Politics – katyandtheword

Another Psalm

I am tired
of starving children in wars
That we can help
in cutting aid
in efficiencies that cost
humanity

I am angry
at blatant misuse
abuses
of power
lies and misleadings
with little follow up
or repercussions
finger wagging
and learning from these
politicians for what

I am bitter from
throwing people
under the bus
the Trans
the Disabled
the Women
the Poor

I am working
to
do what I can
when I can
To remember
that it all counts

Probably not
int he ways I want
Or can see

Dang it

If God
could move
Things
in percievable
concrete
and faster
ways
we would
Appreciate it
quick

And quicker
If you please
Our minds
and hearts
and souls
are fainting for it

So we wait
Impatiently

Together

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Screw This

Screw this
Screw this Reality
Screw this Bill
Screw Money
Screw Whiteness
Screw Racism

Screw Millionaires
Special Interests
Backroom Bills
And the ones we can see too

Screw working together with Those who hate the weak
While the hungry cry out
the people are being kidnapped
Your grandparents don’t know how they are going to get medical care
Disabilities, Queerness, and our Black and Brown siblings are hated
with the full force of the law

Screw that

Screw our children being afraid of
Everything
Screw the hard questions about the world they are coming into
Screw the rolling back of Environmental justice

Screw redefining words so that everything becomes “too political”

Screw Praying when we
should be Arguing
Walking
Fighting
Voting
And Protecting Each Other

And Screw this Economy that doesn’t
Give us time to breathe
Much less Care

Screw Everything
And Screw Up my face
With the tears
That run down It
As I don’t
Have the right Words
Or
Actions
Or Things to Do
And all I have
Is the Gut reaction
Of Screw Everything
And I empty Myself
Full on Confessional to
God

Saying Screw it

And I figure
God knows
And is probably
saying the same thing
With me

Screw Injustice
And Hopelessness
And “Good Enough”
This isn’t gonna Cut it
Anymore

Screw it
Until we Screw Together
Something else
I don’t even know What
But somehow
Screw it
Is a prayer

Holy Spirit Come
Help us to say
Screw it
To all we need to let go of
Then help us to
Unscrew all the Loose Screws

(And then
Maybe
Find us the tools we need
To start the work again)

But right now
Screw it

Feel free to share/adapt/Use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Praying for Each Other

God
I know
That you said
Pray for our enemies

And I know
that you know
That you meant
When it’s confusing
And you can’t tell who
your enemy is

Pray for them

When the nuance is lost
and you fear for your children
and their children
and all the children (again, and again)
Pray

And I know
that you know
That you meant
The kind of Prayer that Meant
Cry
Sigh
Rest

And then get
Back to
Doing all you can
to be a Peacemaker

Whether that is
Vote
Call
Protest
Talk to People
Humanize

Because Sweet
Beautiful
Dusty
Footed Jesus
Who
Walked the Walk
I know
That you Know

That Prayer
Is the conversation
That we have

with ourselves
others
and you

To remind one another
That
we are
all human
In the end

So here I am
Praying
for
Peace

Praying
For my enemy
Because what is
an enemy
in this
World where
Everyone (pretty much)
Wants the same things

But someone
We all think
The ways to them
are opposite

And God
If you can help us
Stop
All the bombs
Everywhere

Please
I would be Grateful

Praying
In the Name of
The Prince of
Peace
Amen

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Thy Kin-Dom Come

I don’t want to live
in a world
Where we live out
imprisoning
and killing
immigrants
innocent
and guilty
side by side
Why they cry out
for water

I don’t want to live
in a world
where
the loneliness
of those in power
manifests
in intimidation
betrayal
and
empty promises

I don’t
want the Palm Sundays
of Protest
to End in the
Fridays
of Violence
where
we think

Sacrifice is
the only answer

I don’t
Want us
to Cry out
“my
God
MY GOD
why…

Why have
You abandoned
Me?”
Feeling the
Hell of
Divine
absence

I don’t
want to
live out
empty
Saturdays
Of Mourning
Where there
is absolutely
no right
word of
comfort to Say

But I do
Want
the resurrection
of community
Where
White people
Learn
Listening
and Community
And Solidarity
for Real this time

I do want the
Apostle-ship
Of the Women
To be
whispered

At Dawn
And for the
Empires
To topple
at the truth

And I do
want the
Church
To be
Alive
and well

Not in pews
Or choirs
But in

Shared Meals
and understandings
Beyond denominations
And accountability
Liberation
And Mission
in the Neighborhood and Beyond

I want to
meet Jesus
And God
in the gardens
And for
the Divine to remind us
That all the
Seeds that we are
Planting Count

(Even the ones that don’t bloom)
And that
God is tending
some to produce
Resurrection
Harvests
Beyond
All Imaginings

And I
Want to
Remember

That Chuffing
Off
the Offal
Is Ok
And that
Jesus
will Rise
Again

And he
Will Kneel
in the Garden
To Plant
And so
Of course

We will kneel
Next to him

In solidarity

And so
With
the Holy Spirit
Whispering
Encouragement
In My
Heart
I walk
Towards
a Kin-Dom
Now.

Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

Psalm 41:1-3

God
We are calling down
Your protection

Because
I see the face
of terrified
College students
of Brown People with
Tattoos

Echoing
Those of
Separated
Families
at the border

I am still haunted
by a picture of
their jewelry
and crosses
piled like
Jewish
loot
during
the Holocaust

And the Fragile
Gaza
peace
has been broken

and so I pray
Protection
For the families

And for the Soldiers
in Yemen
And around the world

As OPSEC is said
but not Enacted

Though truly
My heart
Longs for Peace
I pray for a language
beyond bombs
and threats
and bullying

and even tariffs

Staunch Pacifist that I am

As the budget for food
and Veterans are cuts
but the Military remains
bloats
Military Industrial Complex
Indeed Lord, I cry

And God,
I cry out for all of those
with Cancer
longing for Treatment
whose funding was cut
The researchers
who have been sustained
I know that God
You work to sustain
All those with infirmities
I pray that you will work
To heal all infirmities

Open the ears and hearts
of those who need to
understand
Melt those with
hearts and brains of stone

Melt them
Reverse their Decisions
Transform things so Completely
That we do not even Recognize things

For God you know
When we pray for Health
We are praying for a healthy
World–
Not for just ourselves
But for me, my neighbor, my enemy
to all be transformed into
(almost unrecognizable) signs of mercy
Signs of the Kin(g)dom
And so I pray
For a Forgiveness of Debts
That I cannot comprehend

For Food for all people
In a Dailyness of Bread

For the coming of your Glory
Which of course will be in Mercy

And for
Your Kin(g)dom Come
Your Will Be done
Amen,
Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Psalm 41:1-3

¹ Happy are those who consider the poor;^* (marginal/oppressed)
   the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
² The Lord protects(guards them/covenants with them) them and keeps them alive;(like a. shepherd guards a sheep, like a sacred duty, like a hedge of protection)
   they are called happy in the land. (It will be a gifting, a granting)
   You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.
³ The Lord sustains them on their sickbed; (a sustain, supporting, comforting, stability and continuity))
   in their illness you heal all their infirmities.^* (Healed and transformed, reversed, turn over a new leaf) The grace and mercy of God will be through compassion.

Peace and Sanctuary: Psalm 122

I admit
I was relieved
When someone said
Let’s go
to a sanctuary
Come
Let us God
And Seek God

For I need to rest
my weary
soles
soul
something
somewhere

And my house
is way too messy

And before I knew it
My soles
soul
were standing at your gates

And we were knocking on heavens door
And I realized

that God’s Kin-dom
is unlike any other

Binding together people
who I had never seen
or known

And my heart leapt
To my throat
and I wanted
to scream
cry
and lay down
and rest
and never get up again
For here is a place
where everyone
would come up
and be welcomed

There are no locks
in heaven

and as I put my hand
On your door
my soles
felt the ground
itself
welcome me
And gratitude
Spilled from my lips
Unbeckoned

And Judgement Came
And it sounded like this
“Peace will radiate from you,
It will be part and parcel
of your homes, your walls,
your cities

It is promised
Even in our messy
houses
cities
churches
governances
countries
and streets

And that peace
will hum from our throats
And we will sing
greet
and radiate to one another
“Peace be within you”

And so
We will go
And seek
Good and Sanctuary

For the sake
of this
needed
Sanctuary
That my soul
and the itchy
Soles of my feet
ache for
I will
keep seeking it

And catch moments
of respite, whenever I can

Because God knows
We need it.

Image

Iconic Black Lives Matter DC Mural Is ...

Tears roll down the face of Starlette Thomas, of Bowie, Md., as she holds a chunk of pavement from the Black Lives Matter mural, Monday, March 10, 2025, as the mural begins to be demolished in Washington. “I needed to be here to bear witness,” says Thomas, who was present at the 2020 George Floyd protests. “For me the Black Lives Matter sign etched in stone was a declaration of somebodyness and to watch it be undone in this way was very hurtful. To walk away with a piece of that, it means it’s not gone. It’s more than brick and mortar.” (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Image

Nebulous Prayers

And this morning God
All I can think about
is the passage

What forbids me from being baptized Philip?
asks the Ethiopian Eunuch
and I’m sure
Philip thinks
of all of the ramifications
that this person
is of nebulous rank
nebulous gender*
nebulous status
from another country

what authority does Philip have?
But Philip was sent by an angel
to say yes

And I feel like Philip
running alongside chariots
not knowing
what authority
we have

We are in a nebulous
time

knowing things are in flux
being asked hard questions

and I hope
we say
yes
as often
as we can

Because God knows
God is not preventing us
from loving
and including
each other

God’s yes
is strong
even when
we don’t know

And it’s ok
not to know

I don’t know God
that’s my prayer
I just don’t know
Amen

Feel Free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

*Though to be clear that individual, the Ethiopian Eunuch, may have known exactly who they were and what their gender status was, the LBTQIA breadth and depth is beautiful in all of it’s multiplicities

Throw Jesus Off the Cliff

Some days
God
I feel like
we are throwing
Jesus
off a cliff

I feel like
we hear the words of prophecy
that say
Make things easier
help those in need

It is amongst the cacophony
of “Masculinity” “Capitalism”
and “Christian Nationalism”

Do you hear it under the cries for
Nazareth First?

