Hello friends! I am back in Atlanta safe and sound and sorely missing Texas. Much of my day was spent creating a list of "Things I Don't Appreciate About Atlanta" (and most of it was VALID!) and then...
...I heard THIS interview on Fresh Air.
Friends, I needed to hear this today. Terry Gross interviewed anthropologist T. M. Luhrmann who recently published When God Talks Back. The book is "based on an anthropological study she did at The Vineyard (an evangelical church with 600 branches across the country), Luhrmann examines the personal relationships people developed with God and explores how those relationships were cemented through the practice of prayer.
While I am not from an evangelical background, I do come from a place (a home, a church, a family) where prayer and a relationship with God are valued. I heard in this interview some of my thoughts on God and religion intelligently articulated.
I needed to hear this today.
A quote from the interview:
"I found it immensely moving to commit to the sense that the world is good in the face of evidence to the contrary. I find it poignant that I saw people being able to make that commitment, and it didn't seem to me in talking to people that they were naive about the terrible things that happened in their lives and in the world. But they were asserting that this was nevertheless a wonderful place to be." - Lurhmann
I hope you will give it a listen if you can. You might need to hear it.
I heard a portion of the interview, too - including the quotation you shared. Very thoughtful, indeed - and glad it was timely for you as well. Blessings, my friend.
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