Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
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The Only Clear Line
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The only clear line I draw these days is this: when my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor … Jesus never commanded me to love my religion
Barbara Brown Taylor, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others
Choosing our neighbors — loving our neighbors — is a clear line for me, too. This line is bigger than any one religion. It is more important than any creed or scripture. It is strong enough to be chanted as a mantra and brought into existence.
I choose my neighbor. I choose my neighbor. I choose my neighbor.
When I write it like that, it feels like a prayer of thanksgiving. Gratitude for choice. Gratitude for neighbors. Gratitude for a soft heart that does not succumb to the pain of the world. Gratitude for a soft heart that does not retreat from the pain of the world. Gratitude for a soft heart that chooses love.
About Katie
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Born in Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.