Episode 3: Making Space for Everyone to be Welcomed with Jenai Auman
Jul 16, 2024
Have you ever felt pushed to the margins of a community? Made to feel like you don’t quite belong? Whether it’s for your politics, sexual identity, faith (or lack of it), or for naming bad behavior, we are made to feel “othered” for a wide variety of reasons.
In this week’s episode, artist and author Jenai Auman talks about her experience of being othered, and how she chose to name her experience and find a way forward. We talk about her new book, why and how it was written, and about reclaiming spaces for ourselves.
Learn how to reclaim your autonomy and agency. Hear the ways creating and fostering beauty help to mend our fractures. Make space to welcome yourself and the othered.
download Episode Transcript 📄
Quotes 💬
You matter. You are valuable. Your thoughts and words hold the potential to bring heaven on earth.
I don’t think it’s anyone’s responsibility to fix the church. I think it’s all of our responsibility to name our own hurt and figure out how we can lock arms with those around us.
For those of us who speak up or those of us who dare to ask questions or to challenge or give feedback…I was conditioned and discipled to distrust my voice, and daring to name what happened was a part of that reclamation.
Speaking the truth to yourself privately means that you will no longer self betray, self abandon or self erase your own experience just to make the people around you happy.
You know, what is the human experience without hope?
I have a very specific context that informs, like, why I think hope is so important, and I think a big part of that is why I still, I still believe in the Christian tradition today, and I make space for those who are still trying to figure out what faith looks like for them.
Guest Spotlight
Jenai Auman is a Filipina American writer and artist. She draws from her years in church leadership as well as her trauma-informed training to write on healing, hope, and the way forward. She is passionate about providing language so readers can find a faith that frees. She received her bachelor's degree in behavioral health science and is currently pursuing a master's in spiritual formation at Northeastern Seminary. Jenai lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and sons.
- Othered at Bookshop.org | on Amazon
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Broken to Beloved is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to provide those wounded by spiritual abuse and religious trauma with practical resources moving toward healing and wholeness, and to provide pastors and church leaders with resources to grow in trauma awareness and implement safeguarding practices. Get more information or give a tax-free donation here.
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