The more I explored Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:7-8, the more I realised how far we’ve strayed from their original meaning. We’ve taken his straightforward language about different gifts and built a whole theology of hierarchy, pressure and even shame around it.
One of the best comments I ever heard on the topic of singleness as a 'gift' was "I'm single, so I have the gift of singleness. If I marry, I will have the gift of marriage." Love the way it cut through all the pseudo-spiritual waffling about singleness as some kind of weird, set-apart state, and brought it back to the basics!
Preordered and hoping that I’ll be able to assign this to my graduate counseling students in their intro to sexuality course! Your work has so profoundly shaped me and the way I view sibling relationships in the church, Dani.
As a divorced woman I find that language incredibly frustrating. Did I receive the “gift” of marriage only for it to sour? Does being divorced mean I have the “gift” of singleness? I think the “gift” diminishes the lived experiences of all of us as we try to live. The whole concept of a gift can come with a tremendous amount of weight. Life is full of choices and also depends on the choices others make. It is not a hierarchy.
I've been building an understanding of God's gifts as part of a gift economy (vs the exchange economies much of the world uses today) and it's a very helpful framework. It's difficult to understand God's generous gifts of everything we have and are when we live in settings where even a "Free Gift!" is really a marketing trap.
One of the best comments I ever heard on the topic of singleness as a 'gift' was "I'm single, so I have the gift of singleness. If I marry, I will have the gift of marriage." Love the way it cut through all the pseudo-spiritual waffling about singleness as some kind of weird, set-apart state, and brought it back to the basics!
Preordered and hoping that I’ll be able to assign this to my graduate counseling students in their intro to sexuality course! Your work has so profoundly shaped me and the way I view sibling relationships in the church, Dani.
As a divorced woman I find that language incredibly frustrating. Did I receive the “gift” of marriage only for it to sour? Does being divorced mean I have the “gift” of singleness? I think the “gift” diminishes the lived experiences of all of us as we try to live. The whole concept of a gift can come with a tremendous amount of weight. Life is full of choices and also depends on the choices others make. It is not a hierarchy.
I've been building an understanding of God's gifts as part of a gift economy (vs the exchange economies much of the world uses today) and it's a very helpful framework. It's difficult to understand God's generous gifts of everything we have and are when we live in settings where even a "Free Gift!" is really a marketing trap.