@Kim@tech.lgbt in Norway, ‘up and not crying is a not uncommon response to “how’s it going” type questions, and I fell like that’s a very reasonable standard to hold oneself to especially nowadays
I have experienced so many longest nights… the scary longest night of childhood– too scared to cry out for help in the dark too scared not to The sheer powerlessness of not knowing what to do
The longest night of giving birth the pain, the trying to breath, trying to talk everyone trying to help, feeling like no one is trying to help I’ve not been Mary, but Good God the pressure I have experienced that longest night
I have experienced the length of ten millions hours Of the bedside wait for a beloved one to die imminent, and yet too long the wondering if staying is the best thing to do or not, the talking without response– the simultaneous hope that they know you are present but that they don’t, because then they aren’t feeling any pain
I know the powerlessness of longest night moments of parenthood Of sitting on the couch laughing so you don’t cry Because you don’t know what to do next, as your child is anguished and alone– And you Cry right in front of them “I am here” As they are crying about how alone they feel
I have felt the chilliness of the Longest Night of being alone– how cold it feels to have no friends what it means to be laughed at every time you speak shunned, and ostracized The awkwardness of being your neurodivergent self And realizing there is no other way to be
And then again during the isolation of Covid where we all, kept each other safe briefly
Before all the wars resumed
I have not experienced every longest night, but I have had to pick what bill not to pay I have stand in the grocery line with WIC Praying that all of my credit cards do not bounce I have had long payment plans with the IRS, And preached to help the poor knowing that I am actually being self-referential
When I think of the Darkest night of the Soul and Jesus, with his guts spilled out on the cross I feel like I understand a little more when I had to relearn how to walk how to eat how to defecate after surgery–and feel the worst pain ever to recover (And it makes me wonder about If Jesus walked to Emmaus because he had to relearn it, And if he didn’t eat, because he couldn’t yet)
The longer I live The more I understand the Longest Nights and I think, we need time to sit in silence grief loneliness charity
with one another Because humans experience Longest nights And I believe God sits with us and cradles us and sings us lullabies until the dawn arrives again.
Happy Solstice The Shortest Day of the Longest Fucking Year of Our Lives
Please feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
“Infant so tender and mild” implies the existence of a chewy and spicy baby
The existence of rhyme schemes must make God giggle sometimes
Of course newborn babes are mild
They cannot even lift their own heads with their wee little necks… It doesn’t mean
That they are not mighty with their lungs and that you as a parent Do no jump every time they snort or sniffle In a weird way to check and make certain they are still alive.
I also want to point out God That mild Is a word that is conspicuously absent in the Bible
No one
absolutely no one is described as mild in the Nativity texts it is just a word that describes all newborns
And is probably the opposite of who Mary* is Please note every time someone asks about Mary’s mildness I want to yell out it is because it rhymes with CHILD that is why Mary is described as mild.”
Why do we think Mary was meek and mild? She agreed to bear a child out of wedlock in defiance of her culture. She sang a song of liberation and freedom for the oppressed and unjustly treated. She made a rough journey to Bethlehem when heavily pregnant and another to Egypt with an infant (note evidence says it was probably a pre-schooler which may have been WORSE). She was a revolutionary, a fitting mother for her rebel son.
I am comforted in a season where I do not feel mild that this mildness is nothing more than a myth.
@KaitlynSchiess Every Discussion of “Biblical Womanhood” should include the fact that in Luke 1, two pregnant woman celebrate their new motherhood by passionately discussing the coming overthrow of every earthly empire
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Support my Work! I am EVEN NOW writing my Dissertation in Creative Writing as a Public Theologian and VERY close to my goal to graduate this year! Every contribution helps no matter how big or small! https://gofund.me/554d36e3
Dr. Wil Gafney “Christmas is not Canceled. Festive Christmas celebration and public displays are. But the Feast of the Incarnation will continue to be observed. There will be church services for the local residents. Tourism is strongly discouraged.” Layla Darwish: Most average Americans doesn’t even know Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem.
Christ Incarnates Christ always comes that is the promise
That is what I said when I took my ordination question I said that I believe that Christ will come and every knee shall bow
And someone stood and asked me How?
Aren’t you worried about Universalism (Worried that Jesus might save everyone?? HA!)
