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.
Joy is not a platitude though sometimes we use it as a mask
Joy is not smile Jesus loves you it is not happiness
Have you seen a joyful child? the gift of their giggles the wonder of life borne from love (yes I am writing all bornes with poetic “e”s this season)
Joy is rebellious it is deep-rooted sense of differentiated Belonging to Community Creation and Self All at Once
it is the ability to still Create even in the Midst of Grief
Joy is Art
Joy to the World Is practicing Advent claiming the Holy Imaginings for better How Much More For Proclaiming Lament And Claiming Tomorrow
Joy is the In-Breaking Christmas In the Midst of Advent
Even the Ancient Priests had Proclaim in Pink Excuse me I mean Rose Because they could not hold back the Gaudy Carols of Christmas During the Long Season Of Advent (and not just because it used to be Six Weeks instead of Four)
God, you know, That we know, We are tired of this Advent Season Yet Somehow You Teach us Joy In Children In Art In Gardens In Our Deep Longings for More
Remind us that Joy is a Revolution* Amen Amen
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
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”
I am not talking about some nebulous math problem that I want solved
I am more pointing to the fact that the human brain is incapable of processing more than a certain amount
of sensory input
And the battering of an apartheid is so True that my brain has trouble processing the
Fact of the Matter I know it, I see it, I say it
But I know I have not processed it the images, numbers and facts
the screams, blood and children
lie strewn across my brain And all I can think is How many times Lord?
It is a variation But not the same prayer I pray about Gun Violence
The angry tears that clench my jaw and make me a bleeding heart That believes this time we will all figure out how souls will out weigh the capitalism of violence
A rainbow in the sky promises
How Many Times? Nonbinary Kids Trans Women on Sports Teams Trans Men trying to Dance
To Kill a Mockingbird is Banned
A White Woman in a Kitchen calls a Human Being Illegal And calls for everyone to be scared
How Many Times Lord?
The Math of Getting it, Doesn’t seem to be getting through
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Content Warning: Sexual Abuse, Ordination Exams, Trauma
Bad Theology Kills There are nicer terminologies to make and there are definitely complete lexicons and entire books written of theology Karl Barth has a really complete theology of love Elie Wiesel asks tough questions about genocide war and abuse Just today, Amanda Palmer a somewhat Radical Feminist, who is all too imperfect herself (might I add) cited a quote her friend’s book who quoted the famous theologian Fredrick Buechner Amanda Palmer says “I feel this sentiment in my core today. I have seen, heard, been privy to so much darkness lately. I feel honored to stand near it, but also see – laid painfully bare, more than I ever have – the unfathomable and sometimes unbearable wounds of trauma. The depths. The seemingly unhealable.” She says this not knowing that this is a theological quote, but Amanda Palmer, pop star, gets it that Life is a Terror text
And for me Theology is how you practice your Christianity; It is where the rubber meets the road
Not being afraid means, dealing with the trauma as it comes, but also acknowledging that the trauma is real. One cannot pretend it isn’t real.
Because the reality is–Bad Theology kills
White Page that says Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid–Frederick Buechner
But for me…
When you force the people you want to be pastors to sit in a room utterly alone with what is possibly the most traumatic text in the Bible its abusive
I guess I should start with this: I believe in apologies. I believe in full and complete apologies. I believe in confession. I believe in stating fully who you are, what you have done right and wrong and trying to fix what is wrong so that we can fix that wrong things, and make things better. It is a core theology of mine.
I think that there is confusion Those who are hurt do not want an apology for the Bible The apology would be for the trauma
And when you don’t apologize And you say–we have done such things before
And that does not make you examine how you have done things before
And when you feel like the entire weight of the church ordination and the denomination is on your shoulders
And that does not make you pause and confess and think
Maybe there could be a more life-giving way to do this
And when person after person has come to me and say This is the last straw
And these other people tell me I’m leaving ministry and the process of becoming a minister because of this test…
To pretend we have all sufficiently dealt with trauma On the eve of the third anniversary Of a worldwide pandemic Is ludicrous–there is not such thing as an untraumatized person right now So yes, we know trauma is real We also do not want to practice bad theological practices Because Bad Theology Kills We know this!
