Brave Spaces

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment
trump protest
PC: Elizabeth Conley

Excerpts from a recent interview with justice doula Micky Scottbey-Jones of the Faith Matters Network (re-posted from the Nobel Women’s Initiative site):

On “movement chaplaincy:”

We’ve been taught to think of movements and protests as “Who’s the target? What’s the action? We’re done.” In the same way that we have medics at protests to attend to the physical needs of people, a movement chaplain would be the person who’s clued into the emotional, spiritual, and mental needs, both in the moment of protest, and afterwards. They would help us decompress, celebrate, lament. We shouldn’t be going on to the next action until we’ve had time to process and celebrate our wins, and mourn our losses, and talk about how scared we were during one part and how great this other part felt. We need to change the way we are taught to organize. Continue reading “Brave Spaces” →

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Cloud of Witnesses, UncategorizedLeave a comment

imagesBy Chava Redonnet, Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church, Rochester, NY
Bulletin for Sunday, December 10, 2017
Second Sunday of Advent

Dear friends,

I’m writing this a bit late… it’s Tuesday, December 12. It’s the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: this morning in Mexico, people got up early and processed through the town with candles, singing “Las Mananitas”… at least, they did years ago and I expect they still do, now. Continue reading “Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe” →

¡Presente!

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation1 Comment

Willow (1)By Tommy Airey

May the God of peace sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 5:23

Back in the 80’s and 90’s, vintage Advent passages about “the coming of our Lord” were infused with the rapture theology of my fresh Evangelical faith.  I eagerly anticipated an End Times scenario when Jesus would triumphantly return to rescue us from the sin of the world.  I remained vigilant as the Left Behind series of books and movies filled in the blanks of what this letter from Paul assured us would soon happen:

For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Our Evangelical pastors repressed our sexual imaginations, but they gave us full permission to fantasize about the End of the World. It was almost too much for my adolescent mind.  I conjured images of mass disappearances, freeways suddenly littered with empty cars and football stadiums with fans flying into the heavens. Researching the historical context, though, zoomed me back down to earth. Literally. Continue reading “¡Presente!” →

Lions and Coyotes and Calves, Oh My!

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

lionBy Joyce Hollyday  Reposted from www.joycehollyday.com.

Two days ago, a calf was born on the 120-acre mountain farm next-door. On my morning walk that day, I rounded a turn in the trail and spied him under a chestnut tree by the creek, just hours old, still wobbly on his legs, his mother licking him vigorously. Last night a coyote tried to kill that newborn calf. His mother successfully thwarted the attack, but not without injury to her ear and face. On this morning’s walk, I noticed that all the cattle are huddled together at the bottom of the mountain, the calves in the center of their protective circle. Continue reading “Lions and Coyotes and Calves, Oh My!” →

Re-Baptized Through Liberation

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire4 Comments

MVSA social media re-post from Mark Van Steenwyk, executive director of The Center for Prophetic Imagination (November 20, 2017):

Any anabaptist theology that isn’t re-baptized through liberation theology reinforces oppression.

Anabaptism, on its own, only makes sense as a religion of the oppressed. Just like the Gospels are unintelligible to the middle and owner classes apart from the experiences of the oppressed.

In other words: Any calls for pacifism, meekness, and simplicity that come insistently from the powerful are attempts to keep the oppressed docile and poor.

Nonviolence must be a tool of the oppressed in their struggle, with the aid and support of repentant allies. Otherwise, in the hands of the powerful it becomes an ideology of oppression.

To be clear: I’m a pacifist. But pacifism and nonviolence must be in service to liberation or they become a force for oppression. If you’re a pacifist that isn’t working alongside (and following the lead of) those who struggle for liberation, then your nonviolence is just the velvet pouch sheathing the hammer of oppression

Psalm 150: With What You Have

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment
Mike
PC: Michael Smith

By Eric Martin

The pilgrim slept in with the gods

until Spring dripped from the fingers of every tree.
She leapt out hungry into the fields
and heard the hymns of sparrows in flight
and  children  in  chase

      and somewhere the bats upside down.

For a moment she thought she saw
the taxman  barefoot  and eating cherry popsicles.

The sun pressed itself upon her,
armpits swelling with sweat,
and the grass itched
and the buds gained confidence
and the sky shouted   “infinity!”   at everything. Continue reading “Psalm 150: With What You Have” →

What Does it Mean that Jesus “Apprenticed” with John the Baptist?

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation5 Comments

Christ

Re-posting this Lectionary reflection from 3 years ago on radicaldiscipleship.net written by Ched Myers.

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mark 1:4-5

–
Continue reading “What Does it Mean that Jesus “Apprenticed” with John the Baptist?” →