#Sunday preaching

[artcallednaturalviews]

My Circulation

My see in circulation would be

Just to watch Olympian’s

Break Dancing

None of rumpt y chump friends

Rose up cause now it’s dangerous

No fucking ones

After Baldwin dismissal

Ear charge blew

Fall down quick

I see me standing

I felt it

Quicker than a bullet

Play out jams and pajamas

No ties for choking out

Or paying off still breathing

Shooter down, paid none like

Storm weather

My circumstances

My circumstantial

My feed us both

Human meat, he has deformed

Right ear, right here near

In the cochlea

Pressures causing me deaf

In cold & heat waves

Bling my eyesight

From the drone sights

Manufactured wood turned

Into splinters from vast west borderlands

So phat but fat in obnoxious

From to here through 2035

Medical problemas in mind making run towards flushing toilets, child educations, gun toting killers never brought in stage

Like bullet in a rust gun

The target hit

If I was an actor

The white faces should have made it

To overall control you

My see in circulation would be

Just to watch Olympian’s

Break Dancing

None of rumpt y chump friends

Rose up cause now it’s dangerous

No fucking ones

The LB existing

Nappy dirt Fred

My see in circulation would be

Just to watch Olympian’s

Break Dancing

None of rumpt y chump friends

Rose up cause now it’s dangerous

No fucking ones

El ignore yo circulation

Only English

Give your accents speak English

As I’m still understanding

You

All

I heard of blood orange

But prop blood falls quicker than

Hemoglobin’s

Too soon for Halloween

Your blood dries in likes of actors swiped in fake, that’s capsule blew before I knew

“He never kept surprise”

Video from front states!

Backers behind paid for up front in cameras

Not like punk ass Reagan

Sorry conglomerates seeking CEO higher pay

President doesn’t pay well

For dictator ship

But here’s to your come back, Trump

Ex former gunk

Your junk was ex outed by stormy weather

Wether you are rump trump T

Down on the grounds

When coach says falls after Pom Pom’s

Raise a fist

Coached and well rehearsed

From my circulations and sight seeing’s

After Covid country shutdowns

Who took advantage of?

Feel the suppressing heat

Become casualty

For it again again and after again

You voted,

Trump

Fuck youu, too!

In a circulation always spinning

.|.

Sit pleased

*********||*********

Redacted

The pages black and white highlighted

Fuck youu, too!

In a circulation always spinning

.|.

Sit pleased

*********||*********

Redacted

The pages black and white highlighted

Blood Orange colors

No rhymes

Sweet to taste movie

No copper additives in life likes

All of paid shooter dead

Ponzi pacifier pansy

In death

[bluemoondust]

Realized the reason why I like Sunday is that he falls into the pretty delulu man who has the potential to become unhinged category of my faves (Mr. Reca too),,, Like,,,

He's the type of guy who believes they are the only person who can keep you from harm's way and from being tainted by the world. What's that? You are tainted? That's preposterous and untrue. He proceeds to act like he has never heard such a thing. Oh, how the world has already put such labels on you. It must be a burden. Luckily, he does not see you in such a way. You have been hurt, your heart has been broken, and your faith has been tested, but that does not mean you're far from saving. There is still a light within you and he will draw it out. He'll be your salvation. He forgives you for everything held against you; a true believer in your will and light.

Any sort of mental scars and/or trauma you may have are treated like wounds and need to recover under his care. You've been wounded too much to press on, let him take you in. The strong must protect the weak, after all. That was not meant to be an insult. He was once weak as well. He was someone weak before he grew stronger. Now he is strong enough to help others who are weak. You have to ask yourself at some point; how long until you can't keep going? Who will hold your hand then? It doesn't have to get to that point, you know. Just take his hand and everything will be alright. You won't have to worry about anything. You are better off without those burdens weighing you down. You are better off being free of the pain and anguish the world has to offer. He will make sure none of it reaches your senses.

Ignorance is bliss.

[curi0uscreature]

* (steam coming out of my head) I’m fucking thinking dude

[46hasu]

Please give Sunday proper justice when depicting his religious imagery. Penacony is inspired from 1950s to 1970s America, so the man isn't Roman Catholic, he's the classic American Evangelist

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

I realize that the internet is a breeding ground for attitude problems and people being little jerks to each other but it drives me crazy when I see Christians acting holier than thou and like their specific opinion is the only proper opinion and anyone who disagrees is a heretic.

[thegreenleavesofspring]

Actually no you know what, I'm still thinking about last Sunday's sermon. In like the least three minutes, the pastor managed to pounce on my absolute biggest insecurity as a Christian, but more on that anon.

