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Perfect whole people

6/25/2018

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We are surrounded by the dominant culture’s idea of perfection when it comes to physical beauty. As a cisgender person (one whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex), I have bought into that ideal. It is one of the lenses in which I see the world and myself. (and cast judgement on myself)

Yesterday as I watched the Pride Parade in Chicago I noticed that no one was worried about trying to meet that cultural ideal and look “perfect”. And then...I was slapped upside the head (by the Holy Spirit?), my eyes were opened, and I saw that EVERYONE LOOKED PERFECT!

I stopped seeing and sorting people by category and saw that every single person was perfectly themselves! My heart was full! I had a glimpse of that moment in the creation story when God created and then said, “It is good.” Tov is the Hebrew word for good = perfectly made/good in it’s very essence.

I was also aware that many of these same people cannot be perfectly themselves in other parts of their lives. They cannot openly celebrate the beauty of themselves because they are judged and condemned. The parade is their safe space to be an act of resistance to the narrow idea that there is only one way to love and be a whole person in the world. As we walked to the parade route, I told my daughter and her boyfriend that if they noticed I did or said anything wrong to please let me know. I did not want to poison the safe space atmosphere. Their only direction: “Don’t be mean.” I love that. I think they know that I would not be mean or they would not have invited me along. It is so simple and beautiful!

I walked away from the parade changed. I was grateful to be welcomed into a community (to their party) and now
because of that generous spirit, I see all people more clearly for who they are and who we can be together – perfect and whole as God created.

Thank you to the LGBTQ community for letting me walk in your flip flops/stilettos/Vans/Birkenstocks/etc for an afternoon. You have shown me a better world. Just like all the glitter that is hard to wash off, my prayer is this new vision of God’s good creation will stay with me for a long time!

​~ Pam

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The Flip Side of Too Busy

6/3/2018

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When talking about honoring sabbath time, preachers tend to give examples of a younger generation who are caught on a treadmill of shuffling kids to a variety of activities, parents with non-traditional work schedules, involvement in classrooms or little league teams, etc.
Those are all valid. It is good for people who fall into that time of life to look critically at where they are not finding times of Sabbath rest.

Aging members of the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers are slowing down. Physical limitations keep them at home more than they would like.
Because of cognitive limitations, they may select to limit activities because of embarrassment or confusion.
There are many folks (of all generations) who are lonely or alone, un- or underemployed, live with limitations or depression which take them out of their own community. What does sabbath mean to them? How do we reimagine Sabbath as more than only slowing down and doing less?
For people who wish they could do more(*) or those who feel abandon by God, what is the Good News of Sabbath for them?

“Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

Sabbath is not merely going to church. Sabbath keeping includes both our individual and communal ways of intentionally connecting back with God. Life can push God to the edges, the dark corners. Reconnecting with the grace of God in sabbath keeping pulls us back - to ourselves, the God-image in each of us.

Sabbath also reconnects us to the Body of Christ. So that solitary walk in the woods on a Sunday morning may be a beautiful prayerful activity, but does not address the fullness of Sabbath keeping. We need each other not just to lend a helping hand but so that we see Christ in one another. That “seeing” informs our “doing”.

Under this broad “both/and” definition, how does someone who is separated from their community and much of their previous freedoms participate in sabbath? Again, what is the Good News of sabbath for the not-so-busy?

At the heart it is the same: you are not loved and worthy because of all that you do. You are loved and worthy of love because you are you - Beloved Child of God. For the Too Busy that message helps reevaluate all the comings and goings. How much of what you do is so that you can be (or seen to be) good?
For the Not-So-Busy, you are loved and worthy for who you are now...including your limitations. Just as people’s divine goodness is not defined by what they do, that same divine goodness is not affected by what you cannot do anymore. (Drive. Remember your family. Leave the house. Clean yourself. Work.)

Sabbath is not about God controlling our Sunday mornings. Sabbath keeping is about receiving. It is good news for all of us: intentionally receiving the promise of connection with God in ourselves, in each other and in the world.

​~ Pam

*I want to acknowledge the work of family members who are full-time care givers. This is a reality beyond “busy”. (This maybe be worth its own blog post.)
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    Pam Voves

    On my own journey as a dabbling artist, a lover of stories,
    and grounded by my call to accompany people on their journey of faith.

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