It's been a week since Rachel Held Evans, 37, progressive Christian blogger, author and advocate, died in Nashville as the result of what our forbears might have called "a complication of diseases" --- the flu, an infection and the treatment administered in an attempt to deal with that combination. She left behind a husband, Dan, two young children, parents, sister, grief-stricken friends, followers and admirers.
Since then, I've read all sorts of commentary about her life and legacy --- ranging from a New York Times and other obituaries, similar tributes and analysis from all sorts of people in all varieties of media, to simple blog posts and social media comments. By in large, all have been gracious --- even those written by the largely white male evangelical Christian defenders of faith that she clashed with, graciously, over the years.
A few of the latter --- white male evangelical Christian defenders --- were unable to overcome the urge to mansplain why they were right and how the little lady from Monkey Town (Dayton, Tennessee, site of Scopes "monkey" trial, where she grew up, received her formal education and still lived) had gotten it wrong. But those guys were in the minority.
I've been reading Rachel's work --- an outsider looking into the confounding world of institutional Christianity --- since the earlier days of her blog, intrigued as she evolved into a staunch and eloquent advocate for LGBTQ people and our full inclusion, if we wish to be included, in the church.
It was that advocacy for those of us who are among the last traditional pariahs looked upon as fair game by many Christians that first attracted the attention of the evangelical patriarchy. Her troublesomeness was compounded when she emerged increasingly as an advocate for women marginalized in various faith traditions, people of color, all who question various orthodoxies when they collide with unconditional love.
“This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there's always room for more," she wrote in one of her best-selling books, "Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church."
The simple obituary shared by her family via the Dayton funeral home that is handling her arrangements includes the line, "But even more than writing or the Alabama Crimson Tide or dark chocolate, Rachel loved Jesus, Scripture, and her family."
That love overflowed and spread outward, giving hope to and inspiring many. Sharing it became her life's work. Her legacy is a rich and I suspect enduring one.
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