#God & #Stars

Stars. Next time someone asked about the future of the church. I’m going to invite them to count the stars in the sky and remind them God is as big as the universe, Gods promise is as plentiful as the stars and that our grasp of such things is as difficult as counting the stars is….book rec is Madeline Lengles Wind in the Door for more info

#God is at #Starbucks

In my life, I am too busy…

I have always been a Martha, I don’t even want to be Mary.

But in the midst of the children screaming, the messiness of the house and the juggling of the schedules, God is there.

In my life, I am too busy…

I have always been a Martha, I don’t even want to be Mary.

But in the midst of the children screaming, the messiness of the house and the juggling of the schedules, God is there.

Just like Goodnight Moon, where each and every object is remembered and names, God keeps track of us, and loves us.

God is there in the mounds of paperwork, the long to do list and the phone that is ringing–in every worry that is a part of the church.

I know God is in these things, in the sunny walks to buy milk, where everything goes smoothly, in the car rides where everyone is yelling at each other for no reason. God is there.

But although God is there, the time I get to spend with God, is often not at worship where I’m trying to remember everyone in my prayers, or at home where we say our Amens or at the office where its a game of finish the most things. The moment I get to to spend with God is in the coffee shop–at the Barnes and Noble or the Starbucks, its when I go grocery shopping late at night, its when I get time to exercise.

And so I treasure the time I get to spend with God, taking comfort that God is always spending time with me.

#rejectedsermontitles Really Your Thoughts and #Prayers? That’s all you got?

Prayers are so much more than a comforting platitude

Context:

At the beginning of the week, and saw that the passage was about prayer. Thank God, because no matter what happens this week, I know that it will apply.

Then the African-American caretaker of an autistic man was shot……

I am the mother of an autistic child. Right now he is small and cute. When he flaps his hands giving “exclamatory hands” to excitement or frustration, its not very threatening, and if he does throw a tantrum he is still small enough that I can pick him up in a worse-case-scenario.

As the mother of an autistic child I can say, I don’t care who this police officer was aiming for, this was a terrible action.

So what am I supposed to do, pray?

What can others do for me and my son, pray for us?

Sermon:

Prayer is often used as a comforting action–but that is not its only purpose.

When you pray for someone, you are placing them in God’s hands. You are enacting love. You are opening yourself to be in relationship with them.

Whenever there is a harsh disagreement in the church congregation, session (board of leaders) or the Presbytery (our higher governing board). I will be the first to raise my hand and call for prayer.

And I’ll tell you what it is difficult to immediately stop and pray, the temptation is to continue arguing, the temptation is to prove that I am right, and that you should be listening to me!

This is exactly when prayer is needed, though, because you are trying to focus on God, to change your own individual perspective. Prayer is an act of Holy Imagination, where the world is viewed as the beginning of what God wants for us. God’s priorities and love are given voice and precedent over our own perspective. True prayer, opens oneself to actively love others, and that love is changing. That action is one in which we practice persistence to build a practice and discipline of prayer.

Time after time the most effective antidote to bigotry and prejudice is not education or knowledge. Its not about who is on the “right side of history.” Its having a relationship with someone who is different than you. Its knowing and loving a queer person or a person of color or one who is trans, female in leadership, or living in poverty.

Love is dangerous, because love changes your perspective.

Praying for someone is looking at them and loving them. Praying for another person an act of loving God, one where you recognize the other person as a child of God.

Just as Jesus looked at Martha, and then loved her, and then spoke to her last week.

So too are we called to love each other. Prayer is a discipline by which you practice seeing the world as God wants it to be, so we are more equipped and enabled to bring that world into being. Praying for one another is loving them through all the joys and hardships and struggling to find community with them, especially when we disagree.

Prayers are so much more than a comforting platitude, prayer is one of many disciplines by which we are able to get things done.

Lord teach us to pray….

 

Reject evil

I condemn senseless killing. All of it….I will stand behind every humans right to live, breathe, laugh and love no matter who they are.

when of our baptismal questions is do you denounce/reject Evil?

i always joke this is the easy one, who isn’t against evil?  But as the news of violence and hatred pile up. I wonder why it’s so hard to act against evil?

Min the Belhar Confession there is a rejection piece that condemns wrongdoing–and I find myself, over and over again, condemning the bad things that have happened.

So here’s me practicing my rejection and denounciation of evil!

I condemn senseless murder. All of it. I condemn that African-Americans are unduly targeted, I condemn that trans women of color are the most murdered and abused of our population, I condemn the ways our Latinx, Indian, Pakistani, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Native Americans (as well as countless other minorities) are silenced and erased, I condemn that people are killing police officers, I condemn small children being run over on holiday in Nice, I condemn people dying who were dancing, I condemn the violence against those who use the bathrooms who don’t look gender conforming, I condemn all efforts to divide by calling some groups racists and others anti-police. In the name of The Belhar confession I condemn any threat to unity and recognize that separation is a sin Christ has already defeated. I will continue to work towards unity and reject the sins that are prejudice, separation and bigotry.

