Misunderstood, Politicized Christianity

Since I enjoy people and getting to know people from all walks of life, I often find myself smack dab in the center of extreme beliefs and values. Even though I feel like this kind of socializing offers me a full, interesting life, it puts me in a place to see severe misunderstandings and unnecessary stereotyping that I can't do anything about.

For example, I am among a group of a dozen or so people teamed up with a dear pastor friend of ours named Matt Randles to plant a church. In searching for a place to meet and worship, we asked the director of the science museum where I work if we could rent the museum once a month. A few of my co-workers were appalled that a church, of all things, would be allowed to meet in museum's space.

What is clear to me is that just the word "church" is immediately equated with religious, right-wing extremists who are at odds with science and live lives of hypocrisy and judgment toward others. The word "church" makes eyes roll and mouths mutter things like "Oh, brother."

When did Christianity become so politicized? When did Jesus' teachings of love become seen as hate? Where did Christians go wrong and how can we turn this screwed up image around?

Christians are just people. And for some reason, human nature leans toward a need for structure and rules and categories. Christianity has nothing to do with this type of organization. But being imperfect people, we have clung to unnecessary rules for a sense of security, I guess, or a sense of control. It's hard to grasp the truth that Jesus has done all the work for us, and we are free from all of this junk. It's too big a gift to totally accept.

In fact, Christianity is the only religion that does not require people to be "good" and earn salvation (in whatever form that may come). Christianity is a belief that we as people will never be good enough to earn anything close to eternal life with God, so He provided a way for us through Jesus.

Jesus said that the most important thing for us to do is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds. The second most important thing for us to do is to "Love our neighbor as ourselves."

Christians haven't meant to be shitty and judgmental. Christians are just people. And Christians are not the only people who are shitty and judgmental. And Christians are so excited to have found Jesus, they want to tell everyone, but it's just too overwhelming to think that He covers it all and we just have to believe and love and use our gifts He's given us.

The outspoken Christians are the type-As, just like the outspoken anti-Christians. So it seems the squeaky wheels create the stereotype.

Christianity, itself, is a beautiful, liberating gift. It's love. Don't get confused by the misunderstandings. People are people. Jesus is life.

What is Soul Arts?

Soul Arts was born in the spring of 2004. Ever since, I've been trying to figure out how to explain what it is to people. I'm going to give it my best shot here.

An avid journal keeper since a kid, I took a bookbinding class in the fall of 2001 and started making my own journals (as well as journals for everyone for Christmas that year). The handmade journals are made with unlined paper, which opened up the unlimited creative potential to do more than just write in my journal. Now I was inticed to draw and collage and write in circles or whatever I felt like doing at the time.

I taught a few of my friends how to make the journals and encouraged them to start creative journaling, like I was doing. Five of us starting meeting every Saturday morning for about two hours sharing our journals with eachother and doing fun writing or art projects together in our journals. We did Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, and we found other great ideas for self discovery and exercises that inspired creativity. The group met weekly for two and a half years, and the most beautiful friendships were formed. We only disbanded because everyone but me moved away! (Now we send a shared journal around through the mail in an effort to keep the faith!)

Well, during this time, I went to Mississippi to visit my parents. They agreed to watch my toddler and baby while I took a little break for a couple of days at a Franciscan prayer center about a half hour away from them called The Dwelling Place.

I spent my alone time there enjoying the beautiful space the two nuns and small staff have created there. I listened to the birds and watched the pond ripple in the breeze, all the while writing, praying and doodling in my little handmade journal.

The counselor on staff approached me the second afternoon for a visit, to see if I needed prayer or wanted to talk about anything. In our conversation, she asked about my journal. I showed her the kinds of things I put in it, and she loved it. Then she said to me, "I feel like the Holy Spirit is prompting me to ask you to come here and lead a retreat on journaling and journal making."

I was immediately flattered and intrigued by the opportunity. I said, "Of course. I would love to do that." We set a tentative date for the following summer.

When I returned home to Montana, little bouts of anxiety began. The voice in my head starting saying, "You can't lead a retreat. Who are you to teach anybody anything..."

My mode of defense against the little voice usually is to find a solution, so that's just what I did. I decided to plan a retreat with people I knew in Montana as a trial run, so I would know how to prepare for the one in Mississippi.

I set it all up and 12 people signed up for the retreat. But in the weeks that led up to the first retreat in Montana, the most amazing things began to happen. I would wake up in the mornings with these fantastic ideas. I would envision that certain people were going to be at the retreat, and then sure enough, those same people would have their deposits in my mailbox within a day or two. I woke up one morning with the name Soul Arts. I knew that was what this thing would be called. God was just pouring out the vision for Soul Arts.

The retreat was great. The participants enjoyed it, and I learned a lot. I felt more prepared.

Since then, I've done two retreats at the Dwelling Place now, and two in Montana, as well as a few workshops and classes.

Through this process, I have discovered that I have the spiritual gift of exhortation (also known as encouragement) and I want to use this gift to glorify God. More than anything, I love to encourage people to live their biggest, most authentic lives possible. That's why I follow up the title Soul Arts with the words "Be Real. Live Big."

I would love to offer Soul Arts to existing groups, whether they are women's Bible study groups or stay-at-home mom groups or just whatever, and lift them up with this kind of encouragement through journaling and other forms of creative expression. Also, I will continue to offer retreats, workshops and classes which will put new groups together. Let me know if you are interested.

So, would you call Soul Arts a ministry? A life coaching business? An organization that teaches creative expression as a vehicle to living a fuller life? I don't know. Do you have any ideas?