Welcome. Let's break some binaries.
Featured paintings: digital art of Joseph of Genesis by tomato-bird and "Whirlwheel" by Olivia Wise.
What binaries are we breaking here?
Divinity is too vast for any human to view fully – but each of us can catch glimpses as we go. My glimpse of the divine is of a binary breaker: She whirls across the world, upsetting the status quo wherever she blows; Xe bursts, laughing, from any box into which we stuff Hir and elegantly dodges all efforts to pin Hir down; They demolish dualisms and beckon us beyond our assumptions, beyond our jadedness and resignation, into a life so abundant it makes the heart ache. I could offer an endless stream of examples of binaries that I see the Divine toppling down: rich and poor, dark and light, black and white, woman and man, abled and disabled, gay and straight......These binaries divvy up the world into neat, rigid boxes, for the purpose of elevating one group above the other. Those whom these binaries favor have a vested interest in getting everyone to accept that this is "just the way things are" — and they'll deny the existence of any person or thing that doesn't quite fit. Try to break out of your assigned box, and you'll be brutally punished. But a disruptive wind is blowing, upturning the status quo. It whispers rebellion into our hearts, nourishes us with dreams of change. Those who allow themselves to be fed by that subversive Spirit, to challenge the Powers that Be, become binary breakers. My glimpse of the divine ignites my own passion for several particular topics, which are the focus of this site: queerness and trans faith; disability justice and theology; interdependence and interfaith relationships. In all of these areas I find an urgent need to break down binaries, to burst into city halls and religious communities, bars and schools, streets and homes, and cry out, "The world is so much grander and more fearsome and beautiful than you have been led to believe! The things you dismiss as weakness may yet prove to be greatest strength; the darkness is as numinous as the light; the human beings you drive away are shimmering round the edges with too much splendor to contain!"
A Christian focus, with interfaith openness
Most of the content on this site centers around Christian things and draws primarily from Christian theologies and scholars. This is because I myself am Christian; it makes sense that I spend most of my time and energy in my own faith home! However, I like to keep the windows open, the door unlocked so fresh air from diverse sources can waft in and stir things up. After all, any faith that fears new ideas and respectful conversation will grow stuffy and stale indeed. It is my hope that even when I do focus on Christianity, my words do not demean or harm those who make their home in other faiths than mine – including those who do not claim any religion or faith. If anything on this site fails in this respect, please let me know so I can make things right. I honor the rich insight to be found among all religious traditions; I recognize that I don't have all the answers on my own, and that holding interfaith dialogue brings us all to ever wider visions of the divine and what it means to be faithful. That is why in this site's three Christian-focused sections you will still find references to various religions – often in the context of acknowledging how Christians past and present have pitted ourselves against and above non-Christians. Hence also the interfaith conversations held in my podcast Blessed Are the Binary Breakers. I cannot express how humbled I am by the wisdom and holiness I have been graced with by my participants in all their diverse faith backgrounds. Let us recognize the spark of the sacred burning bright in one another. Let us open our doors, extending and receiving hospitality with grace and eagerness to learn. In this way, some of the longest upheld binaries around who is Us and who is Them, who is Right and who is Wrong, will crumble away; and all of us will be the richer for it.
What's with all the "blessed" talk?
So glad you asked. The concept of blessing is complicated for me, yet I named my podcast Blessed Are the Binary Breakers and my YouTube series on disability affirmation Disabled AND Blessed! Click here for my thoughts on a meaningful way to understand "blessing."
Who are you, anyway?
I'm Avery (they/ze)! Virtual minister with a seminary degree (MDiv), autistic, deeply passionate about trans theology, disability theology, and biblical studies. See my about page for more!