tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314284362024-03-12T20:55:45.979-07:00what's not in the sermon...Most of the ministry that pastors do isn't in public and it doesn't make it into worship on Sunday morning - especially when that ministry is with families. This is where you'll find writing and resources from a parenting pastor, who works with youth and families and occasionally preaches too.Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-23147829909498384792024-02-28T10:24:00.000-08:002024-02-28T10:24:17.606-08:00Lent Through Your Senses<p>I’m all about small steps and short accessible faith practices to give meaning to time and bring reminders throughout our days of God’s presence in our lives. I discovered the following practice in the “<a href="https://www.mennoniteeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Lent-at-Home-2024-English.pdf" style="color: #279d70;" tabindex="-1" target="_blank">Lent at Home</a>” guide for 2024 from Mennonite Education Agency. It’s intended for Lent, but could absolutely be used any time of year and any time you have a moment (or more than just a moment) to spend outside.</p><p></p><p>When I get all wound up or anxious or I’m trying to do too many things at once, I will occasionally turn to a simple centering practice of the senses: still my body and name 5 things I see, 4 things I feel, 3 things I hear, 2 things I smell, and 1 thing I taste. Author Talashia Keim Yoder’s suggestions below remind me of that practice. I appreciate both the simplicity and how kid-friendly this way of engaging in Spirituality is. </p><p></p><p>During the days of Covid lock-down, my kids and I would go on walks - so many walks! - and try different things to make it more engaging. One of the practices we had, in addition to scavenger hunts and chalk obstacle courses (two other faves) was to test what we could notice with all our senses. Encountering God through the sound of birds rustling in the tall grass, the smell of apple blossoms, or the damp air on our cheeks. May you continue to find connections to Creator and the created world in this season! </p><p>—-</p><p><em>Jesus began his ministry with forty days in the desert, and this practice is an invitation to step into the desert with him throughout Lent. Many of us see this time in the desert as a time of starvation, hardship, and temptation, but that’s a quite narrow view! In an interview on “The Bible for Normal People Podcast,” a member of the Chickasaw Nation Chris Hoklotubbe reframes the desert time from a Native perspective. Jesus was on a 40-day spiritual quest! It was Jesus’ extended Sabbath that prepared him for his ministry. Hoklotubbe thinks that perhaps it was on his quest that Jesus came up with some of his musings like, “Consider the lilies of the field…”</em></p><p></p><p><em>So, here’s your quest. Find a moment every day during Lent to be outside in a spirit of openness. It’s okay if somedays it’s only for two minutes! When you’re outside, take in what you discover through your senses. If you want more guidance, try this:</em></p><ol><li><p><em><strong>Start with your breath</strong>. Breathe in and out, counting to 3 on your breath in and 6 on your breath out. Do this until you feel centered.</em></p></li><li><p><em><strong>Touch</strong>: What do you feel on your skin? Is it warm or cold? Breezy or still? Damp or dry? Notice the ground holding you up, the gravity that keeps you rooted.</em></p></li><li><p><em><strong>Smell</strong>: What does it smell like today? Can you identify particular scents?</em></p></li><li><p><em><strong>Taste</strong>: Stick your tongue out. Can you taste the air today?</em></p></li><li><p><em><strong>Listen</strong>: What do you hear? Can you isolate and identify particular sounds?</em></p></li><li><p><em><strong>Look</strong>: Where do you see life around you? Where do you see dormancy? What colors do you see? Other creatures? Pay some attention to the margins - what do you see where what is cultivated meets the area that is not?</em></p></li></ol><p></p><p><em>Maybe once a week you want to carve out time for a longer desert quest. If you have young children, this can be a helpful part of the daily rhythm with an extended family quest each week.</em></p>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-13488974652011749612023-12-13T10:15:00.000-08:002023-12-13T10:15:31.717-08:00A Painted Advent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UKlDj3hHSDXZGngpWb4JR9Rn3d8yMCBLAFLVQ22I7kapG-ML5z8Fz2ZFd_X3bJlkmo2e4GRacy9THQoJpPu3pBZihDytXxr1ucrkc9YAMDvoCzvMCTiFd00gPS8Ojoni2Jy1exXk3pjHzD1ZZ2is8uYu6ey6UR7LGnYapPeBC7YExqV8ezvCWg/s4032/IMG_0111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UKlDj3hHSDXZGngpWb4JR9Rn3d8yMCBLAFLVQ22I7kapG-ML5z8Fz2ZFd_X3bJlkmo2e4GRacy9THQoJpPu3pBZihDytXxr1ucrkc9YAMDvoCzvMCTiFd00gPS8Ojoni2Jy1exXk3pjHzD1ZZ2is8uYu6ey6UR7LGnYapPeBC7YExqV8ezvCWg/w300-h400/IMG_0111.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div>Sometimes when I get my kids a chocolate Advent calendar (<a href="https://shop.divinechocolateusa.com/Milk-Chocolate-Advent-Calendar/p/DIV-001071N&c=DivineChocolate@Christmas">Divine Chocolate</a>: fair trade, delicious, dark and milk options and a little bit of the Christmas story under each door) I get a calendar for myself - dark chocolate, of course. This year I didn’t, but I am giving myself a little Advent treat each day.</div><br />I understand that not everyone would feel like an art project is a treat, but it certainly is for me. Every day I choose a shade of blue or purple, add water to the pallet and fill one of the panes on my doodled stained glass window. I’ve been surprised at how, over the course of the last two weeks, I’ve had to balance the delight with seeing my window fill with color and the impatience of wanting to just paint all the panes at once. <br /><br />I had expected this little project to be just a neat way to mark the days of Advent, but it’s turned into an unanticipated exercise in patience and waiting, which is what Advent is all about, after all. With every new color, I’m tempted to just go ahead and finished the picture. With every color I need to remind myself that by the time Christmas comes the image will have become clear and whole.<br /><br />As we anticipate the arrival of Christ, it is with feelings of longing and impatience. We wonder why we have to experience the discomfort and pain and injustice of the world. We don’t like the mess the world is in and want everything to fixed and whole right now. Why isn’t God doing something?? We can also be assured that little by little, through the work of our own creative hands, God is building up a beautiful creation. That God’s creation is becoming complete. God is both coming and God is here with us now, in every colorful, heartbreaking moment.<br /><br />I pray that you are all finding meaning and beauty in this Advent, even in the messy middle of life. My practice was inspired by the artist Sybil MacBeth and her work on “<a href="https://prayingincolor.com/resources/advent-christmas">Praying in Color</a>.” If you follow that link you’ll find many templates and resources for Advent and well beyond. As a creative person and visual thinker I find her way of understanding prayer to be very meaningful. Maybe you will too. After Christmas I’ll share a picture of the completed window!Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-76275243226753647102023-05-23T15:58:00.009-07:002023-05-23T15:58:59.164-07:00Happy Birthday Church - a zine<div style="text-align: left;">A couple of years ago, during COVID, I made a little zine that I shared in care packages with church kids. I think it still stands up. And I think it's a helpful way of telling the story of Pentecost. Happy birthday, Church!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/6a1a91d6-d6f7-5783-b20a-a17c605dac0a.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/b84421b1-249e-ec11-7b29-c3cd123243e2.png" />_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/0083eea0-60b1-1dd7-934a-e17eb1a98627.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/56193b03-801f-752b-4991-8592b3c83e41.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/75ada999-86db-825e-4aa3-2387b937f8ba.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/962828d3-b2eb-aba3-293c-11e0b2fa51e5.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/29861085-dfb0-941b-f00e-195c9ac2b38e.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/9fd14853-518a-8399-ac8c-10ecb6b42f69.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________</div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-9273158166767265102023-05-10T15:13:00.005-07:002023-05-10T15:13:39.850-07:00Book Review: The Birchbark House series<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6eJMvAH6Zzh-wGDOvtEFBNh78sqbA1rRAAzomSRIEx0IJg6eiuRYzXM0VmbrbRbgWB6_9VG9W5WkWfH5pWX8Em3w3x5hnaLjBBWvRd-nFSi5R9eeqLTdfCPoHPYrao_B1J-e6Oybd-nqpIythONrmQfLRQsU4bpHNk90FPGBkjcjiI9SeeT0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6eJMvAH6Zzh-wGDOvtEFBNh78sqbA1rRAAzomSRIEx0IJg6eiuRYzXM0VmbrbRbgWB6_9VG9W5WkWfH5pWX8Em3w3x5hnaLjBBWvRd-nFSi5R9eeqLTdfCPoHPYrao_B1J-e6Oybd-nqpIythONrmQfLRQsU4bpHNk90FPGBkjcjiI9SeeT0=w640-h640" width="640" /></a></div><br />The Birchbark House series</div>by Barbara Erdrich<br /><br />It has long been my practice to center people of color and women in my own fiction reading. When I'm picking out books to read with my kids I've been less discriminating. I wouldn't read something overtly racist or sexist, but if reading Captain Underpants is what's going to get my kid interested in books, then I'll put up with a certain level of literal potty humor. But I do try a little, and ooh baby, do I have a recommendation for you. And by the way, even if you don't have elementary aged kiddos at the moment, I would have enjoyed these books simply for my own pleasure, so take a look!<br /><br />I'd known and loved Louise Erdrich's work for a long time, two of my particular favorites being <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-sentence-louise-erdrich/17388336?ean=9780062671134">The Sentence</a> and Future Home of the Living God. And I'd known that she had a series for kids but until I had a kid the right age, I wasn't motivated to take a look. I now really, really wish I'd read these much earlier. And I especially wish I'd had these books when I was a child and very into Little House on the Prairie.<br /><br />Like the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, these books are set in the mid 1800s - though slightly earlier) and they take a journey through the Midwest - though more northerly. Unlike the Little House series, which depict indigenous people as savages to be feared and white settlers as pioneers and adventurers, the stories are rooted with Anishinaabe children and their families. They start at the western tip of Lake Superior and by the second generation have migrated west to the northern Dakota territory. <br /><br />There are many of things I loved about these books. First, the window into what family life in indigenous communities looked like almost two centuries ago. The way life was tied to the seasons: rooted in one camp for spring and summer where they were close to maple sugaring trees and the garden and in another place in the winter and fall, where there was wild rice to be harvested and a place to cache food for the cold months. The way siblings across time and in all places tease and squabble and love each other. The work and play that buoyed life together, first in the woods among the birches, and then on the sweeping prairie, where camps follow the buffalo.<br /><br />I loved the integration of Ojibway words and phrases - sometimes with meanings made explicit and sometimes you needed to figure out from context clues. The main character Omakayas told her annoying little brother, "Gego, Pinch!" (stop it, Pinch!) so often that I heard Orie repeating it to himself in the days following those chapters. Erdrich provides a glossary at the end of each book, but I found that we didn't need to consult it.<br /><br />I also loved and was heartbroken by the unflinching approach to illness, death and conflict. These families experience starvation, small pox and forced migration. They endure tragedies and you mourn with them when loved ones are lost, experience their fear and despair during a kidnaping, rage when they are cheated and their belongings are stolen. But we also experience the deep love of family connection, the joy of sneaking a taste of maple sugar or learning to ride a horse for the first time, the triumph of stealing an eagle's feathers and the exhilaration of canoeing churning rapids.<br /><br />There were times while Orie and I were reading these books when I did need to stop and check if he understood what was going on. Sometimes the storyline and situations are complicated. And they are often told from a child's perspective, when the child him or herself doesn't necessarily understand what's happening. These times were often when the families in the story encountered white people whose habits, language and ways were unfamiliar. For example, when Chickadee, one of Omakayas' twin sons is 'rescued' by a wagon full of women wearing long grey gowns with funny cloths on their heads and a man with a black robe they call 'Father.' They take Chickadee to a building where they try to cut off his braids and take his warm rabbit fur clothing before he escapes.