I was recently able to talk to Elissa Elliott, a gifted blogger, novelist, and author of Eve: A Novel. Most of all I’ve been privileged to get to know her a bit these past few months and call her friend. Here’s the first part of our exchange:

David Group: What inspired you to write this novel?

Elissa Elliott: It was an email from my agent, who asked, on a whim, “What about Eve?”  Of course, my immediate response was, “You mean the Eve?  Hasn’t she been done already?”  But no, she hadn’t been written the way I wanted to write her, which was as a mother, wife, and woman with the same human emotions we experience today.  I wanted to tell the story (partially) in her voice, since Bible and Torah stories are notorious for leaving women in the shadows.

DG: That was one of the interesting aspects of the story I found as I read – here you are, a 21^st century wife and mother – attempting to let us in on an entire realm of thought, feelings and challenges of what Eve must have been confronted with. How difficult was it to place yourself so far back in time and yet connect with present-day readers?

EE: Well, the research, of course, allowed me my framework (of how things were back then).  But when it came to the emotional makeup of Eve and her daughters, I went no further than my sisters, my girlfriends, my mother, and me.  Human emotions are exactly that—human—so I drove close to the bone, as it were, while writing.

To read the rest – where we go into comparative creation stories, and much more – click here!

As I listen to people’s conversations about God, I’m always interested in hearing how they view their relationship with God. More times than not what I hear are details about what God is doing in their lives via the great gifts he’s giving them or perhaps even the opposite – those things they perceive as ‘needs-to-be-filled’ for which they’re praying/waiting.

Certainly it is true that the gifts of God are many, and that God knows everything – ranging from our needs to the desires of our hearts – before we even utter a thought regarding them. And I believe it is true that God blesses us with a constant stream of gifts so numerous that many of them are taken for granted: our senses of sight and sound, taste and touch, sunrises and sunsets, friends and family. The list is infinite, really.

Even so, in the midst of all of this great gifting, we would benefit from pausing to give ourselves a heart-check:

Do we sometimes mistake the gifts of God for a relationship with God? Continue reading…

Fair warning: If you’re offended by strong language or religious lampooning, you won’t want to watch this video.

On the other hand, if you’re up for a ‘sacred cow barbecue’ that challenges our notions of the Sacred in service of greater insight, by all means watch this video by Cheryl Weaver!

She raises some important questions in this hilarious monologue/song –  ”How do we hear God?” and, “Shouldn’t that give us ’cause for pause’?

In the past year I’ve come to appreciate Jesus afresh, through the lens of what’s called Mimetic Theory as pioneered by Rene Girard. This literary critic and philosopher reads the Gospels (and really, the Hebrew Bible and New Testament) through the lens of mimentic violence – looking at what happens when we humans imitate hostile and fearful acts, causing “violence begetting violence.” Mimetic theory puts Jesus’ life, death, and teachings in a whole new perspective that transcends – and if we’re honest, in many ways outright negates – traditional religious structures.

And yet, mimetics as I’ve encountered them leaves me wanting more. I want to see the conversation expand from philosophy, lit-crit and theology into other social sciences – even the so-called ‘hard’ sciences, like brain sciences. And I want to see some examples of positive mimesis, darn it! Surely we’re capable of imitating more than just the ‘bad.’

I think I may have discovered the bridge to ‘something more’ that I’m looking for – Jeremy Rifkin distilling his latest ground-breaking work, The Empathic Civilization. I won’t say much more except to watch this video! It’s over ten minutes long; get over it.  It’s ten minutes well-spent. You will be mesmerized! And just maybe, your entire outlook on life and what motivates people will be transformed.

This is what guides my passions, in both Presence and The David Group International – to see a new earth and a new humanity being birthed, a people with a deeper trust in a more expansive God, where common humanity creates the deepest of ties. Viva la empathetic mimesis!

This past week we celebrated America’s Day of Independence. As Americans we’re an independent sort of people by nature. Even so, we’re also fairly strong on the community front.

Though July 4^th has come and gone, my friend Shane Claiborne wrote an excellent piece on Huffington Post this past week that is certainly worth a read at any time of the year. I hope you’ll read it as it is full of thought provoking ideas for working toward the greater good of ‘all.’

After you check it out, feel free to post any thoughts or comments here.

Blessings!