I am done with it. No more!

I will stand behind every humans right to live, breathe, laugh and love no matter who they are. I will resist the temptation to compare and separate and will work to treat all humans like the creations of God they are!

Phew! Back the the work of living it out!

 

#PokemonGo #community and #technology

Pokemon Go is not new technology, its based upon Ingress which uses google maps landmarks to create a fun reality that layers on top of the landscape of life. In fact, the idea is not that different from Geo-caching which has been around for a LONG time.

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What PokemonGo has done is hit all the right notes at the right time.

-Classic Fandom that has been around for 20years

-A pre-written motif to “Collect” & “Catch” them all

-The fact that it is the Age of the Geek, most adults who complain about the overuse of technology unashamedly own smartphones and use facebook….

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-A year that has been…rough….2016

Let’s be clear, millennials and young people have grown up in an age where getting to know your neighbors is a rarity.

Its not because we (because I’m a millennial) are addicted to technology and antisocial–its because we are a displaced generation, overworked and farther away from home than any of our parents were…this means that technology has been USEFUL for us….

Its not all sunshine and rainbows but through facebook my parents and in-laws see pics of their grandchildren (after all what else is fb for?), through cell phones I can call my best friends in Seattle, NYC and Alabama without crazy charges pretty much whenever I want, through meetups I hold a weekly playgroup that has touched at least 300bfamilies, through twitter I can virtually attend many conferences and conversations about racism, community, church and technology, and through etsy I can find items that have my autistic son’s favorite character, through instagram I can take pics of what I am reading and hopefully find people with like interests…..

Technology makes manifest our longing to connect, giving us opportunities to find new ways to reach out. It was only a matter of time before technology would turn things on their head and actually succeed in bringing people physically together.

It brings people together in communal spaces, inviting them to talk and interact…and what is amazing is they do!

It would be easy to pooh-pooh the effects of a fad…but why not celebrate? Is this not what we hope the ultimate goal of technology to be? Isn’t it wonderful when people get together? (and yes, people are imperfectly using the technology, a handful of people have taken advantage of it and people need to remember to be SAFE on their cellphones–but you should see the hundreds of churches seeing positive effects of one game)

When things are tough, and community is hard to find, I see PokemonGo as the opposite of escapist, its creative. Its creating community in what has otherwise been a fairly lonely year of tragedy. As communities of queer,Latinx, African-Americans, police officers are effected, as Baghdad, the Middle East and France are attacked, as time is hard, PokemonGo is just what the Dr ordered.

So GO! Don’t capitalize or dismiss the game.

Enjoy it, live into whatever interactions it creates (whether you play or not)

and be excited for what it might mean for the future, because that future won’t come unless we dare to dream it.

 

Martha’s Confession (Belhar & Luke 10:38-42)

We are all too ready to separate ourselves from others. We live in comparison.

Prayer of Confession (unison) God, forgive us. We are all too ready to separate ourselves from others. We live in comparison. Separating ourselves to be better, harder working or more in need. We like to be the insiders, the ones who deserve things. Let us therefore reject any teaching which legitimize separation from those we consider to be less worthy. Lead us on the path of obedience and reconciliation, casting out of prejudice, fear, selfishness and unbelief we pray…. (Silent Prayer)…Amen
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Assurance of Pardon: Lord, though death is at work in us, life is at work in us too, because you Jesus Christ are reconciling our very flesh. Let us tell each other the good news: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven. Amen

 

Neighbor? Who?

My flippant answer is whoever is close enough to annoy you.

its been a crazy week. I’ve in essence heard the Good Samaritan story three times.

First time was with Alton Sterling, then Pilando Castile and finally with the Dallas police officers who were targeted. This in the wake of Orlando is wearying.

And then we hear the story of the Good Samaritan and the lawyer asks but…who…who exactly is my neighbor?

My flippant answer is whoever is close enough to annoy you. And as you know people can be pretty far away and still be close enough to annoy you.

My more serious answer is those you are close enough to hurt. This is an amazing thought because you can be very far away–all across the world or thd internet and still be able to hurt someone.

The counter to that is that if you are close enough to hurt someone then you are close enough to hurt someone then you are close enough to help them.

blm

the Good Samaritan story was so revolutionary because the Samaritans were so politically and religiously at odds with one another. They would desecrate each other’s temples, burn each other’s buildings and fight over the same land and water. When Jesus tells this story it angered people because it’s like telling about  Muslim and a Christian or an African American young man and a police officer. This was Jesus’s answer to Who is my neighbor.

