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I believe in God the Mother

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“They reminded me that Christianity isn’t meant to simply be believed; it’s meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken, and enacted in the presence of other people. They reminded me that, try as I may, I can’t be a Christian on my own. I need a community. I need the church.”

—

Rachel Held Evans, 

(Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church)

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“Millennials aren’t looking for a hipper Christianity. We’re looking for a truer Christianity, a more authentic Christianity. Like every generation before ours and every generation after, we’re looking for Jesus–the same Jesus who can be found in the strange places he’s always been found: in bread, in wine, in baptism, in the Word, in suffering, in community, and among the least of these.”

— Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday

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Satan knows he can’t steal your soul, which is already won by God. So his primary tactic is to occupy your mind with other things to render you ineffective for the advancement of the Kingdom.

Words from a missionary

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Mainline Protestants: everyone should have a personal walk with God. It shouldn’t be dictated by traditions or legality but should come from independent study of the Word and from a relationship with the Holy Spirit

Gay Christians: *have a real and satisfying walk with God even though it goes against some human traditions*

Mainline Protestants: no not like that

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Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Romans 12:9

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I made some sweet tea and it is good

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😂

If Kaladin ever travels the Cosmere, he’s gonna be very disappointed to find that there are horses literally everywhere. 

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A major problem I have when people use the Bible to justify their hatred is that they are not considering how the times have changed. Not only that, but so has terminology, meaning, and need. The Bible, though vital and wonderful, is not the only way for a follower of God to love and learn about the religion or tell others about it.

For me, it is more about love and letting everyone know they are loved, regardless of skin color or sexuality. Since becoming Christian Pagan, I have struggled with accepting this and being queer/transgender. However, it has helped me love myself more.

I know that I was made by God’s loving hands to love everyone, regardless of gender, and that I was born to be a man. My identity does not make me less in God’s eyes, and my love is not a sin. I love my fiance as I love myself, and I understand that this is what God intended.

Those who preach at the LGBTQIA community that they are sinners and that they must be straight to be loved by God are wrong and disgusting. Instead, they should preach about love.

God loves you no matter your identity or your skin color. You are not less because of who are you. You were made this way and those who say otherwise are clouded in hate and bigotry.

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What are some good prayers for us to show our love and support for our Muslim friends?

Prayer After Racist Violence Against Houses of Worship by Alden Solovy

Oh people of conscience,Cry out.Cry out against arrogance.Cry out against hatred and anger.Cry out against violence and oppression.For God requires us to standIn the name of justice and freedom,For God requires us to oppose terror,To muster our power and energyAgainst racist aggressionAnd to protect all houses of prayer.

Oh God,We implore You,Look down upon the sufferingPerpetrated against churches, mosques and synagogues,Against houses of worship in so many lands,By the hand of wickedness,By the hand of malevolence,By the hand of ignorance and sin.Today we remember, with sadness, the attacks onthe Muslim Community of Christchurch, New ZealandAnd the loss of precious life.

With Your gentle and loving hand,God of Shelter,Unite all of your childrenUnder Your canopy of hope and love.Bring the light of salvation and healingTo the four corners of the earth.

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Gonna write a witchcraft book titled “Another Book on Witchcraft: Everybody’s Doing It and I Want to Feel Included”

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The Bible and Queerness

But what about the verses in Genesis? Leviticus? Romans? How do you explain….? What about…? Then someone else counters with Galatians and David and Jonathan and Jesus and the Centurion’s servant. And the wheel spins on.

I know how badly you want a simple, clear, 100% unquestioned answer. 

It doesn’t exist. 

There are a million reasons it doesn’t exist (language, translation, culture, etc.) but the root of it all is that it doesn’t exist because the Bible isn’t a singular text of rules. It’s not a history book or a science book. Hell, it’s not even A BOOK. 

It’s a library of books all written by different people in different time periods. Different Scriptures argue with other Scriptures. They contradict each other. They are in dialogue with each other. 

