This Good Word, Episode 39: BelovedMess (ShowNotes)

Autocorrect can be a frustrating, hilarious, and sometimes deeply theological disruption.Let me explain.Mondays can be tough for pastors. We frequently suffer through "pastoral hangovers" (which is simply a vulnerability hangover for those of us who wear the collar, literally or not). It means we wake up Monday morning with nasty bout of regret. I said what? I shared that story? Ohhhhhhhh Nooooooooooo.So as an attempt to provide some relief for my own (quite severe) pastoral hangover this week, I composed a tweet to all pastors, declaring that their belovedness is not dependent on how their sermon goes each week (to God, anyway). When autocorrect got ahold of belovedness, it immediately changed it to Beloved Mess.Which was perfect. Thank you, autocorrect, for your prescient pastoral care.So, on this week's podcast, I talked all about the reality that we are ALL beloved messes. We are not as we should be. We are losing the battle, most of us, though we're trying so hard to win. This week's podcast is a battle cry against perfectionism, against measuring our own worth on outcomes over which we have so little control, and about using our messiness to meet with God and find radical, amazing, nourishing, and very real grace.So if you have recently fallen off the wagon,Or screwed it all up in some righteously heinous way,Or if you have gotten fired,Or if you have had to fire somebody,Or if you have said the wrong thing, made the wrong decision, and if your ducks are no where near a row, or even in the right pond,This podcast is for you.Enjoy.And if you want further reading on the subject of how God loves you as you are and not as you should be, please check out:Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging by Brennan ManningRagamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-up, and Burnt Out by Brennan ManningAll is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir by Brennan Manning and John BlaseWhat other books am I missing, fellow ragamuffins? Would love to hear where you have experienced God's extravagant love and grace.