Welcome to Litsy!

“But everything is political if you don't fit in. The idea of political neutrality is an idea born of privilege, born of bodies not always under assault from the laws and eyes that decide what is normal and what is protected in this country“ (52).

“when you are in the minority -- the voice that is silenced -- you are never in a bubble, even if you try“ (64).

This is an honest, unflinching look at faith in middle America and the author‘s struggle to reconcile it with her own beliefs. Lenz grew up in an Evangelical household and married a conservative Christian. Gradually, she became conflicted about the Evangelical church‘s restrictions and exclusionary rules. This book is about her search to find her own place, while also taking a hard look at the current cultural divide and the church‘s role in it.

We talk a lot about nuance and how we need it, and what I think this book does so well is presenting a nuance that is not just compassion but also accountability. I thought it was really well done.

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One of my favorite writers! Lenz‘s honest, incisive exploration of religion in the Midwest blends her own story with a more anthropological approach. It could‘ve been three times as long and I would‘ve devoured it still.

I picked this up bc I was interested in her reporting/research on religion/faith in the Midwest (I am 100% a city kid from Cedar Rapids, IA, where Lyz now lives). She does a great job in tying to get inside that mythos of “midwesterners are the salt of the earth and the real backbone of the US”, the cognitive dissonance of faith and politics, but she ties much of it to her search for a faith community that did not make her feel small/unwelcome.

There was a lot in this book that resonated with me. I struggled a bit with chapter 7, A Muscular Jesus. I am not sure I can put into words yet why. I am going to sit with it a few days and read it again.

I think the NYT Review of Books put this one on my radar. It‘s a blend of memoir and narrative journalism about faith in the Heartland. The author was raised by homeschooling evangelical parents and married a conservative Christian husband. She shares her struggles to reconcile Christianity with the horrors done in its name: children in concentration camps, shootings of innocents by angry white men, environmental degradation, etc. Good read!

Like many of us here in America, Lyz Lenz attempts to understand the great divide that grows wider and wider between Americans in the wake of the 2016 election. Lenz specifically looks at this issue in Middle American Christian communities. There are no answers here but Lenz voices our feelings, our anger, and our hurt, while trying to sort out the cognitive dissonance that takes place in so many Christian communities today. 👇🏻

“She didn‘t need to be taught her silence, it was all around her. This is how power works.”

On Christianity and the idolatry of American sports.

“When I ask what is happening to our churches, what I really want to know is what is happening to our souls.”

😭❤️😭

“Churches are supposed to be places of openness and community. But often, like the land, they isolate more than they unite. And the story of who leaves the church is just as important as the story of who stays.”

This book is so good that I read it every spare reading moment I‘ve had.

End of chapter 1 and I already have a lot of highlights

This is going to be an eye opening read

Just got this one in from the library!

Just out: my interview with author Lyz Lenz in Electric Lit. Click for discussion of religion meets politics plus potlucks.

https://electricliterature.com/you-already-live-in-god-land-lyz-lenz-helps-you-u...