Amy Julia Becker's Blog, page 105
January 25, 2021
S4 E2 | Where Is God When the Pain Won’t Stop? with Liuan Huska
Liuan Huska, author of Hurting Yet Whole, talks with Amy Julia about chronic pain and illness, experiencing wholeness while living in suffering, and the relationship between community and healing for both the individual and society. (Scroll to the end for Hurting Yet Whole book giveaway!)
Liuan Huska is a freelance writer and speaker focusing on topics of embodiment and spirituality. Her writing, on everything from chronic pain to evangelical fertility trends, appears in publications including Christianity Today and The Christian Century. She lives with her husband and their three little boys in the Chicago area.
Connect with Liuan online:
Website: liuanhuska.comFacebook: @LiuanHuskaAuthorTwitter: @LiuanHuskaOn the Podcast:
Hurting Yet Whole by Liuan HuskaNY Times article: Americans, Stop Being Ashamed of Weakness Adam: God’s Beloved by Henry NouwenLiuan Huska on Chronic Pain and Wholeness
“For people with disabilities, so much of the suffering that happens has to do with how they do or don’t fit into society’s definitions and ideas of what’s a good life and a productive life and a meaningful life. That also plays into chronic illness.”
“When I first started having [chronic] pain and I couldn’t be in my body in ways that were joyful and life giving…being in my body felt like a death sentence…To me being whole meant going out on bike rides and dancing and backpacking around the world, and suddenly I didn’t have those avenues for flourishing in the world. My body is part of me, so how do I reconnect with my body?”
“We don’t have to be perfect to be whole. How is my body still good? Can I find purpose in the imperfection? What does it mean to be present in my body? And what does it mean to experience God’s purpose and goodness as I am, being able to accept that this is the reality that I’ve been given…I can choose to live as I am, as the body that I am, without needing to wish myself back to a previous state of what I thought was normal.”
“We can promote the health of communities and groups of people as a whole by starting to pull back those layers of systemic issues.”
BOOK GIVEAWAY
To enter to win a copy of Hurting Yet Whole, complete Steps 1 & 2:
1. Go to your favorite podcast platform and rate or review my Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast.
2. Then let me know you’ve completed Step 1 by contacting me via messages on my Instagram or Facebook or via my Contact page.
The book winner will be randomly selected on Monday, February 1, 2021.
Thank you to Breaking Ground, the co-host for this podcast.
Head, Heart, Hands, Season 4 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast, is based on my e-book Head, Heart, Hands, which accompanies White Picket Fences. Check out free RESOURCES that are designed to help you respond to the harm of privilege and join in the work of healing. Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.
To learn more with Amy Julia:
Love is Stronger Than Fear | Season 4—Head, Heart, HandsS4 E1 | How Do We Fight Racism? with Jemar TisbyFaith Is Trusting in the End of the StoryIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 21, 2021
AJB Recommends: 5 Novels I’m Reading in 2021
One sign that I am a nerd at heart: I would rather go on a shopping spree in a bookstore than a shoe store. So I’m giddy about the novels I received for Christmas (pictured above) and ones that will arrive soon that I’m reading to find potential guests for this season of my podcast. Here’s my list for 2021 (or at least the next few months):
Novels I’m Reading in 2021Concrete RoseI just finished Concrete Rose, the prequel to The Hate U Give and On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas. I thought I was going to have to wait a while to read this because I knew William would want to read it first. He finished it in two days, so then I took a week to race through another riveting story of love and loss in the fictional neighborhood of Garden Heights. (Warning: of all three of Thomas’ books, this one has the most mature content, including abortion, teenage sex, and murder, so I’ve now got some serious conversations to have with my 12-year old son!) My favorite of Thomas’ books is still On the Come Up. The symbolism of the gardens and the roses was a little forced here, and the way she wove music and poetry into her other novels (especially On the Come Up) gave them additional depth. But still, if you’re already a fan, this origin story won’t disappoint.
The Good Lord BirdThe Good Lord Bird by James McBride—Another old one, but I was reminded of how much I enjoyed Deacon King Kong and Song Yet Sung (my favorite of his), so I am returning to this novel about John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry.
