#pastrix

[theridgebeyond]

guys, uh, i think i might like being lutheran

[divinum-pacis]

2024 Book List

Here's a list of some new books I've found interesting and enjoyable in the last year or so. If you have any recommendations, send them in! (See previous book lists here)

Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World by Dalai Lama (2020)

Love and Quasars: An Astrophysicist Reconciles Faith and Science by Paul Wallace (2019)

Stars Beneath Us: Finding God in the Evolving Cosmos by Paul Wallace (2015)

Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe by Stephen C. Meyer (2021)

The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism by Bernard McGinn (2006)

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber (2014)

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr (2021)

That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, & Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart (2019)

The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God and Self by Carlton Pearson (2009)

Is God Real? Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life by Lee Strobel (2023)

Why? Making Sense of God's Will by Adam Hamilton (2018)

Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America by Russell Moore (2023)

The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn In and How to Talk Across the Divide by Pamela Cooper-White (2022)

How Jesus Became God: the Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart D. Ehrman (2015)

The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible by Michael S. Heiser (2015)

No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan (2011)

[gtunesmiff]

…our call to be compassionate has to include ourselves, too.

~ Nadia Bolzano-Weber || Pastrix

[deblala]

Aggressive, Pink-Haired Lutheran Pastrix Rips Into Godly Pastors, Denouncing Them as 'Evil Shepherds - Protestia

https://protestia.com/2024/04/26/aggressive-pink-haired-lutheran-pastrix-rips-into-godly-pastors-denouncing-them-as-evil-shepherds/

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

-icon written by Ulla Karttunen :: [Kissing Fish Book]

* * * *

Today the church honors the "apostle to the Apostles," St. Mary of Magdala, more commonly called Mary Magdalene.

Mary's role in the stories of Jesus varies, depending on the account being referenced. In Luke she was one of those healed by Jesus during his ministry (apparently 7 demons plagued her). Some traditions have identified her with the "woman of the city" who anointed Jesus' feet when he reclined in the Pharisees's home, though there is no scriptural basis for this.

In the Gnostic Gospel of Philip, Mary is the one whom Jesus "loved more than the other disciples," causing 2000 years of speculation over whether or not they were intimate or just in the "friend zone."

It's worth noting that the ancient church was known to type-cast in order to provide biased analysis, especially when it came to marginalized communities. The ever-virginal Mary, Mother of Jesus needed a yang to her yin, and so the perpetually penitent prostitute label was assigned to Mary Magdalene. These two mirrored Marys would stand for different paths in life for many a young Christian, and unfortunately these typologies have caused terrible, perhaps irreparable, harm to many of the faith.

This unfair, and unfounded moniker of prostitute doesn't describe Mary Magdalene, but does describe us: we love such labels, especially ones that accuse and belittle.

I think Mary Magdalene should rather be thought of as "ever-faithful" instead of perpetually penitent. It was she who stuck by Jesus on his hardest day when everyone else fled. And it is she who, in the shadows of the early morning, rose to anoint his body, faithful to the end.

Or maybe we should call her "the first pastor," because it is she who first told the disciples that Jesus had risen, originally proclaiming that good news formally, with the authority of one who had been visited uniquely by Jesus with the message.

Mary Magdalene is a reminder for me, and should be for the church, of two things.

First: histories written by men will feature men and end up denigrating women in some way, either by omission or by commission. This has been true, is presently true, and without a real "come to Jesus" around re-imagining masculinity and the intentional introduction of female voices in the mix, will unfortunately be true in an unchecked future.

Second: a woman was the first pastor. Every pastoral call committee should be reminded of this before looking at any paperwork.

-biographical notes taken from Pfatteicher's "New Book of Festivals & Commemorations," opinion portions are solely mine and don't represent Pfatteicher

+

“My former bishop Allan Bjorberg once said that the greatest spiritual practice isn't yoga or praying the hours or living in intentional poverty, although these are all beautiful in their own way. The greatest spiritual practice is just showing up. And Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of just showing up. Showing up, to me, means being present to what is real, what is actually happening. Mary Magdalene didn't necessarily know what to say or what to do or even what to think when she encountered the risen Jesus. But none of that was nearly as important as the fact that she was present and attentive to him.”

― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner Saint

[topazemrys]

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

When I tell other Christians of my time with the goddess, I think they expect me to characterize it as a period in my life when I was misguided, and that I have now thankfully come back to both Jesus and my senses. But it’s not like that. I can’t imagine that the God of the universe is limited to our ideas of God. I can’t imagine that God doesn’t reveal God’s self in countless ways outside of the symbol system of Christianity. In a way, I need a God who is bigger and more nimble and mysterious than what I could understand and contrive. Otherwise it can feel like I am worshipping nothing more than my own ability to understand the divine.

Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix

[foxy-voxy]

Latte and a book on this dreary, snowy, windy Wednesday 💖 Making my way through the Xmas book stash! #reading #coffee #pastrix #nadiabolzweber https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsa1HZxlVlF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1knkc7jrqnelb

[adventurousrecovery]

I can't imagine that God doesn't reveal God's self in countless ways outside of the symbol system of Christianity. In a way, I need a God who is bigger and more nimble and mysterious than what I could understand and contrive. Otherwise it can feel like I am worshipping nothing more than my own ability to understand the divine.

