Category: Uncategorized

Focus on the (Chosen) Family

Queer folk long ago developed the idea of “chosen family”: the idea, that is, that the people who are your actual family are the ones who behave like it, supporting you, loving you, bearing you up, holding you accountable when you need it, whether or not those folks are your biological relations.

bcubbage's avatarThought Required; Pants Optional.

3867480044_fd23456933_oPhoto Credit: Valeri-DBF via Compfightcc

This post is my contribution to QueerTheology.com’sQueer Synchroblog 2013. This year’s theme is “Queer Creation.” Links to all of the other excellent entries are at the bottom of this post. After reading mine, go forth and read more!

In order to get to what the theme “queer creation” evokes in my mind, I need to discuss a point of view about as far removed from my own as I can imagine: the views of extremely conservative and patriarchal evangelical Christianity.

My interest in those views came into clearer focus a few days ago, when I read Kathryn Joyce’s Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement. It is a compelling but sobering read. In it, Joyce sketches out a portrait of possibly the most theologically and socially conservative Christians in the United States. The organizing commitment that unites the various groups in this wing…

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Everyday Faith

Everyday Faith

“Faith, as Jesus describes it, is just doing your job, just doing your duty, not because of any sense of reward but simply because it needs doing. Faith, in other words, is doing what needs to be done right in front of you and this, Jesus says, the disciples can already do. Folks who feel daunted by discipleship need to hear that sometimes faith can be pretty ordinary. That’s what Jesus means, I think, by saying that if they had the faith even of a mustard seed, they could uproot and move a mulberry tree — that it really doesn’t take all that much faith to be, well, faithful.”

“Faith, Working Preacher, isn’t an idea, it’s a muscle. And the more we use that muscle, the stronger it gets.”

Prayer of Confe…

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we forget to pray prayers of thanksgiving. Too often we let the worries and complaints overwhelm us. Forgive us, God. Set us free from the sin that tries to hamper our steps. Help us to pray instead of worry, to praise instead of grumble. Put in our mouths a song of your glory. Let it be as merry as the day is long, so that we might know hope, peace and life eternal. (Silent Prayer)…Amen

The Eastern Orthodox Church holds a non-juridical view of sin, by contrast to the satisfaction view of atonement for sin as articulated in the West, firstly by Anselm of Canterbury (as debt of honor) and Thomas Aquinas (as a moral debt).] The terms used in the East are less legalistic (grace, punishment), and more medical (sickness, healing) with less exacting precision. Sin, therefore, does not carry with it the guilt for breaking a rule, but rather the impetus to become something more than what men usually are. One repents not because one is or isn’t virtuous, but because human nature can change. Repentance (Ancient Greek:μετάνοια, metanoia, “changing one’s mind”) isn’t remorse, justification, or punishment, but a continual enactment of one’s freedom, deriving from renewed choice and leading to restoration (the return to man’soriginal state).[29] This is reflected in the Mystery of Confession for which, not being limited to a mere confession of sins and presupposing recommendations or penalties, it is primarily that the priest acts in his capacity of spiritual father.[21][30] The Mystery of Confession is linked to the spiritual development of the individual, and relates to the practice of choosing an elder to trust as his or her spiritual guide, turning to him for advice on the personal spiritual development, confessing sins, and asking advice.

Confession is a statement of who you are, where you are and the striving to go beyond that! It is a statement comprised of self knowledge and belief: seeking the deeper actions of  understanding and faith.

WHAT EVERYONE VALUES ABOUT CHURCH

WHAT EVERYONE VALUES ABOUT CHURCH

 

Kirk Winslow gives us the result of an in-depth discussion about the reality of church: The results are about as unscientific as they come.  No controls, small numbers, located almost entirely in southern California.  But some common threads have emerged very clearly, threads that resound with our understanding of the mission of the church and our particular sense of call. 

Robin McKinley: Adventures in Street Pastoring

Robin McKinley: Adventures in Street Pastoring

“Whose idea was this frelling Street Pastors deal?  Oh.  Yeah.  God’s.  I guess I have to put up with it then.”

Philosophy, Science and Religion

Philosophy, Science and Religion

Some of this article was hard for me to follow….but….

this part about faith reminded me of some faith and belief musings I’ve been praying about

“faith is a special gift from God, not part of our ordinary epistemic equipment. Faith is a source of belief, a source that goes beyond the faculties included in reason.”

Namely that Faith is a gift of God experience by a group of people, who hold diverse and intricate levels and kinds of beliefs…

although I don’t know if faith/doubt and belief are as black and white as this article portrays (but hey that’s philosophy)

I also appreciated:

“Christians, says Plantinga, can “take modern science to be a magnificent display of the image of God in us human beings.” Can naturalists say anything to match this, or must they regard it as an unexplained mystery?”

Its hard for me to believe we are “accidentally” alive!

Epic Fantasy @kateElliotSFF

Epic Fantasy @kateElliotSFF

A good definition of epic fantasy and why it doesn’t have to be sexist (I agree with the Kate Elliot note, who is my current favorite high fantasy)

“epic fantasy is also high fantasy and allows the author to write stories that operate at the mythic and legendary level of storytelling, in the same way as the epic sagas such as theIliad and Parsifal, for example;

also a good definition of Why I don’t like high fantasy most of the time: sexism with little character development is NOT my favorite, but as the article says, neither of these are necessary for epic fantasy to take place!!

 

Millennial Preacher

“With the Bible in one hand, and Facebook in the other”

My sermon writing involves

reading scripture

praying

facebook

reading commentary

rereading scripture

online news articles

blogging

Outlining sermon

catching up on twitter, tumblr, etc

reading all of my favorite people’s posts (I have a great gay rights friend, an awesome scholarly pastoral friend and couple of fantasy Geeks)..to feel “up” on the world

renegotiating my sermon

thinking about illustrations

In the morning I

pray

read scipture

read outline

edit my outline (which usually means completely reordering and changing everything)

listening to conversations of congregants

holding in my heart the status of the church

realizing how the hymns/prayers add nuance to my sermon and trying to jot them in

Preaching and trying to stay focused

Leading Prayer, Praise and Worship, Blessing and Benedicting

Talking more to people 🙂

Going home and collapsing…

It is the most artistic, emotionally engaging and wonderful hour(ish) of my week.

Followed by a nap