Obituary: Rachel Held Evans

[PloverWing]

For any of you who may have read her writings, Rachel Held Evans has died at 37. An article telling of her death and her life is here: Rachel Held Evans, the Hugely Popular Christian Writer Who Challenged the Evangelical Establishment, Is Dead at 37

 

[mkgal1]

I just read that. So heartbreaking.

 

[bekkilyn]

Wow, I've read one of her books and actually bought another one during one of the daily Kindle deals just yesterday or the day before. I had no idea she was even sick. Very heartbreaking indeed.

 

[mkgal1]

This is from a comment on her page. I think a lot of us feel this way (I sure relate to this):

Quote: Rachel Held Evans taught me that God doesn’t belong to Conservatives. She showed me I wasn’t alone in believing the Bible spoke of love and acceptance, and should never be a weapon to justify hatred and bigotry. She validated that God loved me because of my liberal views, not in spite of them. She accomplished so much in her life, and I know God is welcoming her with open arms and congratulating the amazing work she accomplished here on earth. End of quote.​

 

[Paidiske]

May she rest in peace, and rise in glory.

What a terrible loss, at such a young age. I had also appreciated her writing so much.

 

[mnphysicist]

Dan, her husband had been updating every couple days. Early this morning when I checked it, the last update was still on the 30th. There's been a huge crowd of us folks praying for her on twitter... was pretty shocked to read this.

She had the voice of a prophet and truly a heart of gold.

Prayers needed for Dan and her 2 kids, one is somewhere around 3, and she just had the other one a bit over a year ago iirc.

 

[FireDragon76]

A loss indeed, especially after dealing with so many deaths recently myself, all at untimely ages. I could never perfectly relate to Ms. Evans, having rejected the style of religion she came from long ago, but it was still interesting to follow her and I had hopes about her future in religious journalism.

 

[FireDragon76]

On pondering this further, I think its not just a loss, but a tragic loss. She was outspoken and wouldn't be bullied: she spoke plainly about hard realities; her voice was prophetic. That's exactly the sort of thing we need more of in the US in terms of white, evangelical Christian voices.

May God call more voices like hers to speak truth to a religious culture that too often simply is tone deaf and hard-hearted in their certanties and pious cliches.

 

[bekkilyn]

On pondering this further, I think its not just a loss, but a tragic loss. She was outspoken and wouldn't be bullied: she spoke plainly about hard realities; her voice was prophetic. That's exactly the sort of thing we need more of in the US in terms of white, evangelical Christian voices.

May God call more voices like hers to speak truth to a religious culture that too often simply is tone deaf and hard-hearted in their certanties and pious cliches.

I was thinking very similar thoughts.

There is just so much "wrongness" about much of U.S. Evangelical culture.

I heard a quote I liked while listening to Richard Rohr's podcast, Another Name for Everything today:

"I often watch nature shows on TV, and these people who care about, you know, armadillos, and they've given their whole life to studying the life-cycle of the armadillo, and they weep when their pet armadillo dies. I'll take them any day over a stuffy Christian who doesn't love hardly anything, much less armadillos."

 

[FireDragon76]

I was thinking very similar thoughts.

There is just so much "wrongness" about much of U.S. Evangelical culture.

I heard a quote I liked while listening to Richard Rohr's podcast, Another Name for Everything today:

"I often watch nature shows on TV, and these people who care about, you know, armadillos, and they've given their whole life to studying the life-cycle of the armadillo, and they weep when their pet armadillo dies. I'll take them any day over a stuffy Christian who doesn't love hardly anything, much less armadillos."

This past month has taught me life is frequently hard and cruel, and I have even less patience now with those who want to make it even more hard and cruel in the name of God. Much of religion is kafka-esque in that manner, and I think that is what Ms. Evans was very adept at skewering.

 

[FireDragon76]

Pastor mentioned RHE's death today- I had mentioned it to him briefly before church, asking if he'ld heard the news. He didn't follower her in the media a great deal, though he said some of his colleagues did, which I think is unfortunate. Pastors heart is in the right place but his head has yet to catch up and keep his finger on the pulse of younger Christians - he was basically raised in a conservative LCMS church, and while conservative Lutherans aren't completely identical to the religion that RHE was critiquing, that doesn't mean there is no overlap between the two.

