5 Comments
⭠ Return to thread

As many have written before me, I too, am truly sorry for the cancellations and ugliness directed toward you for speaking truth — and truth to power. Very sadly, while my first reaction was shock, what followed quickly was that this is really not surprising. In Richard Rohr’s email today there is a quote from a talk he gave in 1980:

“The established and dominant culture does not have authentic promises because it seeks to maintain itself. The system has materialistic and self-protecting promises for more money and a better life; it encourages us to consume more and more. It cannot offer a promise which fills and expands the heart beyond itself to the larger world.”

Established religions (yes, even the Episcopal Church) mostly don’t like change, and many congregants don’t want to be messed with nor do they want to be challenged. I preached for 3 years in an Episcopal Church and the sermon for which I received the most pushback was when I mentioned the homeless who slept in the park directly outside the windows of our church and also mentioned the church’s own food pantry. I eventually left religion altogether in part because so many sitting in the pews every Sunday didn’t want to leave the pew. Too many have forgotten that church is supposed to comfort the afflicted AND afflict the comfortable.

I also want to acknowledge the brilliance and spot-on message following the scripture passages. You knocked that one out of the park and I wish it could be published for a wider audience. Thank you, Diana, for your courage and steadfastness. Blessings to you and always stay strong and true to yourself ~

Expand full comment

The message is published to as wide an audience as you can take it. Share, please!

Expand full comment

Oh yes, I DO share! And many of those people share too! And that’s good and wonderful because I know I’m not the only one who does that. I guess I’m thinking bigger — a publication where many more will see it. But sharing this message over and over is a good start. Thank you!

Expand full comment

Hi Susan. Thanks so much for your encouragement and supporting my work with so much enthusiasm. The Cottage currently has 43,000 free subscribers in all fifty states and 146 countries around the world (THANK YOU TO PAID SUBSCRIBERS - a small percentage of the total - FOR HELPING ME KEEP THIS GOING!) and a reach of well over 1 million readers a month. You all have given the Cottage a reading base that is actually BIGGER than Christian Century or (I believe) The Nation or any single mainline source (except for Nadia Bolz Weber's The Corners, which is about a third again larger than this audience). YOU ALL ARE PART OF A LARGE READING COMMUNITY - every share that brings in more readers expands the reach of The Cottage and is creating a world-wide conversation on the issues and ideas raised here. Sure, the New York Times would be bigger. But these Substack newsletters are becoming a dynamo of publishing - THANKS TO READERS WHO BELIEVE IN THE CONTENT and support the authors they love.

Expand full comment

This is very, very good news, and something I did not know. I read several Substack newsletters, but yours is the only one I subscribe to. That may change. I do sense a shift in the power of information sources, and that makes me very happy because I think it's not only important but necessary. I think what you just shared with all of us is really, really important. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Error