Deacons and daddies. Caregivers and aunties Shopping for a carton of milk, a birthday cake, a cartful of groceries. Shot down, killed. By a man who just emerged into adulthood. With a manifesto of hate, the longest paper he’s ever written. By a man who …
Last week I shared about my #18for2018 project. A few days into 2019 I’m ready to unveil my #19for2019 goals. Credit for this project goes to the podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin. The idea is that rather than one huge resolution, we tackle nineteen things …
I’ve never been great at resolutions, and as a person in recovery from an eating disorder, the whole diet culture -weight loss talk stuff around New Years can be pretty overwhelming and triggering. In past years I’ve chosen a theme word for the year, “reflect,” or “rooted,” but I tried something new this year.
Taking a cue from the podcast Happier, and their #18for2018 challenge, I set 18 mini goals for the year. I was successful on some, somewhat successful on others, and less than successful on a few others. Here’s what I set out to do:
Number One: Try Twelve Yoga/Movement Classes
Loved this one. I went to classes at: Tula Yoga in Saint Paul, (their Yin/Restorative and Candlelight classes are amazing, and the Soma classes are super interesting; Yess Yoga/Curvy Yoga in Minneapolis (shout out to Elisabeth and the monthly Body Love Workshops; Radical Health Alliance (Ani is a little bit of a body liberation superstar); YogaQuest (doing yoga while pretending to be a second year at Hogwarts was so fun); I also counted a Fat Girls Hiking hike that I did at Silver Lake Park, and an open water swim class that I took with the YWCA of Minneapolis in preparation for the Women’s Tri Super Sprint.
Number Two: Buy a new “everyday” belt.
This one was easy, I got a great reversible black/brown belt from Torrid. It’s so nice to not have to pull your pants up every time I stand up. Not sure why I waited until I was 37 to buy an everyday belt, but three cheers for achievable goals.
Number Three: See “Hamilton.”
YES!!!! I have loved this musical so much. When I was recovering from my brain injury reading the lyrics with Amazon Music x-ray was a part of how I learned to read aloud again. The music is fantastic, the story is strong, I knew that I would love it. But when we saw it in Chicago, I was struck by just how physical and funny it was. This was fantastic.
Number Four: Do the YWCA Women’s Tri Mini Sprint
Ok, so it’s called a super sprint, not a mini-sprint. I came in 210th out of 211th place. But I did it. It was so empowering. I wasn’t able to train as much as I would have liked, and I was very nervous, but I told myself that if I got my feet wet in the lake I was successful. I finished the swim and got on my bike. I finished the bike, and was greeted by my dad, who gave me the hat off his head, Richard and Elise, who walked the final one mile walk run with me. After the race I kept thinking that right after my concussion I couldn’t walk in a straight line for more than four feet. It took months before I could walk around the block. But here I was, I swam 250 yards, biked seven miles and walked one mile. This was a super cool experience.
Number Five: A quarterly getaway.
Almost. We did three big trips this year, and I’m about to do a cabin getaway. We travelled to Jamaica in January/February, Eastern Wisconsin and Chicago in July, and Orlando in December. So I’ll have done four trips they just weren’t spaced out quarterly. Close enough.
Number Six: Buy some cute supportive dressier shoes.
I had started wearing orthotic inserts in 2017 but that meant that I was literally wearing running shoes everywhere, or being in pain when I was in dressier shoes. So I scheduled an appointment at Schueller Shoes and got two beautiful pair. In the summer I also ordered some supportive sandals. I love my shoe rotation now. My feet feel good too.
Number Seven: Buy a new swimsuit.
I bought two! The first is a cute strapless floral one, that is great for splashing around and lying in the sun, but I learned pretty quickly that it is a little awkward for actual swimming, so then I ordered a second one that I wore for the triathalon.
Number Eight: Make a photo year book (for 2017).
I didn’t get this done until November, but it’s done and it’s cute and if all of the internet based places that I store my photos disappear when I’m an old lady I’ll have a hard copy of some of my memories.
Number Nine: Connect with one out of town friend or relative every week.
I was semi-successful on this, but I found that it was hard to measure. If Richard called his family and handed me the phone for 2 minutes did that count? Is a whatApp text message enough to count as connecting? What if my sister is visiting from out of town and I see her? I did make a point (separate from this #18for2018 goal) of calling my parents once a week, that added a lot of happiness to my year. I want to keep working on connecting with people out of town, but this goal taught me that “connecting,” is harder to measure than I thought.
Number Ten: Assess, plan and implement finances, savings, debt, home, giving.