Here is a sermon I found on Youtube that she gave several years ago at Irvine Congregational Church in California:

 

[bekkilyn]

Pastor mentioned RHE's death today- I had mentioned it to him briefly before church, asking if he'ld heard the news. He didn't follower her in the media a great deal, though he said some of his colleagues did, which I think is unfortunate. Pastors heart is in the right place but his head has yet to catch up and keep his finger on the pulse of younger Christians - he was basically raised in a conservative LCMS church, and while conservative Lutherans aren't completely identical to the religion that RHE was critiquing, that doesn't mean there is no overlap between the two.

Here is a sermon I found on Youtube that she gave several years ago at Irvine Congregational Church in California:

I'd never heard her speak before, so that was neat to hear!

I'm impressed that the people in your church would know who she was. Had I mentioned her in my churches this morning, I would have very likely gotten a sea of blank looks!

 

[FireDragon76]

I'd never heard her speak before, so that was neat to hear!

I'm impressed that the people in your church would know who she was. Had I mentioned her in my churches this morning, I would have very likely gotten a sea of blank looks!

Most pastors in the ELCA fit into the sort of progressive Evangelicalism that Evans was seeking to find. She became Episcopalian but I also think she would have been potentially happy in an ELCA Lutheran church. Though I think she would have struggled some with our sacramentalism, as that is one thing she didn't initially appreciate in the Episcopal Church (but Episcopalians have more latitude in this area than Lutherans).

I think she would have appreciated our nuanced and pessimistic view of the human condition, as that is something she frequently emphasized herself. Also, her sermon about the way of Jesus being the way of suffering and that we encounter God in suffering is the exact sort of thing Pastor has been preaching about.

 

[bekkilyn]

Most pastors in the ELCA fit into the sort of progressive Evangelicalism that Evans was seeking to find. She became Episcopalian but I also think she would have been potentially happy in an ELCA Lutheran church. Though I think she would have struggled some with our sacramentalism, as that is one thing she didn't initially appreciate in the Episcopal Church (but Episcopalians have more latitude in this area than Lutherans).

I could easily imagine how very different the Episcopalian (or an ELCA) church could be very different than what she was used to.

 

[FireDragon76]

I could easily imagine how very different the Episcopalian (or an ELCA) church could be very different than what she was used to.

She liked our social ethics but I think she didn't fully appreciate how they are shaped by our encounter with Christ in the sacraments. That's understandable given her background.

 

[bekkilyn]

She liked our social ethics but I think she didn't fully understand how they are shaped by our encounter with Christ in the sacraments. That's understandable given her background.

Is it because she had been used to believing that the sacraments were simply symbolic rather than embodying Christ's real presence?

 

[FireDragon76]

Is it because she had been used to believing that the sacraments were simply symbolic rather than embodying Christ's real presence?

Yes. I think in the case of Lutheranism in particular, that might have been a bit of an obstacle (since we believe Jesus' actual body and blood are present in the sacrament, and that baptism actually saves us). Episcopalians are willing to tolerate a wider variety of perspectives on the matter.

The whole "God can't even look at sin" thing doesn't even make sense once you realize that you as a sinner hold God in your hand.

 

[mkgal1]

There's an encouraging hashtag being shared across social media - it's ‪#‎becauseofRHE‬. It's profound, I think, to see how technology has allowed voices to reach so much further these days (and also join together in grief).

 

[JCFantasy23]

Wow, I've read one of her books and actually bought another one during one of the daily Kindle deals just yesterday or the day before. I had no idea she was even sick. Very heartbreaking indeed.

She had a standard Flu and a small UTI - she wasn't that sick, but this was a result of seeking medical treatment. The antibiotic they gave her caused a severe allergic reaction and numerous seizures, and despite efforts of the staff, the seizures kept coming and kept causing more damage until finally death. They tried a medically induced coma to help from the seizure damage from the med damage, but unfortunately that did not work.

A sad and young loss indeed.

I hadn't heard of her myself, but saw this mentioned on a FB group this weekend, and then got caught in a trail of articles that had her name and more information. She was controversial but I don't have a firm stance either way since I haven't listened to her myself. I hate it for those who found comfort and learned from her, and especially for her husband and young children.

 

[bekkilyn]

If you’re sad about Rachel Held Evans (and other un-answered prayers).