<br /><br />It was clear to me in that scenario that a priest and some nuns took Chickadee and that they wanted to 'civilize' him. But that wasn't clear to Chickadee and it wasn't clear to Orie, though it did start a conversation about they way the church treated indigenous children. Erdrich's depiction of white folks doesn't make them all into villains. In her stories both white and Anishnaabe people are good and kind, sneaky and terrible. But she does make clear that the incursion of settlement on indigenous territory is changing their way of life in a way that is difficult and sorrowful.<div><br />These books are just so nuanced and beautiful. The characters have so much life and personality. You can find them at the public library in every format. And of course, I support buying from local bookstores (Each book is only seven or eight dollars <a href="https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780063064164">at Third Place</a>). I read one in hard copy, listened to at least one audio book and read several on my e-reader. They are excellent in all the ways, but if you do read instead of listen, you'll also have access to Erdrich's soft pencil-drawn maps and illustrations. I love a book with a map!<br /><br />If you or your kids do read them, I hope you'll tell me what you think because I could talk about them all day! </div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-6316347176036401512023-05-10T15:10:00.008-07:002023-05-10T15:10:49.087-07:00Pokemon and Jesus<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGlAu17tr8DhUK4lFODX-WvuNNNDK4XR1s0D_ZC0UShKExD4-o3GEM29-5JRhCJT2VllhKCLTC_-huSD-bWztGawvG9e7O-fE7354m1Eb7r9WWXBU-zYkKTooppg9QFa-TslqDd1Y52XbipdDH4nPQy9YdTGgqRFo6aEFeo8xGR5T5v80GPs/s1400/Pokemon-Ash-Pikachu.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPGlAu17tr8DhUK4lFODX-WvuNNNDK4XR1s0D_ZC0UShKExD4-o3GEM29-5JRhCJT2VllhKCLTC_-huSD-bWztGawvG9e7O-fE7354m1Eb7r9WWXBU-zYkKTooppg9QFa-TslqDd1Y52XbipdDH4nPQy9YdTGgqRFo6aEFeo8xGR5T5v80GPs/w400-h200/Pokemon-Ash-Pikachu.webp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are somethings I know way more about after becoming a parent than I ever would have guessed I would know about. And I'm not talking about how to change diapers or help with math homework. I'm taking about things like names of dinosaurs for every letter of the alphabet, the backstories of obscure Marvel superheroes or why the My Little Ponies each have a 'cutie mark' on their butt.</div><div><div><br />I also know a little something about Pokémon. Now, of all the kid pop-culture things that I know about, Pokémon is actually sort of low on the list. But I didn't know anything about it before kids. And as I was reflecting on the relationship between God and God's people this past week, my mind made a Pokémon connection. <br /><br />When Mary receives the news that she is going to be the partner to God in bringing Jesus into the world, she proclaims God's favor. When Jesus announces the beginning of his ministry, he too proclaims God's favor. Quoting from the prophet Isaiah her says, "God has sent me to proclaim liberty to those held captive, recovery of sight to those who are blind, and release to those in prison - to proclaim the year of our God's favor." <br /><br />The thing about being favored is, you might think that it's about getting lucky. And for sure, the people who are being release from captivity probably do feel pretty lucky. But really, the thing or person that's the favorite, is the thing that you keep going back to again and again. Your favorite shirt is the one that you're always happy to pull out of the clean laundry. Your favorite ice cream is your default because you know for sure you won't be disappointed. The teacher's pet (ie. favorite) is the one who always gets called on.<br /><br />Here's the Pokémon connection. Pikachu is Ash's favorite. (Isn't he everyone's?) For those who aren't familiar, Ash is Pikachu's trainer. Each trainer works together with their Pokémon to battle with other trainers and their Pokémon. Even though Ash has others, Pikachu is the one he always calls on: "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r12w4iRBLp4">Pikachu," he famously declares, "I choose you!</a>" <br /><br />It's not just Mary and not just Jesus who are God's favored ones. They are part of a favored people and we too are each God's favorites. "I choose you!" God is saying to us even now. What is our response? Obviously not battling our beings with our phenomenal lightening powers. The clue is in Mary's song and Jesus' proclamation. Being God's favored ones means entering the training to bring release to the captive, food to the hungry, lifting up the lowly. Being God's favorite doesn't mean the easy life, but it does mean that God will continue to call on and choose us to be God's own.<br /><br />All of this might just go to show that a pastor can bring anything back around to Jesus. But may you never see Pikachu the same way again. <br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="182" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/390f6243-5d4e-3cc5-21aa-9356208dfc94.png" width="200" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-11717187903722823882023-05-10T15:07:00.002-07:002023-05-10T15:07:27.944-07:00The Radical Origins of Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-H96STVUrOEbyDQ-lEK5WmXXk53h8rHbb8SBtNbWbDYtWjP-qjKali-EtPNNBoeFq18RKxyV_71SJMBud6SsfzQDMwCzIQDbKYbHKEtut-E5e6tm1LiowFCDiceK6iJ5_8owQIOTZzLWdHNepZOhoKHCM3B-md1rBzQSZBXtm_n13YNsyBw/s1500/Julia-Ward-Howe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-H96STVUrOEbyDQ-lEK5WmXXk53h8rHbb8SBtNbWbDYtWjP-qjKali-EtPNNBoeFq18RKxyV_71SJMBud6SsfzQDMwCzIQDbKYbHKEtut-E5e6tm1LiowFCDiceK6iJ5_8owQIOTZzLWdHNepZOhoKHCM3B-md1rBzQSZBXtm_n13YNsyBw/w400-h266/Julia-Ward-Howe.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />As much as I love brunch, bouquets of spring flowers and cards with adorable hand-prints on them, these were not the intended outcome of Mother's Day when it was first suggested. The origins of this day fall to abolitionist, suffragist, author and total boss in petticoats, Julia Ward Howe, who was herself a mother of six. Ward Howe wrote her "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870 as a call for mothers of all nations to join in a council of peace, never again to see their sons and husbands lost to the violence and destruction of war.<br /><br />Ward Howe had not always been a pacifist. In fact she authored the lyrics to The Battle Hymn of the Republic to champion the fight for freedom of enslaved people. But after witnessing the carnage and chaos of the Civil War, her political activities began to include anti-war activism as well as the campaign for suffrage for women and the formerly enslaved.<br /><br />Here is Ward Howe's proclamation in full. It is still full of fire and passion. I dare you not to be roused!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">“Arise, then… women of this day!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Arise, all women who have hearts,</div><div style="text-align: center;">whether our baptism be that of water or of tears!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Say firmly:</div><div style="text-align: center;">We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage,</div><div style="text-align: center;">for caresses and applause.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn</div><div style="text-align: center;">all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country</div><div style="text-align: center;">to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It says: Disarm, Disarm!</div><div style="text-align: center;">The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Blood does not wipe out dishonor,</div><div style="text-align: center;">nor violence vindicate possession.</div><div style="text-align: center;">As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil</div><div style="text-align: center;">at the summons of war,</div><div style="text-align: center;">let women now leave all that may be left of home</div><div style="text-align: center;">for a great and earnest day of council.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let them then solemnly take council with each other as to the means</div><div style="text-align: center;">whereby the great human family can live in peace,</div><div style="text-align: center;">each bearing after [their] own kind the sacred impress, not of Caesar,</div><div style="text-align: center;">but of God.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask</div><div style="text-align: center;">that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality,</div><div style="text-align: center;">may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and at the earliest period consistent with its objects,</div><div style="text-align: center;">to promote the alliance of the different nationalities,</div><div style="text-align: center;">the amicable settlement of international questions,</div><div style="text-align: center;">the great and general interests of peace.“</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Julia Ward Howe</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-33471788568569931402022-12-01T13:52:00.006-08:002022-12-01T13:52:40.271-08:00The Best Christmas Pageant Ever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62oJuckBjLs7bra_vYxlqlsq6-Cl0WhYC0q6bM5edI9QHFCob64b0O40j41Dxu2mSOF2q1bAZ4PW5Gkt87mQhvGximFarFM3IU41CvSN2oXaUfXnStiiXC6C0nhR8HYBgoO1IBMXAsSQFw8Cn98N3Gup8bVkWIV_1Kv4bJPVQhRGQ_ZPNy4c/s1200/best%20christmas%20pageant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62oJuckBjLs7bra_vYxlqlsq6-Cl0WhYC0q6bM5edI9QHFCob64b0O40j41Dxu2mSOF2q1bAZ4PW5Gkt87mQhvGximFarFM3IU41CvSN2oXaUfXnStiiXC6C0nhR8HYBgoO1IBMXAsSQFw8Cn98N3Gup8bVkWIV_1Kv4bJPVQhRGQ_ZPNy4c/w640-h360/best%20christmas%20pageant.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>This week many of you are preparing to film scenes for our video Christmas pageant. Maybe it was because I've been coordinating this year's pageant project that I picked up our old copy of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. I wasn't sure if it would be as great as I remember from when I was Orie's age. But folks, it holds up!<br />It is seven-year-old approved. It is so fun to read out loud and to giggle together at the antics of the Herman herd. (And so much better than reading Capatain Underpants again). The Herdman kids are known in their town for being bullies and agents of chaos. One Sunday the five siblings show up at church because they've been told that there'll be cake. Much to everyone's dismay they also all volunteer to be in the Christmas pageant. There's only one problem: they've never even heard the Christmas story. This fish-out-of-water situation leads to comedy and also to some eye-opening insight into a familiar Biblical story.<br /><br />There is so much to love about this book. Above all, I love that it's so silly but still takes its characters and the story seriously. Orie keeps talking about how Imogene thinks Bill would have been a much better name than Jesus for Mary's baby.<br /><br />I love both the questions and the pronouncements made by the Herdmans as they discover the Christmas story for the first time. They "wanted a bloody end to Herod, worried about Mary giving birth in a barn and called the wise men were a bunch of dirty spies."<br /><br />I love all the characters, even prissy Alice Wendelken, who thinks she should have gotten the part of Mary but is too scared of Imogene to put up her hand, so instead she's taking notes of all the sins the Hermans are committing so she can tattle.<br /><br />I love the way the haters are put in their place. The mom who's making the best of being stuck with leading the pageant shows up the stuck-up church ladies who think the Hermans will ruin everything. She determines that this pageant whiche everyone thinks will fail will be the best Christmas Pageant ever. And it is!<br /><br />There are only a couple of asterisks I would put on my very hearty recommendation. I skipped over a couple of fat-phobic paragraphs of bullying by the Herdmans in the first chapter. And I was annoyed at the multiple mentions of a dad who's resigned to the fact that dinner's never ready for him because the mom is spending so much time working on the pageant. I mean, maybe you could make her dinner, buddy. She's got a lot on her plate. If they ever do an updated edition, these would be super things to fix.<br /><br />For me, those small details aren't worth leaving the book on the shelf. I hope you read it and tell me what you love about it. And I hope you come to church on the 18th to see our own kids and families in our non-traditional but still great Christmas Pageant. Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-86969213035814369952022-11-09T13:44:00.003-08:002022-12-01T13:49:23.896-08:00I Object: Saying No to Violence and War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOW9H4fvf-nB7O0rZE8ZOlkuEafwuLPW2miUUcdB7eZ5h4wBD1Sy49XR5RGNs5cEFUvw-yuYaNXNAxyY7AYAfPTh8eSEpaseXlJsuh9H5ltMTwneh6I4p0ncIn8Sjxya74bcxdqv4bzOMBkLzqPCHzwHVCKiBVIemporGVtHd1hv20AqGVi8/s1080/objection.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOW9H4fvf-nB7O0rZE8ZOlkuEafwuLPW2miUUcdB7eZ5h4wBD1Sy49XR5RGNs5cEFUvw-yuYaNXNAxyY7AYAfPTh8eSEpaseXlJsuh9H5ltMTwneh6I4p0ncIn8Sjxya74bcxdqv4bzOMBkLzqPCHzwHVCKiBVIemporGVtHd1hv20AqGVi8/w640-h480/objection.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div> As I was putting the finishing touches on the outline for the youth workshop on militarism and non-violence, I heard about the fatal shooting at Ingraham High School. Two beloved members of our community were in the building. Several of our families over the years have had students at Ingraham. Many of our faith family live in the neighborhood. A student was killed by another student.