Holy Discomfort

What is holy discomfort?

What are the situations that challenge our personal status quo, that move us to the edge of our understanding, and push us, sometimes kicking and screaming, into zones where we feel confused, angry, downright uncomfortable?

As a white woman who grew up in the South, in the Southern Baptist church, I am now being brought face-to-face with my own racism.  And yes, it makes me uncomfortable.  We white people have plenty of good reasons to feel uncomfortable.  Centuries-old systems of oppression and unearned privilege are being uncovered, and we are being called to account for ourselves, our actions, or more often inaction, in owning up to the twisted manifestations of racism in our nation, our states, our cities, our homes–

And our churches.  Those of us who grew up in the church sometimes find ourselves clinging to the familiar, even though we feel in the deepest and quietest part of our being, that something is wrong.  

This blog is meant for those of us who grew up in the church and took the church seriously when we were taught that God is Love.  It is for those who may feel discomforted as we encounter the unfamiliar terrain of all that is being revealed.  It is a Love letter, a letter written in love to the church, specifically the “white” church, and to those who find themselves squirming under the gaze of history.

Let us work together, in Love, to find our way forward. And as we do, may we discover joy in the midst of the holy discomfort that challenges us to be the people God created us to be.