I have regularly felt ashamed for needing to persuasively argue, yet your sermon today relieved me of that. God deems that we argue for justice. Thank you for your careful and good work reading scripture. I love it!
Magnificent sermon -- thanks! And the ecclesiastical echo surrounding the words lent a measure of nostalgic beauty.
In the penultimate issue of the Episcopal news-and-opinion magazine The Living Church, there is an article by a woman soon to be ordained a priest, in which she tells of how she grew up in a pious, devout family, in Massachusetts I think she wrote, who went to church at every opportunity. But then, when times changed and it was announced that a woman would be presiding and preaching on certain Sundays, the parents stayed home, protesting the non-biblical situation in which a woman might preach to men. And this woman soon to be ordained considered how recent, new-fangled and non-traditional it is, that a woman could be a priest; and how the concept remains unacceptable to most people in the world-wide Anglican Communion. And to my amazement, she seemed abashed, and even apologetic, that she was contributing to this persistent, awful controversy -- instead of giving a robust defense of her vocation from God, and a hearty thanksgiving that God has at last, after many long centuries, at last opened the eyes of at least a few among the Christian faithful.
With that in mind, here is at least one small voice thanking God, that Diana Butler Bass is here to preach to God's church.
Praying…persuasive dialoguing…faithing. Thank you for making a threesome and enlivening faith as a verb. Somehow my mind wandered to imagining Jesus on that Washington corner standing side by side with that man in the news article. I really needed this today since I am one of those community-less persons finding community with you today.
Your sermon at the Theology Beer Camp is just what I needed. I found it very validating because I've had weeks of dealing with uncaring systems with the word "care" in their name ... advocating for one of "the least of these." I began to identify with Elizabeth Warren ... "Nevertheless she persisted." These systems are so complicated and it is so time-consuming working your way through them that most people give up. I wouldn't have thought of it as "prayer without ceasing" without your prompting. What a powerful story of the man who persisted for 24 years to confront one of the most powerful of systems. It is so gratifying to know the good company I am in with so many other outsiders and marginalized. Thank you so much for bringing such meaning to our faith tradition.
Such refreshing teaching on prayer! Romans 8:26- was always used in the church I went to to teach to passively pray without bothering God over and over because He already knows the groaning of our hearts. I would much rather listen to Jesus than Paul when he is asking us to enter into relationship with God to the point we feel free to “argue persuasively”with God! Now that’s REAL rather than pious, and Good News!!!! And it’s reminiscent of Jacob wrestling with God. I think of what kind of relationship I would rather have with my children, and I would rather they freely express an argumentative nature than just a passively waiting for me to interact. Thank you for giving a better understanding of prayer!
Absolutely beautiful. I am deeply moved by your sermon and this post.
Thank you.
Tears of gratitude for this message.
I have regularly felt ashamed for needing to persuasively argue, yet your sermon today relieved me of that. God deems that we argue for justice. Thank you for your careful and good work reading scripture. I love it!
Thank you so much for sharing this message and reflection on prayer and faith. It is uplifting for me.
Your sermon allow me to let go of my old behavior of trying much too hard to believe.
Your sermon gave me permission to instead trust & have faith. THAT I can do.
Thank you Diana.
Many Thanks
Amen! Glad I got to hear this powerful and encouraging word hear. I hated missing you at Holy Family today! Peace+
Loved your sermon. What a treat!
Magnificent sermon -- thanks! And the ecclesiastical echo surrounding the words lent a measure of nostalgic beauty.
In the penultimate issue of the Episcopal news-and-opinion magazine The Living Church, there is an article by a woman soon to be ordained a priest, in which she tells of how she grew up in a pious, devout family, in Massachusetts I think she wrote, who went to church at every opportunity. But then, when times changed and it was announced that a woman would be presiding and preaching on certain Sundays, the parents stayed home, protesting the non-biblical situation in which a woman might preach to men. And this woman soon to be ordained considered how recent, new-fangled and non-traditional it is, that a woman could be a priest; and how the concept remains unacceptable to most people in the world-wide Anglican Communion. And to my amazement, she seemed abashed, and even apologetic, that she was contributing to this persistent, awful controversy -- instead of giving a robust defense of her vocation from God, and a hearty thanksgiving that God has at last, after many long centuries, at last opened the eyes of at least a few among the Christian faithful.
With that in mind, here is at least one small voice thanking God, that Diana Butler Bass is here to preach to God's church.
Thank you for helping me keep on, keeping on! It reaffirms my heart’s desire to TRUST even more fully, and to keep on working for justice.
Praying…persuasive dialoguing…faithing. Thank you for making a threesome and enlivening faith as a verb. Somehow my mind wandered to imagining Jesus on that Washington corner standing side by side with that man in the news article. I really needed this today since I am one of those community-less persons finding community with you today.
Your sermon at the Theology Beer Camp is just what I needed. I found it very validating because I've had weeks of dealing with uncaring systems with the word "care" in their name ... advocating for one of "the least of these." I began to identify with Elizabeth Warren ... "Nevertheless she persisted." These systems are so complicated and it is so time-consuming working your way through them that most people give up. I wouldn't have thought of it as "prayer without ceasing" without your prompting. What a powerful story of the man who persisted for 24 years to confront one of the most powerful of systems. It is so gratifying to know the good company I am in with so many other outsiders and marginalized. Thank you so much for bringing such meaning to our faith tradition.
Such refreshing teaching on prayer! Romans 8:26- was always used in the church I went to to teach to passively pray without bothering God over and over because He already knows the groaning of our hearts. I would much rather listen to Jesus than Paul when he is asking us to enter into relationship with God to the point we feel free to “argue persuasively”with God! Now that’s REAL rather than pious, and Good News!!!! And it’s reminiscent of Jacob wrestling with God. I think of what kind of relationship I would rather have with my children, and I would rather they freely express an argumentative nature than just a passively waiting for me to interact. Thank you for giving a better understanding of prayer!
Wow! Philip Larkin!
Deep gratitude💛
Sorry, wandered way off on a distracting tangent again, but i have tasted that line in philip larkin's poem:
"a tense, musty, unignorable silence,
Brewed God knows how long".
The silence of sitting alone in a shut down church is deafening.