Nope, well a little but basically nope. This one was WAY TOO VAGUE and WAY TOO AMBITIOUS for one goal. Also it’s super weirdly written. We did negotiate a lower internet bill and I fought for more generous financial aid, and I’m tracking spending a little better than before, but honestly this one was not too successful. If you can’t measure success it’s hard to even take action.
Number Eleven: Submit writing to a new publication.
Kind of. After two years of medical leave to recover from my concussion, I forgot how much reading and writing and time and mental energy being back in school would take. But, I was approached by the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church to write two lessons as a part of their Faith & Justice curriculum for Jr. High groups. So, I did technically submit writing to a new publication, but it wasn’t what I had in mind. Boy I wrote a lot this year though! It was mostly about United Methodist doctrine, history, polity, the role of religion in the public sphere, and Clinical Pastoral Education reflections. I’m eager to have more time to write non-academically.
Number Twelve: Volunteer in Direct Service.
I’m counting this one as a yes. It was for school, not some extra-curricular volunteer work, but I am going to give myself a yes. I realized after finishing my first year serving at a suburban church that my life was missing proximity to the poor. I take Jesus at his word that whatever we do to the least of these we do unto him, and my life a year ago had very little interfacing time with “the least.” This fall I was enrolled in the Social Justice CPE program and got to spend two mornings each week at The Dignity Center. A ministry that welcomes and supports people on their path to stability. Most of our participants have lived experience with homelessness. I also got to spend 6 weeks at Lino Lakes Correctional Facility learning restorative justice from those inside. This semester has changed me in ways that I will never fully understand.
Number Thirteen: Learn Some Embroidery
Here’s another example of, if it’s not specific it’s hard to know if it was accomplished or not. I’m gong to vote “no/kind of,” on this one. I did do one embroidery project. Or I started it, it’s sitting in a shoe box. I didn’t learn any new stitches, I did pin a lot of embroidery pins on pinterest and bought a really fancy embroidery book, but I did not, “learn some embroidery.”
Number Fourteen: Do something special with each godchild/niece.
This is tricky. We took the three year old to the beach when we were in Jamaica, we met the ten year old in Orlando. The six, nearly seven year old went to see “The Wiz,” with us at the Children’s Theatre Company. But some were too little to do something special with. Being “aunty,” is my favorite role in the world so I’m glad for the special things that we did.
Number Fifteen: Twelve New Hikes.
I loved this one too! My favorites were Devil’s Lake and Kohler-Andrae State Parks in Wisconsin. The most memorable was Pike Island at Fort Snelling State Park (heat exhaustion and an ambulance ride). I love hiking. I love how my brain and my body and my heart connect with each other, and the rest of creation. I love travelling and moving and seeing nature.
Number Sixteen: Submit/Display art in public.
School really took all of my creative energy in 2018. Even the work that I was doing in visual arts in 2016 and 2017 with Daley Blooms was mostly on hold in 2018 (I did make one handmade sale and one redbubble sale though). I love creating visual art, and I may recycle this goal for a future year, because it feels like a brave and important thing for me to do, but right now I’m ok with letting this goal be “a hard no.”
Number Seventeen: Complete the Bo-Po (body positivity) workbook.
I am mostly recovered from my eating disorder, but my body image issues are stubborn. There was a packet of worksheet/coloring pages that an art therapist gave to me from Francis Cannon (cw: lots of naked bodies in her illustrations and photos). I did one page of it but wasn’t ever inspired to keep doing it. I have been pursuing body acceptance in a bunch of other ways though, through Fat Positive movement classes and groups, social media and reading. I’m currently in the middle of Fat and Faithful.
Number Eighteen: Fifty-two friend dates.
I stopped counting in November #gradstudent life. I don’t think that I got to fifty-two, but I got close (in the 40s for sure). I love being a student, and am so grateful for the chances that I have had to work while in school, and now to do CPE this past semester. I am pursuing my professional and personal goals and I am grateful for the ways that I have grown and been transformed this year. But I would be lying if I said that it was easy for me and easy on my friendships. I have had to turn down way more invitations to hang out, or go to events than I would have liked. Graduation is May 5, and there will be lots of friend time this spring and summer.
