Writing "Blessed Minds" with Sarah Griffith Lund

In this Q&A, Sarah Griffith Lund, whose newest book is Blessed Minds: Breaking the Silence about Neurodiversity, shares what inspired her to write the book, what she hopes readers will learn from the book, and what Appalachian site is on her bucket list.

What inspired your book? My book was inspired by my desire to help the church grow in our understanding of how we all belong as part of God’s beloved community. I was inspired by a vision to expand the definition of who is made in God’s image to include folks in the neurodiversity community.

Do you have a moment when you realized “this needs to be a book?”

Visiting Princeton Theological Seminary as a guest lecturer, I was walking into town for lunch with the professor. I asked him, “So what’s new that you are hearing from your students?” He told me that many of his students are self-identifying as neurodivergent. At the time, I was not very familiar with neurodiversity and I knew that folks in the church wouldn’t know either. I thought “this needs to be a book” when I began to be curious about a book for the church about neurodiversity.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book? I hope readers will take away from Blessed Minds a sense of hope, joy, and true celebration about the beauty of God’s diverse creation reflected in the human mind. I hope this sense of celebration of diversity will encourage and inspire readers to be more compassionate with themselves and one another.

What is the most inspiring feedback you've received from a reader so far? I love that early readers say that Blessed Minds is enjoyable to read!

What’s one of your favorite passages from the book? I loved writing the Neurodiversity Parables

What are you most passionate about right now? I’m passionate about creating opportunities for connection, conversations, and compassion about how we understand ourselves and our relationships to God and one another.      

What are you reading now – for work, for fun, for personal growth? I’m reading Wicked because I love the musical production and the movie. I’m also reading my friend’s new book, Reading Secrets: A Queer Inheritance of Life & Scripture.

What’s something you’d like to do that you haven’t done yet? Visit Dollywood!