brian shivers

you are worth it. your personhood, every single part, each and every broken piece, is beautiful. it all comes together to tell your magnificent story in a single sparkling mosaic. your life, your journey, a work of art. behold. -bshivers

So, here’s the thing - it’s really not too much, but it might just cost us everything - see other people as worthy of love, acceptance, and justice; of kindness, equality, and equity; of peace, compassion, mercy, and the opportunity to thrive. It would truly change everything, if we could start right here. And never forget, we are worthy, too. -bshivers

  Is it their pronouns that frighten you; or the way they speak their new name? Is it the posture of their prayers or how they say the name of the divine or the fact they claim no faith at all? Maybe it’s the land they call home or the fact they had to flee? Their accent, their mother tongue, or their food, their hair, their clothes? Perhaps it’s their love or their gender; their age or the zip code in which they live? It couldn’t be the pigment in their melanin or the jobs that they hold, could it? What is it that frightens you so about these humans   who live in your home, next door,   down the street, across town,   or on the other side of the world? -bshivers

Why love   so much, so deeply, so completely   without barrier, boundary, or condition? What else is there in life? What other cause can change the world? Love is the way. It is the only way. -bshivers

Art   is a mirror reflecting our possibilities and realities, our hopes and dreams, our hatreds and nightmares. Art calls us to remember, to desire, to forget, to reconsider. Art is decried, maligned, hated, misappropriated, desecrated, misrepresented. Art cannot be bought or sold, censored or controlled. And, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, art slowly transforms us from the outside in, from the inside out. -bshivers

Leadership looks like love in action. Leadership is concerned about the lives of others. Leadership sees others. Leadership elevates others. Leadership nurtures the gifts of others. Leadership listens. Leadership accompanies. Leadership inspires. Leadership is kindness. Leadership helps others understand and believe in themselves. -bshivers

 

Listen to the steady beat of your heart. Feel its strength near the center of your chest. Resilience. Power. Life. All found right there one hundred thousand times a day. Don’t give up. -bshivers

One of the most compassionate things you can do is to speak someone else’s name with tenderness; to hold those sacred words gently as they tumble from your lips. In what manner do you say your own name? It deserves your kindness. So do you. -bshivers x x

We pray it, but I fear we forget what it means. Or maybe we never knew. “Give us this day our daily bread.” It’s not just me, and those like me. Not just my family or tribe. Give us - all of us our daily bread. We speak the words, and they ring hollow; unless they are evidenced in the sweat on our brow, the callouses on our palms, the ache in our back, and the worn soles on our shoes. We must work until there is food . . . love . . . mercy . . . acceptance . . . inclusion . . . equity . . . freedom . . . liberation . . . for all. Let us pray it like we mean it. -bshivers

It’s not a straight line, this life we live. It winds and turns, rises and falls through treacherous terrain and beautiful vistas. Take your time. Move with intention. Pause and look around. Rest when you need to. The journey is the point. -bshivers  

If the book you hold sacred leads you to hate, brings you to love some more than others, calls you to privilege the strong at the expense of the weak, allows you to hoard while others have nothing, rewards small mindedness and names it piety, makes you fear change and calls it evil, dismiss those who tell you how to read it in such a way. Listen deeper. The Divine is love, tenderness, diversity, equity, inclusion, acceptance, kindness, mercy, justice, compassion, grace, hope. Seek these things. -bshivers

No human is illegal. No gender identity is sinful. All sexual orientations are celebrations. All races and ethnicities are beautiful. Refugees are not dangerous. Women are powerful. Every person deserves the opportunity to thrive. Our task is to care for one another no matter what.

Christianity in the United States is not being canceled and Christians in the United States are not being persecuted for their faith or their religious practices. There are places in the world where both are true. But this isn’t one of them. Go into any physical bookstore, and one of the largest sections is always the section on Christianity. During the Christmas season (actually way before the official season begins) there are radio stations that play Christmas music 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. There are 100s of thousands of churches throughout the country with hundreds of styles and commitments along with thousands of Christian nonprofits focused on a wide variety of tasks. We have faith based license plates that we can buy from the state. I repeat, Christianity in the United States is not being canceled and Christians in the United States are not being persecuted for their faith or their religious practices. What is being questioned is close mindedness, racism, xenophobia, Isl...