Worth Reading Wednesday

This week's edition of Worth Reading Wednesday is a mix of topics.  Enjoy!

Not all wire hangers are misogynists. Apparently. by Elizabeth Esther

I have lashed out, criticized, deconstructed, questioned and chided the religious powers that be. This was an important part of my journey and I honor it. But I made mistakes along the way and despite my good intentions, I have hurt people. I hurt myself.
I set out to organize! set right! cleanse! make all things new!
But I got entangled somehow. The weapons that were used against me I used against others.

10 Words That You've Probably Been Misusing by Tyler Vendetti (hat tip Rachel Held Evans)

There are so many words in the English language that it’s not surprising that the definitions for some of them have gotten mixed up over the years. It’s possible that you’ve gone your entire life without realizing your mistakes. I’m sure people have noticed. One day, you were probably walking down the street, casually chatting with an old friend, and one of these words slipped out of your mouth. 

Breastfeeding and Following Jesus: uninviting "modesty" to the breastfeeding discussion by The Leaky Boob

Doesn’t she have any decency?  Fine, feed your baby in public without being shamed into the bathroom but, for gosh sake, have some self respect and exercise some modesty!  Your body is for your husband alone and you don’t want to share it with the whole world.  I mean, good grief, there are other women’s husbands out, teenage boys, perverts… they can’t help themselves!  Hormones render their ability to not objectify women with the slightest sight of skin or shape and in a mere moment they will be overcome by their sexual urges!  The collective low view of the males of our species is that they are nothing more than animals that lose all control at the sight of a human female mammary gland.  The scary female feeding her baby will entice them like the harlot on the street corner in Proverbs.  Run, run away before all the men stumble, jealous of the child feeding at his mother’s breast.  And some women even do that IN CHURCH!
Remember when God said: “Thou Shalt Be Modest When Feeding Your Baby”?
And then proceeded to define “modest” as “having a light blanket, breastfeeding apron, or use the bathroom to feed child.”
Yeah, me neither.

Quit Worrying About Your Savings Plan: Jesus by Anita Mathias

The standard financial advice is to keep 6 months salary in cash at all times, and to have 10 times your final salary in cash or stocks by the time you retire).
In other words, save enough to ensure that you can live without God, without needing to trust him, without needing to lean on his ingenious ideas, and without needing to see his miracles and deliverances. 

Called to Lead...Someday by Lane Severson

We consume these pictures of leadership and then we consider our own calling and ministry—or lack thereof. We get frustrated, angry, depressed. Why do I have these gifts but no place to use them? I know God made me to lead people out of bondage. Why am I stuck taking care of my father-in-law's small business? Someone is to blame. If not me, then God. If not him, than me. The days are long working for your father-in-law. You have time to shift the blame back and forth. And there will be time tomorrow as well.
Young people who are called to lead tend to lack the perspective needed to see that this "wasted" time is not wasted at all. The formally anonymous advice columnist Cheryl Strayed ("Dear Sugar") wrote: "The useless days will add up to something. The … waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The hours reading poetry and story collections and novels and dead people's diaries and wondering about sex and God … these things are your becoming."