<div> <br />I'm sure you, like me, had the sinking, awful, scared, not-again feeling in your guts. Maybe you, like me, shed tears of grief and rage. Grief that young people continue to be endangered by their own peers with firearms, grief at the loss of life and devastation to a family, grief for the students and staff traumatized by witnessing this event, and others who will not know how to walk back into this place that has been violated, grief for the hearts of the young persons who turn to lethal violence, and absolute rage at a system and government and nation whose obsession with militarism and individual freedom continues to cause these griefs.<br /><br />Everything - EVERYTHING - that Jesus taught and lived was an embodied objection to the militaristic and violent practices of empire. He grieved and got angry about it too! And yet he even rejected the violence of those whose anger let them to rebel against their oppressors with force. We, his followers, are called to raise our voices in objection as he did. <br /><br />It's one of the reasons that I feel like the crash course I'm offering for youth on conscientious object is still relevant, even though it's been literal decades since young people have been called up by military draft. It's all connected. The same individualistic, militaristic culture that spends half its discretionary budget on "defense" is the culture which infects the hearts and minds of people - young and old - such that they wield a gun against a fellow human.<br /><br />This morning after election day I am absorbing the news with some relief that the "red wave" has not been as overwhelming as some predicted. But democrats are not going to save us from gun violence. They are not going to save us from militarism. We can, though continue to object. To cry out. To learn to articulate our opposition to violence that is rooted in the call of Jesus and modeled on the action of Jesus.<br /><br />It is extremely unlikely that any of our youth will encounter a draft board, challenging their stance on war and violence. Even so, I want them to be able to articulate their understandings of war and violence and to demonstrate that they come from a community of faith that supports them when they choose peace. That's why one of the concluding activities of the crash course is to complete a "Peacemaker Registration." It asks them how they've come to their beliefs and to "explain what most clearly shows that your beliefs are deeply held. You may wish to include a description of how your beliefs affect the way you live."<br /><br />In some ways this last question should convict us all, the grown-ups in the room, for how we live should be rooted in our own deeply held beliefs about the image of God in all humans and all of creation and our commitment to follow Jesus in the way of peace. We are the models for our children. So I am even more determined to object. To keep objecting. And to let this little class be one among many ways that I affirm love over death.</div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-3342547109028948402022-10-26T13:41:00.001-07:002022-12-01T13:43:22.351-08:00Remembering Our Saints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhatSRpaHHlYpChnFZQGEGu77KPmlbcww790pmyee5VIZFEtsfUrBZ2i02SYLZd4bElegIgrOUybo3y2o8quXC6PYFVJzWthXrsKYEEgoqwvL0pMl1J8nEkS1QSfXvw9uwqmLuAtSt2h2dRBuGtl7WsnWcE6Rpe4ks_0JVy-x0wSFABpqJFcTc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="808" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhatSRpaHHlYpChnFZQGEGu77KPmlbcww790pmyee5VIZFEtsfUrBZ2i02SYLZd4bElegIgrOUybo3y2o8quXC6PYFVJzWthXrsKYEEgoqwvL0pMl1J8nEkS1QSfXvw9uwqmLuAtSt2h2dRBuGtl7WsnWcE6Rpe4ks_0JVy-x0wSFABpqJFcTc=w553-h640" width="553" /></a></div><br />As a kid, this time of year was only and all about Halloween. Not only was there a mountain of candy and dressing up on the day, but there's a season of anticipation - of coming up with and preparing an original and creative costume. There was also was a party at school, including a parade through the classrooms. <br />In my school some of the Christian families didn’t allow their children to participate in school Halloween festivities because the holiday was viewed as non-Christian, even anti-Christian and devilish. But of course, Halloween's origins are in the church. (Or course, the church papered over even older pagan holidays, but that's another story).<br /> <br />All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Hallows Day or All Saints Day, the day to remember those saints who have been witnesses to God’s reign in times past. On this day and on All Souls Day which follows, we have an opportunity to intentionally remember those we have lost and the faithful ‘saints’ who have gone before us.<br /><br />This means the people who we read about in scripture - like Naomi and Ruth pictured above, and whose story we'll hear on Sunday - but it also means in our own lives and histories. Who do we remember from the past and what ‘saints’ are still with us? Who are the family members and beloved of God who have been and are faithful witnesses to God’s reign? <br /><br />Recently, when asked his name by a teacher, Orie gave it and then continued proudly, "I was named for my great grandpa." He knows that because we've told the story of his great-grandpa Orie Conrad, who refused to don a uniform when conscripted in the 1st World War even though conscientious objection was not yet a legal option. He suffered for it at the hands of his fellow conscripts and was ultimately jailed for a time but remained steadfast in his conviction to follow Jesus' way of peace.<br /><br />In our family we also remember and tell the stories of Joe’s grandpa and my own who did alternative service as conscientious objectors during the 2nd World War; my grandpa served in the Forestry Service in Canada and Joe’s was a smoke jumper in western Montana. Naomi recently interviewed her grandparents - my parents - for a school project, to learn about their terms with Mennonite Central Committee. In our families, these stories that witness to the way of Jesus – serving the community and eschewing violence – are reminders of how we are still called to follow Christ’s example.<br /> <br />This Sunday in worship we'll all have the opportunity to reflect on the stories of our saints - those living and those no longer among us. As we worship, we'll be engaging the idea of saints in multiple ways: through music and scripture, of course, but also by listening to each other and telling our stories and learning about and creating some saintly iconography. We will worship and create and celebrate our saints around tables in the sanctuary, so prepare for a setup that's a little different this Sunday!<br /><br />May our saints continue to guide us in the way of Jesus. And may we each be saints who show the way for others.<br />-<br />image: Naomi and Ruth by <a href="https://kellylatimoreicons.com/">Kelly Latimore</a>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-66025129467869579842022-10-05T13:38:00.001-07:002022-12-01T13:40:21.160-08:00Anointing - The Blessing We All Need<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGHfNsXapRkFbB3Mt2EP5FtVr5IX4lF9ovR2_kNbcHng0Z9_Gx-knFuUPgmPeDh7vDq9pRhwtXLB7MfEOkF4geqYCD8LWLzjEWHr3pCa3dlN-jK9yA8Qasg-vwXYpeCm-EpTJHhb9cFIvIkVLpbgRvB1TY1G0eHPlC2dUsplRxW61v59gMhbU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGHfNsXapRkFbB3Mt2EP5FtVr5IX4lF9ovR2_kNbcHng0Z9_Gx-knFuUPgmPeDh7vDq9pRhwtXLB7MfEOkF4geqYCD8LWLzjEWHr3pCa3dlN-jK9yA8Qasg-vwXYpeCm-EpTJHhb9cFIvIkVLpbgRvB1TY1G0eHPlC2dUsplRxW61v59gMhbU=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /> "Anointing with oil…is a means of God's grace and blessing intended to bring restoration of wholeness and health."<br /><br />So reads a portion of the For All Who Minister, a Church of the Brethren guidebook for worship. A very clinical definition of what I find to be one of our more embodied and also spiritual rituals of the church. Anointing is one of those times in worship when we are invited to make connections between our physical selves and our own spirit and God's Spirit. <br /><br />We're heading into the Song of Songs in our next two Sundays, a text that is deeply sensual and very much about embodied love and desire. It's also a text that has been interpreted spiritually about the passionate relationship between God and God's people. In both senses, the body - the human body created by God - is held up as good and beautiful. When we offer anointing this Sunday, that is how we will bless. Your pastors will be present to offer this blessing, not just for "restoration of wholeness" but to affirm the beauty and wholeness that is already present within you.<br /><br />Biblically, anointing is also about setting something or someone apart for God's purposes. And this sense to is one we bring to our ritual. We are blessed to do God's work in the world with these bodies, and our desires and passions are blessed too.<br /><br />One of my most precious memories of accompanying youth a Mennonite Youth Convention was when youth were invited to receive anointing during a worship service. I watched as hundreds of young people, at a time in their lives when they may be wrestling the most they ever will with body change and body image, understanding desire, heightened emotions, were blessed with oil and told that they were good. They were and are God's beloved.<br /><br />At every age we need these messages of blessed goodness and rightness. May we all receive this anointed blessing this week. And whether or not you are with us in worship, know that you too are anointed, good and beautifully made by GodAmy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-16111163101068633512022-09-07T13:34:00.001-07:002022-12-01T13:37:36.797-08:00A Just Peace Includes Just Labor Practices<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEhBfUvMfqokbj80GDsHFc41PdylOs3NBhP8XUQBFCLsYTBYMXavYK34qz4h9S2HP57V4hUt_0GTOnJBL5XNiPu2H4vuIzoHAIIGgxEuI04qHAPu16ERjMdA8HVlC7JvS4SVrTpijXUhH9Gozdw8dJA-l6Fh6Vo0bk5sK9LykCVru5WgOO18M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1241" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEhBfUvMfqokbj80GDsHFc41PdylOs3NBhP8XUQBFCLsYTBYMXavYK34qz4h9S2HP57V4hUt_0GTOnJBL5XNiPu2H4vuIzoHAIIGgxEuI04qHAPu16ERjMdA8HVlC7JvS4SVrTpijXUhH9Gozdw8dJA-l6Fh6Vo0bk5sK9LykCVru5WgOO18M=w400-h248" width="400" /></a></div><br />I have been looking forward to the routine of school rhythms and to seeing what the new school year would bring for my kids. So, the delay caused by the Seattle Educators Association is frustrating, but it also has me thinking about unions and justice for workers. I think both of my kids are just happy to have a little extra summer break, and don't care much about why, but we've talked a little about what it means to strike, what it means to be a part of a union and why workers - in this case teachers - would choose not to work in order to pressure their employers to make change.<div><br />One of my favorite books for talking about collective bargaining is the classic work of literature, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click,_Clack,_Moo">Click, Clack Moo: Cows that Type</a>. In it, Farmer Brown's cows go on strike, refusing to provide milk until Farmer Brown meets their demands: electric blankets to keep warm at night. They send their type-written messages through their mediator, the duck. Eventually, the farmer has to capitulate to their requests.<br /><br />That's a pretty over-simplified version of what it means to unionize. However, I think it makes a pretty good starting place for a conversation with a younger child - or even an older kid who remembers reading it. And it follows the definition for labor unions used by a <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/2022/09/negotiation-labormanagement-simulation/">PBS lesson plan</a> on Labor Day: "an organized association of workers formed to protect and further their rights and interests." In the case of teachers (or nurses or other service workers) strikes are often also in the interests of those they serve, even though service is disrupted in the short term. <br /><br />I'm not sure how much history or information our children and teens will encounter in their classrooms about the history and importance of labor unions and organizing. Maybe none. And yet many things we take for granted were gains made by unions: eight-hour workday, weekends, child labor laws, workplace safety, and workers’ compensation all came about because of organized labor. In additon to silly books about cows that type, there are lots of more serious options to supplement kids' education. You can find a list of picture books and YA historical fiction that address the ways that organizing <a href="https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/labor-day/">here</a> are <a href="https://astrapublishinghouse.com/2022/04/12/better-together-unions-and-organizing/">here</a>, including how children have been involved. You can also learn the pros and cons of unions in one minute from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SAzPoYEG0I">One Minute Economics</a> or hear about how unions have benefitted all workers in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=402m57yFjTM">this video</a> by Robert Reich.