Bessel van der Kolk in his seminal text The Body Keeps Score explains that any trauma we have been through gets stored in our bodies. This could be abuse and neglect from our childhood or from a relationship. This could be a traumatic event like a car wreck, losing someone we love too soon, a …
This weekend, the Houston Chronicle and USA Today both released reports that the Southern Baptist Convention not only had knowledge of allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment but went through great lengths to cover up these allegations by handling them internally. For many who follow bombshell reports about religious institutions, these reports will harken …
We finally took the plunge and started watching Tiger King. I barely made it through the first episode I have to be honest, but as I continued to watch there was a character, a woman who appeared. She once worked for Doc Antle who left. She described the terrible conditions she had to live in …
I had a dream the other night that I was arriving at the yearly baptist denominational gathering. The first encounter was from a male colleague who greeted me with a lingering hug. My body stiffened and my mind prepared for what was to come. As he departed, he commented on how good I looked and …
Since high school, I have had breathing issues. There was this one drill in my training for field hockey that always left me struggling to breathe, which led to a doctor’s visit where I was diagnosed with seasonal asthma. I was prescribed an emergency inhaler and allergy medicine and considered myself lucky that this was …
As a member of the clergy, I get asked a lot of questions. One that has popped up quite frequently recently is, “Do I have to forgive the person that abused me?” This is followed closely by, “Do I have to forgive the people who knew about my abuse and didn’t help me?” Maybe it’s …
In response to sharing my story in the recent article Switching Denomination: Why some Baptist ministers are leaving, I’ve heard from so many women who have experienced something similar to what I have experienced. While this is reassuring that I am not alone in my experience, it is also disheartening. As I listened to these …
Yesterday, we hit the 20-week mark on this journey to welcoming a new little one into the Harrelson Pack. It took me by surprise to think that we were already halfway there to meeting this little one. This little one that we just found out is a GIRL! In the midst of the excitement, I …
With Florence about to make landfall in South Carolina, people have been preparing for power outages and damages. In the midst of all of us trying to anticipate the uncertain, bad theology has come to the surface. This theology invites judgment about who deserves God’s protection and who doesn’t deserve God’s protection. This week Pat …
I’ve been pondering the discussions about Pastor Charles H Ellis and Ariana Grande for over a week. There was so much about this interaction that reminded me of similar situations I have been in as a woman and as a woman who attends religious services regularly. There is no doubt in my mind that Ariana …
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