Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Ruth Everhart, Interview #1 Starting Out with A Gem....


Name: Ruth Everhart

Live: Suburbs of Washington DC

What you do as a vocation or avocation?I am a minister and a writer.

Your two favorite books:
hmmm, I'll go with a grape theme here:
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? by Peter Hedges

Your two favorite cd's:at the moment,
The Calling, by Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Joshua Tree, by U2

Why you are interested in spirituality?
If I don't pay attention to the movement of the Spirit in my life, it's easy to live on the surface, caught up in self-centered concerns (What will I eat? What will I wear? Who will love me?). Instead, I want to be led by the Spirit to deeper places, where my true self lives (How will I use the gifts I'm given? How will I contribute in a way that has meaning? How will I love others?). Paradoxically, walking away from self-centered concerns leads me to the self I was created to become, a journey that is difficult, always unfinished, but frequently joyful.

Your favorite quote:
So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it.
from Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry

Your favorite web sites:
http://revgalblogpals.blogspot.com/
Wikipedia.

A spiritual lesson you hope to learn?
How to be a leader that points people toward God without getting in my own way because of who I am (gender/age/personality), while still being able to embrace who I am (a woman of middle age of an outspoken yet introverted temperament). I suspect this will be a lesson in humility.

A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?"Jerusalem -- the spots where pilgrims have gathered for centuries: the Western Wall, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Anointing Slab in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

http://www.rutheverhart.com/
http://www.rutheverhart.com/blog/
Follow on Twitter @RuthEverhart

Editor's Note: Since the start of this blog, in 2008, Ruth Everhart has become an acclaimed published author, renowned blogger, part of the Christian Century blogs network  and the RevGalBlogPals network, and has additional books which will be forthcoming. We are thrilled that she was the first in this blog line up. Here's her first book: "Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land" is a memoir about her pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine, a journey which transformed the emphasis and expression of her faith. She is working on a spiritual memoir, look for it later this year.

1 comment:

Ruth said...

Thanks for letting me be your very first interviewee -- I'm honored!