The Belhar Confession, which is being adopted by the PCUSA was written by Africa about apartheid. We in the USA don’t seem to have apartheid until you look at the kind of violence that is going on and how it hurts African-Americans  until you look at the kind of violence that is going on and how it hurts police officers.

Belhar Confession is about unity being both a gift of God and our duty. I don’t know what to do about African-Anericans being stopped for minor violations and things escalating so quickly. I don’t know what to do about police officers being targeted for violence. Unity Both a gift and a duty because God says we belong to one another.

We belong to one another because we each of us are called to bind up the wounds of the cops and the African-Americans. We belong to one another because Jesus has loved us into being  showing us how love affirms our??? identity. Christians need to love like Jesus. There are no “buts” I this love, it’s not I love you but… It’s I love you and We belong to each other.

Real love is the kind that takes nothing away from you  it affirms and does nothing but add to your identity  it’s a live not based on your value or progress or perfection. God made us each unique and still belonging to one another. The word of God is not to believe in God and be the same, but love one another and affirm each identity so we add to each other.

Love is a language that doesn’t even compute in the financial, political and corporate world . That is the kind of love we are called to practice because we belong to one another God gives us to one another as a gift and it’s something to also work for. We belong to one another. Who is my neighbor? All those whom we are close enought to help.  This is the word of the Lord  thanks be to God!

 

 

 

 

#name the sorrow, mourning for #orlando

My soul hurts, my heart wails, my words fail, so I #lament

On my way to church, I saw the news, some nightclub named the pulse had a terrorist shooter, 20 dead. It wasn’t until RIGHT before we got there that I found out that this was specifically “Gay Club” (inclusive of the greater queer community, but known locally and colloquially as a “Gay Club”).

It wasn’t til after church that I learned the shooter used the same terrible weapon that has been used in so many mass shootings. Not until I was home on the couch, did I understand that the shooter may have been an extremist ISIS or ISIS-inspired attacker. Not until late afternoon did it become known to me (and no doubt others) that it was Latin Night.

And, the more I learned, the more I lamented.

In the Bible, Lament is about justice, a specific Injustice….one that provokes the question, how long!

Sarai lamented her infertility and asked how long…

Esther lamented her people’s persecultion and asked how long….

Job lamented his life of misfortune and asked how long….

lament

Lament is powerful, because it is the reaction to a specific injustice.

It neither minimizes or generalizes the issue. It does not speak of a general crime against humanity. It bespeaks a particular brokenness that the world needs to address.

Lament is for those issues only God seems to be listening to….

Madeline L’engle is very wise about the importance of a God who loves us and calls us each by name. I keep thinking how important this is in the LGBTQIA community. The importance to be able to identify themselves by their gender & sexuality. I think of the importance of not dead-naming a trans individual. To call them by their true name, instead of miscasting who they are. I think of the importance of my sister to change from Nathaniel to Noelle (the name we would have given her had she been a girl and SURPRISE turns out she always one).

Madeline L’engle cites how Evil works through erasure, Un-Naming and ignoring people and issues. Language is as much a part of their business as war and hate is.

““I think your mythology would call them fallen angels. War and hate are their business, and one of their chief weapons is un-Naming – making people not know who they are. If someone knows who he is, really knows, then he doesn’t need to hate. That’s why we still need Namers, because there are places throughout the universe like your planet Earth. When everyone is really and truly Named, then the Echthroi will be vanquished.”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wind in the Door

Jesus laments, God laments. God weeps with us individually. Not saying “That’s happened before” or “Life just sucks” or “That’s not important in the grand scheme of things”

and so We Lament, because its an act of reconcilation, its an act of Naming, its a cry to change things.

My siblings. My trans-sisters of color, my gay  friends who love to dance, my bisexual colleagues. I lament.

How long will people preach hate as the word of God? How long will violent people have easy-access to terrible weapons? How long will we “other” people? How long can we teach hate instead of hope? How long O Lord? How long will the suffering of the LGBTQIA people be tolerated and accepted? How long will kisses be rationalization for violence? How long will I have to explain to my children that this kind of hate exists?

I lament that LGBTQIA community was targeted on Latin night, that they were targeted, hurt, murdered and have been emotionally gouged and ripped apart. I lament.

My soul hurts, my heart wails, my words fail, so I lament, and then I get to work on this specific injustice.

I’m campaigning for safe spaces for the queer community, I will speak against homophobia. I will work for queers in relationships to be able to give blood and against access to automatic weapons. I will work for love and against hate, even as I continue to lament, because lamenting is part of the work.