Dear John,
As you may have noticed, all these letters are titled with what we might describe as “interesting lies”.
Some of them you believe at the moment and it might be a hard journey to unlearn. Some of them you already know are false, but there’s a lot more to say than you have realised. Some of them are widely believed by people around you in ways that have a significant effect on you. Others might actually be true, but need a lot more qualification and nuance than they are often given, or than you’d give them at the moment, and they make for an interesting discussion.
Some of the statements contradict each other, and both are wrong. Some of the false statements are quotes from other letters. That’s because the truth is rarely as simple as most people want it to be, and it’s important to be nuanced.
All the best,
Future John
Fearfully & Wonderfully Broken is a series of letters from an autistic pastor to his teenage self, covering topics like faith, autism, disability and how to cope with life.
Most of the titles are deliberately wrong, and/or provocative (see letter 2).
John Allister is the vicar of St Jude’s Church in Nottingham, England.
At age 18, he was a maths/science geek who didn’t realise he was autistic.