shame
Liberated Life
Nov. 11, 2025 13:25 Filed in: Commentaries
[In a world that seems increasingly chaotic and broken, many of us feel helpless and afraid. We may question what we can do to make a difference. To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. How might you find inspiration and hope in the small steps others are taking?]"Between December 2024 and November 2025, I felt called by God to write seven Bible commentaries (Genesis, Luke (x3), Acts, Romans, and Revelation) to explore what a Liberated Life looks like. This is grounded in an open and inclusive reading of God's Word. I know, from personal experience, that the Bible can be misused to judge and shame others, weaponizing texts into what are known as 'clobber passages'. I wanted to challenge people to read the Bible lovingly, counter divisive interpretations, and support those struggling with their faith."
"When people declare, 'The Bible says,' it is often not to use it with grace, but to shame people into changing their ways. My journey in writing these commentaries has shown me that Christians are called to a higher standard of grace and mercy, exemplified by loving God and loving your neighbor. I have also learned that the Bible speaks directly into the story of our lives, transforming us by connecting our experiences to those within its pages. Messages become distorted when we allow guilt, shame, and judgement to dictate our reading of God's Word, which is intended to unite us, not divide us. Its transformative power comes as we let the Holy Spirit heal our relationships and follow Jesus in discovering the way to the truth about life. This is lived unapologetically in the Unconditionally Loving presence of God."
You can find out more and buy Liberated Life Bible Commentaries here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWT9GLQJ?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi
This is my website: www.divineinfinity.org
Submitted by Steve R
We Have Been Set Free
Oct. 10, 2025 07:40 Filed in: Commentaries
Beloved in Christ,
Like most people, I am at my worst when I believe I have something to prove. When I think I need to prove to others that I am smart enough, or good enough, or right enough, or likeable enough, or worthy of love, or whatever, then everyone who is different than me is a threat, every criticism is an attack, every disagreement is a battle I have to win. That gnawing feeling we all carry somewhere inside that we are deficient in some way is called shame, and when we live from this place, our whole life feels like a fight.
Our reading from 2 Timothy this week urges us to stand before God as “a worker who has no need to be ashamed.” The heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we are loved, immeasurably and unimaginably, not because we have proven ourselves worthy, but simply because we have been created by the God who is infinite love.
To be sure, we are called to act morally, to live righteously, and to reflect holiness. But not in order to convince God and others that we are good enough. Our actions, like the Samaritan leper’s gratitude in this week’s gospel, are a response to what God has already done for us. We don’t act in order to win our freedom, we act because we have already been set free.
Our current culture and politics frames life as a binary battlefield with only winners and losers. It secures that field by constantly poking at the shame inside us. You don’t have enough. You haven’t done enough. The world, or the nation, or the church, or your family, would be fine if you just tried harder and did more. It’s all a lie. Following Jesus is about subverting that lie with the gospel of God’s limitless love.
If you are discouraged by the state of our nation, if you want to be a force for healing and good, then instead of just fighting harder in a world designed to lock us in perpetual warfare, try standing “before God as one approved by him. A worker who has no need to be ashamed.” Try starting each day, each conversation, each encounter in that place.
When we set down the struggle to secure some imagined freedom, and accept that we have already been set free, we find, finally, the power to join God in setting the whole word free with irresistible joy, with unshakable hope, and with revolutionary love.
Grace and Peace,
The Right Reverend Craig Loya
Bishop X
Episcopal Church in Minnesota
From Shame to Belovedness: A Guided Lenten Practice
Mar. 30, 2025 12:09 Filed in: Audio | Spiritual Practice
Week of Lent IV, March 30: From Shame to Belovedness
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 “Let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” Jesus’ story of the forgiving father and his two sons challenges our notions of who is worthy of God’s approval. Shame tells us the story that we have done something bad and that therefore we are bad. God tells the story that we will never stop being the Beloved, because God is Love. Where has shame taken root in your life? How might you ask for God’s healing? What does Love look like when real harm or betrayal has occurred? This week, how might you practice loving someone else the way God loves you?
[ Audio version of this meditation ]
Find a comfortable spot in your space. Sit or lie down in a way that allows your body to fully relax. Take your time, making any necessary adjustments. If your body offers you guidance about what it needs to fully soften into this moment, heed its advice.
Once you're feeling supported and settled, gently shine the flashlight of your awareness onto your breath, be curious--- what do you find? Is it smooth and even? Are you craving a deeper inhale or more luxurious exhale? Does it reach to your belly or is it living up and among your collarbones? Invite your breath to soften and lengthen – signaling to your mind and nervous system that it’s ok to drop into this moment, there is no place else to go, nothing else to do.
Release your awareness from your breath and trust it to do what needs to be done to breathe your body.
