At Gilead, you may have noticed (or been told by Rebecca when you asked if your story needed one), we don't do trigger warnings.
There are good, important, reasons for trigger warnings. And we've got good, important, reasons for not doing them. We don't want to be in the position of deciding which stories need them. And we don't actually know what could be triggering to someone. (As a teller, host, and listener, I've been surprised many times by what turned out to be triggering. A story told by someone who thought they were in a room full of strangers, telling, in detail, about the death of a person I'd known well. A story that included an elderly parent dying sent another listener out of an event, saying, "I just can't be here." I have upset listeners with content and in one case, by the very act of telling a story!) We also believe that any part of anyone's story might be something that someone else is dying to hear.
At Gilead, we do edit and craft stories for greater impact and to reveal meaning, including to the ones telling the stories. We believe that God is in every story, including, yes, the one about getting running over by an SUV while stoned and the one about #AnalFissures (#NeverForget).
At Gilead, we trust that there are other ways to take care of ourselves and each other. Stepping away from the computer if this one's not for you. Typing, "WHOA!" in the chat. Having a conversation after church. Building our stories in ways that are attentive to listeners and how a thing might strike them. Believing that our community can hear and hold your story. It's not too much for us.
This anniversary month, our theme is Oversharing is the Brand so, ah, we're kind of aiming for "too much." It's that kind of place. Because your "too much" (and mine, thank God) doesn't need a trigger warning. It needs a community.