“Pastrix” by Nadia Bolz-Weber

[theridgebeyond]

for the religious asks: 1, 7 & 12. <3

1. Which religion/spiritual path do you identify with?

Lutheran, specifically ELCA. I was raised Lutheran, but in college sort of viewed myself as "inter-denominational" because I was exploring a variety of Christian expressions (and the term "non-denominational" was already taken). Eventually I was drawn back to an Episcopalian-adjacent flavor of Lutheranism, but I was super reluctant to identify as Lutheran until I read Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

7. If you could change one thing about your faith community, what would it be?

Honestly? About the physical community I worship with each week? We don't chant enough. Even during the traditional service there's barely any plainsong (common chant with a single melody, similar to polyphonic Gregorian chant), even though the Psalms and the Lord's Prayer have plainsong versions in the ELCA hymnal. When I first visited a Benedictine monastery and had the chance to chant the psalms with the nuns there, it was truly an awakening.

I've since begun incorporating plainsong into my practice, although I only know one melody from Call the Midwife lol.

12. Were you born in a religious family?

Yes. My family attended a Lutheran church growing up, and my grandparents were non-denominational/charismatic pastors. Weekly church and mid-weekly children’s ministry was a staple of our rhythm growing up.

[suzyjacobsoncherry]

#Lavender #chamomile #tea and a new #bedtime #read #pastrix @sarcasticlutheran #nadiabolzweber (at Mesa, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEGOtothxQ7/?igshid=3r3iiyrr9ysy

[rotgospels]

Book recs for someone trying to find God again?

spiritual autobiographies:

the story of a soul: the autobiography of st. therese of lisieux

the revelations of divine love by julian of norwich

the life of st. teresa of avila by herself

take this bread by sara miles

pastrix, or beautiful, cranky faith by nadia bolz-weber

jesus: a pilgrimage by james martin, sj (will easily make u fall in love again)

essays and sermons:

god matters by herbert mccabe

my bright abyss by christian wiman

a ray of darkness by rowan williams

other:

god of surprises by gerard w. hughes

[womanoncesaid]

But inevitably, when I can't harm the people who harmed me, I just end up harming the people who love me. So maybe retaliation or holding on to anger about the harm done to me doesn't actually combat evil. Maybe it feeds it. In the end, if we're not careful, we can actually absorb the worst of our enemy and on some level even become them.

Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner Saint

[brytning]

"This year, let’s just start over. Let’s tell the whole thing over from the beginning.

Once upon a time, the God of the Universe was basically fed up with being on the receiving end of all our human projections, tired of being nothing more to us than what we thought God should be: angry, show-offy, defensive, insecure, in short, the vengeance-seeking tyrant we would be if we were God. So, at that time, over 2,000 years ago, God’s Loving Desire to be Known overflowed the heavens and was made manifest in the rapidly dividing cells within the womb of an insignificant peasant girl named Mary. And when the time came for her to give birth to God, there was no room in our expectations – no room in any impressive or spiffy or safe place. So God was born in straw and dirt. He grew up, this Jesus of Nazareth, left his home, and found some, let’s be honest, rather unimpressive characters to follow him. Fishermen, Tax collectors, sex workers, homeless women with no teeth, people from bad neighborhoods, Miley Cyrus and Glenn Beck. If you think I’m kidding…read it for yourselves. These people were questionable at best. So, with his little band of misfits Jesus went about the countryside turning water to wine, eating with all the wrong people, casting out demons, angering the religious establishment and insisting that in him the kingdom of God had come near, that through him the world according to God was coming right to us. He touched the unclean and used spit and dirt to heal the blind and said crazy destabilizing things like the first shall be last and the last shall be first, and sell all you have and give it to the poor.

And the thing that really cooked people’s noodles wasn’t the question “is Jesus like God” it was “what if God is like Jesus”. What if God is not who we thought? What if the most reliable way to know God is not through religion, not through a reward and punishment program, but through a person. What if the most reliable way to know God is to look at how God chose to reveal God’s self in Jesus?

Because that changes everything. If what we see in Jesus is God’s own self revealed, then what we are dealing with here is a God who is really bad at choosing friends. A God who would rather die than be in the sin accounting business anymore. A God who would not lift a finger to condemn those who crucified him, but went to the depths of Hell rather than be apart even from his betrayers. A God unafraid to get his hands dirty for the ones he loves. This, this is the God who rises to new life with dirt still under his nails and chooses a woman with a past to tell everyone else about it."

- Nadia Bolz-Weber, adapted excerpt from the book, Pastrix; The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

[readwithjoy]

Could you recommend some books, autobiography would be the best?

A few autobiographies/memoirs that I’ve enjoyed recently:

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty

Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood by J. Michael Straczynski

Pastrix: The Cranky Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler

[wordwender]

As a teenager, I began to question the Great Christian Sorting System. My gay friends in high school were kind and funny and loved me, so I suspected that my church had placed them in the wrong category... Injustices in the world needed to be addressed and not ignored. Christians weren't good; people who fought for peace and justice were good. I had been lied to, and in my anger at being lied to about the containers, I left the church. But it turns out, I hadn't actually escaped the sorting system. I had just changed the labels.

Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint