Six New Things – Week of November 28, 2022
Many people argue that food and/or climate change bridge all other areas of justice. I argue that theology is our most essential starting point. If we lean into the discomfort of imaging God in new and more nuanced ways, how might that change our interactions and relationships with the Divine, the planet, Black, LGBTQIA+, and female-bodied souls?
ONE
From the creators of Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints comes Dear Mama God – but not yet! You can help get this, ‘expansive, simple, wonder-filled prayer addressed to God as a Mother’ published by joining the Kickstarter movement!
Find additional resources for Exploring God – with all ages – in our lib guide.
TWO
How might a shift toward a more feminine-aware theology inform our efforts at climate care? Faith-based earth ethics scholar Larry Rasmussen writes to the future about ‘climate change, global citizenship, democracy, and legacy’, in The Planet You Inherit: Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty’s a Sure Thing (Broadleaf), a series of ‘love letters consciously written by elders of one geologic epoch to the young of another’.
THREE
Cornel West invites six prominent scholars to ponder ‘movements of liberation in today’s African American communities’ through their diverse lenses of black political, cultural, and theological thought in, Prophesy Deliverance!: An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity – 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition (WJK).
FOUR
Choice Words: Writers on Abortion (Haymarket) is another ‘landmark literary anthology of poems, stories, and essays’ from ‘essential voices that renew our courage in the struggle to defend reproductive rights’.
FIVE
United Theological Seminary student and admissions counselor, Cindy Bohrer, is ‘passionate about creating safe, inclusive spaces, particularly when it comes to gender, identity, and pronoun usage’. As part of her Social Transformation capstone project, she released Becoming in the New Year, a ‘fun down-loadable resource to help churches become more generous, kind, and affirming – because y’all means all!”
SIX
To sum up: if we can relate to God in broader, more diverse ways, we can relate to God’s diverse creation – including the multitudinous diversities of humanity – in healthier, more affirming ways. Key to this is the imagery and language we share in worship. Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has spent two decades rewriting familiar hymn tunes with more expansive imagery for God and a broad appreciation for the contexts and emerging realities in which our hymns are shared. Her latest collection, God’s World Is Changing includes Advent and Christmas tunes that make sense in our ‘changing world’!
Find additional Advent & Christmas inspiration, Music suggestions, and Rethinking Worship ideas in our lib guides.
P.S.
I don’t normally do this – but a great gift idea from – or to – someone who preaches or teaches the Good News might be a gift subscription (for only $12 for the full year!!) to Yes! Magazine, which features, ‘stories about real people working for change… [which bring] hope and inspiration’. It’s generally full of really Good News!
