This was a bit healing for me. My relationship with Texas has had to be deconstructed in similar ways to how others deconstruct evangelicalism. Growing up a mile or so away, Texas was my heritage, the land of golden opportunity, rich and clean and big, highways without the potholes and hopelessness of New Mexico. (If there is one thing we're good at, it's love that's "prone to exaggeration." haha) Certainly not all of it was, but even in reality, the contrast was stark when driving across the border to get to... well, anything. It was literally my gateway to the rest of the world. We went to a musical every summer praising Texas as the land of friendship, hope, and freedom. Learning the more complex sides, the change in my own beliefs as well as it changing itself, and education and awareness of how things deemed "oh but that was a long time ago, hate doesn't live here NOW" was a lie, crushed my dream version of this place I'd always seen as the sparkling promised land, if I could only escape my little town on the wrong side of an arbitrary line. I still have hope for the bad things to change in the future, but my disappointment comes from loving and being forever tied to a place. Texans are literally my blood family, my ancestors, my own past. That is made so much more complex by the remarks like those instagram comments, and others who want to cut it off completely, or dismiss all Texans as the worst stereotypes and people in power (as if everyone living in New York is exactly like the former president famously from there!). Like the church, there is much to critique and to stand against, but there are real people being affected by those policies and norms and attitudes, a microcosm of the world, from big global cities like DFW and Houston to little towns preserving their culture and heritage and language through the generations. There is so much to love and to fear, and I think that's what hurts about it. Thinking of what it could be, what I once dreamed it was, and having hope that it could be one day, with real love in action.
Jenna, thanks for sharing this. Many of us have complicated relationships with places; I know I do. However complex the love, don't we always want the places we care about and the people who inhabit them to flourish? Yet we have such vastly different visions of what flourishing is.
I'm a native Texan who's never lived elsewhere...I hope those folks realize that there are plenty of us here who agree about, for instance, the abortion ban. I think this state is the story of what's going on in the US, in micro.
This is so beautiful and SOOO needed. But I’m so over reposting things that I think matter and need to be heard. I want to read your words to people face-to-face, in conversation. Here’s to more in-person dialogue in 2022.
Such beautiful moving words on grace. You've encouraged me to find the parts of this corner of the world I live in (that I insist has been "horrible") that are actually pretty wonderful <3
I have lived in Texas since I moved here with my family when I was in high school. Does Texas have issues? Absolutely! I am in direct opposition to almost everything that our current governor and legislature do. But I have lived here for over 45 years, started and finished a career in teaching, and raised two kids here. Texas is not that bad of a place and has a lot to recommend it, despite the not-so-great parts. I live in a metro area; my sense is that the more rural parts of the state are very different, and unfortunately those areas drive much of the states politics and therefore policies. But generalizing is seldom fair. I’m pretty sure you could makes an argument for or against any particular area of our country—or of the world, for that matter.
Okay, so you're words "God bless Texas" took me back a few decades (am I really this old?) to a particular song that the band Little Texas sang. LOL. ... And now it will be stuck in my head all day.
May I share your prayer at the end on my facebook page? The words are so beautiful.
Thank you, Jeff, for this most beautiful blessing. I will embrace it for myself and for my loved ones—for you and yours, and for our awful, wonderful world.
Hi Jeff! This post made me so happy! I’m a native Houstonian now living in the Bay Area for a while and I miss home! I miss the people, the food (the breakfast tacos, diverse Mexican cuisine and BBQ there is none better!) and the culture. I especially miss the diversity of the people!
I disdain the politics and what they’ve done to make life difficult (I lived through the trauma of the February freeze) and my community has felt the terror of ICE as well as the police brutality—all of which are no strangers across this complicated country of ours.
Don’t judge us all by what the politicians say and do. My friends in government and activism work feet on the ground to oppose the negative impacts and promote solutions that are good for the people. I personally hope our politics can evolve sooner than later. I encourage everyone to remember that those good people have names and hearts bigger than Texas and they continue to do what they can to make my home state a better place to live. I believe in their optimism. It’s a struggle but isn’t that the human condition?
