Be-pistemology– My Newest Post on the Feminism and Religion blog

I am a quarterly contributor to the Feminism and Religion blog.  You will find part of my latest post here on my site.  For the entire post you can click here.  And, as always, hope to hear from you about what you think!

Epistemology—the study or theory of the nature and the ground of knowledge, particularly with respect to the limits and validity of knowledges and the sources of knowledge.

Being—the qualities and characteristics that constitute conscious existence; a living thing. 

I look outside the open window of my temporary apartment and read and re-read the sign that beckons drivers to notice this unspectacular place.   “Welcome Home” it says in black Times New Roman font on a plain white background.  As if saying it so simply, makes it true.

It doesn’t feel much like home to me right now.  And thankfully it doesn’t really need to.  Soon I will move into a new house.  Then I will take the next step in working to make a home in this new place where my family and I have moved.  For my husband, kids, and me, the knowledge that the apartment is temporary helps us deal with the strangeness of it.  We know it’s not for long.  And knowing that helps us behave in certain ways and cultivate particular expectations.   This mode of operations allows us to bide our time.  We have done just enough settling in to feel ok here—unpacked a suitcase, stocked the refrigerator.  But we won’t hang pictures; we won’t be too intentional about meeting the neighbors.  Being cordial is enough.  After all, this isn’t really home.  My nine-year-old daughter has actually made a rule that no one is allowed to call this apartment “home.”

But these first few hours and days here, it is not my own home-welcoming that takes most of my time and energy.  It is the care and feeding of the several other sentient beings who are wondering what just happened to the life they had in North Carolina.  I am referring to the three dogs, the cat, the horse, and the snake who are also now supposed to figure out a way to feel at home here in Indiana.

The sixteen-hour car ride was their first clue that something is changing. (read full post on Feminism and Religion)