Now, again using your awareness like a flashlight, bring your awareness to your feet. Check in with the soles of the feet, the tops of the feet, the ankles. Let your noticing gradually pull upwards, checking in with your calves, shins, and knees.
Consider the strong muscles of your upper leg – the hamstrings, quadriceps, all the tendons. Notice any tension still present and gently soften deeper into your seat.
Bring your awareness to the hips, pelvic bowl, seat...imagine the light of your awareness working its way into the intricate workings of your hip sockets, softening whatever tightness you may find.
Let the awareness move up now into the belly bowl, the lower back. Fill the whole lower torso with breath and the light of awareness.
Let it continue up, checking in with the diaphragm, the rib cage, the lungs – take some time to saturate all the vital organs and muscles in your chest cavity with awareness and breath.
Notice now as the flashlight of awareness gently rises to fill in the space around the collarbones, the shoulder blades, and pools along the strong muscles atop your shoulders. Imagine your awareness cascading down each arm – touching your biceps, triceps, elbows, forearms, wrists…hands and fingers. Notice as any tension or tightness drips out the tips of the fingers and returns to the earth.
Train your gentle awareness on your neck and let it fill and move along the muscles on the front of the neck, the sides, the back. Release the root of the tongue, release the jaw. Let the muscles of your face and scalp soften, giving some extra noticing to your temples, the tiny muscles across your forehead, and the deep pockets of the eye sockets.
Good – now notice as your entire human form is full of gentle awareness and breath. Just breathe into the shape of you for another moment.
This human form that is you, that you so gently and mindfully tended to just now, is completely and fully beloved by God.
Completely and fully beloved – from the tips of your toes that sometimes lead you astray to the crown of your head that sometimes surrenders to the earthly whims of the mind. Completely beloved.
What do you experience as you consider this notion of complete belovedness? How does your body receive this good news?
With gentle curiosity and lots of choice, scan your body as you receive this belovedness – what do you find? Where does it land peacefully, soaking in like rain on a spring garden? Are there spaces in your body that contract, tighten, or disappear when you offer them this unconditional positive regard? Consider the idea that tendrils of shame live here – our fear of being bad or unworthy, our hidden shadows that we keep away from the light.
Choose one area that experiences contraction, tension, or blankness at the idea of utter belovedness. Direct your full, soft awareness to that space – maybe placing a hand or a blanket over it to offer some support. And just breathe gently into this tightness, this shame. Let the breath gently find a way in, even if just for the briefest of moments. As you breathe into this constricted shame, invite God in – offer up a prayer. With words or just an open awareness, invite God’s light into this place and ask for softening, for healing, for a drop of belovedness to penetrate and nourish this spot.
Stay with this prayer as you breathe.
Now consider our human experience – that of the highs and lows of relationship, the glories and sorrows of our time here on earth. While God’s love is unwavering and complete, our human relationships often experience the painful yet completely normal human experience of rupture and repair. We hurt or are hurt and real pain and conflict enter the space between us and another. These ruptures can feel so scary and painful that often hide them away, deep in the shadows and fertilize them with shame – beliefs about our own lack of goodness and worthiness or another person’s lack of goodness and worthiness.
And, if we stay connected to the present moment, to our bodies, to God, we can make choices about how we meet these inevitable human moments of rupture. We can choose to repair and heal in the spirit of God’s eternal belovedness.
Bring to mind a rupture that feels manageable in this moment – perhaps it is one in the past or maybe it’s happening in the current scape. Gently feel into the rupture that happened between you and another – search out the constriction and tightness that lives in your body around it. Try to just observe, not judge the sensation or the relationship. And breathe into this space.
What would it be like to intentionally choose to shine the light of God’s love on this rupture – to offer it some energy of repair? Maybe that means asking for or receiving forgiveness, perhaps having an honest and grounded conversation, perhaps simply reaching out and letting the person know that even though there is still hurt, you are thinking of them and care.
Choose an idea that resonates with you as a way to practice God’s love in human relationship because of the painful yet glorious truth of our imperfection, not in spite of it. Commit to one action of repair, of shining light on a shadow of pain and shame.
Now, release any practice and tend fully to three deep breaths. Then return to the room and stretch to come back into the present moment.
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 “Let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” Jesus’ story of the forgiving father and his two sons challenges our notions of who is worthy of God’s approval. Shame tells us the story that we have done something bad and that therefore we are bad. God tells the story that we will never stop being the Beloved, because God is Love. Where has shame taken root in your life? How might you ask for God’s healing? What does Love look like when real harm or betrayal has occurred? This week, how might you practice loving someone else the way God loves you?
[ Audio version of this meditation ]
Find a comfortable spot in your space. Sit or lie down in a way that allows your body to fully relax. Take your time, making any necessary adjustments. If your body offers you guidance about what it needs to fully soften into this moment, heed its advice.
