in the acknowledgments section of All Fours, Miranda July writes “A special thanks to reader and note-giver Maggie Nelson, whose hard questions I had to grow into,”
i love this concept: feels like the right amount intimidating, feels rigorous, feels loving. it actually feels like a god concept..
James Baldwin, in the Fire Next Time, writes:“If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”
thinking with god as question(s) to grow into, i’ve been confronted (a synonym for loved….) by the questions Ramadan has opened for two muslim writers who I admire:
at the beginning of this Ramadan in a beautiful newsletter about her relationship to the holiday, Aminatou Sow asked, “So again, I ask, what exactly are you doing that is not serving just you and your appetites?” this question stopped me in my tracks, it nagged at me.
yesterday, at the end of Ramadan, Hanif Abdurraqib asked: “Who am I beyond my familiar comforts? Who am I without my production? Who am I without the mythology that my own working and living has built around my own life? These are vital questions for me, ignited during the month, but carried on, Inshallah, through the rest of the year and years to come. Because it reminds me that sacrifice is not some divine exchange,”
what questions are you growing into?
Yes, growing into those big questions... how beautiful 🙏🏼.