The whole sermon was supposed to be about young men, which I expected to feel like being dragged backwards by the hair through beds of hot coals embedded with broken glass (you know, like usual) because I happen to have boys that I know I'm not raising well. And there was a certain amount of squirming, but he also interspersed a few how-to's in with his "Here's what your Happy Christian Family (tm) should look like! 😃😃 But don't worry if it doesn't, you can always get there 😁" (which always leaves me screaming "HOW! How do I get from HERE to THERE" but I digress) which was a nice change of pace.

But he kept going off on tangents that were just... encouragement? And admittedly I don't know how much I would've gotten out of it if I hadn't been praying about exactly that the previous night. But one of the passages that came to me right after I was done praying (or while I still was kinda?) was Joseph on that throne in Egypt looking at his brothers and saying "What you meant for evil God intended for good" and then the pastor the next morning was like "and Joseph was there in Egypt and was telling his brothers what you meant for evil God meant for good" and I was all *Leonardo di Caprio pointing meme*

BUT ANYWAY in the last couple of minutes he was like

"So the charge is simply: believe the blessing. He's putting the blessing upon you. He's blessing you; He knows all about you. And He's blessing you. He's pleased with you.* So, that's the charge. Believe the blessing. Receive the blessing, with believing hearts. Now - the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and grant you His peace. And amen."

*me, still blubbering over "He's pleased with you" (I have a really, really, really hard time with that one. What do you MEAN He's pleased with me, that's impossible, have you seen me?!?! I am nothing but a failure and a disaster top to bottom.

Anyway.)

[splickedylit]

Domestic Diplomacy III proceeds apace

(==>Jade: hear the holy and hilarious word)

Gamzee is in the next room over, sitting on a big squishy-looking pillow in a kind of cross-legged sprawl that makes it really clear how his legs don’t bend in the same ways human legs do.  You’re delighted to realize, for the first time, that troll feet are padded like their palms.  You hadn’t thought about it—the chitin claws cover almost the whole toe the same way they cover pretty much the whole finger, and they don’t seem to spread a whole lot, so it’s easy for your brain to read them as hoof-like and move on.  But there’s little beans down there!

Alien contact really is just the gift that keeps on giving.  What a good day already.

Karkat is occupied bustling and hustling around greeting people like the bossiest little mother hen—(And take off those, the fucking foot-clothes, my hive is clean, don’t you put shit and dirt on the ground!  Put them here, by the, tss, the, damn…in-and-out place!)—so you stroll over into the other room and lower yourself onto the floor to watch whatever it is Gamzee’s looking at.

You kind of thought maybe he’d started movie night early, but he doesn’t seem to be watching a movie.  He has something that looks a lot like a normal human tablet propped up on a table, and he’s watching what looks like a live feed of a huge room full of other trolls, with a guy at the front talking.

“<—(A sentence subject you must have missed) is the funniest (implied:warning-shot-level danger) motherfucking make-mess the (something)s could do to make want,>” says the troll at the front of the crowd, succinctly proving to you that Gamzee is not the only troll who seems to think more verbs is better and sentence order is a pointless invention.  The guy talking doesn’t sound exactly the same, but he stretches his hums and chirrs and growls out and piles his clicks together in a really similar way.  “<We’re all (body parts?) up in the air, down up our (whole/entire) motherfucking horns in dirt.  (Some kind of noun with the food-descriptor ‘sweet’ in it) on our (body part again?  It sounds like a compound word of ‘face’, sort of) and that isn’t a motherfucking mistake.  It’s no motherfucking mistake, brothers!”

Gamzee says some kind of emphatic imperative verb—in a polite, subordinate inflection, which is pretty unusual for him.  On the screen, a few other people do the same thing, mostly saying words you don’t know—one of them you hear says “<Say it, motherfucker!>” and another one says “<Yes, brother, yes!>” with the heaviest subordinate inflection you’ve ever heard.  Somebody else honks a bike horn.

[amplifyme]

Doing a rewatch of Midnight Mass 'cause it's that time of year. This series had so, so many epic monologues, but this remains one of my favorites. Mike Flanagan will own my heart forever simply on the power of this one scene, that hit me like a sledgehammer because it was like he reached into my head, snatched up my thoughts about organized religion, and put them on the screen for everyone to see.

[theycallmejeezycreezy]

🏳️‍🌈June🏳️‍🌈 2nd:

Sunday Affirmations #1

Today’s subject will be self acceptance in honor of pride month!

Especially if you come from a religious household, acceptance of your own identity can be very difficult. Whether is be your own religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity. And, of course, it doesn’t help at all when you are rejected when you come out.

