Ogun Holder knew full well the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. His intellectual understanding of the tale led him to believe that running from God was futile. But because he had never run from God before, he thought he d try it anyway. Spoiler Alert: It didn't work.
Holder's journey begins with a pious but questioning childhood filled with mandatory church attendance and boisterous congregants. His road leads to a teenage rebellion, and then to a collegiate crisis of faith. He seems to hit a dead end in his 30s as a responsible grown-up until he paves a new path to Divine self. It's a path he's still walking.
Readers will relate to the honesty and humor in the mash-up of emotions, ideas and experiences Holder shares about parenting, spirituality, relationships and theology. When taken to heart, these rants might, in fact, lead you to your own revelations.
Ogun Holder is the executive director of Unity For All, a nonprofit ministry with a mission of global transformation through spiritual education, empowerment and engagement. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife and daughter. Rants To Revelations is his first book.
I marvel at those who refuse to let their spirituality or religion evolve. It's even more ironic considering some of the major religions were evolutions themselves.
Christianity, for example, evolved out of Judaism. While not intending to start a whole other movement, Jesus was the flag bearer for taking another look at entrenched beliefs. He continually invited those around him to ask deeper questions, thereby unearthing the true spirituality and humanity buried underneath the dogma and near-sighted rhetoric.
So why should we stop evolving? Many spiritual traditions that take Christianity to another (I would argue deeper) level are often disparaged because they don't look like traditional Christianity has always looked. Jesus understood that...all the way to his death. And still his evolutionary thinking survived.
Don't fight evolution. Embrace it. It's inevitable.
Book Excerpt
Rants to Revelations
We don’t just hold on to things; we hold on to actions. I don’t mean rituals or cultural customs. I’m talking about doing something the same way because it’s the way we’ve always done it. Churches are particularly proficient at this, which is ironic considering Jesus was a model for not doing things the way they were always done.
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.