<br /><br />As for our striking teachers, details of what SEA is asking for in a Washington Education Association chart <a href="https://www.washingtonea.org/file_viewer.php?id=53001">here</a>. They include just wages for the lowest paid support staff and instructional assistants, especially those in special ed and multi-lingual education as well as caps on class size and caseload. All of which will both be beneficial to the workers and to the students and families they serve. To me, this is an issue of justice for both teachers and the families in our communities who have the greatest need and the highest barriers to learning and involvement.<br /><br />I plan to support the striking teachers in my neighborhood by signing up on a parent-organized rotation of bringing snacks, drinks and ice to teachers on the picket line. I also wrote to the school board encouraging them to trust teachers when they express the needs of their schools and communities.<br /><br />How are you engaging? How are you explaining unions, organizing and the teachers strike to your kids. Let me know!</div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-26116918012578451152022-05-18T16:14:00.000-07:002022-05-18T16:14:02.481-07:00Those Could Have Been My Neighbors; That Could Have Been My Child<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgZ2cWRJbakFmVW4NvOpFnoa437P1QLgPfQ-ONScSW1i7pKkiLyl05qBRvt0mt-8rXuY2uKom7YBiuM6CkRQzX5xzhbFFypmAinBJkcyLPQ5vCp-ffBsmlTMP8pm8uiSjjwrYpMoIIRRP3-gFu_GLrnbpAQiJZb8rOnavaw3MtkyNj7Dd6xCU"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgZ2cWRJbakFmVW4NvOpFnoa437P1QLgPfQ-ONScSW1i7pKkiLyl05qBRvt0mt-8rXuY2uKom7YBiuM6CkRQzX5xzhbFFypmAinBJkcyLPQ5vCp-ffBsmlTMP8pm8uiSjjwrYpMoIIRRP3-gFu_GLrnbpAQiJZb8rOnavaw3MtkyNj7Dd6xCU=w400-h224" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">These are the names of the people who were targeted and shot in a Buffalo Tops grocery store this past Saturday:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Roberta A. Drury of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 32</li><li>Margus D. Morrison of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 52</li><li>Andre Mackneil of Auburn, N.Y. – age 53</li><li>Aaron Salter of Lockport, N.Y. – age 55</li><li>Geraldine Talley of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 62</li><li>Celestine Chaney of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 65</li><li>Heyward Patterson of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 67</li><li>Katherine Massey of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 72</li><li>Pearl Young of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 77</li><li>Ruth Whitfield of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 86</li></ul>That could have been my grocery store, my neighbors. I live in a neighborhood which is still one of the few places in Seattle that is minority white, in which a majority are Black folks and other people of color. But maybe more terrifyingly, the young man who perpetrated this act of terror could have been my child.<br /><br />The teen who committed this horrifying violence - and live-streamed it for others to see! - was scarcely older than the children who live in many of our homes. He was influenced by the same social media and streaming platforms that many of our children use. How are we countering the influence of white nationalism and white supremacy with the white children in our homes? Especially the white boys.<br /><br />I found <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdlsInLFrEF/">Britt Hawthorne</a>'s comments in an Instagram Live video very inspiring and practical. She is an Anti-Racism educator who, in response to the Buffalo shooting, shared specifics tips about how to talk to children about this or any act of racist violence. It's about 15 minutes long and worth watching in its entirety, but she provides a brief written summary if you don't want to/have time to watch.<br /><br />What I found particularly helpful was the way she shared the conversation she had with her 15-year-old son about her boundaries and expectations related to how he engages with this or other violent content he encounters on social media. She invited him to consider the way viewing this violence would affect him, how the families of victims would feel about having people viewing it and why the shooter might want others to see it. She also told him very clearly that if he did encounter this or other violent images like in in social media that he disclose it to her so that she could help process it.<br /><br /><br />Hawthorn's child is not white. He is not going to be a target on social media for the white nationalism that the Buffalo shooter was influenced by, but he will absolutely be harmed by it. For those of you who love children of color your conversation may sound more like hers. My child is in the demographic of young people who will be recruited to white nationalist. Many of our children are. They too need to know our boundaries and values. We need to give them the tools that they need to counter supremacist thinking. They may already know more than we think they do and our silence will not protect them.<br /><br />Here are a few resources that I've found that I hope will help you (and me!) start or continue the conversation. I started with the first link at Embrace Race (where there are many other great resources) and found the next three there.<a href="https://www.embracerace.org/resources/4-steps-to-help-kids-push-back-against-white-nationalism">Four Steps</a> for helping kids push back against white supremacy<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/explainer/white-nationalism">Common beliefs</a> and understanding of white nationalists, including how its spread online and in schools</li><li><a href="https://www.colorlines.com/articles/dos-and-donts-talking-kids-color-about-white-supremacy">Dos and Don'ts</a> of talking to kids about white supremacy - written after the attacks in Charlottesville, but extremely relevant to today</li><li><a href="https://www.scarymommy.com/how-white-supremacy-comes-your-neighborhood">How White Nationalism sneaks in</a> through social media, calling out specific YouTubers and streamers.</li></ul>Hawthorne starts her IG live with the encouragement to resist the ostrich effect, a strong temptation for those of us who are white and can easily give in to the overwhelm and stick our heads in the sand. But she ends with ideas for action and advocacy. This is where I find the most hope: taking action as an individual, as a family and in my community to identify and resist the ideas pit our differences against each other.<br /><br />May God give us the strength and wisdom to be conspirators for love and justice.Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-51400048203839286522022-05-13T09:52:00.000-07:002022-05-13T09:52:44.842-07:00Thank God for Abortion?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thankgodforabortion.com" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1168" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWS2xenLhH7vxBVfMibauXw7kcKHYmPF9lwqV0mAHfU8wxrvVVa4MUAE9GWVIRXueKaFFM7aS3EYsh3esStmRVffrHb0dAc_bEBtV5VWHEHhSi9U3ugutj2pquVrhIWENxuDxNhnB46z4ORWDcd8AA92EIuKd3acMlUF-SOGDGB4X5ivXTPSM=w640-h294" width="640" /></a></div><br />Maybe you, like me, have been talking in your households about the recent leaked draft opinion about overturning Roe v Wade. Maybe you've been talking with your partners and friends. Have you been talking with your church?<i> There are people in your church who have had abortions</i>. Maybe you are one of them.<p></p><p>We progressive Mennonites are not alone among progressive Christians who are vocal about many liberal leaning political issues but shy away from talking openly about abortion because of the shame and secrecy that surrounds our experiences of it. But one third of people who can bear children will have an abortion in their lifetime and the majority of those who receive abortion healthcare in the US are <a href="https://www.romper.com/life/most-women-getting-abortions-are-already-mothers" target="_blank">already mothers</a>. We are not excluded.</p><p>My teen (whose most recent future career dream is OBGYN, incidentally) was listening in when her dad and I were discussing our disgust and disappointment about the likely SCOTUS ruling, asking questions about it, about the implications. We talked about some of the other likely outcomes: that this ruling will disproportionately affect people of color and those who are poor. That unwanted pregnancies increase poverty. That those who <i>can</i> afford to receive care will come to places like Washington to receive it, which will impact access for everyone. We shared our frustration that those who profess to be pro-life seem not to care much for the lives of the children and families affected.</p><p>Later, after some reflection she asked some more personal questions: Would I have an abortion if I got pregnant now. What should she do if she became pregnant? Yes, I said. Without hesitation, I would have an abortion. And while I would want the choice to be hers, I would support her in seeking an abortion. I believe all of our children who can or will be able to become pregnant and all of our children who might partner a pregnant person (ie. all of them!) should also hear this affirmation.</p><p>The God who created us cares deeply about us. About our children. God's love for us and for each human life is for the whole of our lives. I believe this means that I need to be sensitive to the ways that pregnancy and birth affect the whole lives of the people whose bodies carry a pregnancy and care for those who will be born. God wants us to thrive. That is the meaning of shalom. We are a shalom people.</p><p>The God who created us cares deeply for our freedom. God wants us to make choices that will care for our own health, the health and vibrancy of our communities and the health and flourishing of the earth. God gave us both this freedom and the responsibility to steward and care for the earth through the choices we make. God values our personhood and the ability we have to care for creation and for our own bodies.</p><p>I thank God for abortion. I thank God for abortion in the same way I thank God for birth control and for the miracle of medical science that can offer non-fertile people the ability to bear children. In the same way I'm thankful that after I miscarried, I was able to receive the surgical procedure that I needed to prevent abnormal cell growth in my body. I thank God for these interventions which give us the ability to create families (or not!) and have lives and children that can be healthy and whole and thriving in our and God's loving care.</p><p>If you are looking for more faith-based support for abortion care, I encourage you to check out the <a href="052d9e14d0b711ecb1a9f73e14377eae" target="_blank">Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice</a>. For scholarly Biblical understandings that counter the conservative Biblical narrative try the writing of <a href="http://www.ecclesio.com/2012/09/christians-and-reproductive-justice-hearing-new-voices-by-cheryl-anderson/" target="_blank">Rev. Dr. Cheryl Anderson</a>. And for a compassionate look at the balance between the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of freedom of conscience see the <a href="https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2022/5/5/a-brief-theology-of-abortion" target="_blank">Salt Project</a>. Please also learn more about Viva Ruiz, the artist whose work is pictured above at <a href="http://ThankGodforAbortion.com" target="_blank">ThankGodforAbortion.com</a>.</p><p>If you are advocating around abortion as healthcare, I encourage you to do so a person of faith. As a person who is seeking shalom in the world - God's vision for a Just Peace for all of creation. May we together grow into God's vision.</p>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-18372859209106739422022-04-20T09:59:00.001-07:002022-05-13T10:01:36.504-07:00Show Your Childfree Friends the Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7rGDCP3XkG_uut1mpJjcw8_GUU9FfWWWtI1s-EwLPAe-wUa745L3IIdcDagEIMDXdWXzlBB8IBYxhB5twEqvaDnsAanstjUok_E5GEQCzsYzGinjqRxSk0YsNoIBGaV4DkT-CrMlXepI4Af1RJnU7W0rNc9b4XG67dT9igE7XWWX7lWe_zDk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7rGDCP3XkG_uut1mpJjcw8_GUU9FfWWWtI1s-EwLPAe-wUa745L3IIdcDagEIMDXdWXzlBB8IBYxhB5twEqvaDnsAanstjUok_E5GEQCzsYzGinjqRxSk0YsNoIBGaV4DkT-CrMlXepI4Af1RJnU7W0rNc9b4XG67dT9igE7XWWX7lWe_zDk=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br />I sometimes listen to the podcast "<a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/mom-and-dad-are-fighting">Mom and Dad are Fighting</a>" in which listeners write in to the show's three hosts to answer parenting questions. I subscribe to a few different advice podcasts, though I usually gravitate more toward the comedic. In this case, though, while the hosts Zac, Elizabeth and Jamilah don't take themselves too seriously, (especially when sharing their parenting fails), they do take their listeners seriously. They often agree and support each other but come at parenting with different experiences and perspectives.<br />In a recent episode, they heard from a person who <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/mom-and-dad-are-fighting/2022/04/slates-parenting-podcast-cherishing-childless-friends">does not have kids</a> but who wants to support their friends who do. The writer reflected with disappointment and grief their experience of feeling uncared for and unsupported by their friends with children after a big accomplishment in their life. This hurt in a particular way because of the care they have always tried to show their friends and their friends' children. (I mean, this person without kids listens to a parenting podcast!) They wanted to know: is this just their friends? How should they talk to their friends about it?