The world is burning And drowning Tornado sirens screaming Warning us of far more Than the imminent threat Yet in between I see my friends Decorating a cake with henbit and violets Found in their own yard Native flowers flourishing Even as the streams pour over their banks Even as the mountains burn From the flick of a careless cigarette And yet we raise our children To still seek the tiny flowers
Hey Friends,
Apologies for my absence here. If you follow me on Facebook perhaps you saw I’d been dealing with essentially a five-month-long migraine beginning the middle of December. I pushed as much as I could and eventually got to a point where I could push through it no longer. It was also a case of learning to ask for help, as I went to a walk-in clinic because I thought I had an ear infection (turns out it was allergy induced vertigo), and the nurse practitioner there gave me prescription strength NSAIDs that broke the migraine cycle finally. It just hadn’t occurred to me to go to a walk-in clinic to ask about help for the migraine.
In other news, you might have noticed I’ve been sharing poetry. I have actually, despite the migraine, been able to develop a full-length collection and have sent that off to a contest, so we’ll see what happens with that.
This platform will continue to be more essays and reflections mixed with poetry now that I’m feeling more myself again.
Here’s to learning how to continue caring for ourselves so that we can continue to fight the good fight in the midst of the turbulence of our time.
Anna
What If
What if the world is dying? Do we leave that which we love? What if democracy is failing? Do we abandon hope? Everything and everyone we love Has always been dying The flip side of loving That which is mortal That which is finite Everything we love has limits Our love does not
“I wish I could still believe in God, but I can’t be a Christian anymore because of ______” Fill-in-the-blank with racism, misogyny, homophobia, toxic capitalism, and so on. I’ve had this conversation with different people almost word-for-word over and over. White American Christianity has so defined God that many people cannot separate God from the toxic theology they were taught.
But this isn’t the God I see in the Bible. The Bible shows us a God meeting people where they are and nudging them towards justice and total thriving for all: shalom. The Bible details arcs of justice and societal reform. If we understand how radical those arcs were in the context of the day, we can extend them forward into the future and figure out how to work for justice, total thriving, and societal reformation in our day.
I grew up in that first world view. Come along, and I’ll tell you the story of how I escaped, and I’ll show you a theology that I believe paints a more accurate picture: a faith for the common good where everyone thrives and no one is left out.
Purchase
Wipf and Stock | Order through your favorite Indie bookstore | Amazon
Connect
Anna Elisabeth Howard writes highly caffeinated takes on shalom as a lens for everything from her front porch in Hendersonville, TN where she lives with her husband and two sons. She is a community organizer and movement chaplain with a background in youth and family ministry and is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary. An avid hiker and backpacker, many thoughts start somewhere in the middle of the woods, or under a waterfall. She is a regular contributer to Earth & Altar and her latest book is Inward Apocalypse: Uncovering a Faith for the Common Good.
Buy Inward Apocalypse: Amazon | Independent Booksellers
Social media: Facebook | Instagram
Join the subscriber chat! If you already have the app, just go to the new chat section, if not, download the app here.
I’m one of the facilitators of Freedom Road’s Global Writers’ Group. If you’ve been looking for a community of writers to boost you to the next step of your writing goals—wherever you are in that process—join us!