Perhaps some of the blowback is that we’ve always promoted ourselves with independent don’t mess with us rugged pride? The lone cowboys?
Btw go Texans!😉 Houston/Dallas rivalry is very much alive!
Texas is unique, it’s beautiful and it’s diverse. We enjoy a quality of life not available in other places especially in the real estate market.
Meanwhile, visit and treat yourself fo unforgettable culinary delights and remember that God loves Texas and so do I. Peace to all your readers and thank you, Jeff! I look forward to your emails. Also, thanks for the heart and soul you put into Rachel’s book. That’s real Christianity. ❤️
When I saw the picture and read the first words of the title , I knew my comment was the topic . Yes , it was me ... I saw the breakfast taco and read the caption .. "God Bless Texas." I'm the one who blithely responded that "Texas needs a blessing ." Next followed a post by a clearly irate Jeff saying that if all I could do was send snarky comments about Texas it showed that I neither knew him or understood him, as well as a direction not to do it . I quickly responded that he was correct ... I Don't Know Him , Nor Do I Understand Him . I said "I read your writing (perhaps as most of us do ?) not knowing you personally, but to learn from you and think with you." As Jeff reports, I wrote the comment because many of the political decisions coming out of this state alarm me, and that "I am afraid. " I also wrote that it was clear that I offended Jeff and I offered my apology. Jeff, I see your response to my apology here .
It is always surprising to find ones' comment at the center of anything online, perhaps most surprisingly , a four word comment that elicits a sermon. Strangely enough, the same day I offended and apologized to Jeff , I must have said something meaningful on Jen Hatmaker's account. Jen herself thanked me and 169 folks hit the heart . Social media is a strange beast .
Jeff , you don't know me, and you don't understand me either . We are strangers . I read your work, I listen to Evolving Faith, I am reading Whole Hearted Faith . But since you brought me up , I will respond. No , I don't generalize about anything in a Trumpian way. ... You picked one of his ugliest comments .. "shithole countries" to school me and offend me in what was for me, a wry comment about about politics. No, in meaningful conversation I do not make sweeping generalizations. Quite the opposite. I could go on, but I'm sure I've made my point .
I'm mystified that my comment was taken so very seriously, and you can be sure I won't be commenting on anything you write anytime soon . I find it fascinating that you used my four word comment for the basis of your teaching, as well as my attempt to explain, but failed completely to mention my quick and sincere apology!
Was my apology not quite as interesting fodder for your piece , maybe it didn't quite fit ?
Beth, I've written you privately, but let me just say here that you weren't the only person who made a comment in this vein. I shared your rationale for your comment because I found it illuminating—and I certainly didn't name you because the point of this was not to shame anyone. I didn't bring you up; I paraphrased a comment that you had made, because I found it interesting and worth mulling over. Clearly, though, my words stung, and I am sorry. The only other thing I will say here, unless there's something else you wish for me to address publicly, is that perhaps there is learning for both of us in terms of how one's words are read and received.
*applause* Thank you for sharing your take on this. Beautifully written. Also, the taco looks amazing and I’m sorry your kitchen won’t be ready by the time you were hoping!
There is always a gem for me in your words. Thank you for helping me think about love as a way through polarization. And the blessing at the end will show up at our new year’s dinner- best to you in the new year, thank you for journeying alongside myself and so many others!
Your words have been a balm to me this year in so many ways. This prayer I will write in the place I keep names, words, prayers… Thank you helping me to seek courage to name and to navigate, for the possibility of hope, and to expect to be blindsided by blessing. The last 2 years have been so very difficult. I will begin the next year with these words of hope. May your words be a blessing to you as they have been to all of us who have read them.
