The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

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!
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.

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.

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."

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.

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!

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.

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.

I Object: Saying No to Violence and War

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.

 
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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Remembering Our Saints

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.
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).

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

May our saints continue to guide us in the way of Jesus. And may we each be saints who show the way for others.
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image: Naomi and Ruth by Kelly Latimore

Anointing - The Blessing We All Need

"Anointing with oil…is a means of God's grace and blessing intended to bring restoration of wholeness and health."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 God

A Just Peace Includes Just Labor Practices

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.

One of my favorite books for talking about collective bargaining is the classic work of literature, Click, Clack Moo: Cows that Type. 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.

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 PBS lesson plan 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.

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 here are here, including how children have been involved. You can also learn the pros and cons of unions in one minute from One Minute Economics or hear about how unions have benefitted all workers in this video by Robert Reich.

As for our striking teachers, details of what SEA is asking for in a Washington Education Association chart here. 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.

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.

How are you engaging? How are you explaining unions, organizing and the teachers strike to your kids. Let me know!

Those Could Have Been My Neighbors; That Could Have Been My Child

These are the names of the people who were targeted and shot in a Buffalo Tops grocery store this past Saturday:

• Roberta A. Drury of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 32
• Margus D. Morrison of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 52
• Andre Mackneil of Auburn, N.Y. – age 53
• Aaron Salter of Lockport, N.Y. – age 55
• Geraldine Talley of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 62
• Celestine Chaney of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 65
• Heyward Patterson of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 67
• Katherine Massey of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 72
• Pearl Young of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 77
• Ruth Whitfield of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 86

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.

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.

I found Britt Hawthorne'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.

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.


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.

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.Four Steps for helping kids push back against white supremacy

• Common beliefs and understanding of white nationalists, including how its spread online and in schools
• Dos and Don'ts of talking to kids about white supremacy - written after the attacks in Charlottesville, but extremely relevant to today
• How White Nationalism sneaks in through social media, calling out specific YouTubers and streamers.

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.

May God give us the strength and wisdom to be conspirators for love and justice.

Thank God for Abortion?

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? There are people in your church who have had abortions. Maybe you are one of them.

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 already mothers. We are not excluded.

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 can 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you are looking for more faith-based support for abortion care, I encourage you to check out the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. For scholarly Biblical understandings that counter the conservative Biblical narrative try the writing of Rev. Dr. Cheryl Anderson. And for a compassionate look at the balance between the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of freedom of conscience see the Salt Project. Please also learn more about Viva Ruiz, the artist whose work is pictured above at ThankGodforAbortion.com.

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.