So here’s my advice: Surround yourself with people who accept you. Trust me, this will help!! Those who left you when you came out never deserved you in the first place, but those who stand by you when you come out to them are usually the good ones.

[buggie-hagen]

Minor Festival Homily: Michael and All Angels (9/29/23)

Primary Text | John 7:53-8:11

----------------------------------------------

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

          Today’s passage from John teaches us the difference between God’s judgment and God’s mercy. This passage is traditionally called “the woman caught in adultery.” The scribes and the Pharisees drag the woman to Jesus not because they actually care about what she had done. They bring her so they can trap Jesus and discredit him. So they ask him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (John 8:4-5). They think, “Aha! Now we have him! We have him caught no matter if he says ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’” If Jesus says, “Yes, stone her” then they’ve won their case against him—he will contradict himself. If Jesus says, “No, don’t stone her” they can accuse him of teaching against Moses. What none of them saw coming was what he would say to them. First, he said nothing. But when they pressed him more on the matter, he said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). In this way he blows them all out of the water.

          Let’s consider what Jesus did here. He does not deny the wrongdoing of the woman caught in adultery. Adultery is no little sin. It destroys the divine institution of marriage. It tears families apart. It unsettles any little ones involved affecting them the rest of their lives. Adultery causes black mold to grow on the trust necessary for such intimate relationships. God’s judgment in the law of Moses for such a sin is death by stoning. Which, Jesus does not deny. God’s judgment is unbending. It condemns outright and totally—that is the function of the law. But Jesus says here only the one without sin can be the one to stone her. In saying that Jesus slings the mud right back at the Pharisees. For they realize that they do not qualify to throw stones—they too, have their sins. Turns out, it was not they who caught Jesus, but Jesus who caught them. So they leave one by one so that Jesus and the woman are left alone to themselves.  Then, Jesus said to the woman, “‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’” (John 8:10-11). Now we begin to see the difference between God’s judgment and God’s mercy. The kingdom of Jesus is filled only with sinners, actual sinners. But forgiven sinners. Luther wrote on this passage, “God’s mercy does not deal with insignificant sins, half-sins, imaginary sins, or sins that are no sins, but real sins that are felt. For example, not to fear God, not to trust Him and believe in Him, not to love one’s neighbor, not to pray, not to hear preaching, not to keep the commandments of Moses, any violation of God’s command, something that cannot be ignored—these call for a genuine, not a meaningless, forgiveness.” According to the law this woman caught stands condemned in her adultery. According to the gospel, this woman is forgiven. 

The Pharisees walked away because as sinful as adultery is, Jesus has held up the mirror, showing them that they are not so holy and pure as they think they are—they do not have a better standing than this woman they brought to shame. When it comes to sin, we are all on equal ground and equally condemned. Let us not think that we ourselves are pure and holy on the basis of what we do or do not do. In his teaching on adultery Jesus does not lower the severity of the sixth commandment on adultery—he illuminates its scope by saying anyone who even gazes at another with lust in their heart has committed adultery. So he has caught us in the act. But like the woman caught in adultery, you and I are upheld by the kingdom of the gospel—where there is no longer punishment or condemnation. The slogan of Christ’s kingdom is this: “I forgive you your sin; for in My kingdom no one is without forgiveness” (from Luther). Dear people, it is not holy, pure, and good people who are admitted to the kingdom. Those he sends far away. It is the adulterers and any who know the depth of their sin, these are the ones he brings in. And so he has brought you in by the hearing of the word, that first word that puts to death, and that second word that raises you from the dead—whatever your sin Jesus says to you, “I do not condemn you. I do not condemn you.”

[larissa-the-scribe]

Thought-trail sponsored by: my local church

So in the as-yet-unnamed world of the Santa Juliana Files there are Eldritch Beings (general name for them still pending) that were originally instituted as personified forces to take part in running the universe, but these got corrupted in the Fall and became Horrors. Some of them, like the sun, are still benevolent.

But like. in the context of the "madness" that usually comes from regular humans interracting with them, it actually fits so well in a biblical perspective. You already have the "fear of the Lord," which, yes, I know, is more about our attitude and response and respect for God more than actual fear, BUT you do have several instances documented of peoples' reactions to meeting God in even a fraction of His power (for example, Isaiah), or just having a divine vision sent through a messenger (Daniel), and the extreme reactions involved in that.

