I did not grow up in a religious family and, on top of that, it was a very emotionally unstable household. It was a combination of curiosity and audacity that eventually led me to the church down the road, a non-denominational, evangelical outfit that did not feature families like mine (at least as far as it seemed). Regardless of feeling out of place, one of the things that deeply attracted me to this church was that there was a clear articulation of how life should be lived and why we mattered to God. For someone who had been given very little insights on both of these counts, I found myself enlivened and inspired. The strange thing about this was that, even as I felt called to something higher, I was constantly reminded of the ways I would continuously fail to live into these ideals. And so, what started out as a source of hope became a cycle of self-degradation in which I was simultaneously reminded of how unworthy I was and how gracious God could be. After a few years, faith had become a deeply unhealthy, dependent, relationship. I had to find a different way forward if this Christianity thing was still going to work. Thus began a very lonely period of deconstruction. In the (many) years that followed, a new kind of faith was reconstructed. Most of that time I had to find my way forward without a lot of models to draw from. And yet, it was that journey which enabled me to ultimately claim a deeper sense of belonging to Christ; one that takes God at God’s word that there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, and nothing I can do to make God love me less.

What happens when your place of refuge becomes your prison? This is the dilemma I had to find my way through. It’s also the situation that the descendants of Joseph faced. Egypt started out as a shelter for survival in the midst of famine but, as power transferred and generations passed, it became an oppressive reality for God’s people. How would they escape? And, after so long, who were they created to be? Join us this Sunday at 10am (in person or online), as we reflect on what it takes to get free from the places and spaces that prevent us from living the lives God has created us to live.

Faithfully,
Rev. Emily McGinley