beautifully written, your post reminded me of some quotes from Elder Renlund:
As we minister to others, we do not need to ask unhelpful questions or state the obvious. Most people who are struggling know that they are struggling. We should not be judgmental; our judgment is neither helpful nor welcome, and it is most often ill-informed....
We do need all our compassion, empathy, and love as we interact with those around us. Those who are struggling “need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in [our] words and actions.”...
The Savior’s job is to heal. Our job is to love—to love and minister in such a way that others are drawn to Jesus Christ.
I would ask you to consider the framing of the word struggle here, as well. It has a very qualitative description of the process that frames it as intrinsically negative. My own faith transition was incredibly liberating and not at all a struggle. There are growing pains as we evolve as humans, of course, but it helps to remove language from our framing that makes one outcome automatically seem better than the other.
This is a good point, Alex. When we frame the dialogue around people who doubt faith traditions as “struggling” then an assumption could be made that there is only own correct choice, which is often not the case.
Sometimes when writing about faith crises or evolutions our journeys or whatever, I find myself at a loss for words. Do I say “struggle with my faith” when I do not necessarily know if choosing that faith tradition is the best thing for me? Do I say wrestle? Learn? Question? Struggle? Deconstruct? Disentangle? Evolve? It’s hard for me to find words for the experience sometimes… especially when there have been many positive things to come from it, too!
This post made me tear up! So perfectly said and exactly all of my thoughts, but I could never articulate it like you do. Thanks for sharing your heart Kimber. You are a beautiful human and I love you!
So beautiful, Kimber! I love your friend for seeing your grief and responding appropriately to your wound. You’re so good at treating a complicated subject with grace and compassion. You always give me more to chew on for a subject I feel like I’ve already swallowed. ☺️ So well said. (Sorry I am behind on my reading!)
beautifully written, your post reminded me of some quotes from Elder Renlund:
As we minister to others, we do not need to ask unhelpful questions or state the obvious. Most people who are struggling know that they are struggling. We should not be judgmental; our judgment is neither helpful nor welcome, and it is most often ill-informed....
We do need all our compassion, empathy, and love as we interact with those around us. Those who are struggling “need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in [our] words and actions.”...
The Savior’s job is to heal. Our job is to love—to love and minister in such a way that others are drawn to Jesus Christ.
This is a beautiful quote! Thank you for sharing. I love that differentiation of what our job is (to love) and what the Savior’s job is (to heal)
I would ask you to consider the framing of the word struggle here, as well. It has a very qualitative description of the process that frames it as intrinsically negative. My own faith transition was incredibly liberating and not at all a struggle. There are growing pains as we evolve as humans, of course, but it helps to remove language from our framing that makes one outcome automatically seem better than the other.
This is a good point, Alex. When we frame the dialogue around people who doubt faith traditions as “struggling” then an assumption could be made that there is only own correct choice, which is often not the case.
Sometimes when writing about faith crises or evolutions our journeys or whatever, I find myself at a loss for words. Do I say “struggle with my faith” when I do not necessarily know if choosing that faith tradition is the best thing for me? Do I say wrestle? Learn? Question? Struggle? Deconstruct? Disentangle? Evolve? It’s hard for me to find words for the experience sometimes… especially when there have been many positive things to come from it, too!
This post made me tear up! So perfectly said and exactly all of my thoughts, but I could never articulate it like you do. Thanks for sharing your heart Kimber. You are a beautiful human and I love you!
Thank you ❤️ I love you too!
*putting this in my back pocket* 😉
Yay 🥲
Thank you for this piece! It is so beautifully written♥️
Thank you, Carol! 🫶🏽
Thank you for sharing this. Great information for all of us! 🩵
Thanks mom ☺️💗
So beautiful, Kimber! I love your friend for seeing your grief and responding appropriately to your wound. You’re so good at treating a complicated subject with grace and compassion. You always give me more to chew on for a subject I feel like I’ve already swallowed. ☺️ So well said. (Sorry I am behind on my reading!)
Very thoughtful and well-written. Thank you for sharing each week!
Alessia!!! 💗💗 Thanks for being here.
Your words always resonate with me so much. I love what you write! Keep sharing, please. :)
Jess!! Thank you so much. ☺️💗 writing consistently can be hard sometimes, I needed to hear that!