The Emergent Self

Questioning what we're told it means to be human

Topic

Blog

Shorter notes, questions, and reflections. Thinking out loud, with room for your responses.

An older White woman in a Sunday coat and hat stands in a sunlit church, seen from behind, looking up at a large Haitian-style creation tapestry of Black figures, animals and a golden sun

A God You Can Keep in a ZIP Code

A parishioner once told me a tapestry did not belong in church because there were no White people in it. Thirty years later I have the words for what she was defending: not God, but a mascot.
Watercolor of a man seen from behind on a bench in a dim office break room, a second coffee cup set beside him as dawn light comes through the window, asking whether depression was really a gift

Was My Depression Really a Gift?

Was my depression really a gift? A former priest tests his own claim that the dark years after he left the priesthood were a gift.
Watercolor of a front door standing open onto a stone step, where a covered dish has been left, suggesting I'll pray for you as a doorway to showing up

Is “I’ll Pray for You” Ever Enough?

Is "I'll pray for you" ever enough? A former priest weighs the honest case for prayer and asks readers when those words open a door.
A hiker stands alone on a misty hilltop at dawn while faint, ghostly figures along the path below help others climb, steady a ladder, open a gate, and point the way

Nobody Is Self-Made

The phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” began as a joke. Why nobody is truly self-made, and what privilege and intersectionality reveal about success.
Young man driving through a small town at dusk on graduation night, cap, gown and diploma on the seat beside him

“You’ll Be a Factory Line Worker”: Overcoming Humiliation and Becoming Who You Are

My high school guidance counselor told me I’d be a factory line worker for the rest of my life. Here’s what that moment taught me about humiliation, and about choosing my own story.