This was a bit healing for me. My relationship with Texas has had to be deconstructed in similar ways to how others deconstruct evangelicalism. Growing up a mile or so away, Texas was my heritage, the land of golden opportunity, rich and clean and big, highways without the potholes and hopelessness of New Mexico. (If there is one thing we're good at, it's love that's "prone to exaggeration." haha) Certainly not all of it was, but even in reality, the contrast was stark when driving across the border to get to... well, anything. It was literally my gateway to the rest of the world. We went to a musical every summer praising Texas as the land of friendship, hope, and freedom. Learning the more complex sides, the change in my own beliefs as well as it changing itself, and education and awareness of how things deemed "oh but that was a long time ago, hate doesn't live here NOW" was a lie, crushed my dream version of this place I'd always seen as the sparkling promised land, if I could only escape my little town on the wrong side of an arbitrary line. I still have hope for the bad things to change in the future, but my disappointment comes from loving and being forever tied to a place. Texans are literally my blood family, my ancestors, my own past. That is made so much more complex by the remarks like those instagram comments, and others who want to cut it off completely, or dismiss all Texans as the worst stereotypes and people in power (as if everyone living in New York is exactly like the former president famously from there!). Like the church, there is much to critique and to stand against, but there are real people being affected by those policies and norms and attitudes, a microcosm of the world, from big global cities like DFW and Houston to little towns preserving their culture and heritage and language through the generations. There is so much to love and to fear, and I think that's what hurts about it. Thinking of what it could be, what I once dreamed it was, and having hope that it could be one day, with real love in action.
Jenna, thanks for sharing this. Many of us have complicated relationships with places; I know I do. However complex the love, don't we always want the places we care about and the people who inhabit them to flourish? Yet we have such vastly different visions of what flourishing is.
Yes, exactly
I thought of my lovely friends in Texas as I read this. Thank you.
I'm a native Texan who's never lived elsewhere...I hope those folks realize that there are plenty of us here who agree about, for instance, the abortion ban. I think this state is the story of what's going on in the US, in micro.
This is so beautiful and SOOO needed. But I’m so over reposting things that I think matter and need to be heard. I want to read your words to people face-to-face, in conversation. Here’s to more in-person dialogue in 2022.
Such beautiful moving words on grace. You've encouraged me to find the parts of this corner of the world I live in (that I insist has been "horrible") that are actually pretty wonderful <3
I have lived in Texas since I moved here with my family when I was in high school. Does Texas have issues? Absolutely! I am in direct opposition to almost everything that our current governor and legislature do. But I have lived here for over 45 years, started and finished a career in teaching, and raised two kids here. Texas is not that bad of a place and has a lot to recommend it, despite the not-so-great parts. I live in a metro area; my sense is that the more rural parts of the state are very different, and unfortunately those areas drive much of the states politics and therefore policies. But generalizing is seldom fair. I’m pretty sure you could makes an argument for or against any particular area of our country—or of the world, for that matter.
Okay, so you're words "God bless Texas" took me back a few decades (am I really this old?) to a particular song that the band Little Texas sang. LOL. ... And now it will be stuck in my head all day.
May I share your prayer at the end on my facebook page? The words are so beautiful.
Of course! Thanks.
Thank you, Jeff, for this most beautiful blessing. I will embrace it for myself and for my loved ones—for you and yours, and for our awful, wonderful world.
Hi Jeff! This post made me so happy! I’m a native Houstonian now living in the Bay Area for a while and I miss home! I miss the people, the food (the breakfast tacos, diverse Mexican cuisine and BBQ there is none better!) and the culture. I especially miss the diversity of the people!
I disdain the politics and what they’ve done to make life difficult (I lived through the trauma of the February freeze) and my community has felt the terror of ICE as well as the police brutality—all of which are no strangers across this complicated country of ours.
Don’t judge us all by what the politicians say and do. My friends in government and activism work feet on the ground to oppose the negative impacts and promote solutions that are good for the people. I personally hope our politics can evolve sooner than later. I encourage everyone to remember that those good people have names and hearts bigger than Texas and they continue to do what they can to make my home state a better place to live. I believe in their optimism. It’s a struggle but isn’t that the human condition?
