Epiphany is about
inclusion
and Peace
Epiphany is stronger
Than insurrection
That was the point
Herods
So be frightened
Our path will continue to be
A different way
Lit by the Star of Peace
Your sneakiness and violent ways
Are no match for Our God
Thank Sweet Baby Jesus
Amen
God,
My. heart broke a little bit more
for the children in Iowa
fresh off their winter break
shattered by a gunman
who thought violence was the only answer
I thought it might be too numb
after a pandemic
after the attack/war in Ukraine
after the horrific genocide in Gaza*
After a kidnapping one campsite over
from where my same aged child
was at Boy Scout camp
after letting go of my church job
after a job let go of me
after numerous other shootings
I wondered if grief would start to taste
bitter
like too old coffee
or chocolate
on my tongue
But the salt of my tears
are refreshing
as they drip upon my arm
in an impossible angle
…………..
…………..
And the though comes
unbidden
that maybe
…………..
…………..
maybe
this time
there will be enough of us
tired of
violence
to be heard
as I weep
for the violence of the world
I think of Miriam,
mother of Moses
and the amazing midwives
who protected babies of another people
of the Wise Magi–crafty enough
to avoid Herod,
during the season of epiphany
I think about,
the bravery
of being vulnerable
and here I am…………..
waiting …………..
…………..
…………..
…………..
for our hearts
to break…………..
…………..
enough…………….
…………..
…………..
to change…………..
…………..
*Please note, my heart is also breaking for Israel, and the horrors done by Hamas and the way it rationalizes antisemitism and apocalyptic evangelism everywhere, this conflict is terrible, and it is really hard to talk bout the complexity of what is going on here. However, the US seems to be complicit in the particular aspect I am naming.
Feel free to use/adapt/change with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Opening Ourselves to the Work of God, A Prayer by Pastor Katy Stenta KatyandtheWord.com
(Please stand if you are able, if not you can do this prayer seated))
God thank you for bringing us here (Hands to heart)
Holy Spirit extend your presence across this space to our companions (stretch your hands in front of you as far as you can)
Jesus, spread your love and care that we are practicing here, to all of our neighbors and across the world (Open hands wide in an open armed gesture)
Bless us please, remind us that we are connected to all those saints who have come before us (Stretch your hands up as high as you can)
And help us to extend our work so that it touch those who come after us (Reach down as low as your can, then return upright)
Stretch us (Lean one direction)
Mold us (Lean the other direction()
And help us to become our true baptized selves in Jesus Christ (return to center)
In Jesus Christ we pray (Return hands to heart)
Amen
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
(Used in Sacredcalls.com Leadership Training Materials)
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Do you want to learn how to write prayers and liturgy? Psalms and Calls to Worship? Confessions and Personal Prayers? This Zoom Workshop is designed for all levels and experiences for people to engage in prayer writing–using the scripture as your guide.
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Who is ready for the next Liturgy Workshop?
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Katy Stenta is a regular contributor to Sermonsuite, RevGalBlogPals, and is published in Enfleshed, Presbyterian’s Today and Outlook. She received her undergraduate in English and History and Minor on Philosophy at Oberlin, her M. Div. and MA in Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is all but dissertation for her Doctorate in Creative Writing as a Public Theologian at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She also writes personal prayers regularly at katyandtheword.com.
God,
this is the time of year
to reflect
To think about all that has been
accomplished
or not
We human really like progress
but really hate change
How did you do that God?
Make us this way?
We want to be prefect, pefect
perfect
Whatever that means….
