Monday, January 15, 2024
What do you dream about?
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Star Word 2024 - Gratitude
- LGBTQIA topics went from being the elephant in the room to being ok to talk about at our church.
- I completed the third year of the three-year commitment of being moderator of the presbytery (one year as the moderator elect, one year as moderator, one year as past moderator).
- My husband Rob got diagnosed with Crohn's and by December was starting to see some signs of remission from the second attempt with a biologic.
- Rob had an MRI that showed a chiari malformation which would explain the symptoms that didn't quite fit with Crohn's. Hopefully by the end of 2024 I'll be able to be thankful for getting that treated.
- Finished my church office move into Zaccheus' treehouse, aka the theology thicket.
- I finished the year in a better place mentally, spiritually, and emotionally than where I started. Last year's star word "wholeness" helped me remember to keep working on that.
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Subtly Answered Prayers
It occurred to me this morning that one of my repeated prayers over the last several years was for God to help me be more present in the moment, and more engaged with the people in those moments. I think (I hope!) I am indeed better about being present, but that also means that if you ask me on Monday what's on my calendar for the coming week, I usually can't tell you.
Now, maybe being present in the moment and less thinking ahead about things are not related, but I really think they are. And it's not the first time I've noticed prayers being answered in unexpected ways. Maybe you have noticed this in your life as well?
I should point out that Monday is my day off, so I am particularly intentional about avoiding work-related things like calendars and email on Mondays. I often feel like I'm playing beat-the-clock on other days, so I try to ignore the time on Mondays as well. I've learned to set alarms if I have appointments on Mondays because I have missed a few. So, I'm thankful for the capabilities of smart phones that help me let go of concerns about the short-term future and enjoy my free time more. What helps you let go?
I've also prayed over the years for God to make me more the way I was made to be and less about the ways I've tried to be what I've thought people expected or needed me to be. The more I'm able to let go of those concerns, the more I am able to be creative and the more I want colorfulness in my clothing and surroundings.
I recently discovered Shel Silverstein's poem "Colors" from the book Where the Sidewalk Ends:
My skin is kind of sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are grayish blueish green,
But I’m told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it’s silver when it’s wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.
I'm in the process of learning more about all the colors I am inside, and I'm thankful for the space and grace to do that.
Thanks, God
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” --Matthew 6:34
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Loveliness
This person I know
Wants to be called they.
It could bring us much closer
To see them that way.
It’s a strange thing to think
And harder to say,
But they are so happy
When the effort is made.
For all the theys and thems
It is this that I pray,
We be kind and accepting
And just let them be they.
(Written by Theo Nicole Lorenz’s Aunt)
I found this lovely poem on the PC(USA) website in a guide for supporting children in LGBTQIA+ families which is one of the resources available on the page about one of our newer Matthew 25 priorities: Gender Justice & Heteropatriarchy.
I'm thankful for these resources because I want to learn more about how to love one another, and especially those who tend to get cast out as unloveable.
I do find that the more I want to love people, the easier it gets, and I think this is because God pours divine love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). It's not always easy, partly because some days I just want to stay in my reading chair and just be alone. I'm thankful for the space and grace to have days like that.
And I am thankful for you, and for God whose love is greater than our hearts.
Thanks, God.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
What Planet Are You From?
Have you ever been asked this question? (see title) I have. Though more often, it's not asked in words; it's conveyed in that quizical face that says, "You have crazy ideas, you are behaving very strange, you do not understand this moment at all." I used to try to avoid getting this reaction, and would back down immediately from whatever I'd said. Now I'm starting to see that it's not about me at all. Some people are just boring and closed minded. (Not YOU, of course.)
Just for fun I googled this question, as one does, and discovered this fun quiz for finding your home planet. I took the quiz, of course, and learned that I am a martian! I think they really get me, because this sounds so much like me: "You are a lovable geek at heart and enjoy a good space flick in your spare time."
I think I have suspected my martian origins for some time. For instance, when everyone was reading the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (1992) by relationship counselor John Gray, my husband and I were certain that Gray had it backwards for us.
The reality is that gender is just one more way in which we've oversimplified things and made something black and white that's not. Thankfully we're talking about this more and more, and learning how to communicate with each other in ways that don't get people making awkward faces at us. Still, there are times when I just ask the wrong question, so I'm thankful for this set of videos from Reconciling in Christ called "Clunky Questions."
What clunky questions have you been asked?
What clunky questions have you been asking?
Share your answers, and definitely share what planet you're from.
Thanks!
Thursday, October 19, 2023
One of Us
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Ally Position Statement
Melissa Krabbe Position Statement Regarding LGBTQIA+
What:
- We sing “All are welcome in this place” and we want that to be completely true
- For LGBTQIA+ to know they are welcome in this place, we need to be explicit about our welcome and inclusion because so many churches say they are welcoming but really aren’t
- Psalm 139:14 says that we are wonderfully made by God. I believe that means everyone.
- Romans 15:7 NIV
tells us to “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in
order to bring praise to God.”
- Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Why
- It’s not as simple as “God made them male and female.” Gender is complicated and variable. So I do not believe it is a sin. It’s just another way that we’re all different.
- I saw these variations in the testing being done at the endocrine lab (my employer in the 90’s and early 2000’s) when doctors needed extra specific testing to determine sex of a baby. It’s not always straightforward or determinable.
- I wrestled with the medical ethics of these complications in a class on applied philosophy at Clemson University
- I read about the challenges to the translations of the words in the Bible that have been used against LGBTQIA+ and the similarities to the history of using the Bible to justify slavery and to keep women from voting, owning property, or holding positions of leadership.
- I heard testimonies from LGBTQIA+ individuals who have wrestled with themselves and the church trying to be “acceptable” and seen the deep scars this leaves in people’s lives.
- There are no churches in Rice County that are explicitly welcoming and inclusive of LGBTQIA+
- In having one-on-one conversations with church members over the past few years, I have heard hearts that are open to welcoming LGBTQIA+ but were hesitant to say so because they didn’t know how others would react
- The more we can have open, friendly, and honest conversations about issues that are important to us, the healthier we can be as a church and the healthier I can be as your pastor
- Being welcomed and included in a church can help heal scars people have from being made to feel ashamed of who they are, and help them know that God really does love them
How
- Session has been discussing this for several months and reading the book Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality by Jack Rogers. Our denomination (PCUSA) has changed our polity to allow us to be allies, and adopted the statement below.
- Our small group discussions of the book The Flight of the Puffin gave us the opportunity to have some beginning conversations about being transgender.
- More reading and discussing can help us to better understand each other and be better welcomers of those who are LGBTQIA+
- From the beginning this has been the subject of lots of prayer, and will continue to be
- I have tried to be open to listening, and over the past several years have had the opportunity to hear people’s coming out stories
PCUSA
Statement Adopted in 2018
Full statement here: https://www.pc-biz.org/#/search/3000312