December 6, 2024
The thing I appreciate most about the Brite community is the emphasis on amplifying all voices and hearing and valuing each of our unique stories and their impact on our learning. Being exposed to the number and breadth of theologians we’ve covered this semester means that my already “in flux” theology remains every bit as much “in flux”. Just when I think I’ve pinned down how I feel about some aspect of spirituality, I learn something new, and it all goes back into the hopper for complete reevaluation (and often complete overhaul). I was discussing this with another classmate, and she said, “It sounds like you’re deconstructing. I know how frightening that can be.” Yes, I am deconstructing, but it is not frightening. Once I let go of the idea that I had to hit on the “right theology” to stay out of hell, I got free to let new ideas flow in without reacting in fear. That means I can hear all manner of things I once would have feared as heretical and just take it in to ponder on. Whereas at one time Queer Theology would have made my stomach knot up, now, I find it fascinating, and I fully recognize there is much there that is useful for me to incorporate into my own beliefs. Some may say that since I’m so wide open to spiritual practices and theological streams, it means I stand for nothing. But I don’t see it that way. At each step in the journey, I stand for something — I just continuously acknowledge, to myself and to others, I’m just not stuck where I stand.