And I said I don’t know It is not my job to understand it
Just to believe it and to declare the good news
That even in the midst of war and rubble and horrific devastation where humans dehumanize one another Christ will keep his promise
I believe that somehow Christ is still with us and will be incarnate for everyone
Because the Bible says Good News for All People All people will stream Every Knee shall bow
I did not see any asterisks or footnotes
I did not see any guns or calls for coercion or force
Last I saw Jesus said to kneel to one another And wash each other’s feet
(I have suspicions about this is why we will be kneeling to be besides the Christ who is already kneeling to serve us)
But right now I am just hanging on to the faith that Jesus is here And Coming
Because it’s not my job to bring Jesus
Or to bring anyone to him God has already done all of that work
Jesus is coming Hear the Good News Alleluia, Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
We made gingerbread men cookies They were imperfect each one different they bent and slanted from handling– in or out of the oven, But when we laid them out to cool
I thought “they look so beautiful, like they are dancing”
Perspective I amazing isn’t it? I wonder what our beauty to God, looks like.
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@LauraKConnell “The traumatized brain is not open to exploration and wonder. It is imprisoned by black and white thinking, the need for certainty, and a desire to get things over with.
Good God, who whispers comfort in the midst of the chaos–
Holy Spirit, who inspires art not for any capitalistic gain but because humans need to co-create with God
Jesus, Sweet, baby Jesus who came in the form of a baby
I am reminded of all the ways you invite us to wonder
You are the God who compares us to the stars
You are the Holy Spirit who is the wild goose, heavenly dove squawking pigeon
You are the Savior who almost always answered a question with a question
And told stories mysterious stories to unfold in our heart differently according to our experiences
You are the God of openings trying to clear the way to tell us that it is ok to heal our traumas first
to let go of our black and white and the permission to sit wait and linger without fear
to look into the eyes of a baby Savior
and wonder…
Jesus comes to save us from our trauma so we can wonder once again– this is why prescribed beliefs is against my religion
Thank sweet wonder-full baby Jesus Amen
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta, Trauma quote from Laura K.Connell
Longest Night Prayer Jesus, Sweet Baby Jesus Born in the midst of a collapsing empire Hidden in plain sight from everything and everyone official
When different factions of the religion were all claiming to be the “truer” one Each saying if you don’t worship our way You don’t belong to God.
You were born when a Messiah Seemed to be around every corner Lamps were left on at night and demagogues and dynamic cult leaders Were followed at whim, because people needed hope
And the gulf between who was poor and who was rich The distinction between who was citizen and who was not The taste in one’s mouth when people called one another Foreigner, Outsider, or Different was sour and full of hate
Violence was everywhere Children, the Poor, The Elderly, The Lonely, the Sex Worker were Ignored or Forgotten Laws were passed against anyone deemed Unclean in any way (oh my Queer siblings!)
Jesus Christ, you were born in a time When no one was receiving proper healthcare So people banged down your door for a bit of healing
And my heart aches With the familiarity, you could be born today Is this why you have to be born into today’s world? Have we forgotten why we need you?
Sometimes I wonder if you haven’t returned Because we haven’t learned enough? Heretic thought I know But I sit in the hate and terror and worry Jesus
Jesus Christ, we need you. A baby A sneak king full of healing and mischevious teachings of Grace Jesus we need someone who will sit in the dirt with the marginal and embody the Peace so much that we will sit in the dirt with you.
Sweet baby Jesus, though I know we picture angels, shepherds, & magi I think that a baby born in the war-torn dark might be the truth Help us to sit with that, in the shortest day and longest night I pray.
Amen.
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I like to think about How Jesus was all about the in-betweens
Because Jesus got that some days You wanted to be in the the middle of the racous noise
And others the stillness is what feeds your soul
I remember the moment in the pandemic when all the introverts needed people And I know there are many times When I, and extrovert, was surrounded by my family’s devices, and craved an empty house
The extremity can feel so holy can it not? Alone in a field looking at the stars? In the middle of a crowd, feeling lost in the humanity?
I love that all of this is blessed Yes, be loud! Yes be quiet!
Go, find your people! Go, be alone!
Is this not how God makes things holy? By blessing who we are what we need And how we do it?
Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Katy Stenta “Katyandtheword” tweet by Amy Colleen
Tweet by Amy Colleen @sweistwrites So many Christmas carols can be divided into two categories “Will You Be Quiet” and “Let’s Get Loud.”
“Shush! The Herald Angles Will Now Perform Muteness (x) Let All Mortal Flesh Please Can It If You Would Shut Your Pie Hold for 5 Seconds You would Hear What I Hear (2) The Loud Ones Virtuous Believers, Let Me Hear you Say Yay! Happiness to the Earth! Small Child Banging on Percussive Instrument. Hasten to the Hilltop and Give it To’em TRUMPETS! AND! LATIN! CHRIST THE LORD
Perhaps that’s why the Prince of Peace came…to show us this
Black angel with a brown hair in a bun bun holding a blue Peace banner, Brown (race unclear) angel with shoulder length black hair holding a gold Hope banner, Black angel with black hair in an Afro holding a blue love banner, white angel and with long curly blonde hair holding a blue Joy banner
katyandtheword 