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Rachel Parsons
- Jan 23, 2020
- 3 min
Believing in Magic Part 1: Rachel Gets Personal
CW: Satan, misotheism, violence against women Amethyst and flowers on the table Is it real or a fable Well I suppose a friend is a friend -Sufjan Stevens I was recently rummaging around in the 7th level of hell that is my GarageBand folder from my college years, and I came across a song of my own creation entitled “An INFP Confronts the Cosmos.” Strap in. First off, while I do think that INFP’s are lovely, beautiful souls who deserve our unquestioned reverence, I don’t think
Rachel Parsons
- Dec 31, 2018
- 3 min
Be Joyful or Something: Thoughts on New Year's Eve
When I was a good youth group kid, I was rip-roaring ready to convert my friends to Evangelical Protestantism (or "Christianity," as I called it). The Cosmic Narrative™ made so much sense to me: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration. I was ready to do my part in bringing as many people into the fold as possible as my duty between the Redemption (sacrifice and resurrection of Christ) and the Restoration (eternity with God). "Duty." Singular. I had a lot of energy and willing
Rachel Parsons
- Oct 3, 2018
- 3 min
Bossing Rocks Around
On a crisp October evening in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, my then boyfriend and I found ourselves skirting along an ever-darkening hiking path that, God-willing, would lead us back to my car. We had set out, as all respectable couples ought, to hike through bright orange autumnal aspen groves and to do some early evening star gazing. Confidence was high throughout the journey as we trod along in graceful obedience to the traditions of the harvest season. After spending the
Rachel Parsons
- Jul 7, 2018
- 3 min
The Literal Body of Christ's Literal Body of Christ and the Literal Body of Christ
I talk a lot about bodies. I cannot overemphasize the inherently physical nature of our humanity and the importance of living into our human bodies as our essential selves. In this post I want to talk about how embodied spirituality is not an activity we perform apart from God but rather in the imitation of God. In other words, our physicality does not separate us from the Holy; it makes us more like it. It is through the incarnation of Christ that we come to better understan
Rachel Parsons
- Apr 24, 2018
- 2 min
More of C. S. Lewis’s Greatest Heresies; or How to Not Hate Your Body
Some days I find myself in euphoric rapture about the miracle of my physical being and in profound gratitude that I hail from a theological tradition that affirms the body as an essential component of human selfhood, and then I’ll see C. S. Lewis quoted, “You don’t have a soul; you are a soul. You have a body.” Sigh. Don’t throw your pipes away just yet, 20-something Christian guys. Mr. Lewis never actually said this. It was in fact his predecessor in the realm of theological
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