On Paying Attention to How We Talk About God

A spiritual direction adjacent community conversation

Hi Soul Minimalist! In these spiritual direction adjacent community conversations, I offer some things I’m thinking about - usually quotes from other people - and then allow you to offer your own reflections in the comments. We’re always being formed, transformed, and learning. Here is a place where we pause and pay attention to what we’re paying attention to, even if they seem unrelated.

You can read more about this newsletter and the intention behind it right here. Most posts are for paid subscribers but monthly I post a public essay.

Once a quarter I share what’s saving my life right now, anything from a favorite TV show to a beloved spiritual practice. On this week’s episode of The Next Right Thing, I shared 10 things that are saving my winter life.

One of the things saving my life these days is paying attention to the words I use when I talk about God, faith, and spirituality.

A little scene from my living room. The chair is thrifted, the sofa is West Elm, the rug is handed down from John’s mom.

One of the core values I have in my work is to hold a generous orthodoxy. This means I recognize that Jesus is the host of an unbelievably long table and part of the mystery of our faith (that I find to be a relief and a gift) is that we don’t actually know everything.

This is especially true as I’ve served as a spiritual director, holding space for people as they articulate and explore their own questions about and ways for bringing language to their experience of God. And so I’m more aware than ever of how my own narratives, experiences, biases, delights, and repulsions shape my own view of God and my own opinion of other people’s view of God.

Here are some quotes I’ve been carrying this year that continue to inform the ways I talk about God.