“Infant so tender and mild” implies the existence of a chewy and spicy baby
The existence of rhyme schemes must make God giggle sometimes
Of course newborn babes are mild
They cannot even lift their own heads with their wee little necks… It doesn’t mean
That they are not mighty with their lungs and that you as a parent Do no jump every time they snort or sniffle In a weird way to check and make certain they are still alive.
I also want to point out God That mild Is a word that is conspicuously absent in the Bible
No one
absolutely no one is described as mild in the Nativity texts it is just a word that describes all newborns
And is probably the opposite of who Mary* is Please note every time someone asks about Mary’s mildness I want to yell out it is because it rhymes with CHILD that is why Mary is described as mild.”
Why do we think Mary was meek and mild? She agreed to bear a child out of wedlock in defiance of her culture. She sang a song of liberation and freedom for the oppressed and unjustly treated. She made a rough journey to Bethlehem when heavily pregnant and another to Egypt with an infant (note evidence says it was probably a pre-schooler which may have been WORSE). She was a revolutionary, a fitting mother for her rebel son.
I am comforted in a season where I do not feel mild that this mildness is nothing more than a myth.
@KaitlynSchiess Every Discussion of “Biblical Womanhood” should include the fact that in Luke 1, two pregnant woman celebrate their new motherhood by passionately discussing the coming overthrow of every earthly empire
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Dr. Wil Gafney “Christmas is not Canceled. Festive Christmas celebration and public displays are. But the Feast of the Incarnation will continue to be observed. There will be church services for the local residents. Tourism is strongly discouraged.” Layla Darwish: Most average Americans doesn’t even know Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem.
Christ Incarnates Christ always comes that is the promise
That is what I said when I took my ordination question I said that I believe that Christ will come and every knee shall bow
And someone stood and asked me How?
Aren’t you worried about Universalism (Worried that Jesus might save everyone?? HA!)
And I said I don’t know It is not my job to understand it
Just to believe it and to declare the good news
That even in the midst of war and rubble and horrific devastation where humans dehumanize one another Christ will keep his promise
I believe that somehow Christ is still with us and will be incarnate for everyone
Because the Bible says Good News for All People All people will stream Every Knee shall bow
I did not see any asterisks or footnotes
I did not see any guns or calls for coercion or force
Last I saw Jesus said to kneel to one another And wash each other’s feet
(I have suspicions about this is why we will be kneeling to be besides the Christ who is already kneeling to serve us)
But right now I am just hanging on to the faith that Jesus is here And Coming
Because it’s not my job to bring Jesus
Or to bring anyone to him God has already done all of that work
Jesus is coming Hear the Good News Alleluia, Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
We made gingerbread men cookies They were imperfect each one different they bent and slanted from handling– in or out of the oven, But when we laid them out to cool
I thought “they look so beautiful, like they are dancing”
Perspective I amazing isn’t it? I wonder what our beauty to God, looks like.
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I think that our Christmas tree looks remarkably like the Grinch one this year
A Decorated (unevenly and crowded) Christmas tree, lit, with a red star on top
When our eldest was little approximately 3 The Grinch Who Stole Christmas–the 22 minute cartoon became their favorite movie; it was one of the few things they watched on TV They would watch it on repeat (You’ve all had that DVD right the one you were tempted to hide? What do parents do now with streaming…the advantages of disks)
This meant that I started to read it to them every night as well– It was not long until I had the entire book more or less memorized.
Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot… but the Grinch, who lived just North of Whoville Did Not
I am spending my first Christmas not working for a church in 17 years The isolation is tough, I am not feeling Grinchish, but I am feeling a little North of Whoville
All the things I unconsciously hold together as Christmas are not there which is hard, because tradition are important rituals help to make us human and keep us rooted
And though I long for a church that is more flexible open and able to communicate to the world at large
It doesn’t mean that I do not miss all the pieces that I cherished About leading through Advent
All the carefully chosen pieces that others might not have noticed but I knew were full of meaning and nudging people to open their hearts to teach about the full humanity, humility and the wonderful accessible salvific work of Jesus
But I also know that Christmas doesn’t come from what we do or say It comes all the same
And though I’m between jobs and making new traditions and trusting in God for these next steps Somehow or other Christmas [will come] all the same as it has come, every time before
In pandemics, wars and God knows what else and though they are foregoing Christmas in the West Bank in solidarity with Gaza, and I agree I think, somehow or other I have to believe
Christ is here all the same.
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Longest Night Prayer Jesus, Sweet Baby Jesus Born in the midst of a collapsing empire Hidden in plain sight from everything and everyone official
When different factions of the religion were all claiming to be the “truer” one Each saying if you don’t worship our way You don’t belong to God.
You were born when a Messiah Seemed to be around every corner Lamps were left on at night and demagogues and dynamic cult leaders Were followed at whim, because people needed hope
And the gulf between who was poor and who was rich The distinction between who was citizen and who was not The taste in one’s mouth when people called one another Foreigner, Outsider, or Different was sour and full of hate
Violence was everywhere Children, the Poor, The Elderly, The Lonely, the Sex Worker were Ignored or Forgotten Laws were passed against anyone deemed Unclean in any way (oh my Queer siblings!)
Jesus Christ, you were born in a time When no one was receiving proper healthcare So people banged down your door for a bit of healing
And my heart aches With the familiarity, you could be born today Is this why you have to be born into today’s world? Have we forgotten why we need you?
Sometimes I wonder if you haven’t returned Because we haven’t learned enough? Heretic thought I know But I sit in the hate and terror and worry Jesus
Jesus Christ, we need you. A baby A sneak king full of healing and mischevious teachings of Grace Jesus we need someone who will sit in the dirt with the marginal and embody the Peace so much that we will sit in the dirt with you.
Sweet baby Jesus, though I know we picture angels, shepherds, & magi I think that a baby born in the war-torn dark might be the truth Help us to sit with that, in the shortest day and longest night I pray.
Amen.
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katyandtheword 