Bearing Witness
At 5 years old, I banged away on my parents’ typewriter, convinced I had something important to say. By second grade, facing my first ‘What I Did This Summer’ assignment, I’d lost that conviction entirely.
Early experiences stripped that away and left me feeling I must fend for myself, prove my value, earn safety by performance, and expect everything to be temporary. This is, as you can imagine, exhausting. And thought it has taken 53 years to reach this point, I now completely reject it.
I’m old enough to pretend I no longer care what people think of me, so I’ve decided I have nothing to prove and little to lose by owning my life, claiming my story, and sharing it without pretense.
To that end, I will occasionally share stories here. If you find them helpful, follow along. If not, unfollow me. This will not be about how-to content. I will simply tell the truth about what it’s like to live by faith as Harvey—a faithful fellow-traveler walking with you. My stories will be about wrestling with doubt while clinging to faith, finding God in the mundane moments, and what it looks like to attempt to live by grace when your demons whisper otherwise.
Back in 2002, I wrote a piece of personal narrative that has proven prophetic. As a much younger man, I struggled with the same core challenge that remains today. While it gratifies me to see a continuous thread running through my life, I wonder, “Why am I still struggling with the same sense of anxiety about my value?”
Maybe my struggle will offer you some hope.
