'When I am Ordained, I shall wear Purple'

by Mia Smith, With acknowledgement to Jenny Joseph's original poem

When I am ordained, I shall wear purple
with killer heels and bright red lipstick
And I shall go round preaching from the Bible

...The liberating truth that Jesus calls women
and tell those who say otherwise that it is they,
not I, who are bad theologians.

I shall sit down with fellow clergy
when we are tired of fighting for equality
and going the extra mile with grace when we are put down,
And we will make up for it:
by encouraging one another as Scripture says,
and praying for those who abuse us,
and rejoicing that we are suffering
(but just a little bit) for Jesus,
And we might even eat some chocolate.

I will adopt the ordination name “Junia”,
and remind those who object,
that there may be a boy named Sue somewhere in the world,
but there probably isn’t.

But now we must face the world,
Who think we are traitors to our sex
For working for the Church
And face our brothers and sisters who think
We are being unbiblical
And face those in our Churches
who have failed to notice the pain this week has brought.
And we will go in the strength of Christ.
We will not turn our backs on our calling
Because God is not finished with the Church,
And He is faithful.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am ordained, and start to wear purple.

Fulcrum: When I am Ordained, I shall wear Purple
www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk

Sorry, sorry, sorry

by Ken Sehested

We kill and bomb,
Murder and maim
Target and terrorize

Mostly (for high-tech armies) from great distance,
The better not to see actual faces
Or severed limbs, or intestines oozing through
Holes where belly buttons used to testify
To being a mother-born child

But then we apologize
Sorry
So sorry
Deeply regret
Such a tragedy!
Sorry, sorry, sorry

We do everything we can to limit civilian casualties

“This isn’t Sunday school”
(one politician’s actual words)

Didn’t have those children in our sights
Impossible to see, at 10,000 feet,

Whether Kalishnakovs are present

Smart bombs aren’t flawless
Flawed intelligence (as if a test score were at stake)
Military necessity
Rules of engagement need refining
S**t happens
We gave them advance warning
War is hell

The unintended consequences and inevitable eventualities

In hostile force-reduction and counter-insurgency

Strategic operations
(See s**t happens)

Freedom isn’t free
Do unto others before they do unto you
Asymmetrical warfare (“Why don’t they come out and fight like men!”)
No independent verification of claims of civilian massacre

(aka, no one left standing)

“This is no My Lai” (Vietnam, where as many as 504—the Pentagon says only

347—unarmed women, children and old men were killed by U.S. troops, no weapons recovered, for which one soldier was convicted, spending four months in prison)

We fight them there so we don’t have to fight them here

(which is why the U.S. needs the 1,000 or so military bases outside its borders, dozens of them with golf courses)

Won’t happen again, unless it does, then

Sorry, sorry, sorry

Video, and sentiments, at the top of the hour
They left us no option
Forced into this corner
Them or us
Hearings to be convened
We’ll get to the bottom of this
We need to wait ‘til all the facts are in

But only eyes, no heads, will roll:

Foreign-born blood being cheap as it is

If war is the answer, the question must be really stupid

As printed in Fellowship: A Magazine Of Peacemaking, published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Vol. 77, No. 4-6

I PRAY BECAUSE

I pray because

IN THE VALLEY

of despair

I need to reflect honestly

on the way I live my life

Because

IN THE SHADOW

of death

I need to express my hopes and dreams

my fears and misgivings

Because

IN THE GREEN PASTURES

of God’s territory

I can spend a moment

beside still waters

I pray because

It restores my soul

It’s an affirmation of my belief that

God can be trusted

I pray today

especially today

for a grace connection

ah

A Reminder

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us

that though we live in the shadow of death

the shades of mourning

and the specter of desolation

There is life when we

give birth to new ideas

when we plant hope with the expectation of spiritual rain

There is life when we

heal the wounds of misunderstanding and bitterness

when we build a fellowship of faith

when we encourage the old and inspire the young

There is life when we

Laugh out loud

when we proclaim You the Lord of the dancing, swirling universe

There is life when we

embrace new friends and old enemies

when we search for truth

There is life when we

keep praying, no matter what

when we give hope to the poor

There is life when we

speak out against cruelty and injustice

when we love

when we make peace.

Remind us often, Lord

You are the Lord of Life.

ah

1/21/00

revised

2/16/11

It’s Just Us, Lord

A prayer

Lord, we are here

It’s just us who are

Amazed

by your creative power

Instructed

by your grace

Transformed

by your love

Humbled

by your majesty

Inspired

by your life

Broken

by your death

Lord, we are here

It’s just us who

Honor you

in our worship

Rejoice

at your resurrection

Long

for your second coming

Anticipate

our Heavenly Home

Amen

The Road Not Taken Prayer

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Read more »

Fractured

Cleaning out the shed at home yesterday, I came across a scrap of paper on which I had written a poem years ago. I no longer remember when it was written or what specifically prompted it. My guess is that it was written during my major depressive illness which lasted for about 10 years.

