God's Love in Action
RISING FROM DECONSTRUCTION
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Sophia Hyde talks about how her faith was renewed this past Easter in Plant City.
I
went through a season in my Christian walk where I became disturbed by the tradition of getting dressed in pretty clothes and going to church, and then posting it to social media as a way to honor the most significant part of the Christ story. A day that symbolizes the greatest sacrifice, unlimited forgiveness of our enemies, and the death/ resurrection story paired with cute family pictures, just didn’t align for me. In fact, I didn’t go to church for two years because for me, in the season of my walk, it felt forced and artificial. This year felt different. My soul yearned to go to a church service. I felt drawn to visit a new church I haven’t been to before. And then, a divine encounter in the grocery store led to an invitation to join someone at church, which confirmed for me that I indeed was supposed to go.
I went through five years of deconstruction. My faith was a house of cards that others built for me. One by one, the answers I was being handed did not add up and a card would come off. Eventually the stability was gone and the house of cards fell. That season was very dark, lonely and frustrating. Eventually, I discovered new paradigms that helped me lay a new foundation, one that made space for all the colors with which I now could see.
FOREVER MORE, WHEN I LOOK AT THE CROSS, I WILL SEE A SYMBOL OF UNITY. I WILL SEE A REMINDER OF A MAN WHO SACRIFICED HIS LIFE TO SAY "WE ARE ALL THE SAME." IN A WORLD WHERE HUMANITY CRAVES LABELS, DIVISION AND US VS. THEM, HE SAID "NO MORE."
And then Easter morning, I sat in church and a couple tears streamed down my face. It was a beautiful experience at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. The priest’s words struck a chord so deeply in my soul that he helped to rewrite for me what I see when I look at the cross. Forever more, when I look at the cross I will see a symbol of unity. I will see a reminder of a man who sacrificed his life to say “we are all the same.” In a world where humanity craves labels, division and us vs. them, he said “no more.” His life of breaking these barriers made other people so uncomfortable that they killed him. For seven years I have been going through deconstruction and reconstruction. For those of you who have never heard those terms, it’s simply vocabulary to explain a very normal process of the faith experience. Many people go through a period of time where they doubt, question and maybe even walk away from a faith experience they were handed. The foundation rug on which they built their truths gets ripped out from underneath them. And then, over time, a new foundation is set. One that they choose, they set, and is their own. 40
By Sophia Hyde
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Above, Hyde with her husband Brandon, son Liam, and daughter Eleanora.
For two years I have been reconstructing that house. It’s been a very healing, restorative and hopeful experience. The message today felt like the last two cards coming together on top. This new lens through which to see the death and resurrection gives me so much hope for Christianity, a faith I heavily considered walking away from just a few shorts years ago. May grace and peace be with you. Today and always.
Words
from The Rev. Barry Kubler’s Sermon “My friends, when we say, Alleluia, Christ is Risen, we are acknowledging that all the barriers that formerly separated people have been abolished. Christ’s resurrection replaces division with unity. Christ’s resurrection challenges us to replace distrust and the fear of others with understanding and love. And the word resurrection does not just imply the Good News of life’s victory over death. It also recognizes the challenges of overcoming the barriers, the fears, the distrust and the alienation that separates us from others.”
