Invitation to Tears Read Along #8 – Final Post

I can imagine that you may be like me, that you want to discuss how to love the Bible, love God and love our gay brothers and sisters.

For the last six months, I’ve been conducting interviews with Christians pyschologists, theologians, and pastors (both male and female) who land on both sides of the gay marriage question. From these interviews of celibate, gay, and straight Christians I plan to edit the best parts to share with you. So, before launching into the final Invitation to Tears Read Along, could you help me by taking a quick (2 question) survey on how you’d like to see these videos appear?

For the topic of loving our gay brothers and sisters . . .

View Poll

Thank you for voting! And now, onto our FINAL Read-Along covering Chapter 6, “Reaching Shore”. And next week, I’m back covering topics of sexuality and faith in the post “Consent is Complicated”.

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We’ve made it, the FINAL spiritual discipline for the series that began in early June with our summer of spiritual disciplines. To those who’ve trekked through this difficulty trail with me, I want to have you over for tea and scones.  Thank you for walking along.

The final podcast, which happens to be my favorite one of the series, includes quotes and even some music.

If you’re reading via email, click here to listen to the podcast.

In the podcast, you’ll hear about how you become “fine”. How you slip grief into your pocket and carry it with you, an imperceptible weight to others, but part of who you are now.

You can listen here.

Other quotes and links pertinent in this week’s podcast:

Brene Brown on grief:

If someone has to die for forgiveness to happen and people are deathly afraid to feel grief, then we won’t forgive anybody because we don’t want to feel grief. I thought faith would say, “I’ll take away the pain and discomfort”, but what it ended up saying was, “I’ll sit with you in it”. –Brene Brown in this video on returning to church and her faith.

If you haven’t read through Invitation to Tears, skip to page 67 right now and read the quote from the film Rabbit Hole. You can follow along as I read it at the beginning of the podcast.

Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”

Dale’s sermon on Turning Evil into Song. Be sure to listen to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 soon after. 

Rosa Parks by Douglas Brinkley. The biography I read during my years of childlessness.

One Month of Pregnancy at RubySlippers

One Week of Miscarriage at RubySlippers

Comfort for those who’ve lost a pregnancy or had an abortion.

Maria Popova of Brainpicking’s review of another book on grief The Long Goodbye: A Memoir by Meghan O’Rouke and a quote

When you lose someone you were close to, you have to reassess your picture of the world and your place in it. The more your identity is wrapped up with the deceased, the more difficult the mental work.

The story of my son’s birth at RubySlippers: 3-2-10.


On men, emotions and what happens when we hold back tears “I’m a Feminist and I Wear a Speedo“

The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater. — J.R.R. Tolkien

I welcome your final thoughts on grief, how you’ve chosen (as I ask in the podcast) to walk on shore differently because of your loss, or any other concluding comments about our read-along.

Thank you for making time to join me in grieving well!

See Read-Along 1

See Read-Along 2

See Read-Along 3

See Read-Along 4

See Read-Along 5

See Read-Along 6

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Image source: mrwallpaper.com