Jesus says: I am here for the immigrant widow,
the strangers,
the broken,
the disabled,
the weird,
the LGBTQIA,
and the strange

I feel like
when we hear the echo
of Jesus’s voice
Calling us
to do the hard work
of the gospel

that when Jesus walks with us
and says
you are correct
Christianity
is not
about success

We have to sit down
and say
what is life about then

and many people
throw Christianity
leadership
Jesus
or whatever out

Why do we do this worship
thing
If it isn’t about that anyway?

Sometimes I want to put out posters
Come to church
We do brokenness
really well

Come to worship
We are bad at community

Join us Sunday
We have had to practice
for 2,000 years and are
still getting power dynamics
wrong

Put your faith not in
princes
power
and principalities

But the dandelion
still bloomed
A perfect
Weed
spreading
Wishies
for children
to blow
in the yard

I treasure God
calling me
a dandelion
full of
seeds
and
Wishes

Image: A child, in a red coat, you happily cannot tell their gender, drawing butterfly and heart) out of a giant dandelion (like making a wish). Image sourced from https://img.freepik.com/premium-photo/child-blowing-dandelion-with-heart-star-sketch_587981-17165.jpg

Practice focusing on God
practice community
practice honesty
exercise everyday–not
because you will win any races
But because walking together
is the journey

And some days
I too want to throw Jesus off the cliff
Because it’s clear
I still don’t get it

And then Jesus floats back
and hugs me
Because
it never was about
perfection
in the first place

But the moments of
beauty
community
laughter
still count

Thank God
for that

Amen

Feel free to use/share Adapt with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka KatyandtheWord

Childhood, a Prayer

God there are so many
worries I have in
the world

But then I remember
that Ozma**
was restored
to rule
and got
her happy ending
and became a girl***
without any fuss at all

And that stories of
Defying Gravity
for
Different
Divergent
Witches
In not Pink Skins
are inspiring
Songs everywhere

and that Glinda too
realized
she needed a castle
with women

I remember that
Banksy is creating
and recreating
for Peace

I read all the
Science Fiction
and Fantasy
about acceptance

I remember
that people are
upset about
Woke
things
Because they
sell so well

And I take a deep breath
And sing
the Magnificat
Again

With Mary
As
We Advent
(Wait, Long, etc.)
again
for Jesus

*Footnote: Link above Mary Poppins Spoonful of sugar was inspired by the oral Polio vaccine which was given with a square of sugar to help the medicine go down. I am very worried about the discrediting of vaccines in this day of age. I am also worried because I have a child with autism, and although vaccines do not cause autism, time and time again people have insisted they basically would rather risk death then have a child with autism. It is a sobering thought.

**Footnote: Read Ozma of Oz, it is one of the first happy endings for LGBTQIA. Also L. Frank Baum wrote many, many women based upon his feminist mother-in-law, some of them funny, some of them strong, all of them amazing. There is a lot of variation in Oz, because it is fantasy. It is amazing, per usual. Wicked also has LGBTQIA acceptance obliquely within it, however L. Frank Baum’s stories are wide open for interpretation as most fantastic stories are.

***Footnote: “became a girl” is not quite right but it’s fantasy and this is poetry I don’t want to ruin for you…so excuse my clumsy wording for the gist of the mystery of the book that you will now have to read.

Prayer for when you don’t know what you Need*

God,
I don’t know what I need
I don’t know what we need
The world
is not as it should be

My soul hurts
I am hurt
scared

overwhelmed with emotions
and I don’t know what I need

Because
there is no way
to fix this

Trust has been
broken
again

More
has been
uncovered
apocalyptically

And at this moment
the work
seems to be
too much

And so
I make time
to hug by beloveds

To
Breathe In: I Exist
Breathe Out: That is enough

To remind myself
That the very existence
of difference
joy
grace
love
solidarity
Is an act of resistance

So definitely,
today
That is enough
Breathe in: I exist
Breathe out: That is enough

Tomorrow
or Sometime Soon
I will build more community
Maybe figure out more
what it is
we need
Today
I will breathe

I exist
That is enough

Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

*With thanks to Rev. Tawnya Denise Anderson who first posted these words