<br /><br />I immediately thought about the church's history of either wringing out or hanging out to dry people in the church who don't have children. Weird how these two laundry metaphors both get at the way we take our childfree folk for granted, either assuming that because they don't have kids they have all the time and energy in the world for all the church tasks and roles OR planning events and activities only with children and their nuclear families in mind.<br /><br />I think we do okay in our congregation at not making assumptions about people based on their age and/or life stage. I think we try to be inclusive. But I have had conversations with people in our church who feel like they have not been celebrated in the same way as their peers who are having babies or left out of conversations about aging when their peers are entering empty nest phase. I feel personally implicated. It's too easy to get busy with all the kid stuff and to gravitate to other parent-friends because our paths cross at kids' activities or in the school drop-off line.<br /><br />If you are a parent, I hope you reach out to someone in your life who doesn't have children to ask what's been up with them lately, celebrate a milestone or offer encouragement. Having people in my own family's life and in our church who do not have kids, whether by choice or by circumstance, is a gift! Beyond the ways these child-free folks share themselves in love and care for us, they model for our children multiple ways of living full, connected, meaningful lives as adults that have nothing to do with raising children. It is so important to name their belovedness.<br /><br />Elizabeth, Zac and Jamilah of "Mom and Dad" encouraged the letter writer to share their disappointment and hurt directly with their friends. But I hope that our friends and siblings in the church won't have to say something before we let them know how beloved they are in God's eyes and in ours.<br /><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="mcnTextContentContainer" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: black; max-width: 100%; min-width: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" style="color: #757575; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 18px 9px; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-31046347414602122692022-04-17T09:54:00.001-07:002022-05-13T09:57:57.756-07:00 Jesus Came to Live, Not to Die<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcbbXS2HSrQhZkWHTHyXkmKElj8yxPh_ipfiSmCuRnppYKW-T1atwSt3nZDbICAFY2ADagYO5GusJnU4wJbkEYA7LfIiBDnoiMWAGDrRKdpJSLcp9LfqzvlUPX_p687NwngcITvZCNLthQV2Cte-0KxWpB2aPRI5cBZKvH58KXa3VIMMMDJco"><img height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcbbXS2HSrQhZkWHTHyXkmKElj8yxPh_ipfiSmCuRnppYKW-T1atwSt3nZDbICAFY2ADagYO5GusJnU4wJbkEYA7LfIiBDnoiMWAGDrRKdpJSLcp9LfqzvlUPX_p687NwngcITvZCNLthQV2Cte-0KxWpB2aPRI5cBZKvH58KXa3VIMMMDJco=w640-h480" width="640" /></a><br />I made my child cry this Easter when I acknowledged that the Easter Bunny does not exist. I'm not sure where he got the idea that the Easter Bunny would bring him Easter goodies. It has always been pretty clear that I am the one who prepares the Easter baskets, write the treasure hunt clues and hides the eggs in the back yard. But there we were, a crying kid who's asking me, if Easter isn't about the bunny and candy and baby chicks, what is it about?? I did scramble a little to explain.<br /><br />I've been in conversations with a few people recently who have been confounded about how to explain what Easter means to the young children in their lives. They haven't wanted to replicate the harmful and violent stories of God making Jesus die sacrificially or even as an example of Jesus' great love for humanity. So many of us had it drilled into us: you're a sinner and Jesus died for your sins! But if it's not about that, then what is the death of Jesus about?<br /><br />The most succinct way of responding is by reframing the idea altogether: Jesus didn't come to die, he came to live!<br /><br />I've been impressed by the work of Traci Smith and her approach to faith formation with children and families, so I really appreciated <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu-aSH3Daqo">her conversation with two other folks</a> who have been reconsidering how we frame Jesus' death. She, <a href="https://www.holytroublemakers.com/about">Daneen Akers</a> and <a href="https://www.holytroublemakers.com/herb">Herb Montgomery</a> talk about the cross in way that both rejects the violent and harmful understandings we may have been taught and distills it in a way can be understood by children.<br /><br />My own distillation of their conversation is this:<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Stick to the story</b> - Find a good children's book or bible that sticks to what the bible says or use the Bible itself. There's not much need to extemporize if you say: "This is the story that Easter celebrates," and then read or tell it. (I'll include some suggestions below)</li><li><b>Acknowledge Jesus' death as execution</b> - God didn't kill Jesus, people did; scared, angry people who were worried that his power might mean they wouldn't be powerful any more. God is never please when a person is harmed or killed.</li><li><b>Speak the good news of new life</b> - the power of the Gospel story is that God raised Jesus from the dead. That doesn't mean that those who we love who have died will live again, but it does mean that Jesus' story wasn't over. Jesus lived again to keep preaching about God's love and to send his disciples to share God's message of love, forgiveness and new beginnings.</li></ul>The reason for the eggs and bunnies and flowers, I told my distraught child, is that all of those things show us about new life. Plants and the earth around us have been cold and dark and dead all winter. In spring, when plants are growing, and animals are being born, we remember the new life that Jesus experienced and that God's love brings us new life and new beginnings too. (I actually wasn't quite as eloquent as that, that's the gist.)<br /><br />I think that an Easter that celebrates the newness of life, the power of God's love over the violence of the world can engender empathy for the pain and suffering of the world in a way that believing God required suffering does not. May we all understand ourselves to be loved and blessed by this God who brings life.<br /><br />Books for telling the Easter story:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Children of God Storybook Bible</i> - Desmond Tutu</li><li><i>Growing in God’s Love: A Storybook Bible</i> - edited by Elizabeth Caldwell</li><li><i>Jesus is Risen</i> - Augostino Traini</li><li><i>Miracle Man</i> - John Hendrix</li><li><i>This is the Mystery of Easter</i> - Amelia Dress Richardson</li></ul></div><div>For a more middle/high grade look at the theology of atonement through a non-violent lens, the profile of <a href="https://www.holytroublemakers.com/herb">Herb Montgomery</a> in Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints sums up Herb's approach. (There are several other free profiles there as well, including <a href="https://www.holytroublemakers.com/bayard">Bayard Rustin</a> and <a href="https://www.holytroublemakers.com/gallery/pv6148u2et3g8wsya7zjojvd8b1qgs">Gustavo Gutierrez</a>.) And if you want to go even further down that rabbit hole, check out his talks on <a href="https://renewedheartministries.com/presentation/Nonviolence-and-the-Cross?msds_pif_cat=whatifjesushadbeenawoman">nonviolence and the cross</a>, where he draws heavily on liberation and womanist theologians.</div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-19446774027163994022022-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:002022-01-27T09:04:33.943-08:00Seize Joy Where It May Be Found<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHQ5IUxVW5oPaKyasYuBVHrPRw6waj6Hedwp3Cb5DImvePZ-8JJ7FzGF3Mg2B7whMopekXqFnZ5cJlKKyYn5Ym0i5HeSSOLtmvCaBmfGb_lWeQpal-4Oo6ZKr-fIYQb_IvRN0pwEqe19Vn86SlRiLUD9v6SJgFRr9mCHDay7Kwynii_o5s6as=s5536" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="5536" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHQ5IUxVW5oPaKyasYuBVHrPRw6waj6Hedwp3Cb5DImvePZ-8JJ7FzGF3Mg2B7whMopekXqFnZ5cJlKKyYn5Ym0i5HeSSOLtmvCaBmfGb_lWeQpal-4Oo6ZKr-fIYQb_IvRN0pwEqe19Vn86SlRiLUD9v6SJgFRr9mCHDay7Kwynii_o5s6as=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br />"What if I was in Sophie's body and Sophie was in my body?" <br /><br />Sophie is our big, goofy dog. I am not a dog person. I did not particularly want a dog, but my family wore me down and I'll admit, she's a very good girl. Like all dogs, she loves treats, gets very excited about going for walks, snarfs up any crumb that falls on the floor, goes nuts for a squeaky toy and licks her butt. She was doing this last one as I was asked the question above by my six-year-old.<br /><br />I said, because what six-year-old doesn't like to talk about butts, "Do you think you would lick your butt like Sophie does?"<br /><br />"What? No!"<br /><br />"Would you wait at my feet while I'm cooking, just in case I drop something?" <br /><br />That one he thought about a little more. I started laughing, thinking of how silly it would be if my child acted like a dog and if Sophie started acting like a human child. Together we giggled as we thought of the different scenarios and ways that it would be funny and ridiculous to experience a human/dog body swap. <br /><br />Even in the best of times, I have a personality that tends more toward curmudgeonliness than the whimsy. I lean more toward critique than appreciation. More staid than silly. Even more so than usual, in the interminable days of the pandemic, I find myself struggling to engage in delight and gratitude and affirmation. <br /><br />To fend off the panic and sorrow, I turn the radio off when another doom-laden news item is being reported on. I try and sometimes succeed in not being entirely critical and demanding with my children and spouse. I use screens for escape. I get outside. Still, I haven't found anything that truly feeds and nurtures a sense of joy that is hard for me to come by at the best of times.<br /> <br />So I was surprised to find myself not only enjoying the ridiculousness of our little flight of imagination but returning to that moment in my mind all the next day. That moment - and it truly was only a short interaction - got me thinking about how I can seize moments of joy when the Spirit presents me the opening. I could have said, "Oh, you're so silly, Dogs can't be people." and that would have been that.<br /><br />I did have that inclination a day or so later when I was asked, "What would you wish for if you could wish for anything." Just at that moment, the conflict in the Ukraine was being reported and true to form, my first thought was, How can I choose between world peace and the end to the climate crisis and for the pandemic to be over and, and, and... So I said something boring and dumb like, that all people would care about each other and the earth. <br /><br />But then I backtracked. I said, "But really, if it's just for myself, I wish for a swimming pool." <br /><br />"Where would we put a swimming pool?"<br /><br />"How about on the roof?"<br /><br />And again, we were off. Imagining how we'd get to a pool on the roof, deciding that actually a hot tub would be better in this weather, that definitely we'd some very good floaty toys.<br /><br />"God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit." These moments when I let myself seize the tiny moments of joy were a gift of that same Spirit - blowing in unexpectedly. <br /><br />I pray that you all may also find and seize the joy that the Spirit want to offer you<br />--<br />Photo by <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=4ddc63c7f4&e=5fc438b514">Dominika Roseclay</a> from <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=fc95124188&e=5fc438b514">Pexels</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-28012013098832757232022-01-05T13:50:00.000-08:002022-01-05T13:50:10.347-08:00Year in Review, 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPi4MmHG6AetuNxvmVrLFoiaycn8aLQNnrKO79bu9fKKhtljBk3gAp3D-hAAE-GVqYLSSBPjtLJAEatW6pyo-EJftnQQIZrQRe28Imy3RVKcZVinUSS1DwSGf9wfEhad1TK25PQPDR9Kd9-rzNbRdMqXfi28bzhQV2Xw3K9cBV01lDdbPD3FE=s5472" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPi4MmHG6AetuNxvmVrLFoiaycn8aLQNnrKO79bu9fKKhtljBk3gAp3D-hAAE-GVqYLSSBPjtLJAEatW6pyo-EJftnQQIZrQRe28Imy3RVKcZVinUSS1DwSGf9wfEhad1TK25PQPDR9Kd9-rzNbRdMqXfi28bzhQV2Xw3K9cBV01lDdbPD3FE=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Have you ever felt bad for not writing a year-end letter like all those put-together families who dependably send an annual year-end card? A card that's filled with beautiful pictures of their family along with a note or letter that shares what's happened in the past year. I have. I have also absolutely delighted in the pictures and the updates from some y'all or friends I'm mostly not in touch with anymore. Some of them are propped up on my desk or stuck to my fridge.