Which will be fun and fascinating in terms of worldbuilding and contrast--the overwhelming power of God and his servants bringing both hurt and comfort and ultimately Good, versus the overwhelming force of the Beings who bring pain and darkness just by their presence. A madness that heals versus a madness that is nothing more than that.

also not saying that we already live in a magical world that has eldritch forces in play, but also not saying that we're not

[vulturevanity]

Today was. Bad.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

already thinking "and by 'religious' really i mean 'christian'" re: how the term "religion" is not really useful when it's largely like, from a christian perspective, what is considered "equivalent" of christianity, see: perhaps a "rival"/obstacle to some person or group being considered christian....and even if not thinking about converting anyone, resulting in some at best misinterpretation / misrepresentation based on framing it through/as [element of christianity] and limiting of any more accurate language

like how tumblr recommends me a post about someone thinking about "religion" in general and concluding that it's Weird and perhaps Wrong for anyone who is a "true believer" in their religion(tm) to Not be proselytizing / trying to Convert everyone. like yeah why isn't everyone being an evangelical christian, they ought to be, benevolently informing all those around them that they're going to hell, otherwise. don't see any problem with this conclusion, or that someone's getting antisemitic in the notes already in agreement, or that That's Not How This Works and you don't just know how All "Religion" works based on considering it to be an alternate version of christianity (which in itself doesn't All work like that either)

[firstumcschenectady]

Protest or Revolt? based on Galatians 3:23-4:7 and Matthew 21:1-11

For many years, I have had the chance to work with a camper I'm going to call Penny today. (So, not her real name.) Penny is a woman who has Down's Syndrome, a huge personality, and a stubborn streak that can rival my own. She is also world class at engaging in passive protest.

In practice, at camp, this most often looks like a group getting ready to go somewhere, and Penny will sit down, and simply refuse to come along. Unless, that is, someone sings her favorite song and then slowly walks away from her, requiring her to follow in order to keep hearing the song.

The song, if you were wondering, is “This Little Light of Mine,” and it gets sung A LOT when Penny is at camp. Like, 50 times a day? Maybe more. Penny is very good at bending people to her will, and she really, really, REALLY likes that song.

A thing I respect about Penny is that she isn't going to do what she doesn't want to do. You can threaten her, bribe her, argue with her, or beg her. But she will simply hold up one finger, and dance it around a little, to let you know what she expects of you.

The thing is, that the camp I run is highly dependent on people being willing to function as a group and move as a group. We're stuck when one camper doesn't stay with the group, and it can force us out of adequate supervision! Refusing to get up is the PERFECT protest for our camp, because it puts the counselors and staff into a crisis. Truthfully, Penny gets what she wants because singing “This Little Light of Mine” all day every day is a lower price to pay than not being able to function or keep our campers safe. So she gets what she wants, we get what we want, and if there is a particular song stuck in one's head for years after, at least you eventually learn to smile about it.

Also, by most ways of looking at it, Penny doesn't have a lot of power in the world. So, God love her for using what she has well.

Penny at camp functions a lot like Jesus outside of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus used what power to bring the change he wanted. He was up against the Roman Empire, but he similarly managed to put pressure on a sensitive point and get his message across clearly. The Roman Empire, however, did not concede as gracefully as the camp staff does.

Passover in Jerusalem was a conundrum for the Roman Empire. On the one hand, they wanted to show respect to an ancient faith tradition, and maintain the narrative of the Emperor's power, might and goodness. On the other hand, Passover was a celebration of God's actions in freeing the people from the oppressive power of a mighty empire, and a whole lot of people gathered very close to each other to do so, and that... felt dangerous. Because while I'm sure the Roman Empire didn't think of itself as an oppressive overlord, they maybe had a bit of an awareness that some others did. So how do you respect this important religious festival while also keeping it under control?

The Empire came up with a good answer. The local leader Pilate, the “king of the Jews,” marched into the city with a full imperial processional. There were soldiers on gleaming horses, drumlines in union, glittering silver and gold on crests, golden eagles (the symbol of Rome) mounted on poles. It was a BIG time show of power and reminder of the Empire and its hold on Jerusalem. The people who came to watch would have shouted the things they were taught to shout: Hail Caesar, son of God; Praise be to the Savior who brought the Roman Peace; Caesar is Lord.

The Empire's plan was to remind the people of the POWER and MIGHT and THREAT of the empire's military while also being “present” for the rituals – and keeping an eye on the messages from their carefully selected high priests.

It seems Jesus saw through it.