Three More NovelsThe New York Times’ notable list turned me on to three more novels: A Children’s Bible, The Vanishing Half, and Transcendent Kingdom. I’ll let you know how they go.
I’d love to know what novels you’re loving in 2021!
Continue reading with Amy Julia:
More AJB Recommends12 Tips on How to Start Reading the BibleReading Hope in Trying Times InterviewIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 20, 2021
How Love Is Like a Vaccine
Image from Getty ImagesWhat if love is like a vaccine against fear? Many of us approach this Inauguration Day with hope. Hope that we will turn a corner on this pandemic. Hope for an economic recovery that protects the poor. Hope for protections for our environment. Hope for civility in public (and private) discourse.
But we also approach it with fear. Fear that the violence we witnessed two weeks ago at the Capitol was only the beginning. Fear that our representatives won’t be able to pass legislation. Fear that democracy in the United States is waning. Fear that families will splinter into divided factions. Fear, even, of civil war.
What if love is like a vaccine against fear?
We’ve all learned a lot lately about how vaccines work. They not only protect the person who receives the vaccine from infection, but they also protect the community. Once 70% of the population (or so) receives the vaccine, the whole population is protected from the spread of the disease.
If enough people choose to live in love, what if it not only protects those individuals from fear, but also protects the whole population from hatred and violence? What if the power of love is enough to inoculate us from the corrosive effects of disinformation and conspiracy theories and despair?
Today, I remind myself that I am invited to be rooted and grounded in the expansive, abundant, everlasting love of God. And to live out of that love with every word I write, every person I encounter, every dollar I spend, every bite I eat, and every, every prayer I utter.
As individuals, we can choose love rather than fear. Together, we can protect our families, our communities, and our nation as we allow love to strengthen us, equip us, and send us out with open minds, compassionate hearts, and courageous action.
Continue reading with Amy Julia:
Praying for the End of White SupremacyAJB Recommends: Resources for Processing the Riot at the CapitolIt Is Time for a Third Political PartyIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 19, 2021
S4 E1 | How Do We Fight Racism? with Jemar Tisby
How do we fight racism? Is there reason to hope when history reveals the continuity of racism’s tactics and its multifaceted exploitation? Historian and author Jemar Tisby talks with Amy Julia about racial identity, Black Lives Matter, laboring for racial justice, and reasons to hope for racial healing.
Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Color of Compromise, and the newly released book How to Fight Racism. He is the president and co-founder of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective and co-host of the podcast Pass The Mic.
Connect with Jemar online:
Website: jemartisby.comFacebook: @JemarTisby1Twitter: @JemarTisbyInstagram: @jemartisbyOn the Podcast:
Jemar’s books: The Color of Compromise and How to Fight Racism Amy Julia’s article in Christianity Today: Should Christians Support Reparations for African Americans? Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair by Duke Kwon and Gregory ThompsonHow Do We Fight Racism episode quotes | Jemar Tisby
“All racial justice is in some sense relational. And I especially mean when we have to cross different boundaries—race, ethnicity, culture—so that people don’t simply become the other or the enemy, but human beings, image-bearers of God and how that affects the way we treat other people, the way we love our neighbors, the way we maneuver in the world. But I recognize that oftentimes we leave it at relationships…”
“I want to highlight the continuity in tactics. And so the folks that are invested in the racist status quo, whether consciously or unconsciously, one of the main tactics they use is labeling people…and what labeling does, it means I can put you in a box, put you on a shelf, and ignore you, ignore what you’re saying…The labels change over time. You still have the ‘Marxist,’ ‘Communist’ labels being thrown around, but now it’s much more frequent that you’ll hear one of two things—either Critical Race Theorist or socialist.”
“I just don’t think you’re having a serious conversation about racial justice unless at some point you’re talking about money.”
“Through the Bible, it’s never the case that as you’re pursuing justice things get easier or you see results immediately. Sometimes you labor for a lifetime, and the fruit of your work is seen in the next generation, which on the one hand can be discouraging, but on the other, it means that none of our work is wasted.”
