beyondaporia

  This book saved me from a reading rut — and then some. I recently moved to a new building and found, to my delight, that my neighbours have an informal book-sharing dynamic going on near the garbage disposal room. As one does, I stopped to see what was there and this book caught my eye both because of its catchy title, and because the book itself was not in the best condition. In my experience, when books are so beat-up it can only signal two things: complete neglect, or an utter inability to put them down. I chose to believe the latter, so I took it home with me. I’m so glad I did. This book had me laughing and on the verge of tears in a single sentence. I appreciated this book for many reasons, especially for its use of humour. I am a fan of comedy and have always used it to process life events, especially hard ones. This book used this resource in such an artful way; it never minimized the complex, heavy issues it was dealing with. On the contrary, it makes the reader grapple with

  So, against my better judgment, I ended up watching the Harry & Meghan docuseries on Netflix. This post has nothing to do with it, except for an almost imperceptible line when Meghan said she did it all to fit in. To fit in. It was said so quickly, and yet it struck a chord deep within me – a chord my therapist invited me to explore in our last session. I have never consciously done anything to fit in. In fact, I have always been secretly proud of my seeming ability to resist blatant peer pressure. I don’t have a problem saying no to engaging in behaviours and trends, and in the grand scheme of things, don't really mind what most individuals might or might not think of me. However, I realized as I kept tugging on that thread, that in many ways I have been relentlessly trying to fit in somewhere. Not with meaningless trends or specific behaviours, but with my being, my likings, my natural inclinations, my interests, opinions or desires. During those crucial and formative teena

  Oh Jesus, what did you do? To pay for the sin my life did accrue Why is it we're so quick to forget He who has paid our debt? For those who one week shouted Hosanna Quickly forgot He was the true manna Complete understanding I cannot claim More often than not, I still battle with shame I have questions and doubts My faith journey often has droughts And yet, "Come and see," You say The empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday Experience the freedom, experience the love The one that can only come from above Silence the voices Unplug from the noises I know it's sometimes hard to believe But trust me, it's greater than anything we could conceive