And his processional, the one that came through the East gate, brought a lot of clarity to what was happening at the West gate. Instead of a tall shiny horse, Jesus rode in on an unbroken colt (or donkey. Or both ;)). Jesus came in his ordinary cloths, without the sparkle of gold or silver. Instead of being accompanied by soldiers with weapons, Jesus came with his disciples – ordinary men known for drinking a bit too much and the inability to keep their mouths shut when they should. Instead of banners declaring the power of Rome and displaying the golden eagle, the people shimmied up palm trees and cut off the branches to wave. Palm Branches were the national symbol of Ancient Israel, their flag. The people laid their cloaks on the road for Jesus' colt to walk on. That is, they used the very little power they had as a carpet for Jesus’ feet.

Zechariah 9:9 reads “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Did you hear it? Your KING comes riding on a colt. Jesus wasn't just borrowing a colt – and he wasn't just being humble. He was connecting himself to the expectations of what the Jewish Messiah would look like. In fact, he was more or less claiming the crown. And the people supported him. So Jesus comes on a colt – which declares kingship – and the people wave the national flag – celebrating a new king!

To bring this into focus, Jesus riding a donkey into the East gate raised some questions:

Who is King of the Jews?

From where do they derive their power?

Does power come from the capacity to inflict violence?

Does their power come from sharing power?

Is Pilate there to celebrate God or to stop God's work?

Which parade is God in?

Jesus found the weaknesses of the Empire – in the need they had to maintain power and control with violence and with the overarching narratives of their goodness. He gave people ways to question it all, just by riding on a donkey.

While I think the Palm Sunday processional was one of the greatest nonviolent direct actions in history, it came with a very steep price. Leading people to those questions undermined the Empire itself. The Empire read it as a revolt, in fact they decided to read it as a VIOLENT revolt, which probably means it shook them to their core. Which is both VERY IMPRESSIVE as protests go, and VERY DANGEROUS as protests go. The Empire killed Jesus for leading a violent revolt agains the Empire.

And the only thing they got wrong was that it was nonviolent.

Actually, scratch that. They got two things wildly wrong. First it was nonviolent to its core. Secondly, they thought killing Jesus would kill his movement. You, listening to this sermon, right now are part of the proof of how wrong they got that one!

But to go back to the nonviolence for a moment... this is absolutely key to everything about Jesus, and it shouldn't be glossed over. The world tells us that the only power that matters is power over, and power over is enforced with violence. David Graeber in the book “Debt: A History of the First 5,000 Years” points out that only societies with inequality have police forces. And, only countries that are taking unfair shares of the world's resources spend extravagantly on their militaries. It turns out there is a direct correlation between inequality and violence, specifically state sponsored violence.

The Roman Empire was the military superpower of its day, and was also exemplary a taking wealth from the land and from the poor and syphoning it to the very, very wealthy. Who is exemplary at that today?

Anyway, Jesus didn't play by those rules. He didn't enact violence, or permit it, nor did he let the threat of it stop him. He engaged in power with, not power over. He lived nonviolence and by his very life taught its power. Paul, in the letter to the Galatians, says this as well as it has ever been said. “There is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, there is no male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Well, that takes care of power over!! That simple sentence teaches us that as followers of Jesus, none of the coercive power of the world applies anymore. And once that power-over is gone, along with it goes the need for violence to enforce it. What is left is space for people to work together, collaborate, help meet each other's needs, and build connections and community. Which, to be honest, is a darn good reason to join that Jesus parade and choose his values instead of supporting the representative of the Empire on the other side.

But today, I'll admit, even this story that astounds me every time I approach it, and even this Galatians passage which has one of my two favorite verses in the New Testament, still fall flatter than usual.

Because here we are, 2000 years later, in a society that sanctifies violence rather than nonviolence. In a society with about the same income distribution as the Roman Empire. In a society that STILL functions as if some people matter and some don't. It is enough to make me wonder how well this Jesus movement is really doing after all. Furthermore, there is the “Christian Nationalist” thing that claims the name of Jesus while doing all the things of the Empire... power, violence, hierarchy, in groups and out groups, all of it.

And, this being the start of Holy Week, I'm going leave this here, in the discomfort. In the reminder that things are not OK, that people misuse the name of Jesus, that God is against violence but our country specializes in it, in the incredible power of the Palm Sunday parade that was a large part of why Jesus was killed. I'm going to leave us here in the brokenness. Spoiler alert: next week I have some good news to share. But for now, here we are.

May God hear our prayers. Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron  First United Methodist Church of Schenectady  603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305  Pronouns: she/her/hers  http://fumcschenectady.org/  https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

April 2, 2023

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

XO is actually a fascinating song from a Christian perspective but idk if I can figure out how to put it into words

[welcometohighwater]

holy hell, quite a sermon for a preacher in a baptist church in the south to preach this morning