It is different to deal with a text Where you know in advance about it In community When you can call your therapist When your entire job is not on the line When you can ask for help
Also
If you don’t think that the Judges 19 scandal Isn’t cut from a similar cloth as the complementation scandal the Gospel Coalition is dealing with… You are missing how women continue to be subjugated and ignored via the Bible…(See Also: How is this coming to a head when trans bans, drag bans, books bans, teaching history bans and rest is happening gives a lot of food for thought) Because Bad Theology Kills: it is Killing calls to ministry right here and now
Picture of a women facing a panel of just men who say: It’s not that we don’t believe your story. IT’s that we don’t care. Cartoon by NakedPastor
Welp..I guess you were right.. I guess this test is that important But not in the way you thought it was
If more self care is needed for pastor By God, let’s do it! I’m all for it! What resources can we provide Let’s hire full time Sabbatical pastors, a therapist and a Chaplain, One for every Synod or for General Assembly If you want to be generous For every Presbytery!
You think more education is needed? Great lets open up free schools! Let’s provide arts clubs and places of music& PE all those things schools are cutting (Fun fact Sunday School taught kids to read FOR FREE When School was inacessable, because kids had to work; what could Sunday School be for the arts now– If we took that as our model?) Lets be the most educated denomination In the land. Let’s get that equity going! I bet all the kids would enroll In free college classes In LGBTQIA and Community Organizing classes What more could we provide–could we give free virtual classes in the Bible? What about classes about theology? The latest books? The Nap Ministry? This Here Flesh? The Possibilities are endless. Faith Seeking Understaning, we could learn so much together!
Lets help support all those Black and Brown Churches The ones we’ve been ignoring for years What resources do they need? I bet they could tell us what they need, and why, and give us a host of ideas, quick! Let’s start it tomorrow.
You think everyone is overworked and tired? Great, lets start pay equity and healthcare, Could we provide healthcare for our support staffs even more than we do now? How much more can God do? How is that Family Leave Overture going? I can tell you every pastor I know is looking at if your Presbytery has it before they consider moving there
Did your Presbytery, Synod or Leader agree or disagree with the Judges 19 test? Is your area dealing with a pastor shortage? I bet there is a more experience oriented, Justice-giving, innovative Matthew 25 way to Educate and Support Pastors.
Did you know most pastors are older, LBGTQIA, POC? They are not going to be the married white man with children, and that is great, because most ministries are going to be different from here on out. If we are going to reach the community, We are going to have to ordain pastors beyond the pews.
While we are re-imagining what it means to be a minister (Hint: look at all the ways to minister in Matthew 25) It might be time to rethink how we evaluate ministers:
I don’t know about you, but while I am running my church’s 3 nonprofits, and taking care of my congregation, I don’t have time to conjugate Greek and Hebrew verbs– I love the vocabulary, but the community is just a bit more important (Don’t worry its just me, I preach 48+ sermons a year, 13+ years, Princeton Trained, but my credentials matter less than my ministry work)
And while we are speaking of that and entry level ministry How many entry level ministers go to a flourishing ministry with associate ministers who take care of other things, while they sit in the office and work on their sermons, None?
My theology is to take care of the people first Of course I do that about talking about the Bible I reference (and study) the Bible EVERY single day But I don’t do that in Greek and Hebrew I do that by sitting by the Well and listening, and Walking in the Community and meeting people where they are at every chance I gettoCommunity build and partner.. I’m just following the example of some Rabbi I admire…
I hope you have time to do that too And maybe someday, we will realize that our goals are the same To be a Matthew 25 Church And to serve God and God’s people, together
Article by Pastor Katy Stenta @katyandtheword Feel free to use/share with attribution
“He gets You” is really appropriative, because its more about “He gets me: white, straight, cis, conservative, men”
Whereas Jesus does not say “I get you” Jesus says, “Do you see me” And when people ask, “Where were you” He says “I am among the poor, the immigrant, the forgotten, the widowed, the queer, the homeless, the ones without identification, the imprisoned, the ones your eyes slide over because you have deemed them unimportant, the dispossessed, the naked, the hungry, the powerless, the ones you refuse to listen to…” (Matthew 25) Ministry isn’t even about power, its about something else altogether
You can’t brand Jesus for the masses Because that’s getting the whole message backwards
Advent is about waiting Because we are waiting For the poor to be filled with good things For women to believed For the prisoner to be set free For healing
We don’t need practice in waiting We know Christmas is a quiet participation in the miracle that is yet still unfolding
We want to participate in the waiting, and the greed smashing, equity making, creation beauty that is Christmas
So we are an advent people. Proclaiming the Magnificat together with Mary: Until the Alleluias of Christmas Are born
feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
katyandtheword 