Amanda Henderson believes we’ve always figured out how to adapt in scary, divisive times.
In her recently published book, “Holy Chaos: Creating Connections in Divisive Times” (Chalice Press), she’s hoping others will be able to tap into curiosity rather than fear in the chaos of the pandemic.
“People are so hesitant to step into spaces that are perceived as divisive or chaotic,” she said in an interview with The Denver Post on Aug. 7. “But as a country, obviously, we are so deeply divided. And in my work, part of my observation has been that we need people to be more grounded in who they are … while also being open to one another.”
As a reverend and the executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, Henderson hopes her ideas and experiences as a faith leader can be helpful in unprecedented times, in the midst of the pandemic and anti-racism protests in the United States. She said her interfaith work has helped her understand the value of chaos.
In each chapter, Henderson starts with her own stories and layers on context, history and wisdom from holy texts across Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and even some poetry she considers sacred. She ends each section with practical skills and coping tools.
Henderson wrote most of the book a year ago in spring 2019, while also working, parenting and starting a Ph.D. program at the Iliff School of Theology. She said it’s important for her process to be “in the midst of chaos,” connecting with people who are different from her.
“Interfaith work has led to the chance to be able to step into spaces and meet people who have very different views than me, or life backgrounds,” she said. “Because of those opportunities, I’ve realized that I continuously learn more about myself and learn more about others. A lot of times we don’t have those opportunities because our worlds are cultivated for us to be surrounded with people who look, think or act just like us.”
In the book, Henderson explores her role in the fight for racial justice, LGBTQ equality, immigration rights, reproductive rights and more, as well as conflicts hitting closer to home with her family members, who are also Christians but hold much different beliefs. The first chapter describes an experience that’s become commonplace in this country, coming to an understanding with her parents, who voted for Donald Trump.
Her parents didn’t love “Holy Chaos,” she said, but she’s able to reconcile their faith with hers. “There’s no one way to be a Christian,” she said.
Though she wrote most of the book a year ago, one of the chapters is titled “I Can’t Breathe,” about the Black Lives Matter protests in 2014. The chapter resonates strongly with the moment in which it was published, since the murder of George Floyd and other Blacks at the hands of police in 2020. Henderson said she remembers being a part of the 2014 protests and seeing fear everywhere, but she emphasized navigating fear rather than allowing it to create division.
When the book was at the printing house in the spring, she also added to the forward, addressing the unique challenges of the pandemic. Though most of the stories are about being with other people, she said the principles of curiosity, love and understanding are still the same. She emphasized the importance of adapting our values to a new context like social distancing.
For people who are isolated and scared to reflect, Henderson said there are simple ways to start, like reaching out to someone else who feels lonely or engaging with different ideas. It can be as simple as finding a movie on Netflix that isn’t 100% for you, and ing it with wonder rather than judgment. She still stands firmly with human dignity and rights, but she believes people don’t compromise their values when they are curious and thoughtful.
And now, it’s more important than ever to seek out good information and think critically, she said.
“Part of being able to navigate chaos is having good, solid information, and we’re in a time when information and truth and facts have become so politicized,” she said. “Rather than falling to either ‘forget it, it’s all fake, I’m not wearing a mask,’ or ‘we’re all going to die if we go outside,’ let’s think about this: The pandemic is really highlighting how we easily fall into these extreme camps rather than continually trying to understand what’s happening.”