And if all of THAT weren’t confusing enough add in the countless scholars throughout centuries that have disagreed and fought and punched each other (for real) and called each other names. They ALL had different interpretations of what texts meant. 

“SO what? Do we throw it out? You must not take the Bible seriously!”

I actually take the Bible very seriously. I’ve devoted my life to the study of it. And it’s BECAUSE I take it so seriously that I refuse to let it be reduced to a simplified rulebook. I refuse to let it be used to condemn people it doesn’t condemn. I refuse to let it be mistreated and used as a weapon.

Just because there are no simple answers doesn’t mean the text is worthless. Instead it’s a collection of poetry, stories, songs, and more that are written by real people in real places at real points in history. They are struggling to make sense of their place in the world and their relationship with the Divine. It’s gritty and messy and filled with mistakes because that’s what it means to be human.

But it’s also filled with immense beauty, with passion, with struggle. It tells the story of a people struggling with who’s in and who’s out (and a God who is always calling them toward more inclusion). It’s the story of a people who struggle with what it means to do justice (especially in the face of Exile and Empire). It’s the story of a people who struggle to make the presence of God known through how they behave. 

The Bible still has immense relevance today but only if you read it the way it was meant to be read, not as a rulebook full of easy to understand facts but as a testament to the human struggle to connect with God and do right by each other. 

And let me tell you, if you can get off of the “BUT WHAT ABOUT AHHHHHHHH….” hamster wheel you will uncover such beauty and depth and the Bible will be so much richer. 

(for an easy to read intro to how to read the Bible, check out Rob Bell’s newest book “What Is The Bible?” For a weekly podcast with queer takes on the Scripture passages, check out @queertheology)

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“The truly holy person welcomes all that is earthly. Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. For without we cannot survive.”

— Hildegard Von Bingen (via incorporeality)

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God’s refusal to be gendered in Hosea 11:9

Today in Intro to Biblical Hebrew we discussed the differences between two words, אָדָם (adam) and אִ֖ישׁ (ish), and the significance of the usage of one of them in Hosea 11:9, a verse that my teacher interprets in a way that I think many who are interested in God’s gender (or lack thereof) will want to hear.

**If you prefer to pass over all the specific linguistic-y stuff and just want the gist of how this verse can be interpreted as God refusing to identify with a human gender, you can skip to the last three paragraphs where I wrap things up!**

According to my teacher, ish is the biblical Hebrew word used specifically for a man (as in someone male), while adam is generally better translated as a human (no gender specified). Yet some biblical translators treat these two words as more or less interchangeable – perhaps, as my teacher says, because man has been used in English to signify humankind as a whole. While in Hebrew adam can signify all humanity, ish is generally talking about a man specifically.

Now, in Hosea 11:9 (one verse in a poignant speech from God about God’s deep love for Israel, go read it!), ish is the word that is used. Below is the whole verse in English (see here for the Hebrew) except for ish, which I’ve left untranslated for now:

“I will not unleash my fierce anger;    I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not ish,    the Holy One in your midst,    and I will not come in wrath.”

(A gorgeous verse, isn’t it?) Okay. So, according to the standard definition of ish, that word would here be translated as a man. “I am God and not a man.”

Indeed, some versions do translate it this way (such as the NIV), and good on them! But other versions of the Bible offer different translations for ish – (translations of ish are bolded in each version below):

“for I am God and no mortal” (NRSV)

“for I am God and not a mere mortal” (NLT)

“For I am God, and not a human” (ISV, among others)

“for I am God, and not man” (KJV, among others)

In each of the first two, which translate ish as mortal or a mere mortal, the translator has made an interpretive choice: why is God saying that God is not ish? Because, the translator decides, God wants to make God’s immortality clear. To me, this makes little sense in the context of the passage. God is showing Godself to be different from ish not in terms of how long God lasts, but in God’s choice not to act in anger and destroy the faithless Israel. So to me, translating ish in this way seems like quite a stretch, and an unnecessary one (but I am new to Hebrew, so if anyone has other comments on these translators’ choice please share!).

