Sometimes
Miracles
Are friends
Sharing
Pics
Of
Things
Seen
Through
In other
Parts of the world
And you
Feel like
The world
is full of
Magic
Cameras
The Aurora Borealis
Colors of miracles
And sometimes
Miracles
Are
Your
Friends
Checking
On you
After the
Storm
$20 given
Without tracking
A new hobby
That has no
Meaning
Just beauty
Or even
The moments
To collect yourself
I believe in
All the
Real
Miracles
In life
Category: Uncategorized
Prayer in the Aftermath
God
it is devastating
we are all in shock
the roads
simply washed away
the houses
gone
We pray for the people
the communities
towns
all struck
by a hurricane
some the 3rd in a year
a year’s worth of rain
in a day or two
This kind of change causes us
to use words like
resilient
rebuild
tough
But meanwhile
our souls ache
Because nothing
makes sense
And it’s hard to
take in
Is that why
it is called
after-math
Because
nothing adds up
anymore?
God help us to
walk as slowly
as we need to
to remember
to be
community
with
one another
and to invest
in the long term
God help us
For we feel helpless
and alone
Help us to find
each other
To build
into
each
other
Help us to find
ways to attend
to building
safely
to being
energy efficient
and all the things
But most of all
Help us to be
A community
that
cares
for one another
So that
we do not have
to be
so exhausted
Or feel
alone
When
we do
these hard things
we pray.
Amen
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord’
No laws, Only Grace
No laws
Only grace
Some days
I remember
This is how I live
Through a Savior
Who proclaimed
All laws fulfilled
So we wouldn’t
Be able
To Lord rules
Over
Each other
Anymore
Because
That
Ain’t the
Point
Of faith
Anyway
No rules
Only grace
Holy Spirit
Holy
Comforter
Sit with us
We
Pray.
Amen
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Liberation, a prayer
God,
We keep hoping
Let freedom ring
Means our definition of freedom
But we know that your promise of forgiveness
liberation
and justice
is somehow all the same thing–
that in Greek somehow: it is all contained in one word
Gracious God
you gift us
with our authentic selves
reminding us that in the midst of the Kin-dom work
the freeing of captives
the feeding of the hungry
the clothing the naked
Remind us that we are beloved
and that you are present
the work is not ours alone–
you are planting seeds
and tending gardens
and we are not alone
So as we hear bells
and wonder if we should flinch
at the fireworks
Remind us that you promise a liberation
that is not of our hands
but is instead, full of grace
it is the wedding celebration of the overflowing cup
the feast of the prodigal child and coin
it is the finding of a home, where there is a room for each and every one of us
And we are made welcome
out of grace, and true liberation
forgiveness and justice
Thank you God for
the chance to rest in your liberation
instead of our freedom–
Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy aka “KatyandtheWord”
More like guidelines
You have heard it said posting the law is the answer
But Truly I say to you the law has been fulfilled so that you are redeemed by grace, overflowing and freely given—And that grace is better than the law.
The code is more like “guidelines” than actual rules
By Pastor Katy Stenta “Katyandtheword”
Juneteenth
The sea
Was
A refuge
A prayer
A different kind of
of liberation
I think about
How
Bones
And shells
The same
And I keep
Hoping
One day
Liberation
Will taste
More like
The freedom
Of the sea
And less like
The salt
Of blood
The Bible is Queer
The Bible is Queer
God I remember–when you came out of the closet–
Flaming!
And Moses, said, What are your Pronouns?
And God says, I am what I am
And Moses says,
Cool, I gotch-you, You’re the God of Pronouns!
And, God says, Good, because I have a feeling,
This will get more complicated!
And then People were doing Violence to one another
So God turned the World On and then Off again
And sent the animals two by two Upon a boat
And hung up God’s weapon, a Bow (that’s an old school gun)
And said, I’m hanging up my weapon, so you will hang up yours
As a sign that Love is Love is Love is Love
And Noah said Cool
And God said, Cool, Because I have a Feeling this might get misconstrued someday
God I remember when Joseph
Draped themselves in a Lady’s Coat
And their bros made fun of them
And tried to feed them to the Lions
And God said, Nope, I claim the Queer One
And then we “retranslated” it as a Rainbow coat, so no one will understand them as Queer
(And you laughed again God, didn’t you? You mysterious and all knowing I Am)
And then Joseph said what you meant for Evil, God meant for Good
No one can take away my God, And God said mmm-mmmmm
And I remember Isaiah, where the prophet saw God,
And clearly identified God as multiples, and referred to God as them
And scholars thought up a new word Trinity–
And we ignored the singular/multiple thing–and God waited, patiently as only God can, for it to dawn upon us.
And then there was when Ruth declared her love and devotion for Naomi
And said where you go I will go, your people will be my people, your God will be my God
And God laughed and said, this will be the foundation text for weddings
This found-family declaration between two women, shh! Don’t tell the Conservatives.
And then came Jesus who instructed us, “Care for the Least of these”
and “Let no one revile you in my name” and “Welcome the Stranger”
And we nodded along like we knew what he meant
and then we disciples whispered among ourselves about exceptions
And God, God you knew
You knew. You knew before we knew
You know, the Bible is so Queer;
It would not even be the Bible, if it did not include rainbows and flames
It would not be Holy without found families
and radical, unconventional love
God only knows, that it is not us who gets to say who belongs to God;
it is but our job to practice welcome and hospitality
Someday, perhaps
we will get the laughter of angels right
Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Prayer for June
God who fills the world with good things
I am praying for rainbows of peace
As the school year draws to a close
And weary children struggle to make it
And Pride month starts with celebration, “rememories” (as my youngest calls them), and reminders that you are fiercely and beautifully made
I feel all if these emotions that smell like fresh cut lawns, sound like sudden hot thunderstorms, and nuzzle like my kitten at the end of a way over scheduled spring-to-summer season
God sometimes you know that pursing justice and sorting the laundry sometimes feel like that same thing
Mundane
Overwhelming
Vital
And yet
I think of how you continue to promise to fill the world with good things
Tuck a dandelion behind my ear as a symbol of hopeful weeds
And turn my worries into prayers once again
Feel free to use Share Adapt with credit to pastor Katy Stent “Katyandtheword”
Image from https://www.mainegardens.org/blog/for-the-love-of-dandelion/ Two dandelions growing, bright yellow with some blades of grass bright green against a cheerful dark background
Splash
There is no way
the God of the rainbows
invented
some convoluted umbrella system
God didn’t you promise
that authority would be about love
and servanthood
and the washing of feet?
To me that sounds like
the opposite
of Umbrellas
Did not our Savior
say they were the Water of Life?
Everflowing
Splashing every which way
Getting everyone wet?
What is to prevent me from being baptized
Asks the Eunuch
Philip, Peter
Looks to me like
authority
and umbrellas
are being snatched back
from people’s hands
left and right
Screw umbrellas
authority
human lines drawn in the sand
Splash
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
God
katyandtheword 