God, help us to recognize Superman

God,
I just saw
Superman

And I pray for
the day
when
movies
don’t hit
home
So hard

And the brown
children
in the midst of
war
waving a flag
Don’t break your
heart

And the world
Splitting in two
of a “Natural
Disaster”
doesn’t
make
your jaw clench

And God
I pray that
when people
cry because
the Lex Luthers
of the world
Make them
feel bad
And the immigrants
are the Superheroes

That the Holy Spirit
Keeps
Tapping them
On the shoulder
nipping
Them
in the
Ear
And
touching
them on their
heart

Because
Maybe art
Isn’t the one
Way through

But I’ll take
Blood,
Sweat,
Tears,
Votes

And
your favorite
Pop
Character

Because
At this point
Anything
To Welcome
people

to there revelation

God help us
Walk until
everyone
can see
the Superpuppy
as cute

and all earthlings
as Beloved

We pray.
Amen.



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

with thanks to my middle child Westley who loves all movies, and honors remakes and sequels, etc and more of the thing he loves and teaches a deep appreciation of all art–it’s good remember to take joy in all things (This movie was really good, but it is truly fun to walk in to everything with the attitude of, this will be fun)

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. 

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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

Sermons are Art

This is getting a lot of searches, so I’m re-posting Sermon’s are Art in response to the article Sermons are becoming Obsolete

katyandtheword's avatarkatyandtheword

Sermons are Art

Sermons are art, sometimes they rock, and sometimes they don’t. Its less of a quotient of how many hours you put in, and tends to be where you are emotionally, are you feeling creative, is your imagination engaged, can you connect to your audience, is it relevant and yet provoking.

I’ve always said, I wish every sermon was a masterpiece, but since its art, it doesn’t work that way. There are practices and disciplines that help you to be a better artist, but never any guarantees.

This brings me to Presbyterian Today their articles about arts in the church (Shout out to Katie Douglass who pursued arts even while she did her doctorate at PTS)

Arts and Church Art as worship and considering popular culture (ie arts) and religion (cough, cough Science Fiction/Fantasy and Religion anyone? Read about Faith and Dr Who & Star Trek here)

and  Whether Sermons are becoming…

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