evangelical. I'm not anymore.
However, I don't wish to try to reject it or cut it or edit it out of my life. It is a part of my story. It's been a part of my process.
Let me share with you a letter I wrote to my online community,
The Lasting Supper (you can join us if you like). Here's the letter:
This morning I picked up one of my older journals and started reading through it.
I had some impressions:
1. “I like this guy!” Even though I have changed a lot since the writing in this journal and I was quite different back then, I like me back then. I was earnest. I was sincere. I read and studied hard. I was doing my best to understand and to be a better person.
2. “He has no idea what lies ahead!” True! I had no idea a few years ago what life would be like today. I was whistling in the dark. I was playing blindfolded. I thought I knew what was going on, but I really didn’t. As I was reading the journal, it helped me to relax in the present and appreciate the here now.
3. “He has a pretty amazing life. He should appreciate it and be more content!” Yep. Again, this is kind of related to the previous point: appreciate what you have now! Things don’t have to get any better than what they are. You have enough!
4. “I wouldn’t be me without this.” In other words, if I hadn’t gone through what I went through at that point in my journal, I wouldn’t be who I am today. And I’m okay with who I am today. I’m prepared. I’m ready. I’m deeper and wiser. I’m better at what I do.
The takeaway from this is don’t hate your former self. If you have any love at all for who you are now, you can’t abort who you were then.
We don’t grow by rejecting our former selves, but by transcending them.
There’s a big difference.
Much love, lovers!
David
I hope this helps you as much as it helped the members of
TLS.