<div><br />If you've felt the pressure to conform with the Christmas-letter masses, I'm here to release you; sending the letter or card isn't going to make you more worthy or interesting or lovable. You are all those things no matter what. If sharing a family picture and letter gives you joy, yay! Keep it up; your friends appreciate it. If you'd like to try a low-ish pressure letter-writing method that I started a couple of years ago which makes this task feel a less like a chore and more like a Spiritual practice, keep reading.<br /><br />Real quick, though, here's a hot tip: a "Christmas" letter doesn't have to be at Christmas. I recently received an All-Saints Day letter (by email - a letter also doesn't need to be in the mail) from someone that included both her life update and gratitude to people who were her 'saints' in 2021. And I've sent both a Valentine's Day Letter and a Lunar New Year letter when those were the holidays nearest when I got around to sharing updates to my family and friends.<br /><br />Okay, here's what I really want to share. I learned it from another family's annual letter. No point keeping secrets - it was Rex and Lenae. They shared (and still share) interesting or eventful or fun things about each month and I wondered how they remembered all the details. Turns out they were keeping track! Simple as that. So I started to keep track too. With no set schedule or routine, just whenever I think of it, I write down events or achievements or things of note that have happened that day or that week. I try to do it at least once a month.<br /><br />I might take note of the start of school in person, a birthday, a funny thing someone said. Maybe it's getting vaccinated or planting a garden or a new interest someone's getting into. I also try to think about what I've been thankful for each month and to notice what's felt especially hard. No surprise there was a lot of Covid-related and things-we-did-at-home content in my 2021. <br /><br />At the end of the year (or at Lunar New Year) I take a look back over the notes I've made. Not everything makes it into the letter. I edit things down a bit. But part of the beauty of this way of doing the letter is the opportunity to remember where we were and what we were doing throughout the year and giving thanks. This year especially I was thankful for all we made it through!<br /><br />You might already be a journaling type and have a place to put these little notes. But a notes app on a phone would probably work pretty well. Last year I set aside a couple pages in a notebook I use for doodles and hand-lettering. The year I just tucked a couple pieces of printer paper into my planner that I'll move along to wherever I am at the moment. <br /><br />I also include pictures in my letter, which seems slightly redundant in the age of social media, but it does liven up the page a little. May you find grace and blessing in the moments of 2022, whether or not you are writing them down.</div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-13249432763537742982021-12-07T14:24:00.001-08:002021-12-07T14:24:23.814-08:00A Wombat, A Nativity and A Mystery<p> <span style="text-align: justify;">I've been pulling from my pile of Christmas stories for use in worship during Advent. In one of my very favorites Australian animals put on a nativity play. Wombat is eager to try out for a part. Not only do we learn that a </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://animalia.bio/numbat" href="https://animalia.bio/numbat" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">numbat</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> and a </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://animalia.bio/greater-bilby" href="https://animalia.bio/greater-bilby" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">bilby</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> are animals (both - no surprise - marsupials), we see these adorable animals comfort poor Wombat when none of the roles is quite right for him. Until...they all realize that there's one role that's just perfect. </span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://youtu.be/Ku6E61bUvQo" href="https://youtu.be/Ku6E61bUvQo" target="_blank"><img data-cke-saved-src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/de36cd57-51e3-6209-c4cc-3d3ca7563473.jpg" data-file-id="13080756" height="160" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/de36cd57-51e3-6209-c4cc-3d3ca7563473.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: 160px; margin: 0px; width: 400px;" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh. My. Goodness. This book will definitely make your heart grow three sizes. Pastor Megan read it on Sunday because I was keeping my coughs and sneezes at home. You can see that portion of worship <a data-cke-saved-href="https://youtu.be/Ku6E61bUvQo" href="https://youtu.be/Ku6E61bUvQo" target="_blank">on our YouTube channel</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img data-cke-saved-src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/_compresseds/13a6d29e-8186-404b-8f6e-0159753deff5.jpg" data-file-id="1042035" height="241" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/_compresseds/13a6d29e-8186-404b-8f6e-0159753deff5.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: 241px; margin: 0px; width: 500px;" width="500" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another one of my favorites for Christmas is <em>The Nativity. </em>This gem takes the King James Bible version of the nativity story (I edit liberally while reading) and adds Juli Vivas' gorgeous illustrations. I wrote about it a couple years ago and many of our families received one with their Advent materials last year, thanks to the generosity of Rex and Lenae, who also love it. If your family didn't get one yet, please let me know!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="The Christmas Mystery: Gaarder, Jostein: 9781559213950: Amazon.com: Books" data-cke-saved-src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51UxyXjS6pL.jpg" height="267" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51UxyXjS6pL.jpg" style="border: 0px initial; float: left; height: 267px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 200px;" width="200" />Finally, I'm currently on Day 7 of <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58301.The_Christmas_Mystery?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=sUiZE5GadV&rank=1" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58301.The_Christmas_Mystery?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=sUiZE5GadV&rank=1" target="_blank"><em>The Christmas Mystery</em></a> by Jostein Gaarder. This one's not a picture book, though it does have lovely chapter illustrations by Rosemary Wells, whose style I recognized immediately from the Max and Ruby and Yoko books. In a little bookshop in Norway, Joachim discovers an old advent calendar label "Magic Advent Calendar." Each day when he opens a door he's thrown into the story of another child - a little girl from 50 year ago. In the company of an angel, a lamb, a shepherd and likely other characters I haven't learned of yet, a little girl named Elisabeth is running backward in time and space to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. <br /><br />I love a story within a story. I love a little magical realism. I love fiction that takes faith seriously. And I love that at this moment there isn't much that interests both my teen and my six-year-old but so far they're both into it! The chapters are short, fun to read aloud, and I could totally see this becoming an Advent tradition in our household. One that's way better than chocolate - however fairly traded it is. I offer gratitude and appreciation to Cindy Spencer for introducing me to this one. <br /><br />A blessing on your Advent reading and other activities. </div>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-12691532710512270032021-11-24T14:36:00.001-08:002021-12-07T14:40:05.666-08:00Breath and Bones<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="360" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/cfc08d26-d85a-b660-e353-8fa7e0c7bf79.jpg" width="640" /></div><br />Our bodies are pretty amazing. It is a marvel to me when I really reflect on it, that these bags of meat and bones become bodies that breathe and balance upright, never mind do all the beautiful things they can do! The text from Ezekiel that we're hearing in worship this week speaks to specifically to the breath of God enlivening dry, dead bones. His experience with the breath of God got me thinking about a favorite craft from when I was a kid: turning my name into a body of bones. <br /><br />I'm pretty sure we'd have done it on Halloween, but I like connecting it with this story and the prophecy of Ezekiel to the bones: Let these bones live! It's a fun way to introduce the bonkers story of Ezekiel to someone while getting your fingers a little sticky together.<br /><br />I put the instructions to the bones craft below. Before you jump there, I want to offer you a moment to breathe. Do it now! Take a deep breath. Now, if you want to keep breathing, you can use these words as a prayer:<br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> Breath in: Breathe upon these bones.<br /> Breath out: Let these bones live.</blockquote> Repeat as necessary. <br /><br />It's, like, science or something that when we still ourselves and breathe we decrease our heartrates and reduce our stress. Breath makes space. May this prayer make space for the life of the Divine in you and give your weary bones new life. Now onto the craft...<br /><br />Here's what you need: A piece of colored paper or construction paper, a have sheet of white paper, scissors, glue and a pencil.<br /><img height="225" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/a048f4b0-74a0-82a5-b4be-d52dfc7adb5d.jpg" width="400" /><br />Fold the white paper in half the short way and write your name with the bottom of the letters on the fold. Then fatten out the letters, making sure they touch each other.<br /><img height="225" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/a5ab94e5-3b55-385c-3f01-d14658281b65.jpg" width="400" /><br />Cut around the letters and unfold.<br /><img height="225" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/3b042932-274f-3338-94d8-ee9b212a70c1.jpg" width="400" /><br />Glue down the unfolded letters to make the rib-cage of the living bones, pencil side down. Use strips cut out from the remaining white paper to make legs and arms and an oval for the head.<br /><img height="225" src="https://mcusercontent.com/d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b/images/d3cb9156-3126-6dae-cd1e-9df5fa37785d.jpg" width="400" /><br />Voila! May your bones be enlivened by the Spirit of God within you.<br /><br /><br />Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-37734570753859912732021-11-09T15:06:00.001-08:002021-11-09T15:06:30.007-08:00Opting Out: Chosing NOT to Register for Selective Service<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YlH5IyLlQM0/YYr-BpxVguI/AAAAAAABA0c/bYcGjyAKVvkTwixFNEvCqe7V_uu6wYEwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/pexels-krzysiek-121942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YlH5IyLlQM0/YYr-BpxVguI/AAAAAAABA0c/bYcGjyAKVvkTwixFNEvCqe7V_uu6wYEwwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/pexels-krzysiek-121942.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Thursday is Veteran's Day. Some of our kids might be encountering assignments in school that invite them to write about and celebrate veterans, assemblies that either glorify military or recruitment visits by armed forces representatives. When I was a kid in Canada, we glued crepe paper poppies to construction paper and copied out the poem "<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields">In Flanders Fields</a>" by Canadian poet John McRae. It memorializes fallen veterans and invokes the living to "take up our quarrel with the foe." Honestly, I hadn't re-read that poem for many years and yikes!<br /><br />As peace-making followers of Jesus, who want to encourage our children to encounter calls to militarism or even to remembrance with alternative kinds of activities. In the past, some of our parents have worked with their children on alternatives like researching heroes of peace in their families or communities, or excusing their children from attending Veteran's Day assemblies. We will not take up the quarrel, thank you. But until recently, many families haven't felt like they had an alternative for registering for Selective Service. <br /><br />The Selective Service System is a program by which young men who have turned18 are required within 30 days to join a registry that names them as eligible for military service in the case of the draft. There is no way to register as a conscientious objector pre-emptively. There are almost no exceptions, though one of the things that is a part of my work with youth in our congregation is returning periodically to a Conscientious Objection registration, which helps young people (of all genders) record their beliefs about war and violence and the call of Jesus to peacemaking. In the case of a draft, those young people would have their beliefs documented should they claim CO status.<br /><br />There is good news! I <a href="https://www.gwhatchet.com/2021/09/27/officials-should-organize-outreach-campaign-to-clarify-recent-fafsa-changes-experts-say/">learned earlier this year</a> that those who refuse to complete registration to the Selective Service System are no longer excluded from receiving federal financial aid. Until now, failing to register meant that access to <a href="https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa">FAFSA </a>was barred. This has been one of the major hang-ups of many young people who are trying to decide whether or not to complete the application. Choosing to opt out of adding your name to the list of those willing to be "take up the quarrel" doesn't seem like much of a choice if it means that you then won't have money for higher education.