Once you're feeling supported and settled, gently shine the flashlight of your awareness onto your breath, be curious--- what do you find? Is it smooth and even? Are you craving a deeper inhale or more luxurious exhale? Does it reach to your belly or is it living up and among your collarbones? Invite your breath to soften and lengthen – signaling to your mind and nervous system that it’s ok to drop into this moment, there is no place else to go, nothing else to do.
Release your awareness from your breath and trust it to do what needs to be done to breathe your body.
Now, again using your awareness like a flashlight, bring your awareness to your feet. Check in with the soles of the feet, the tops of the feet, the ankles. Let your noticing gradually pull upwards, checking in with your calves, shins, and knees.
Consider the strong muscles of your upper leg – the hamstrings, quadriceps, all the tendons. Notice any tension still present and gently soften deeper into your seat.
Bring your awareness to the hips, pelvic bowl, seat...imagine the light of your awareness working its way into the intricate workings of your hip sockets, softening whatever tightness you may find.
Let the awareness move up now into the belly bowl, the lower back. Fill the whole lower torso with breath and the light of awareness.
Let it continue up, checking in with the diaphragm, the rib cage, the lungs – take some time to saturate all the vital organs and muscles in your chest cavity with awareness and breath.
Notice now as the flashlight of awareness gently rises to fill in the space around the collarbones, the shoulder blades, and pools along the strong muscles atop your shoulders. Imagine your awareness cascading down each arm – touching your biceps, triceps, elbows, forearms, wrists…hands and fingers. Notice as any tension or tightness drips out the tips of the fingers and returns to the earth.
Train your gentle awareness on your neck and let it fill and move along the muscles on the front of the neck, the sides, the back. Release the root of the tongue, release the jaw. Let the muscles of your face and scalp soften, giving some extra noticing to your temples, the tiny muscles across your forehead, and the deep pockets of the eye sockets.
Good – now notice as your entire human form is full of gentle awareness and breath. Just breathe into the shape of you for another moment.
This human form that is you, that you so gently and mindfully tended to just now, is completely and fully beloved by God.
Completely and fully beloved – from the tips of your toes that sometimes lead you astray to the crown of your head that sometimes surrenders to the earthly whims of the mind. Completely beloved.
What do you experience as you consider this notion of complete belovedness? How does your body receive this good news?
With gentle curiosity and lots of choice, scan your body as you receive this belovedness – what do you find? Where does it land peacefully, soaking in like rain on a spring garden? Are there spaces in your body that contract, tighten, or disappear when you offer them this unconditional positive regard? Consider the idea that tendrils of shame live here – our fear of being bad or unworthy, our hidden shadows that we keep away from the light.
Choose one area that experiences contraction, tension, or blankness at the idea of utter belovedness. Direct your full, soft awareness to that space – maybe placing a hand or a blanket over it to offer some support. And just breathe gently into this tightness, this shame. Let the breath gently find a way in, even if just for the briefest of moments. As you breathe into this constricted shame, invite God in – offer up a prayer. With words or just an open awareness, invite God’s light into this place and ask for softening, for healing, for a drop of belovedness to penetrate and nourish this spot.
Stay with this prayer as you breathe.
Now consider our human experience – that of the highs and lows of relationship, the glories and sorrows of our time here on earth. While God’s love is unwavering and complete, our human relationships often experience the painful yet completely normal human experience of rupture and repair. We hurt or are hurt and real pain and conflict enter the space between us and another. These ruptures can feel so scary and painful that often hide them away, deep in the shadows and fertilize them with shame – beliefs about our own lack of goodness and worthiness or another person’s lack of goodness and worthiness.
And, if we stay connected to the present moment, to our bodies, to God, we can make choices about how we meet these inevitable human moments of rupture. We can choose to repair and heal in the spirit of God’s eternal belovedness.
Bring to mind a rupture that feels manageable in this moment – perhaps it is one in the past or maybe it’s happening in the current scape. Gently feel into the rupture that happened between you and another – search out the constriction and tightness that lives in your body around it. Try to just observe, not judge the sensation or the relationship. And breathe into this space.
What would it be like to intentionally choose to shine the light of God’s love on this rupture – to offer it some energy of repair? Maybe that means asking for or receiving forgiveness, perhaps having an honest and grounded conversation, perhaps simply reaching out and letting the person know that even though there is still hurt, you are thinking of them and care.
Choose an idea that resonates with you as a way to practice God’s love in human relationship because of the painful yet glorious truth of our imperfection, not in spite of it. Commit to one action of repair, of shining light on a shadow of pain and shame.
Now, release any practice and tend fully to three deep breaths. Then return to the room and stretch to come back into the present moment.