Evolving In Monkey Town - Week One

I think I'm a little crazy, because I'm starting this read-along just as my family is starting a move from Virginia to Washington State, with stops along the way in Ohio, Michigan, South Dakota and Montana.  We should be done about the time I'm finished unpacking.  But I am so enthralled by this book that I couldn't resist the urge to follow along.  Today I'll post, some days I'll comment, others I'll just listen.  Know that I'm working hard to stay engaged in the discussion of Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans.

Maria Taviano is hosting this read-along, and I am thankful to be participating.  She asked us to think about these questions this week after reading the Introduction to the book. I've consolidated my thoughts into a narrative that touches on each of the questions, at least a little.

     1. What do you think about creation/evolution? What are you basing your beliefs on? Have they changed any over the years? (Go ahead. Rock my world.)

     2. After reading the introduction, what is something you REALLY agree with Rachel about? How about really DISAGREE? (if every single thing about this book makes you deeply uncomfortable, that’s okay too)

     3. What faith questions have you been asking recently?

     4. Tell us a little more about your faith journey.

I always wanted to be a scientist.  When I was in junior high I used to go with my aunt to her job as a medical technologist - a blood banker, in fact.  She would let me look through the microscope, do blood typing on myself and my brother, and see how all of the cool machines worked.  I came home from summer vacation before the 8th grade convinced that this was my calling in life.  So I planned my whole high school curriculum around this notion.  Yes, I took chemistry, biology, physics and math.  I only applied to colleges that had medical technology programs, and when I was accepted to the best program in the state, I was overjoyed.

My first revelation about evolution came in Biology 110 - advanced biology for life science majors.  The class was totally built around the evolutionary model.  I thought that it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  I really saw God in it all.  And this feeling was under-girded by the fact that my Sunday School teacher at the local United Methodist church was my biology professor herself.  It all just seemed to fit together for me and I never questioned the belief that God used evolution as a mechanism for creating the world and everything in it.

Fast forward six years.  I worked as a blood bank technologist since graduation, but I felt sincerely uninspired.  Instead, it was my work in missions and youth ministry that gave me my greatest joy.  So I used my MT degree to put me through seminary, and those four years were the most challenging of my life.  Divinity school is where I encountered this clash between fixed certainty and inspired revelation.  There was a battle, not usually spoken aloud, but muttered in study carrels in the library and complained about in small groups.

Many did not take the historical and contextual criticism models of Old and New Testament classes well.  It seemed to me that deep down, some people were afraid that learning something new that challenged their old perceptions was an affront to God and Jesus.  They would "learn" the material enough to pass the test, but some openly stated that they were not drinking the kool-aid, and couldn't wait to go home and just "preach the Bible."

All of this to say that my experience is sort of the opposite of Rachel's.... I was raised to believe in a God of all possibilities, and am still confounded by those who want to keep God in "His" place.  Being a woman in ministry has brought many challenges, some using scripture to tell me to my face that I am not an acceptable representative for God.... people in my own denomination and even in my own congregations have said, "I'll never consider you to be a real pastor..."  And yet, twenty plus years later, I'm still here, pastor and teacher, wife and friend.

For me, it's not really about agreeing or disagreeing with Rachel.  And while I'm sometimes a hear a tone of sacasm (I am actually listening to Rachel read the book herself), Rachel's revelations give me hope that others will see the incongruity of a "my way or the highway" theology. And they give me a language to talk to people who have a different theological perspective than mine.  It's like she's laying out all the arguments and then helping me find a way to speak from the perspective of someone who has already taken the journey.

I love it when Rachel asks the question (paraphrased) "Does God think more highly of the kind Buddhist or the judgmental Christian?"  I think this the question that most resonates with me right now.

If I have any faith questions, they are not about God - but about how I see us treating one another.  I look at recent "religious freedom" legislation and see it requiring me to conform to others' religious beliefs, all in the guise of helping them maintain their religious point of view.  I think about our constitutional right to freedom of religion, and see that notion being abused, for lack of a better word.  And it's starting to annoy me.  Now what I'll do with that I'm not sure... still thinking.

Happy Reading - see you soon!

Deb T