Since yesterday I have been struggling to come up with any words about this…
When I introduced Rachel Held Evans as a keynote speaker at the Buechner/Princeton and Writing for Your Life spiritual writers’ conferences in 2015 and 2017, I described her as “THE leading spiritual voice of her generation” (as I also did when introducing Barbara Brown Taylor). IMHO she continued to fill that role until yesterday. Rachel was very gifted – a very smart person, with very strong writing and speaking skills, and the willingness to speak up – but she was also very kind and very inclusive.
Despite thousands of people earnestly praying for her, she passed away yesterday.
What does it all mean? Most importantly, what do we do about it?
For me, one thing it brings home again is that we cannot control everything. We can wish and pray for the best for our family and friends as hard as we want, but that is not in our control. What is in our control is what we do next.
It is up to us. We are God’s tools for good, those of us who are still here. It is up to us to try as much as we can, with all of our imperfections, but also with all of our gifts, just as Rachel did, to attempt to do what God would like us to do.
#BecauseofRHE