I am, as you know too well God
a recovering perfectionist
so full of goals
Give me a minute
and I can give you plans, dreams
ideas to fill a jar
But this year
when I got the Star Word* intention
I politely
declined
I am trying to fall into God
this time
I am trying to
wait
I am trying to
Sabbath
I am trying to do this thing
perhaps you have heard of it
Trust in God
It is not easy
I am more of the
goal-setting, work-hard-and-be-rewarded
early-bird-gets-the-worm
plan your way out of catastrophe person
But I am not a catastrophe
or a trophy
I am beautifully
and fiercely made
And perhaps
unfinished–and
that thought should not
be scary
but
comforting
God has more to do with
us
There is peace
to be made
Hunger for righteousness
to be fed
Help that needs
to be given
(and perhaps more scarily)
asked for
So here I go
into a new year–
reaching up
and out
full of prayer
and letting go
of intentions
Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
*Star Word is an Epiphany Practice to pull a word to help set an intention/focus for the upcoming year
2024
A year of erasers
Cloud watching
And Companionable silences
May your journey be light burdened
Your books be easy to read
And shows easy to watch
(Or easy to put down if they are not)
May you have permission to fail
To cry
To take comfort
I hope you have the good kind of phone calls
And comforting visits
And good boundaries
And may you taste something amazing
And feel at home in your body
And sit with beloved ones
I hope you feel enjoyment in something fun
May you be silly for no reason
And I hope that 2023 is not about what you do
But that you are able to be your full self
And be safe
And healthy
And in community
May you touch the new year
With a sense of who you are
And with a sense of wistfulness
Because we are worth who we are
Becoming
May your blessings increase in the New Year
God,
I am praying for a boring year
after
Wars on Terror
Great Recessions
Housing Collapse
A Pandemic
And those were only
the large scale events
I pray for an uneventful new year
with uninteresting times
and very precedented events
I pray for peace
in your personal life
your home
your town
and city
and country
I hope that thing seem corny
and maybe not normal (because what is that anyway)
but ordinary enough
that pieces of trust
can be built up again
I pray that this year does not feel like a bludgeon
but comes in like a lamb
and out like a lamb
I pray that there are moments of rest
spaces of sanctuary
places of healing
and times of rebuilding
I pray for a prededented year
full of laughter at jokes
you may have already heard
smiles with friends
you have time to see
and book and shows
you feel comfortable enough
to revisit, with glee
I pray for comfort
for safety in the known
for rituals that you love–
your favorite haunts
your tastiest meals
your places to just be
I hope you are able to
repeat yourself without fear
But most of all
I pray that you have
an uneventful
New Year
Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/Share with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
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God of Chronos
and Kairos
You know the calendar
the timetables
the budgets
the to do lists
and all the holy moments
the smiles
the blessings
the hellos
the goodbyes
the transitions
the deaths
the baptisms
the caretakings
the laughter
the hugs
the holy moments of silences
somehow you sneak kairos–God’s time
in the midst of the chronos–measurable time
As we enter into this practice of trying to talk about both
Grant us your Holy Spirit
so that we can savor that you work in both
Chronos and Kairos
And open our hearts and minds and spirits
to feel your presence
in all the kinds of time that exist
In the name of Jesus Christ–
who entered Chronos, so that we might experience Kairos better, we pray.
Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
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Black and White image of a Patridge perched in a pear tree found https://www.englishstamp.com/product/partridge-in-a-pear-tree/
You know God,
as my husband takes down the Christmas tree
Christmas eve
(quick before we get distracted)
and the relations make their way home
and the songs
and candlelight fades
that we need time
to sink into Christmas
because Christmas is a journey..
I say this not to tsk about
Advent vs Christmas vs Epiphany
But to think about deep rhythms
of the body, winter and the universe
And how we need a good couple of weeks
of Christmas-tide
to rest
think
and pondering
There is so much
journeying
and pondering at Christmas
not to mention comforting of one another
Yet we seem to burst onto the scene in joyfulness
and glory
and demand a quick wrap up with the wise ones
before we rush home
I wonder how wonderful it would be
if we gave
one another the time
of slow
and fruiting
Christmas
with a full couple of weeks of rest
(I thought this especially during Covid “Shutdown”
what if we emphasized a quiet holiday time home
protecting one another?)
How I long for a time of cozy recovery
built in to our culture
Tricia Hersey suggests we snatch
this kind of of rest
whenever we can
So I pray that you
steal some
cozy
restful
comfort
and
recovery
this
holiday-tide
And if you have
not
I hope that you build it in
As I imagine
Jesus
longing for Peace for all
as he lay
with his parents
snug
after all of the festivities
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
In some ways
Twiz*
feels more like
the real holiday
than Christmas
The anticipation
The worship
the candles
the gathering
The storytelling
the music
the meal
The almost
already
not quite
Twiz
the Night Before
Jesus is coming
has come
came
will come
is promising
has promised
prophesied
will prophesy
prophet
all wrapped up in
the moment of
Twiz
the magic
of what Is
and what can be
Merry Twiz
*Twiz: a Tongue and Cheek word to describe the Night before Christmas, instead of Twas, or tis, Twiz, Therefore Merry Twiz
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
katyandtheword 