Jane Fonda

I was interested to learn from beliefnet.com that Jane Fonda has recently become a Christian. I guess I'm not up on all the Hollywood gossip, after all.

I found the article very interesting, though. Some salient points: Jane respects Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam, and even meditates as one of her spiritual practices, but she is clear about the fact that she is a Christian. She is, in her words, "attracted to Jesus."

I also was interested to learn that after having a very powerful experience of God's presence while reading the gospel of John, she had a hard time finding a community of faith that supported and built on that experience. I'm glad to see that she found some feminist Christians out there who were able to help her continue in her path.

I think Jane's experience can speak to many of us. First, Christianity is not something that was passed down to her automatically, it's something she accepted for herself, and accepted it because of its distinctiveness and appeal to her personally. Second, it surprises me sometimes, but I think that feminist and progressive Christians are a kind of well-kept secret. But we're out here, I promise, even if we're not always so noisy!