“It’s not just about the world changing outside of us. It’s about changing us too—that as we pursue justice, as we endure persecution for righteousness’ sake, it’s changing who we are. It refines our character to be more like Jesus.”
Thank you to Breaking Ground, the co-host for this podcast.
Head, Heart, Hands, Season 4 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast, is based on my e-book Head, Heart, Hands, which accompanies White Picket Fences. Check out free RESOURCES that are designed to help you respond to the harm of privilege and join in the work of healing. Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.
To learn more with Amy Julia:
Love is Stronger Than Fear | Season 4—Head, Heart, HandsS3 E6 | Now Is the Time for Justice with Jemar TisbyAmy Julia on Racial HealingIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 15, 2021
AJB Recommends: Resources for Processing the Riot at the Capitol
Like so many of us, I’ve been trying to process the events of last Wednesday, January 6th, when supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol. I’ve been grateful for the thoughtful opinions and analysis of multiple writers and podcasters this week who have helped me process the riot at the Capitol, so I offer these recommendations for other people who, like me, want to understand how we came to this present moment and how we might get through it and begin to repair.
I’m grateful to Esau McCaulley for calling Christians to speak boldly and honestly about what happened, and the role Christians played in what happened, at the Capitol.
Also to Tish Harrison Warren, for writing about how what happened “represents utter failure” within the American church.
And also to Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham for explaining how white evangelicalism and Trumpism became enmeshed.
HELPFUL PODCASTSI’ve also listened to a few podcasts that have been helpful:
The Witness: Pass the MicFirst and foremost, Jemar Tisby and Tyler Burns talk about the way white Christian nationalism has always been a threat to our democracy and to the church. (Jemar mentioned this same thing when I interviewed him back in June about his book The Color of Compromise, so he has seen something like this moment coming for a long time because he understands how history echoes.)
New Yorker PoliticsI was also thankful to Jelani Cobb for providing some context for the history of the Republican party for the New Yorker Politics podcast.
Quick to ListenThis episode is also really helpful as far as understanding the ideology (and idolatry) of Christian Nationalism and how it is affecting our churches, our politics, and our nation.
The Bible ProjectAnd I will also recommend the most recent series about the Family of God for The Bible Project podcast. It has served as an indirect way to remind me that we are not meant to live with this kind of hatred and division and that God calls us to participate in love and repair.
BONUSAnd, bonus, Peter and I have been watching the political drama Borgen for the past few months. It’s a Danish show that came out back in 2010 and covers multiple years of a fictional female Danish prime minister. It’s a great show in general, but it is also so helpful to watch right now as a counterpoint to the American two-party system. It helps me imagine what government can look like when multiple political parties have to figure out how to govern together.
I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading, watching, or listening to as well!
Continue reading with Amy Julia:
More AJB RecommendsPraying for the End of White SupremacyOur Kids and Racial Identity Formation in the Era of Donald TrumpIt Is Time for a Third Political PartyIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 14, 2021
Devotional Book | On the Way: Walking With Jesus Through the Season of Lent
New Devotional Book—On the Way: Walking With Jesus Through the Season of Lent
I kind of feel like we should be in the season of Lent right now. If you aren’t familiar with this time in the church calendar, it’s a season of preparation for Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s typically a time of somber self-examination (punctuated, beautifully, by feasting on Sundays). It’s a time in which we engage with suffering and hardship and grief and injustice. A time for lament and turning to God with our frail humanity and our very mortal selves. It’s a time for turning towards the love and hope and goodness of God.
Lent Devotional BookThis year, Lent begins on February 17th, but I mention it now because I have put together a new Lent devotional book to accompany individuals or groups through this season. Each day, I offer a short verse from Scripture and reflect on themes like prayer, peace, suffering, and justice, with a Psalm and questions that correspond to that week’s theme at the end of each week. (Scroll down to request a sample.)
This devotional book is designed to be used for daily individual readings, but the questions could be used for a small group gathering on a weekly basis as well. It’s available now for sale as an e-book, which will come to you as a PDF and files compatible with various e-readers, or as a paperback book.