Read more »

I PRAY BECAUSE

I pray because
IN THE VALLEY
of despair
I need to reflect honestly
on the way I live my life

Because
IN THE SHADOW
of death
I need to express my hopes and dreams
my fears and misgivings

Because
IN THE GREEN PASTURES
of God’s territory
I can spend a moment
beside still waters

I pray because
It restores my soul
It’s an affirmation of my belief that
God can be trusted

I pray today
especially today
for a grace connection

andy hanson
12/2/09

The Road Not Taken Prayer

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

The following are two accounts of answered prayer
concerning cockroaches and locked vans
in the February 8, 2007, Adventist Review

I. The Road Not Taken

Patty Froese
Prayed “one of the most desperate prayers” of her life
when cockroaches were driving her crazy.
“You brought on the bugs in Egypt,
and then you removed them.
So please, remove them from our home.”
She never saw another cockroach.
She wrote, “It’s hard to explain to someone
when you feel a prayer has been answered.
I just felt it somehow.”

Don Droze
Prayed, when keys had been accidentally
locked in a van at summer camp
and he tried to open a door
using the keys from two similar vans
“God, in the name of Jesus Christ,
make one of these four keys work,
for Your name’s sake.”
The van door remained locked.
So he “prayed yet again,
Oh God, for Thy glory,
For the sake of these kids,
Make this key work in the other direction.
With fear and trembling and holding fast to faith
(total reliance upon His strength)”
and “the key moved within that tumbler
as though it was cut to do so.
All the locks instantly popped up”

II. The Road Less Traveled

My Prayer

What am I to believe, Lord?
How do I figure in Grace*
With cockroaches and keys?
Are we that love Grace not desperate enough?
Are the words we pray not the right ones?
Is it that we don’t we rely totally on your strength?
Is Grace’s problem too big for you to handle?
Are you only able to work with cockroaches and keys?

God, I’m taking the road less traveled on this one.
As far as I’m concerned
there was nothing miraculous
about the cockroaches disappearing and the key turning.

Every day really bad things happen
to people of deep religious faith
who pray using all the right words.

Yet implacable, monstrous, mysterious evil remains.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in prayer,
or that I don’t pray,
or that I don’t believe in miracles.

I pray to thank You for the miracle of this planet,
the miracle of life, of modern medicine;
the miracles of hope and generosity
and kindness and friendship and wonder
And understanding.

I pray to thank You for spending time on the earth with us.
Because of your life I can believe in justice
and forgiveness, the end of suffering, and happy endings.
I pray to thank You for the fact that this world is not my home
and my mistakes and foolishness and awkward selfishness
do not separate me from your love.

I pray for wisdom and thoughtfulness and compassion
and perseverance and a loving spirit.
I pray that my prejudices don’t blind me to suffering,
and that I will always do right because it is right.

Finally, I want to thank you
for my my companions,
on the Road Less Traveled.
It has truly made all the difference.

*An 8-year-old friend with an inoperable brain tumor

ah
11/09

Gray is a Color, Too

Heavenly Father,
On this blustery, rainy, Christmas morning
Remind us that gray is a color, too
Of elephants
Squirrels
The breasts of doves
The fur of kittens
Of sunrise
Clouds that bring needed rain
Rail fences along country roads
Smoke from chimneys
A favorite coat

Remind us that gray is the color, too
Of wisdom
Reflection
Life’s mysteries
Difficult choices

Father of us all,
Help us to remember that gray is a color, too
as we face our individual winters of the soul
times when the warming sunshine of Your love
does not penetrate our clouds

Amen
ah

It’s Why I Pray

Comic modified from Rubes, by Leigh Rubin
(click to enlarge)


I PRAY

I pray because
IN THE VALLEY
of despair
I need to reflect honestly
on the way I live my life

Because
IN THE SHADOW
of death
I need to express my hopes and dreams
my fears and misgivings

Because
IN THE GREEN PASTURES
of God’s territory
I can spend a moment
beside still waters

I pray because
It restores my soul
It’s an affirmation of my belief that
God can be trusted

I pray today
especially today
for a grace connection

ah
9/08

Snow Leopards

There are 5000 Snow Leopards
Left in the wild
In the high, barren mountains
Of Asia
Where humans can’t
Conveniently shoot them

This most beautiful cat
The most endangered
Loved so much
That four men
Filmed the Snow Leopards for four years
Summer and winter
sometimes using thirty special
camera traps
in addition to their own
long-lensed efforts
(one almost died at 15000 feet)

Claudia and I sat at home
Last evening
In our recliners
And watched Snow Leopards
Mark territory
Hunt
Mate
And survive
Thanks to those four men
And a grant from National Geographic

When the show was over
I loved the Snow Leopards
And the men who filmed them
For caring so much for
Something so beautiful
So endangered
So wild

It’s easy
To push away the thought
That Snow Leopards kill
Other wild but not so beautiful
Animals to survive

Lord,
Human animals
Are not an endangered species
Yet
Must some of us become endangered
To be loved
Valued for our beauty
Our wild minds

Who would Jesus bomb?

ah
8/07