night scene milky way background
Merry Christmas! Tis
the season of love and hope –
mindful of the trials
and tribulations of now –
and those yet to come –
but joyful that we are not
alone – God with us!
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Prophetic Poems
Christians & Politics: A Prayer of Lament and a Prayer of Hope
Christians on political “sides” subscribe to a binary and oppositional understanding of our faith and political engagement that causes separation, harm, and idolatry.
Republicans, especially in the new Trump era, have increasingly synthesized salvific hope and politics toward a Divine King/Strong-Man Nationalism theology. This is problematic since Christ brought salvation in a way antithetical to cultural/political power, control, and exclusion. Instead, he offered preferential and tangible hope for the oppressed/marginalized. He frequently challenged, and even condemned, the power players perpetuating inequality. Ascribing divine privilege to a power-player, like Trump, toward the ends of Christian nationalist control, is idolatry.
On the flipside, Democrats often want to silence faith-led conviction in the polis, falsely believing that a true separation of faith/politics, public/private, secular/sacred is possible. This leads to an idolatry of law, legal systems, and political figures as the sites of salvation and hope.
Christians must be constantly self-reflective and challenge ourselves away from the allure of false-hopes within these camps. Our salvation is in Christ. The gospel message leads us to discern and question all powers that exist if their outcomes are not equivalent to the criteria of Christ’s ministry pronouncement of Luke 4:14-30, or the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.
Neither party does this. There is no easy-answer to the challenge of discerning and voting with our conscience based on these faith-based criteria. Consequently, no party should have our faith and devotion. No PAC or politically activated denominational or faith-based political platform should have our faith and devotion. No nation or national symbol should have our faith and devotion. No power, system, or institution of humankind should have our faith and devotion. Only the gospel message of Jesus Christ, which commands us to love God and our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31), and the subsequent discernment and action of the Holy Spirit in our individual and communal lives, should have our faith and devotion. All else is idolatry. Idolatry that leads to hate and violence in our hearts (and sometimes actions) toward others not like us, or those who hold different values. God clearly warns against this in Matthew 5:43-48.
As the divisive and violent party-driven rhetoric amps up in the next few months, I pray that I, and all of us who follow Christ, remember this counter-cultural message. I pray that we strive to be presences of mediation and love during these volatile times. May the gospel message that we proclaim and live-out be good news for all, not for some. May our words, actions, and lives point to God’s peaceable kingdom on Earth now, as it is in heaven.
We CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Amen.
‘Lakota Language I’ Final @ Sinte Gleska University
I have had the joy of taking ‘Lakota Language I’ through Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota this semester. It has been a blast reconnecting learning Lakota language basics, philosophy of life, the power of storytelling, and the importance of decolonizing our minds. It has also been so great reconnecting with folks at Sinte!
Today I had the opportunity to present my final and it was so much fun. First I learned, sang, and translated the Lakota Bernstein Bears theme song. Check out the theme song here: https://youtu.be/LJF1BfIONhI?si=fMTli5N23G_BOV67. I also wrote a series of haikus in Lakota, their literal translation, and than an English haiku translation. You can see the song lyrics, the three haikus, and my English translations below.
Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe – Theme Song
Até iná čhúŋkš čhiŋkší – (My Father, My Mother, Daughter, Son)
Matȟó waúŋšila kiŋ – (The Kind Bear[s])
Lila ihákčhiktapi – (They feel very attached to each other)
líla oíyokiphi! – (Very Pleasant!)
Até iná čhúŋkš čhiŋkší – (My Father, My Mother, Daughter, Son)
Matȟó waúŋšila kiŋ – (The Kind Bear[s])
imáǧaǧaič’iyapi – (They enjoy themselves)
líla oíyokiphi! – (Very Pleasant!)
Até iná čhúŋkš čhiŋkší – (My Father, My Mother, Daughter, Son)
Matȟó waúŋšila kiŋ – (The Kind Bear[s])
Lila ihákčhiktapi – (They feel very attached to each other)
líla oíyokiphi! – (Very Pleasant!)
1
Lakota:
Rocky, Owauηspe
Thuŋkášila Etάηhaη
Wόuηspe Iwάču
English Literal:
Rocky, class
Creator from
Learning I receive
Haiku:
From Rocky, the Class
and the Creator – I have
received much knowledge.
2
Lakota:
Wakȟaηpi Héchapi
Wičhoni Na Wičhúηt’e
Wičhakağapi
English Literal:
Sacred they are
Life and death
They create
Haiku:
All that can create
sparks of life and final death
is wholly sacred.
3
Lakota:
Lakȟótiyapi Kiη
Waúηspekhiye
Lakȟόl-Wičhόuη Kiη
English Literal:
The Lakota language
Teaches [teacher]
The Lakota way of life
Haiku:
Lakota language
is more than words – a way of
life – philosophy
Psalm 42 Lectio Divina Response Poem
Pour out humility on the mighty
and convict them of the evil
in superiority and domination,
oh Lord.
My heart is disquieted within
the real-word examples of suffering
caused by pride and greed.
My mind is heavy with the knowledge
of dissension, based on arguments
over the worthiness and belovedness
of those on the margins.
My soul longs for unity
based on the constant striving
to tangibly center
the imago dei
within all Creation.
Unity does not mean assimilation
but just-filled redistribution
of the resources and experiences
necessary to thrive.