Discount for Bulk OrdersFree shipping for paperback orders over $50. And, if you order 50 (or more) paperback books, use discount code LENT21 to take $100 off your order!
Resource Guide for GroupsIf you are a ministry leader looking for a resource to guide your congregation or small group through the season of Lent, consider using On the Way: Walking with Jesus through the Season of Lent.
Lent Devotional Book Overviewdaily Scripture verse(s) and reflection on themes like prayer, peace, suffering, and justice.weekly questions that correspond to that week’s theme and a selected Psalm. REQUEST SAMPLE PDFTo learn more with Amy Julia:
E-Book Download InstructionsAdvent Devotional BookLove Is Stronger Than Fear podcastAmy Julia’s booksAmy Julia on Racial HealingIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 13, 2021
It Is Time for a Third Political Party
Image courtesy of Getty ImagesIt is time for a third political party in the United States. I join many Americans when I say I am more moderate in my political views than either of the current parties. Many of us—across racial lines—are more moderate on abortion than either the strident pro-life or pro-choice camps allow. Many of us are more moderate on health care, taxes, and other social welfare programs. On education. On religious liberty. On sexuality and gender and identity. On immigration. On national defense.
Moderates and PoliticsFor years, moderates have had to choose between two parties that have become increasingly controlled by their most extreme participants. In recent years, the Tea party and the alt-right have come to dominate the Republican party. President Trump was able to mobilize the extremes of this party to his advantage, and to the detriment of our nation. So people like me, political moderates, have become increasingly supportive of the Democrats even when they do not represent many of our views.
Political PartiesThe fissures within the Republican party have pushed many of us away. In light of the recent events in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol of the United States and threatened the lives of our elected representatives on both sides of the aisle, the time has come for a new political party.
Leaders like Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse and Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey Colin Powell (and the list is getting longer as I write) have expressed their rejection of President Trump’s actions (Powell went so far as to say he no longer calls himself a Republican). These leaders could take the risky, courageous step of creating a party for the conservatives who can’t abide Trumpism and the moderates who have migrated to the Democrats (also because they can’t abide Trumpism).
But it’s not just leaders who command respect and represent years of public service who could sway people. For the first time in many years, corporations have pulled away from supporting the Republicans. The money is moving. And the sad truth is that corporate purses control much of what happens in American politics.
Third Political PartyI’m not a politician or a political pundit or a historian. I’m just an ordinary citizen longing for a place where I can cast a vote. I’m longing for a conversation among our politicians that seeks after the common good of our nation. I’m longing for a way to break through the toxicity of what the Republican party has become. I’m longing for a way forward. Could a third political party provide that?
The American political system has a lot of cracks right now. I can only hope that something new can emerge out of that brokenness.
To learn more with Amy Julia:
Amy Julia on Racial HealingSeason 4 of Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcastPraying for the End of White SupremacyIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 11, 2021
Love Is Stronger Than Fear Podcast | Season 4
Love is stronger than fear. I first wrote those words on the heels of Donald Trump’s election back in 2016, and they became a truth I returned to again and again in the social tumult of the past four years.
They also became the title of my podcast, and I’m excited to announce that Season 4 of the podcast Love Is Stronger Than Fear starts today! It’s a short episode today, an introduction to the season ahead, including guests like Jemar Tisby, Liuan Huska, and Katherine Wolf, who will help me consider how to live in love instead of fear in the midst of personal pain and social division.
Season 4 of the Podcast: Head, Heart, HandsThis season, we’re looking at the themes of my e-book Head, Heart, Hands. We’ll be talking about the way we can learn, relate, and respond with action to the brokenness in our own lives and our culture when it comes to race, class, disability, and other dividing lines within our culture.
Subscribe to Love Is Stronger Than FearSo if you are already a subscriber, you should see this new episode in your podcast feed today. If you aren’t, I invite you to go to wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe right now. For all of you, please let other people know about Love Is Stronger Than Fear.
We are on a mission to help people believe that we can make a difference. We can heal. We can proclaim that hope and love and joy and justice win. This podcast is just one small part of a larger healing work that we are all invited into.
