By Ken Sehested, new lyrics to “Amazing Grace,” inspired by Luke 18:9-14
Kyrie, kyrie, eleison
Let mercy magnify
May all my days reflect thy praise
And earth and heav’n reply Continue reading “’Til Earth Receive Her Rest”
The Evidence Will Show
From Ellen Grady, reporting from Georgia on behalf of the Kingsbay Plowshares 7:
Verdict in. In this Federal court in Georgia all 7 were found guilty of all your charges. In this Federal court in Georgia the trident submarine and all weapons of mass distraction are legal. In this federal court in Georgia the planning for the destruction of the world is legal. Continue reading “The Evidence Will Show”
Wild Lectionary: Insect Armies and Fearful Soil
Proper 25(30)C
Joel 2:23-32
By Laurel Dykstra
In the Christian bible the book of Joel is three chapters long, in the Jewish bible four.
Joel describes a years long plague of locusts in military language. The people are exhorted to fast, pray and repent from ambiguous transgressions. An oracle of consolation—divine promise of restoration–is followed by a raw prayer of revenge equating Israel’s restoration with the defeat and humiliation of surrounding empires.
Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Insect Armies and Fearful Soil”
Transgender Liberation Invitation
The Alternative Seminary, Transfaith,
and Germantown Mennonite Church
Invite You to
Transgender Liberation:
Intersectional Identities, Alternate Genders, and the Biblical Testimony of Eunuchs
Saturday, November 2
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Germantown Mennonite Church
21 W. Washington Lane, Philadelphia
Mx Chris Paige (formerly publisher of The Other Side magazine) will present from their new book, OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation. Drawing on 25 years of transgender-affirming scholarship, Chris will invite us to expand our understanding of the 50 explicit uses of the word “eunuch” in the Christian Bible (many of which are obscured in translation), as well as other likely or perhaps eunuchs such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In doing so, we will challenge one another to live more deeply into resistance from colonized gender ideology, white supremacy, and Christian empire. Continue reading “Transgender Liberation Invitation”
Geez Call for Pitches: G56 Breaking the Law
Deadline November 10, 2019
“We need to engage in whatever nonviolent actions appeal to us. There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at critical points to create a power that governments cannot suppress. We find ourselves today at one of those critical points.” – Howard Zinn
“The decision to engage in civil disobedience is challenging not just what the symbol represents, but also the laws that are set up to protect it.” – Bree Newsome, after pulling down the South Carolina Confederate flag in 2015
In countries founded on the legality of slavery and Indigenous massacres, we begin naming the complex relationships between law, violence, and power. Historically, engaging with laws through breaking them has been part of the arc that moves us towards justice. In this issue we hope to unpack the nuances of breaking the law, and the choices we do (or don’t) make in the process. Continue reading “Geez Call for Pitches: G56 Breaking the Law”
A Paragraph at Our Own Celebration
More spiritual fuel from the front porch of freedom fighter Ruby Sales.
Do not confuse moral decadence with liberation. It is a trap door to nothingness and spiritual death. Freedom gives us the territory to live a life of meaning where we move from being footnotes at another person’s party to becoming a paragraph at our own celebration.
May We
By Tommy Airey
A translation of the Jesus Prayer for this time.
May we celebrate Steadfast Love.
May we pledge to end exploitation and extraction.
May we live simply so it will be simple to love.
May we be released from our shame and supremacy.
May we share the debt load of others.
May our tests and trials transform us.
Amen.
Tommy Airey was born and raised on stolen, unceded Acjachemen territory (“Orange County, California”), was transformed by the thin place the Ojibwe, Huron and Odawa call Wawiiatanong (“Detroit River”) and has entered the sacred “hidden waters” the Molalla and Paiute named Towarnehiooks (“Deschutes River, Oregon”). He is the co-curator of RadicalDiscipleship.Net and author of Descending Like a Dove: Adventures in Decolonizing Evangelical Christianity (2018).
Wild Lectionary: Justice by Annoyance
18th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 24(29)
Luke 18:1-8
By Caitlin Reilley Beck
I know another story about praying, persistence, not losing heart and an unjust judge. It is happening here, on Coast Salish territory, and it is still happening. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Justice by Annoyance”
Watershed Eucharist
By Laurel Dykstra, printed in Geez 54: Climate Justice
Salal + Cedar is a Wild Church community in the lower Fraser Watershed. Our Eucharistic prayer and our outdoor worship are active reminders that we do not practice our discipleship and celebrate our sacred meal in First Century Palestine nor on “England’s pleasant pastures” but among a little lifeboat of companions on the territory of the Coast Salish People at a time of global climate crisis.
Our Eucharistic prayer names the creatures – plants, animals, waterways, of our bioregion. Under our creative-commons-take on liturgy as the work of and for the people – you are welcome to borrow and adapt this prayer to your work and biome. In return please credit us, note that you have made changes, and make a financial contribution to Indigenous land defenders near you. Continue reading “Watershed Eucharist”
Let Us In the Name of the Holy Trinity…
From the first chapter of Howard Zinn’s classic The People’s History of the United States (1980). For Columbus Day Indigenous People’s Day.
Because of Columbus’s exaggerated report and promises, his second expedition was given seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men. The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives. But as word spread of the Europeans’ intent they found more and more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the sailors left behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle with the Indians, after they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor. Continue reading “Let Us In the Name of the Holy Trinity…”
Radical Discipleship 