4 Comments
Jul 15Liked by Paulla Rich Estes (she/her)

This is so real and so beautifully written. The shame passed down by our parents can lodge itself so deeply within us until it feels like the voice of God.

Also, we're you in a "Jesus people" church back in the day? I've heard so much about them...

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Jul 24Liked by Paulla Rich Estes (she/her)

Beautiful, Paulla! I particularly loved the paragraph this line is from: “I followed the edicts of Christian talk radio men who told me to erase everything I wanted, needed, and longed for.” I so resonate with the call for erasure of self so easily intertwined in religious dogma presented in childhood as THE path.

To your continuing to mine out the parts that need soothed and held and loved.

Thank you for sharing.

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Thank you for this, Holly. You get it! The erasure is devastating and so very real. I appreciate that this resonates with you, but I’m also sorry it does. I hope you are safely put back (and putting back) together now with much self love and gentleness. ❤️❤️

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Thank you, Katharine. It was an off-shoot of the Jesus movement. The surfer pastor had studied under Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel. Groovy times there in SoCal. :)

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