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.
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.
Lord,
prepare my ears to hear the suffering
shield my heart to not take on that pain
warm my soul toward genuine empathy
enliven my mind to interpret and translate
and sharpen my tongue to speak the wisdom
of Your Holy Spirit
Amen.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/32311036
“NDN teens have the highest rate of suicide of any population group in America. A white man can massacre 9 black ppl in a church and be fed Burger King by the cops afterward. A presidential candidate gains a platform by saying Mexican immigrants are murdered and rapists
It’s hard for me to imagine curiosity [in America] as anything more than a pretext for colonialism” (Tommy Pico, ‘Nature Poem,’ 40).
“Look, I’m sure you really do just want to wear those dream catcher earrings. They’re beautiful. I’m sure you don’t mean any harm, I’m sure you don’t really think abt us at all. I’m sure you don’t understand the concept of off-limits. But what if by not wearing a headdress in yr music video or changing yr damn mascot and perhaps adding .05% of personal annoyance to yr life for the twenty minutes it lasts, the 103 young ppl who tried to kill themselves on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation over the past four months wanted to live 50% more” (Tommy Pico, ‘Nature Poem,’ 56).
www.goodreads.com/book/show/45734929
First and foremost, I need to clear the air: this is NOT a gendered book. The only place where the editors hint at a particular presentation is when the editor’s note only mentions biblical figures Hannah and Esther. And to that, I say “come on editors, do better. Resist the idolatry of capitalism and gendered marketing, please. It harms all of us who cannot fit your false expectations of hyper masculinity and feminism.” We need to resist the consumer world that says a Bible designed to highlight the beauty of scripture does NOT mean that it should be primarily marketed to girls. Boys MUST learn to see the beauty of scripture, too. If you get this version for a girl, get it for a boy, too. The Bible is for all people, so let’s stop boxing ourselves in with gendered stereotypes. Thank you and I will now step off my soap box.
This Zondervan NIV 2011 updated translation, written in Zondervan NIV typeface, is a WONDERFUL version of the Bible that is highly engaging. First of all, it does what many versions cannot: it meets the needs of visual learners. The editors of this version worked with BibleGateway to find the most searched scriptures and balanced them with scriptures that are lesser known to present 600 scriptures in colorful artistic presentations through the entirety of the Bible! 9 different artists took charge of illuminating the 600 different scriptures. They also did a fantastic job of making the chosen scriptures memorizable so that folks can engage with their Scripture reading for memorization as well.
Each page of the Bible has a couple of inches on the edge with lines for note-taking. Every few pages has this space taken up with the artistic presentation of scripture. These illustrations are gorgeous and reflect the essence of each individual scripture.
The Bible also comes with sticker tabs for each book of the Bible, if you want to have the books of the Bible marked in this way. All this to say, this version of the Bible is meant to be engaged: written on, highlighted, and covered in stickers. Have at it! Mark it up and make it your own!
The Bible also comes with a sturdy box carrying case which is helpful for being mobile. It is also small enough to carry around with you! The cover itself is a gorgeous felt floral pattern with a woody brown felt binding. Visually appealing without being obnoxious.
The back of the Bible has a table for understanding biblical weights and measures in comparison with our modern weights and measures, an index of the 9 scripture artists and which scriptures illustrations they created, and 5 pages of lines for note-taking.
It has been a joy engaging with this visually stimulating and artistic version of the NIV translation Bible and I look forward to utilizing it and learning from it in the months/years to come!
The Black Trans Prayer Book by J Mase III
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In a world where the enforced norm for life and existence marginalizes all identities that don’t ‘fit,’ identify-affirming practices are a form of life-giving resistance. As a result, ‘The Black Trans Prayer Book’ is a site of life creation and salvific resistance with God by offering interfaith prayers, poems, visual art, and a variety of other spiritual practices, created by Black Trans, Intersex, and Non-Binary authors, that demonstrate the belovedness, sacredness, and blessedness of all people to God, but specifically the people most marginalized by the powers and principalities of this world.
This text is sacred and vital space necessary for the holistic self-care and divine strength necessary for the Spirit-driven transformation work of dismantling white supremacy, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and all of the other violent sins that harm and exclude in our society, toward the evermore creation/embodiment of God’s Kin(g)dom here on our precious and physical earth. Amen
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I scratch and crawl
through fatal attempts
at prayer perfection;
seeking the right words
and phrases to crack
the code of Divine Engagement.
But then, a glance
out the window –
the vibrant blue sky and
the awkwardly fluttering pigeon –
I found God
looking at me
deeply and desirously
with an audible hearty chuckle.
The pigeon landed on a telephone wire
and shit without shame
sure of its belonging and being.
And I laughed,
deeply and uproarously,
prayer punctuating the giggles
as I felt God’s gentle caress
to not take myself
too seriously.
But to rest in the seriousness of
God’s love and desire
for me; in my
most basic needs and desires,
without shame,
as with the bumbling and shitting pigeon,
God is present with me.
We need you, oh God.
We are flawed and messed up humans who continue to divide and hurt one another.
We beseech you to intervene in the hearts, minds, and bodies of those angry and violent in Washington, and across the country, with the conviction of truth and love.
Help us to rely on your unwavering presence as we seek justice, not violence, through the power of your Spirit.
In your mysterious and loving name.
Amen.
God’s love is an open-armed greeting,
but teachings of sin caused me to pull away:
Unworthy.
God stood saddened still, but not stunned,
knowing from the human evil it came:
Control.
God sent an Advocate before I was formed
to be ever-present with me, reminding me:
Love.
God demonstrated to my heart, helping me
to see the wrong in ecclessial espoused self-hate:
Healing.
God extended means of Grace, and I retreated
drowning in family, culture, and church:
Tradition.
God persisted, loving without condition
and inviting me into the Love abundance:
Experience.
God led me to encounter texts and people
with different messages and teachings
coaxing my brain where my heart wasn’t ready:
Reason.
God opened my eyes to read and interpret
in holistic and healing ways:
Scripture.
God encountered my in God’s love through
self-love, neighborly love, and love of enemy –
a least-of-these love:
Calling.
And God’s call was to teach and to love
as a conduit of God’s love in the world:
Disciple.
Amen.
Deacon Grant 