And You Wonder Why: Musings On Female Anger And Sadness #metoo #churchtoo

June 29, 2021 By Christy Thomas

I wrote this piece on female anger and sadness nearly 30 years ago and recently uncovered it while going through some old files. What breaks my heart today? Even with the stronger #metoo awareness, which includes a growing #churchtoo movement, most in the Evangelical world, as well as the Roman Catholic world, refuse to disavow the theology that keeps women functionally powerless and inherently inferior to men. Each scenario below reflected a recent experience for people I knew at the... Read more

Beth Moore And The Bible: It Ain’t That Easy

April 14, 2021 By Christy Thomas

Beth Moore loves the Bible. But it ain’t that easy to interpret it properly. Quoting from Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words won’t do the trick. Somewhere around 25 or 30 years ago, I was in Houston on a Sunday morning and decided to go to the Sunday School class at Second Baptist Church where the increasingly famous Beth Moore would be teaching. I saw a cute, perky blond, her trendy chunky jewelry making its noisy presence... Read more

The Messiness Of Spring And The Hope Of Resurrection

March 16, 2021 By Christy Thomas

The messiness of spring hits me as I survey the aftermath of winter death. It also offers insight, filling me with longing for the Resurrection. My soul longs for the magic of the resurrection, but I am faced with the mystery and messiness of spring, of the birth process, instead. The photo above displays a distylium myricoides, a seldom-used but quite lovely shrub that graces my front yard. Normally, yet green leaves should be slowly falling off, gently pushed out... Read more

Survivor’s Guilt And The Texas Tragedy

February 17, 2021 By Christy Thomas

My survivor’s guilt ramps up a notch. I want to go somewhere, feed someone, wrap blankets around someone else, bring in firewood somewhere. All ridiculous. At my age, just walking on the snow/ice carries great risks. The Scandal of Texas Politics I have electricity, food, water, and enough heat for reasonable comfort as long as I dress in multiple layers. The dog has figured out how to pee and poo in the icy weather and unfamiliar snow. I have the... Read more

The Comforting Theology Behind The Christian Support For Trump

January 15, 2021 By Christy Thomas

The job of those good people in this world of comforting theology is NOT to depose God’s chosen leader–or vote him out of office. God chose him. Thus he must keep his position of supremacy, no matter the damage from it. The Trump story in a nutshell. Comforting theology brings a sense of security Who are they, these decent people who still remain as true believers in Mr. Trump, insisting that he won the election and that the Jan. 6... Read more

Cancel Culture And The Fragile White Male Ego

January 11, 2021 By Christy Thomas

Welcome to my life in the cancel culture swamp. The amount of energy I’ve had to expend just to get my voice heard in the tiniest of ways grieves me–white men got to use that energy to get ahead and gain more power. I was just trying to survive. I was in an email conversation with a person utterly beloved to me, who also happens to be a white male, retired from a successful career. He mentioned, because of the... Read more

What To Do With Those Who Still Live and Breathe Trumpianity?

January 10, 2021 By Christy Thomas

Those religious people, these adherents to Trumpianity, are far more egregious violators of all that is right and holy than just the disgruntled of the nation. They have betrayed everything I have ever stood for as a woman of faith. Who am I to judge? I was out taking a walk on Monday, Dec. 14, the day the Electors of each state met to cast their vote that would seal (or unseal, depending on your hopes) the Biden presidency. I... Read more

The Definition Of Privilege: Easy Access To A Covid-19 Test

December 7, 2020 By Christy Thomas

Eight privileges, all giving me easy access to a Covid-19 test, all necessary for a successful one. Like everything else, just gaining access to a basic health need right now shows the divide between the privileged and the rest of the world. I got a COVID-19 test today. Three days ago, I started feeling unwell. Low-grade fever, muscle aches, weakness, sporadic headaches. All characteristic of minor viral infections, but . . . we now live in COVID-world, and I’m one of... Read more

Eight Lessons and Blessings From COVID

December 1, 2020 By Christy Thomas

It’s time we recognize the multiple lessons and blessings from Covid. From this growing national tragedy, we can actually emerge wiser and stronger if we take a hard look at ourselves and see what we can learn from these travails. Lesson and blessing one: The Redesigned Meaning of “Going to Church.” Churches may shift from being primarily building-defined, i.e., they are a physical place to go, to primarily worship and service-defined, i.e., they are a place to connect to God... Read more

Truth Sets Us Free, But Trump’s Lies Killed Thousands

November 30, 2020 By Christy Thomas

Trump’s lies have hastened the deaths of approximately 266,000 people SO FAR in the US. I would not be in the least surprised to see that number double in the next three months. We are facing an unnecessary apocalypse, all because of an inability or an unwillingness to speak truth. The juxtaposition of those two headlines in the Monday, Nov 30, 2020, WSJ is quite interesting. Folks, Covid-19 cases will explode in the next few weeks–what we see now will be nothing... Read more