<br /><br />That doesn't mean there aren't still some consequences: those who are of age "must register to be eligible for state-funded student financial aid in many states, most federal employment, some state employment, security clearance for contractors, [some federal] job training...and U.S. citizenship for immigrant men." <br /><br />And "failure to register with Selective Service is a violation of the Military Selective Service Act. Conviction for such a violation may result in imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of not more than $250,000." (More on all that <a href="https://www.sss.gov/">here</a>). However, my understanding about those consequences - particularly the legal implications - is that no one has been prosecuted for decades. <br /><br />One additional tidbit that I learned is that in some states, any application for a state learner’s permit, driver’s license or renewal, or I.D. card equates consent to have information automatically transferred to Selective Service for registration if you are between the ages of 18-26. But Washington is not one of those states! So that's an additional heads up to look carefully at those forms to make sure you're not opting in when filling out those first forms for learners permits or renewing drivers' licenses.<br /><br />Folks, however your spending this Veteran's Day, may the peace of Jesus light your way.<br /> <p></p>Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-2030634964599885292021-11-02T15:07:00.008-07:002021-11-09T15:10:07.829-08:00November: Indigenous Heritage Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m-ZG_zXrYAo/YYr_frPDD5I/AAAAAAABA0k/1nT0Xe5m8F4LjpKvTWv5vYd7Y4owOUJ_wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="1400" height="133" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m-ZG_zXrYAo/YYr_frPDD5I/AAAAAAABA0k/1nT0Xe5m8F4LjpKvTWv5vYd7Y4owOUJ_wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />With the beginning of November comes the beginning of Indigenous Heritage Month. It's seeds were sown in 1976 when a Cherokee/Osage politician named Jerry C. Elliott-High Eagle authored Native American Awareness Week legislation. Ten years later, in 1986, the first week recognizing the heritage and cultural significance of indigenous peoples was proclaimed by Ronald Reagan who named November 23-20 American Indian Week. Finally in 1990, George W. Bush named November National Native American Heritage Month.<br />In worship we adults always acknowledge the Duwamish on whose land we gather. We hope that's language that is become internalized for our children who are present as well as for ourselves. But how else can we engage with indigenous culture and heritage in a respectful way? I went into an internet rabbit hole. The article <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=fd4792b95a&e=dc0c6dfe63">Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Do's and Don'ts</a> by Ruth Hopkins (Dakota/Lakota Sioux) has some base-line starting places but I have some more specific suggestions.<br /><br />Locally, we have such a great resource in the Duwamish Longhouse. You could visit the Longhouse for special exhibit <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=b4734f2e4b&e=dc0c6dfe63">The Spirit Returns</a> or for the native art market on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Or explore contemporary and historical indigenous art at <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=b997f2ed1b&e=dc0c6dfe63">The Burke Museum</a>, where you can also treat yourself to some fry bread at <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=944df4a820&e=dc0c6dfe63">Off the Rez Cafe</a>. (For more about fry bread, I definitely recommend <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=01d8dd023b&e=dc0c6dfe63">Fry Bread</a> by Kevin Noble Maillard (Seminole). He tells so much history of indigenous people in North American through a fun rhymey book with beautiful illustrations. Follow the link for a video of him reading and talking about it).<br /><br />Looking for other literature for youth and children I rediscovered the <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=6933ce54e0&e=dc0c6dfe63">American Indians in Children's Literature</a> blog. Not only does Dr. Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo), author of the blog, post her 'Highly Recommended" books for children, she also shares red flags and things to avoid. Her (very long) list of Thanksgiving books to take off your shelf include some that might seem like beloved chestnuts: eg. Charles Schultz's Peanuts crew, Richard Scarry and the Berenstain Bears. Dr. Reese also offers ways to take action with publishers who are distributing books containing harmful images and ideas and so many other resources and tips for choosing kid lit featuring indigenous people.<br /><br />A couple of authors that I can recommend are <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=c9020cc3c1&e=dc0c6dfe63">Richard Van Camp</a> (Dene) <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=0a1640ede9&e=dc0c6dfe63">Julie Flett</a> (Metis) <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=0417fbcd27&e=dc0c6dfe63">Cynthia Leitich Smith</a> (Muskogee) and <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=e849bb2910&e=dc0c6dfe63">Louise Erdrich</a>. All of these authors write both about indigenous people in history and about the lives of indigenous people now - combating the myth that somehow Native folks have disappeared and are a part of our history but not our present. <br /><br />If you'd like to throw your money at indigenous artists and entrepreneurs, visit 8th Generation to purchase their products or see their guide to <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=7aa95f4af5&e=dc0c6dfe63">Native owned establishments and holiday events</a> around Seattle. Check out the curated gift box of indigenous books and products by <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=ab73d750cc&e=dc0c6dfe63">Raven Reads</a> (they have a specifically kid-focused box), or the gifts boxes or other products by <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=4b1b3e0862&e=dc0c6dfe63">Sweetgrass Trading Company</a> or the subscription boxes by <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=c1d57bf3fc&e=dc0c6dfe63">Indigenous Box</a> (I'm seriously considering this for my sister-in-law for Christmas).<br /><br />If you have ideas or suggestions or practices that honor and recognize First Nations neighbors or Thanksgiving practices that upend the traditional narrative, I'd love to hear them. Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-12731428430256941932021-10-27T15:10:00.001-07:002021-11-09T15:14:40.727-08:00Listen Past the Noise<p> </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; min-width: 100%; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding: 9px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; min-width: 100%; text-align: left; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 9px;" valign="top"><img height="323" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/mjZmZJOlC-VLn3EluXWD32JW8arhD1LRSPE9u9wzPfMrNvr76bsltPZ0ScaajUeOiqv8SpKaPU8g20BOq4NLdF4GHzz0P_JaEI1TQgcYluBJXKPfbNbOnNKhN-V2pCmo0Xs7g-yof7pIyj-U3Hh8WxoWLa98Yg=w640-h323" width="640" /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>This week in worship, the text from the narrative lectionary is the story of Elijah, who goes up on Mt Horeb to encounter God. He experiences an earthquake and a fierce wind and great fire. God isn't in any of those noisy and mighty phenomena. Instead, God come to Elijah in a "still, small voice" (KJV) or "a sound. Thin. Quiet" (CEB) or "the sound of sheer silence." (NRSV) While each of these versions translates the experience differently, it's clear that though sometimes God does who up with great force, this time Elijah needed to listen very closely and careful to hear God speaking.<br /><br />In the time with children I'll be featuring <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=10e21d3ed1&e=dc0c6dfe63">Gabi Snyder's</a> book <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=0d464c630b&e=dc0c6dfe63">Listen</a>, which invites readers to "Listen past the noise." I love the way this book illustrates the practice of mindfulness and attentiveness. From the moment the featured character steps out of her house into the "big, wild world," she's surrounded by noise: barking dogs, honking cars, zooming motorbikes. She closes her eyes. "What if you stop... and listen? Can you hear each sound?" the book asks. She keeps noticing: not just the thump-thump of jump ropes and the crunch of gravel, but words of delight and hurt spoken by friends and classmates.<br /><br />The care with which Gabi Snyder invites her readers to attend to the world around them reminds me of the mindfulness practice of noticing with the senses. Take a minutes to notice:<br /> - 5 things you can see<br /> - 4 things you can hear<br /> - 3 things you feel<br /> - 2 things you can smell<br /> - 1 thing you can taste. <br />As I close my eyes now in my office and listen, I hear banging and clanging from the construction site across the parking lot, the click-clack of keys in Lee's office next door and the quiet hum of the florescent light above my head. Slowing down long enough to hear those things also slows and deepens by breathing and helps me be more aware of my own body and heart.<br /><br />This book does that too. The girl is able to hear many sounds, but she also listens past the noise, and then past the silence. She hears the sounds of her body, the sounds of her feelings. The author asks children to think about what they hear when they listen to the quiet. The whoosh of breath? The voice inside?<br /><br />In our understanding of the way God speaks, sometimes that tiny voice inside is a hint of God speaking. And until we quiet ourselves enough to hear, we just won't. The still, quiet space we make for ourselves can also make space for God or for our understanding of God within to grow.<br /><br />You can find this book at the library or buy it from a local bookshop. But a quick cheat is to find it on YouTube and either listen to reader or pause and click through the pages read it yourself. The best one I found for pictures is <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=7978a06ea4&e=dc0c6dfe63">here</a>. For more book on mindfulness and careful listening I suggest the Susan Verde and Peter Reynolds "I Am..." book series, especially <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=2b3c37c310&e=dc0c6dfe63">I Am Peace</a>. I also like <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=fcce3c5069&e=dc0c6dfe63">Breathing Makes it Better: a Book for Sad Days, Mad Days, Glad Days, and All the Feelings In-between.</a> by Christopher Willard and Wendy O'Leary.<br /><br />I'd love to hear what you heard when you listened. Or what practices help you and your family make space for the still, small voice of God.<br />--<br />Photo by <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=b5328fecb8&e=dc0c6dfe63">Pelageia Zelenina</a> from <a href="https://seattlemennonite.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d624d940650bf9f0734f3497b&id=4c86eb0c80&e=dc0c6dfe63">Pexels</a><br /><br />Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-23938199102310298212021-10-13T10:17:00.007-07:002021-10-13T10:17:56.741-07:00OWL and the Image of God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9xuQVNHsrrM/YWcUakVLF_I/AAAAAAABAec/T6jSb_5z65IbW7nhhnGfeMFlkcwoM7q7QCLcBGAsYHQ/Owls-Indonesia-rain-653797.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="190" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9xuQVNHsrrM/YWcUakVLF_I/AAAAAAABAec/T6jSb_5z65IbW7nhhnGfeMFlkcwoM7q7QCLcBGAsYHQ/Owls-Indonesia-rain-653797.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />This week ten youth from SMC and EMC met outside in the rain, sheltering under a beautiful but very soggy canopy tent. We squeezed inside for our first session of <a href="https://www.uua.org/re/owl">Our Whole Lives</a> - a values based human sexuality curriculum that is grounded in justice and inclusivity, responsibility, sexual health and self worth. <br /><br />Did I speak aloud many synonyms for private parts? Yes. Did I badly draw both an eggplant and peach emoji? Yes. We got all that awkwardness out there so that we can also talk about what makes talking about sex so challenging. And then we made a covenant, committing to respect, confidentiality, openness and tolerance as we explore the vulnerable topic of our sexuality. <br /><br />As we head into next month, youth will get some of the science-y body-part diagram learning that they may already have encountered in health class. But they'll also begin thinking about body image and how they perceive their own and others' bodies. In OWL, we affirm that each of us is created in God's image. As such, each of us is created good. <br /><br />Even those of us who have spent years with the idea of our inherent goodness as creatures of God have a hard time remembering that we are made in God's image, that our bodies are something to affirm and love. Teens who are encountering the pressures of social media, and peer expectations are also in the midst of sorting out the feelings and experiences happening in their own brains and bodies. It's a lot.