My hospital supervisor is, as usual, trying to kill me with his insightfulness and compassion. Swords or pistols? No, he duels with gentleness and clarity. I'll take poniards, any day.
He sent me a link to a TED talk on shame from Brené Brown, found here, and then I watched her previous one on vulnerability, found here. I watched it in the middle of writing a paper for my Doctrine class, and the overlay was perfect. Now, I'm thinking quite a bit about how my perceptions of God have sometimes inoculated me against shame, and at other times have robbed me of a sense of worth.
I think a lot of people have observed that there's a connection between shame/worth and who they understand God to be, but I noticed yet again that the God-image who comforts others is painful to me, and the God-image that brings me freedom is a prison to others. When I was in my 20s, I let authority figures dictate my God-images, and they didn't see me when they chose for me.
Today, I'm praying my gratitude for beginning to leave unhelpful images behind, and for finding freedom.
Which God-images are you praying with? Are they bringing you shame or grounding you in worth?
Now, I'm off to find a good Pantocrator icon...
Lutheran Social Services Under Fire
20 hours ago
God as the light that reflects off beauty... wisdom
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