Details: “Escaping Christian Patriarchy, with Cait West,” October 22, 7pm, Port 393, Holland, MI
When I went to Cait’s website to get some information about her biography, I was surprised and delighted to see this quote from Maya Angelou featured: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Why was I surprised? This quote also appears in Britt Hartley’s No Nonsense Spirituality, and I mentioned it in the gathering with Britt.
Here is how Cait describes escaping Christian Patriarchy.
When I left home at the age of twenty-five, I had no idea what my path would look like. I had no story to tell. I had spent my entire life in the Christian Patriarchy and Stay-at-Home-Daughter Movements, only to realize that I didn’t belong. My story had always been written for me, and now I was taking over the pen for the first time.
I used to think I could rewrite my whole life, come clean somehow, and pretend I never had a past of oppression and abuse. I didn’t want to be the victim, the pitied, the weak. But the years have taught me that there is no easy way to delete bitter memories or old scars. I can’t separate the good from the bad. So, I’m moving forward, not chained to the past, but liberated from it, carrying with me the old stories, if only as a preface to the new.
I hope you will come and hear Cait’s story. Yes, parts of her story will sadden you, maybe enrage you. But her story will also inspire and encourage you.