Questions

It's official! The first issue of The Porpoise Diving Life with me as guest editor is up! You can view it HERE.

The topic of this month's issue is "Questions," something we can all identify with in one way or another, and it's an issue packed with really great articles, some beautiful photos and a lot to think about.

"Questions" is an intentionally broad topic and I'm pleased with the wide variety of subject matter, as well as paradigms, that this issue offers. And what wonderful writers and talented photographers I was lucky enough to receive submissions from!

Starting this week I'm going to be focusing on one article/author at a time here on my blog in a interview format, with the idea of understanding the person behind the article. I'd love to get some direct feedback from you and maybe even some conversation, back and forth. This month I'm going to be working hard to get a Porpoise Diving Life blog up and running so we can do this sort of interaction there, but for now it's going to happen here. Something new and exciting! Looking forward to it!

So go on over and check it out! For now, here are some tantalizing "excerpts" from a few of the articles in this month's issues to tempt you:

"There is nothing to fear with questions since they are a natural part of an honest life and because there are so many unknowns and things about which we are uncertain. The only thing to fear is any person or group that discourages asking questions." (excerpt from Cool Questions by Glenn Hager)

"I have some great new friends I’d like to introduce to my Evangelical family-of-origin. Some of them are gay, some of them are deists and a few of them are Star Trek fans. Some of them are Christian, but not in ways that would be familiar. I don’t think any of this process has made me a better person or a better Christian than my conservative friends. But it does make me different. And if they are as afraid of liberalism as I once was, then I still have to ask these questions..." (excerpt from Family Questions: Will Evangelicals Still Love Me? by Peter Walker)

"A dark night of the senses may “feel” as though modes of prayer, experiencing God, or spiritual practices don’t “work” or satisfy. God may “feel” out of reach, distant, unavailable, or gone. It may feel like a dry period, or a time of being in a spiritual dessert. This is not cause for discouragement or alarm, but for stamina. It is a Divine invitation for growth, and greater spiritual depth beyond what one has known." (excerpt from Dark Night of the Soul, by Lisa Colon DeLay)

"There’s a lot of work there…especially for what is supposed to be a “gift.” A huge list of feelings must be ignored in order to accept this gift of salvation. And often, even in those churches that “encourage questions” and talk about wanting to be “open and real,” there still remains an expectation that eventually you’ll come around. The questions will be resolved. The doubts will be laid to rest. What if the questions and doubts are not in fact laid to rest?" (excerpt from Life Outside the Closet by Cheryl Ensom Dack)