I hope you’ll join us in the conversation on Season 4 of the podcast. And I hope you’ll put the conversation into action in this broken world because you too have come to believe that love is stronger than fear.
Head, Heart, Hands , Season 4 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast, is based on my e-book Head, Heart, Hands , which accompanies White Picket Fences . Check out free RESOURCES that are designed to help you respond to the harm of privilege and join in the work of healing.
To learn more with Amy Julia:
Love is Stronger Than Fear | Season 3—White Picket FencesWhite Picket Fences companion resourcesAmy Julia on Racial HealingIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
The post Love Is Stronger Than Fear Podcast | Season 4 appeared first on Amy Julia Becker.
January 8, 2021
Kamala Harris Is My Little Girl’s Hero
Marilee announced last month that she needed to read a biography (or autobiography) of someone and then dress up as that person and pretend to be them in front of her class. There was no discussion. She knew without hesitation that she wanted to be Kamala Harris.
She read Vice President-elect Harris’ memoir in its young adult form, and over the course of December told me about how Harris had advocated for a single mom who faced separation from her children, how she had won billions of dollars from banks when she was Attorney General of California, and how she had become the first Black Vice President-elect and the first female Vice President-elect.
She asked at one point how we could make her look like Harris for her presentation. Marilee doesn’t know the history of blackface, so her own thoughts went towards putting makeup on her face to darken her skin and wearing a wig. I explained that white people in our country have a history of caricaturing Black people in this way, and she didn’t want to participate in that legacy because her intention here was to learn about a Black woman who she emulates. She settled on a black pantsuit and a big smile and a fierce respect for our next Vice President.
This week, we saw the election of a Black man from Georgia as a United States Senator, which was announced on the same day we saw white women and men storming our nation’s capital, some carrying Confederate flags. There are plenty of barriers left to break and plenty of injustices that remain. But one little white girl is growing up with a new hero.
To read more with Amy Julia:
Continuing the Conversation: Marilee and Ruby Bridges
Big Feelings and Growing Up with Marilee
In Their Own Words: William and Marilee on Having a Sister with Down Syndrome
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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January 7, 2021
Our Kids and Racial Identity Formation
Image courtesy of CanvaWednesday was a day of racial identity formation for our daughter Marilee, age 9. She saw the contrast between how police had prepared for the Black Lives Matter protesters this summer and the contrasting lack of preparation against a group of violent white protesters storming the capitol.
She saw the Confederate and Nazi flags carried alongside flags with Christian fish symbols and signs that said, “Jesus saves.” She saw the way our faith in the God who came to heal and restore and love and redeem had been co-opted and corrupted by a group of Americans who determined to overthrow a free and fair election.
Racial Identity FormationIn Jemar Tisby’s new book, How to Fight Racism, he encourages all readers to write down their own story of coming to understand race. We talked about this in an interview Wednesday (which will air soon as the first episode of this season of my podcast, Love is Stronger than Fear).
I shared with him a few moments from my own racial identity formation—the time I was watching a movie with a Black man sitting in a pew in a church among white people and asked my mother why he was there. Until that point, growing up in rural North Carolina, I didn’t understand that Black and white people could go to church together. Tisby shared with me the moment he traveled from his own middle school’s gymnasium to that of a school in a wealthier, whiter suburb and he recognized the gross disparities in their school budgets and how those correlated to their racial differences.
Children and Racial Identity FormationMarilee went to bed in tears, asking me to pray for protection against nightmares. I did pray, but I could not take away this terrible truth that a large group of white citizens tried to forcibly undo the workings of our democracy, many in the name of Jesus. I could not take away the fear and sadness.
I do not want Marilee to grow up with shame about who she is as a white person. I do want her to grow up with an awareness of the shameful acts of injustice that have been perpetrated by white people throughout our history, acts in which we have been complicit and from which we have benefitted. I want to expose her to the pain and trauma of our past so that she can participate in healing now and in the future.
To read more with Amy Julia:
Praying for the End of White SupremacyContinuing the Conversation: Marilee and Ruby BridgesBig Feelings and Growing Up with MarileeIf you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
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