The General Board of Church and Society recently published Jr. High Curriculum designed to help students actively engage the intersection of faith and justice and explore why our faith compels us toward justice. It is available to download today for free. Each lesson includes a …
This is an adaptation of a Christmas Eve reflection that I gave at Living Spirit UMC on December 24, 2018. In our collective memory of Jesus’ birth, we think about nighttime and stars shining in the darkness. Both groups of visitors, the shepherds guarding their flocks at night in Luke’s gospel, and the Magi from the east following the star in Matthews gospel reveal …
Sometimes, I hear a particular song, and I get a strong memory associated with it when I hear it again. In December of 2003, I was completing my semester of student teaching at Jefferson School in Minneapolis. I was living with my parents in Saint …
I am grateful for the invitation to preach this morning at Living Spirit UMC. One of the members of Living Spirit, Jean, reads the scripture (Acts 1:1-11). The preaching starts at 2:41. Thank you too, to my “tribe” who came to support me. Abigail, Alexis, …
We hold governments responsible for the protection of the rights of the people to free and fair elections and to the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, communications media, and petition for redress of grievances without fear of reprisal; to the right to privacy; and to the guarantee of the rights to adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care.
Like economics, politics is another topic that can be difficult to talk about with kids. Especially for young kids it is hard to imagine perspectives other than their own, and so much of a child’s views of anyone political candidate are likely echoes of their parents political views.
I was at a Bible camp a few years ago, riding on a pontoon boat with a group of 8 and 9 year old boys. “I can’t stand Barack Obama, do you have any idea what he’s done to our economy?” one eight year old boy shouted, seemingly out of the blue. Another 8 year old shouted back, “Barack Obama is the man! Everyone else in politics is just racist!” Not exactly nuanced political debate, but on the other hand, not much different from what the debates by pundits on tv sound like either.
That said, the political process and voting in particular are one of the ways that we show love to the world. By prayerfully evaluating candidates and policies, by supporting voter’s rights. By encouraging polticians to enact policies that are just and equitable we share God’s love and justice with the world.
Tomorrow is election day in the United States. There is so much anxiety in the air. I do not believe that it is the job of a minister to endorse any candidate or platform. I do think that there is a Christian response to the election though:
1- That we prayerfully and carefully consider our votes and look at the impact our votes will have not just on us, but on the marginalized in our communities and around the globe.
2- That we support the rights of people to vote and work to prevent voter suppression.
3- That we continue to love people who have different political views and remember that all voters and all candidates are made in the image of God.
Guide me in ways that will help me address situations in a Christian way
My family helps me to consider and recognize the rights of others and understand what that means in the way that we live as a family.
Message
Do you remember a few weeks ago, we talked about “Being made in the image of God?” I have a question for you, Who is made in the image of God?
I’m going to show you some different people and I want you to tell me if they are made in the image of God or not: (Show a series of pictures of candidates, politicians, and people supporting candidates.)
Every SINGLE human, every one of them. The ones we like, the ones we don’t and the ones we feel just sort of ok about. Every single person is made in the image of God. And because every single person in made in the image of God, part of how we love God and love people is to be loving to every single person.
I’m going to show you another person now, (hold up John Wesley) does anyone know who he is?
This is John Wesley, and he’s an important person in our church history, if we are in a Methodist Church, we are a part of John Wesley’s family. Way back in 1774, before the United States was even a country, John Wesley wrote some advice for voters he wrote:
October 6, 1774
I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them
1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy
2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and
3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.
Now, because John Wesley lived a really long time ago, sometimes even if his words are amazing, they can be hard to understand so let’s try and say them in words we understand.
1 – Vote for the person you think is the best. And don’t let people pay you to vote for the person they want. Vote from your own heart and your own mind.
2- Don’t say mean things about they person you did not vote for.
3- Keep loving people who voted differently than you did.
Another way that we make sure that voting is done in a way that shows that we love God and we love people is to make sure that people are able to vote and have their votes counted. There have been lots of times in the US when different people weren’t allowed to vote. At first you had to be Rich, White and a man to vote, but it’s not just rich white men who are made in the image of God, it’s everyone. People worked hard and even died so that women, and poor people and people of every color could vote. One way that we continue to show God’s love is to help make sure that rich or poor, woman or man, Black, White, Asian, Latino, Native, Multi-racial, Middle-Eastern, whatever skin color people have, they have a way to vote.
If you have an extended period of time, I’d recommend reading Lillian’s Right to Vote it tells the story of 100 year old Lillian walking up the hill to her poling place and remembering her ancestors and parents and their struggle to have the right to vote from slavery to reconstruction, to the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights era to the 2008 election. Lillian was a real woman who cast her ballot in 2008 at the age of 100.
Using in Worship
You could use this message eitiher in the lead up to, or post election. I know that several churches are advertising services of healing and hope after election results tomorrow.
Today is the day God cries with the masses of starving people, despises growing disparity between rich and poor, demands justice for workers in the marketplace. And so shall we. From the litany to accompany the Social Creed (Accessed November 3, 2016) My friend Nils …