Perhaps some of the blowback is that we’ve always promoted ourselves with independent don’t mess with us rugged pride? The lone cowboys?
Btw go Texans!😉 Houston/Dallas rivalry is very much alive!
Texas is unique, it’s beautiful and it’s diverse. We enjoy a quality of life not available in other places especially in the real estate market.
Meanwhile, visit and treat yourself fo unforgettable culinary delights and remember that God loves Texas and so do I. Peace to all your readers and thank you, Jeff! I look forward to your emails. Also, thanks for the heart and soul you put into Rachel’s book. That’s real Christianity. ❤️
When I saw the picture and read the first words of the title , I knew my comment was the topic . Yes , it was me ... I saw the breakfast taco and read the caption .. "God Bless Texas." I'm the one who blithely responded that "Texas needs a blessing ." Next followed a post by a clearly irate Jeff saying that if all I could do was send snarky comments about Texas it showed that I neither knew him or understood him, as well as a direction not to do it . I quickly responded that he was correct ... I Don't Know Him , Nor Do I Understand Him . I said "I read your writing (perhaps as most of us do ?) not knowing you personally, but to learn from you and think with you." As Jeff reports, I wrote the comment because many of the political decisions coming out of this state alarm me, and that "I am afraid. " I also wrote that it was clear that I offended Jeff and I offered my apology. Jeff, I see your response to my apology here .
It is always surprising to find ones' comment at the center of anything online, perhaps most surprisingly , a four word comment that elicits a sermon. Strangely enough, the same day I offended and apologized to Jeff , I must have said something meaningful on Jen Hatmaker's account. Jen herself thanked me and 169 folks hit the heart . Social media is a strange beast .
Jeff , you don't know me, and you don't understand me either . We are strangers . I read your work, I listen to Evolving Faith, I am reading Whole Hearted Faith . But since you brought me up , I will respond. No , I don't generalize about anything in a Trumpian way. ... You picked one of his ugliest comments .. "shithole countries" to school me and offend me in what was for me, a wry comment about about politics. No, in meaningful conversation I do not make sweeping generalizations. Quite the opposite. I could go on, but I'm sure I've made my point .
I'm mystified that my comment was taken so very seriously, and you can be sure I won't be commenting on anything you write anytime soon . I find it fascinating that you used my four word comment for the basis of your teaching, as well as my attempt to explain, but failed completely to mention my quick and sincere apology!
Was my apology not quite as interesting fodder for your piece , maybe it didn't quite fit ?
Rhetorical question .. you already answered .
Beth, I've written you privately, but let me just say here that you weren't the only person who made a comment in this vein. I shared your rationale for your comment because I found it illuminating—and I certainly didn't name you because the point of this was not to shame anyone. I didn't bring you up; I paraphrased a comment that you had made, because I found it interesting and worth mulling over. Clearly, though, my words stung, and I am sorry. The only other thing I will say here, unless there's something else you wish for me to address publicly, is that perhaps there is learning for both of us in terms of how one's words are read and received.
*applause* Thank you for sharing your take on this. Beautifully written. Also, the taco looks amazing and I’m sorry your kitchen won’t be ready by the time you were hoping!
There is always a gem for me in your words. Thank you for helping me think about love as a way through polarization. And the blessing at the end will show up at our new year’s dinner- best to you in the new year, thank you for journeying alongside myself and so many others!
Your words have been a balm to me this year in so many ways. This prayer I will write in the place I keep names, words, prayers… Thank you helping me to seek courage to name and to navigate, for the possibility of hope, and to expect to be blindsided by blessing. The last 2 years have been so very difficult. I will begin the next year with these words of hope. May your words be a blessing to you as they have been to all of us who have read them.
Thank you. I am a native Houstonian and I continue to be appalled but not surprised by what has happened and is happening in my home state.
A Great Positive way to end 2021. Waldo
Amen.