<br /><br />OWL's approach is to give teens what they need to have both the knowledge about the science-y stuff and the tools to deal with the relational and emotional stuff. Both are important for making healthy, self-affirming choices about sexuality. As a parent I've tried to do those things as my kids are growing: offer the social emotional support and the straightforward facts about bodies without the shame or judgment that often wrapped around anything verging on sexuality. As a pastor I'm grateful to have a curriculum like OWL offer a systematic and comprehensive approach to the topic.<br /><br />If you are a parent who is looking for resources to talk about sex or bodies or sexuality in an age-appropriate way, you can first check out my MWM from about a year ago on <a href="https://mailchi.mp/51bcc3c48b77/midweek-message-sex-talking-to-teens-and-teens-to-be">sex, teen and teens to be </a>and scroll the the last half that has some links and suggestions. I'm not an expert, but I so love going down internet rabbit holes, so I welcome that opportunity if you want to be in touch with me and I can help find what's right for your family. <br />--<br />Photo by Tanto Yensen. The rare small species of owl, known locally in Indonesia as the Celepuk owl, are endemic to the island of Java, Indonesia. But I have a hard time believing they are not Muppets. More photos <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/653797/Adorable-wet-owls-Javan-Scops-shelter-from-rain-under-leaf">here</a>.<br />Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-64248450218829800112021-09-30T09:16:00.000-07:002021-09-30T09:16:32.930-07:00Why is there a tent on the sidewalk?<p style="text-align: center;"> What you can say to (and do with) kids about homelessness.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PXqgJLG9yY0/YVXiKPJamYI/AAAAAAABAWg/GN0ag9LhkQwdWJ9wuryeFe-_U7GMIQJHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/brandi-alexandra-n3z6AhIbXVE-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1294" data-original-width="2048" height="405" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PXqgJLG9yY0/YVXiKPJamYI/AAAAAAABAWg/GN0ag9LhkQwdWJ9wuryeFe-_U7GMIQJHgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h405/brandi-alexandra-n3z6AhIbXVE-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Our church, and I'm sure many of you, are encountering people who are unhoused daily. It's evident in growing encampments and an ever-present conversation in media as we anticipate city-wide elections. I don't have all the answers (or even many!) but as with so many things, it can be helpful to think through how you might answer kids' questions before they ask, or to be prepared to talk about an encounter or experience when it happens. <br /><br /><b>Why is there a tent on the sidewalk? </b> (Or a person sleeping on a bench, or holding a sign asking for money). Most of our kids connect tents with camping or fun back-yard sleepovers. But more and more lately we've been seeing tents and encampments on our public sidewalks and parks, tucked away in unused greenspaces or on the sides of highways and under overpasses. It's only natural that children would ask. The only problem is that the answers aren't easy. <br /><br />The very simple answer - and one I have given - is that the person doesn't have enough money to live in a house. Children might not know that it costs money - and in Seattle quite a lot of money - to live in a house or apartment. I remember conversations with my older child, when we were still renters, about how we had to pay someone else each month to live in our home.<br /><b><br />Why don't people have enough money? </b>It's never just one reason and each person has their own story, probably with many layers. I'd suggested starting with, "We don't know." Certainly avoid starting with reasons that blame, like, "They're lazy." or "They're a drug addict." The reasons folks don't have enough money are often beyond their control: rent went up, they were downsized or lost a job because of COVID, they got hit with a medical bill they couldn't pay, they're a kid who got kicked out because they're queer, they were left by a spouse whose income they depended on, they were trafficked. <br /><br />You could suggested any of these as possibilities. Older children and teens could certainly engage in conversation about some of the systemic reasons for all the above: lack of a living wage or access to education, the high cost of health of childcare, mental illness and addition, disability, generational poverty and the growth of the wealth gap in our region has led to people being pushed out of their homes or further to the edges of community.<br /><br /><b>Could that happen to us? </b> This might be concerning to young children especially, who don't have a handle on their own family's financial security. It's important to be honest but also offer assurance. I venture to say that I don't think the children in our congregation are in danger of losing their homes. If that's true for your child, of course say so. But sometimes families are homeless. <br /><br />Recently <a href="https://www.today.com/video/-sesame-street-muppet-is-teaching-kids-about-homelessness-1397985347977">Sesame Street added a Muppet</a> to it's roster who is a child experiencing homelessness. Muppet Lily learns from the friend with whom her family is staying that home is where love is. She's surrounded by the love of her friends and family even though she no longer lives in her own apartment. Whatever your individual family situation is, I do believe that's an assurance we can offer our children. You are surrounded by people and community who loves and supports you and who will protect you.<br /><br /><b>Can we help that person? </b> Yes! Start with advocacy! Call, write or email local and federal officials to ask when they're doing to support people without homes and build communities that are equitable and affordable for all people. Even kids can write postcards or letters that tell their leaders that they want everyone to have a place to live. Pay attention to the conversation in our local elections and think about what the most caring and harm-reductive approaches are.<br /><br />And of course there are practical ways to help physically. In the big picture, you can support and volunteer as a family at a shelter or foodbank in your neighborhood. <a href="https://lakecitypartners.org/enhanced-shelter-at-the-oaks/">The Oaks</a> is run by Lake City Partners and supported by the church. Not only will you be helping, you'll build relationships with people closer to the experience of being homeless.<br /><br />For encounters with individual people, you can keep a stash of things like clean, new socks, handwarmers, water bottles or energy bars in your car for when you run into pan-handlers on those free-way exits. You could also just give money.<br /><br /><b>What if they spend it on drugs?</b> Okay, a kid is probably not going to ask this, but so so many people do ask this question and I heard such a great answer recently that I wish I could remember who said it. "Well, they probably really need them." Addicted people do - to avoid a crash or symptoms of withdrawal. So give money or no, but start with empathy. The person asking for money knows best what they need - even if they are addicted. And if you don't want to give money, it's okay to ask someone what they do need - maybe you'll be able to offer support by buying a meal, picking up a few groceries. Some people also keep a stash of low-dollar amount gift cards.<br /><br />Like us, people who live outside - or in tents or cars or RVs - are made in God's image and valuable to God. We can communicate this to our kids and teen by talking about and treating people experiencing homelessness with empathy and compassion. For more tips and conversations starters, here are a couple of articles from the United Way here in King County and from across the country in Massachusetts. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.uwkc.org/fighting-homelessness-news/talk-homelessness-with-kids/">How To Talk Homelessness With Your Kids | United Way of King County (uwkc.org)</a><br /><a href="https://unitedwaymassbay.org/blog/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-homelessness/">"What do I say?" How to talk to kids about homelessness (unitedwaymassbay.org)</a><br /><br />--<br />Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@brandialxndra?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Brandi Alexandra</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/homeless?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a><br /><br /><br />Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31428436.post-80583405515672911412021-09-16T10:50:00.004-07:002021-09-16T10:50:24.953-07:00Gender on My Mind<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0qitIkDoZ6A/YUODmnuQGDI/AAAAAAABALQ/tVFHyCpWkBU98AYIZWFUGZdjuISgPNBPQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0qitIkDoZ6A/YUODmnuQGDI/AAAAAAABALQ/tVFHyCpWkBU98AYIZWFUGZdjuISgPNBPQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Over the next eight months or so, the high school youth are embarking on a series called <a href="https://www.uua.org/re/owl">Our Whole Lives</a>. OWL is a comprehensive sexuality curriculum that's grounded in the values of inclusivity, sexual health, justice and a belief in the inherent God-createdness of each human. I love working with this curriculum and engaging with youth on issues of sexuality and their inherent goodness. The one area that Rex - my co-teacher - and I are finding a little out of date is the way it has approached gender. Though OWL is very aware of the differences between sex and gender identity and gender expression, and it is affirming of trans identities, still groups are often divided by gender, or conversation starters based on binary gender assumptions.</div>As I've been thinking about how to respond to these gaps in the curriculum (and looking forward to the release of the updated and revised edition soon) the question of gender popped into my church-ward view in a couple of other different ways. The first is around our mentoring program. A parent's question recently about how we choose mentors prompted me to think with more intention about our practice of pairing like-gender people. I had already been thinking about how this excludes non-binary folks as possible mentors. It also limits our children. If they reveal that they are trans or nonbinary after being paired, do they have to either cut off a mentoring relationship? Or do they continue to claim the gender they are assigned at birth to remain in a mentoring relationship. This not only makes no sense to me, it's counter to our statement of welcome and inclusion in all areas of ministry! <br /><br />So with this explicit question about the possibility of a different gendered pairing I was prompted to think about what prevents us. Tradition, of course. But all traditions should be challenged if they exclude. I also wonder if we may have gut-check reaction about an older man being paired with a young girl. But again, I wonder why. We ask all mentors to adhere to our safe-child policy and I can absolutely imagine a meaningful and caring relationship between girls and men or boys and women in our congregation, never mind our openness to people of no or multiple genders participating. When I work with youth and their families to consider folks in the congregation for mentor, I ask them to think about people they might click with, already have a relationship with that could be formalized, people they may have something in common with. I now plan to bring a recommendation to Discipleship Council that we may explicitly name that though many youth may choose to be paired with someone of the same gender, gender should not limit their suggestions or choices.<br /><br />Finally, whether it is synchronicity or Spirit, the conversations above were ongoing when I learned about an opportunity to learn more about welcoming gender expansive children. Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBTQ concerns is holding a 2 part series September 23 and 30 and I'm excited to attend. There are some details in the communicator. Or you can register for this Zoom opportunity at <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckc-GprD4iEtYScW5ByTKxBdv6PxfMbPcI?fbclid=IwAR00T3y9VGJuwWZy8QNsiAa5Axrfsllm8JXDpEi4oK9pYxdgh17qP__2S_4">this link</a> or find out more on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BMCLGBT">Facebook</a>.<br /><br />Finally, finally - just for fun - a book recommendation: Earlier this summer I read a YA romance called <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42198498-i-wish-you-all-the-best">I Wish You All the Best</a>, about Ben, a non-binary teen who is rejected by their parents when they come out, forcing them to move in with an older sibling. Ben struggles with how to live into their new identity, create new friendships, and navigate a new school. It's a very sweet story of heartache and first crushes and resilience and identity. And bonus - gives those of us who are cis-gender a window into the experience of a young person who has struggled with the anxiety of hiding an essential truth about themself, and the relief and beauty of living fully into this truth.Amy Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03892042118982393368noreply@blogger.com0