In the next two, in which ish is translated as a human or as man (which appears to be the most common translation choice), we have the interpretation that God is saying God is not like humanity in general. (Remember that man, without the indefinite article a, is used to mean all “humankind” in old texts.) But if Hosea’s author wanted God to be saying that God is not like any human, wouldn’t the author have used adam instead of ish? That, after all, is the Hebrew word that refers to humankind in general. Ish, on the other hand, carries a specific gender with it – the male gender.

Thus my teacher asserts that the most accurate translation for this line is “I am God and not a man.” What are the implications of this translation? Not only is God declaring God’s distinctness from humans in general, but God is also emphasizing that God is not male, is not a man.

Zooming into the present, I think most Christians (I don’t want to presume to speak for the other faiths that share our God) would agree with the statement that God is not actually male, does not really look like the bearded old man up in the clouds depicted in children’s books. And yet there has been a tendency, historically, to describe God as the very thing that in Hosea 11:9 that God declares not to be: a man. The way many Christians view God, God is a “he,” always a he, and “He” is our Father, our King.

In Hosea 11:9, God refuses to be identified with a human gender. “I am God and not a man” – God is God, and not to be squeezed into human categories or presumed to behave the way a man would behave. Thus this verse is a useful one for those Christians who are looking for ways to see God as a Being who is beyond human genders. I am God and not a man, so why do you box me into characteristics you deem male? I am not a man. I am so much more.

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“Remember for just one minute of the day, it would be best to try looking upon yourself more as God does, for She knows your true royal nature.”

— Hafiz (via lazyyogi)

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Little Everyday Ways to Live the Works of Mercy

Feed the Hungry: Take a friend or coworker out for a meal and offer to pay. Invite someone over for dinner. Keep granola bars or other small snacks with you in case someone ever needs a quick bite to eat.

Give Drink to the Thirsty: Leave your change in the vending machine. Bring extra water to parks or sporting events just in case. Give a friend or coworker a couple of dollars to get a drink and tell them not to pay you back.

Clothe the Naked: Let a friend borrow your jacket if they’re cold. When you buy new clothes, try to give some of your old clothes away. Always donate instead of throwing away — if the clothes are in good condition.

Shelter the Homeless: Invite a friend to stay over if they’re having a rough time at home.

Visit the Sick: When a friend/classmate/coworker is absent, check on them. If it’s a classmate, offer to give them the notes they missed. If a family member is sick, make them soup or offer to bring them their medicine. Call an elderly relative.

Visit the Imprisoned: Be kind to someone trapped by a bad reputation. Pray for your state/country’s prisoners, especially death row inmates.

Bury the Dead: When you visit a graveyard, pull weeds around some of the graves that are not well-maintained or pick up trash as you walk. Volunteer to help in any way you can when a loved one passes, or even the loved one of a loved one.

Counsel the Doubtful: When someone asks you for advice, listen patiently and be genuinely helpful when you answer them. Wish a friend or coworker good luck before a test/presentation/interview. Pay attention to others and point out the strengths which you admire in them.

Instruct the Ignorant: Be patient when someone asks you a question. Read a book to a young relative/neighbour, or help them with homework.

Admonish Sinners: Be open and honest when you do something you shouldn’t; it’s an amazing example for others. When someone asks your opinion about a moral issue, tell the truth.

Comfort the Sorrowful: Send a kind message to someone who is having a hard time. Listen when someone needs to vent. Be considerate when you discuss mental health issues. Smile at a stranger who looks sad; tell them to have a nice day.

Forgive Offenses/Bear Wrongs Patiently: When someone cuts you off in traffic, pray that they arrive at their destination safely and quickly. Be the first to apologise when you argue with a friend. Be friendly to someone who is rude to you. Help someone to remedy a mistake they have made. Let it go when someone corrects you even though you are right.

Pray for Others: Pick people in your life and say a prayer for them!