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Michelle L. Torigian

Monthly Archives: September 2013

Veering from the Christian Brand

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by mictori in Current Events, Life, Movies, Music, Pop, Pop Culture, Religion, Television

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Book of Daniel, Christian movies, Christian music, Christian pop culture, Dogma, Peter Gabriel, progressive Christian, progressive Christianity, Rev., Saved!, The Last Temptation of Christ, U2, Van Morrison, Vicar of Dibley

I’ve never been one to follow the “Christian” brand.

Sure, I’ve read a few of the Left Behind books, seen one or two Kirk Cameron movies and listened to some Michael W. Smith in my time. (I actually still like those Michael W. Smith songs from the early 90’s.)

I never dated on the Christian website, mostly because quite a few of the men want “traditional” women. (Being a female member of the clergy and a feminist, I’m far from traditional.) I stay away from Christian programming because it seems preaching, self-righteous and judgmental.

My primary reason is that I like flawed characters with growing edges. I don’t want to see a character that starts believing in Jesus, and then immediately everything is perfectly resolved. Life doesn’t work that way. My faith is a journey with God. Some days are strong and others are weaker. Just like every other human, I’m flawed – and looking for ways to continue to grow closer to God.

In Christian pop culture, I often see easy resolutions and life in polarities. Good or bad. Clean or unclean. There is no grayscale. There is no flawed Christian who is born again.

And Christian pop culture makes it seem like there’s one Christian theology, one view of salvation, one type of relationship with Jesus. But my beliefs are far from that.

I don’t call God “father” unless I also refer to God as “mother.” I’m not “born again” but I find resurrections in my faith each day. I believe everyone goes to God at death – whether they are Christian, another faith or no faith at all. I believe in a woman’s right to choose and gay marriage.

I don’t follow the typical Christian mold. So why would I follow Christian pop culture that predominantly supports this way of thinking?

You will find me watching shows of flawed clergy (The Vicar of Dibley, Rev., The Book of Daniel). You will find me listening to music with implicit spiritual reference and reflections of the Divine (Peter Gabriel, Van Morrison, U2). You will find me viewing movies with challenging theological themes that force each of us to look at Christianity differently (Saved!, Dogma, The Last Temptation of Christ). I am authentically living my faith by looking for the Divine in mainstream, edgy culture rather than crisp clean “Christian” mediums. As I believe God is everywhere, God also abides in the edgiest of situations.

I think that’s where Jesus was too. He could have hung out with the clean people of faith but, instead, hung out with those on the margins – those who society and religion deemed unclean. By recognizing the Jesus who hung out on the margins, I know I am called to shine a light on the Divine in the unlikeliest of places.

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Reintegration of Gluten

04 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by mictori in Current Events, Life, Pop Culture, Religion

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

celiac, Gluten, gluten-free, Grace

Image0181This post is a personal reflection on where I am today.

I’ve had to reintegrate gluten into my diet.  Next week, I will be having a endoscopy and colonoscopy in order to check on my gastrointestinal system.

Since Ash Wednesday, I have gone (pretty much) gluten-free.  I can’t say that I didn’t sneak the occasional bite or two of a cookie, but I didn’t scarf down entire cookies, plates of pasta or cupcakes (unless they were gluten-free, of course).

The requirements for the tests include integrating gluten as part of my diet for two or three weeks.  As a silver lining, I’ve enjoyed some of my pre-Ash Wednesday foods.

The downside has been greater.

My stomach has been enduring more issues.  While it hasn’t been quite as bad as I had anticipated, I still pace my gluten eating to times of the day in which I have no other engagements.

The bigger problem is the pain the gluten has caused my body.  Am I 100% sure that it’s the gluten that has brought about these joints and muscle aches?  No.  But it has gotten much worse since bringing back gluten-filled foods.  My rib joints have ached to the point where I had to go to the emergency room on Friday because of scary chest pains.  Since then, my back pain has been excruciating and my joints and muscles have hurt all over my body.  On Labor Day, I rested on the couch all day because of the pain.

I pray all who are close to me will understand that this is probably triggered by the food I’m eating.  I keep pushing myself to complete the tasks I need to complete, but I come home with so very little energy.  My mind is going through some fog.  My hope is that my body and clarity of mind will return when the gluten is purged from my diet, and I believe it will return once the effects of gluten have left my body.

So here I am, pleading with all that I know for grace and mercy until I am able to return to my regular eating habits.  Then I can return to the friend, family member and pastor that I have been and can be.

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