My Answers . . . My Questions

1. My names is Amanda Pratt. I am a senior at Appalachiann State. This is my last semester of classes. I am majoring in History, Secondary Education and interning in a 10th grade Civics & Economics class at Avery High School. In the spring, I will be student teaching. I live in Boone, NC.

2. Affirmation, by Savage Garden
Tiny Dancer, by Elton John
Taking the Long Way, by the Dixie Chicks
. . . still working on this one . . .

3. I believe that God is good. And I believe that there is a bit of the Divine in every part of Creation, and that our duty as humans is to honor the Divinity in other humans, animals, plants . . . Life. I believe that Jesus was a Lover and a Healer, and I believe the object of any religious pursuit should be to seek to live those qualities within our own lives. I believe in extravagance and creativity and music and dancing and art and beauty and the dignity of every human being and that the pursuit of happiness is not selfish if it's done the right way. I actually have an "Amanda's Affirmation of Faith" that I wrote when I was like 15 because I didn't believe exactly what the Apostle's Creed had to say. I still believe most of that, and I have it somewhere. I'll try to find it sometime.

4. I have a lot of questions. I wonder why Paul wrote a lot of things that seem sexist and homophobic. Even if he didn't mean them that way, why would God let them stay in the Bible and be used over and over again to break people? I wonder why the Bible gets so much authority and if it's really relevant to life today anyway. I wonder if God could be a mermaid, or a woman, or an ocean. Not literally, of course. But is God really anything, literally? Also, I wonder what we can do as humans to help heal and love the world we are in.

5. Umm. I hate the story of Lot, mostly because he gave his virgin daughters up to rapists and that is supposed to be a good thing. And that story makes me seriously question the bible's authority about anything sexual.

I love the story about Jesus having breakfast with his disciples after the Resurrection. I love how they don't recognize him at first, but he keeps on. I love how Jesus could just be with people, wherever they were. I really like Peter. I identify with him about a lot of things.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the story of Sampson and Delilah, from Delilah's perspective. There is a Regina Spektor song called Samson. It's very interesting. About love and lust and mistakes and not regretting things, and how the bible and history don't tell the whole story. I guess it kinda goes along with the Red Tent, which is a great book because it's the Old Testament from a woman's perspective.

6. I would like to know more about God. I am interested in the Old Testament or maybe some of Paul's letters.

7. I want a chance to dig into something and explore it and question it and learn from it and worship with it. I want a group of people to share that experience, where I can feel safe as who I am. I want the opportunity to share my thoughts and ask questions and reflect about what other people have to say. I want to encounter the bible and see what we find. I don't want to go in with a specific agenda and try to prove it; I want to go in with questions and see where we get led.