May we tirelessly pursue
the unity of all creation
that translates into the
tangible flourishing
and holistic well-being
of all people
and all created things.
Amen.
Prayer (5.14.23)
When Mother God
created the heavens and the earth,
including all of humanity,
tending to the most minute details,
and ensuring a rich tapestry
of variance and difference,
she/they looked at all of it,
all of us,
and said that everything
was “very good.”
Go forth with this knowledge
of universal goodness,
in the creative power
of the Holy Spirit,
and love courageously.
Amen.
Unnamed (a poetic response to Acts 16:16-19)
Naming:
a human process
enacted at birth
to those deemed human
enough
to deserve a name.
The slave woman –
unnamed –
regulated to the margins
of knowability and purpose
through commerce and profitability.
But God knows her name –
our names –
in the deepest sense
in the fullest sense
beyond even how we know ourselves.
The unnamed woman is known
fully and completely
as a beloved child of God.
Sofia –
Is that your name?
The Holy Spirit present –
manifested in an unexpected form
to challenge and convict
to defy the social/cultural
norms and expectations.
To remind us,
all of us,
that the truth of God
is proclaimed loudly and boldly
where people are willing
to be transformed
to be changed
to take action –
if we are only willing
to humble ourselves
and listen
to the revelation visible
within the goodness
of all Creation.
The Table is Set and Open
The table is set and open
welcoming the holy and the hungry
to the feast of love and full bellies
for the communion of all creation.
The heavenly table is set on Earth
to nourish all people
through the breaking of bread
and the pleasure of wine.
Bread and Wine:
God’s manna of love
and promise of mercy and grace
offered to all without condition.
The metaphoric body and blood:
God’s divine paradigm of justice
predicated on love
and the belovedness of all creation.
We all deserve full bellies
and joyful existence.
Happy Fourth of July
Be grateful for what you have,
they say.
Okay.
I’m grateful for my marriage
with my husband.
But many folks across the country,
emboldened with power,
want to rip our marriage apart,
calling our love unconstitutional,
along with many other nasty
words, phrases, and threats.
Seeking the goal of allowing
states to make our union illegal,
or perhaps a full-fledged federal ban.
So I’ll be grateful for what I have,
as I’ve been told,
before it all gets legislated away.
Happy Fourth of July
Trust the Seeds
Trust the seeds
for they know that which they do –
their entire being designed to grow –
to make a way out of any soil.
We do not need to improve the seed,
nor should we smother it with care.
Instead, tend to the seed –
provide it with basic necessities,
love, and respect –
knowing that it is the will of the seed,
no matter the hardships of the season –
drought, famine, pestilence –
to sprout and bloom.
Do not impede the seed
through the folly
of our own understanding.
Trust the seeds
and rejoice in their flourishing.
A contextual adaptation of ‘United Methodist Book of Worship’ Blessing 548
This is the Pastoral Prayer I wrote for the May 24, 2022 Clergy Session of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.
God of eternal presence with us,
amidst all joy and pain,
guide us in this gathering today
as we tend to the grief of what we have lost
and as we celebrate the excitement of what is new and expanding.
This gathering today may revive in us memories of loved ones, colleagues, and friends who are no longer with us today.
May we take time to tend to this grief
and remember the happy memories we shared together
while they were still with us.
In the next few moments, may we speak the names of those whom we have lost out loud OR quietly in our hearts.
[Speak out-loud or reflect]
Lord, thank you for the time we had to share with these beloved people.
May our memories together be a blessing until we meet again.
Three years have passed, and yet we still feel the looming presence of the pandemic.
May we take time to acknowledge this grief,
remembering and honoring what has been lost:
plans, justice, communities, dignity, events, rights, services.
In the next few moments, may we speak that which has been lost out loud OR quietly in our hearts.
[Speak out-loud or reflect]
Lord, thank you for your constant presence with us during this time, weeping along with us and our communities.
May we continue to rely on your boundless love as our strength as we continue to care for our congregations, communities, families, and selves.
During these three years, we have also encountered new persons, deeper relationships, and the expansion of families.
May we take time to tend to these joys,
holding the faces and names,
of those we have met and grown to cherish and love.
In the next few moments, may we speak the names of those whom we have met out loud OR quietly in our hearts.
[Speak out-loud or reflect]
Lord, we name these relationships with gratitude, and we bless them.
May we continue to tend, cherish, and rejoice in the beloved people and relationships whom you have placed in our lives today.
These three years have been marked by forced innovation and change.
May we take time to acknowledge the good that has come from the Holy Spirit
helping us to expand and imagine our communities in exciting new ways,
emphasizing justice, dignity, accessibility, safety, and creativity.
In the next few moments, may we speak the good out loud OR quietly in our hearts.
[Speak out-loud or reflect]
Lord, thank you for the innovative power of your Holy Spirit, leading and guiding us in these times of profound change.
May we find strength from your Holy Spirit, and from one another, to continue the ministry work to which you have called us.
God among us,
our unrelenting listener,
we give you thanks for this time to share
our griefs and joys with you.
Bless us, keep us, and inspire us
in the great work to which you have called us –
yesterday, today, and tomorrow –
in collaboration, accountability, and support
with You,
with our ministry communities,
and with our colleagues here today.
In Your name,
we rejoice and praise.
Amen.
Deacon Grant 