Reads of the Week
1) In His Name All Oppression Shall Cease by Richard Beck
"O Holy Night, it turns out, was a song of political resistance and protest. Imagine Americans singing in the years leading up to the Civil War the lyrics Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother; And in His name all oppression shall cease."
2) Sermon on Secret Codes, Wibbly Wobbly Time and the O Antiphons by Nadia Bolz-Weber
"See, we usually think of time and events as a linear progression from one thing to another, a simple line of events – like a string pulled tight. The past is past the future is future and the present is present. Everything stays where it should. But here is the church and especially in our liturgical life together it’s much more like taking that string and bunching it together in our hands (and in our prayers and songs) so that what happened thousands of years ago touches what happens now which touches prayers from the 5th century which touches God’s kingdom reality in what we think of as our future."
3) Theopoetics & So On and So On... by Tim Snediker
"Suppose the Kingdom isn’t a kingdom. Suppose it’s a future read in embers and ashes. Suppose the cross was a hoax. Suppose god was born in Naples, and died, burned at the stake in Rome on February 17, 1600. Suppose god can’t stop dying. Suppose god is addicted to life and death. Suppose god gets born this year, December 25, 2013."
4) Piss Christ in Prison: An Unlikely Advent Meditation by Richard Beck
"I looked at the men in the study and said, This is the scandal of the Incarnation. This is the scandal of Christmas. That God descended into the piss, shit and darkness of your life. And the piss, shit and darkness did not overcome it."
5) The Lonely Little Pony by Dulce
"The thing is, though, that all of us have times when it is easy to focus on our lack of capabilities, and sometimes we struggle to find the words. When you are three years old, no matter how beloved you are, you get slapped in the face daily with all the things that you cannot do: you are too small to reach what you want, your video game skills are not as developed as your siblings’, you can’t read things for yourself, you have to rely on others all the time. If I hadn’t sat down to play, I would totally have missed how powerless and lonely she felt."
Honorable Mention
Jesus and the Judean Subversion of Masculinity by Krista Dalton
A Christmas Apology, and the Seeds of Hope by Rachel Held Evans
How the Grinch Graced Christmas by Alan Noble
Tweets of the Week
"Does it still count as a zombie apocalypse if we're all just dead on the inside" - @ashfein
"If your family opens presents on Christmas Eve, that is illegal and you will be arrested" - @briangaar
"Wait what do you mean Jesus loves me? Did he say something to you? OMG I'm freaking out right now tell me his exact words." - @primawesome
On Pop Theology Week in Review
The Gnostic Gospel of Gaga by JaneAnn Kenney
"What is the message that Mama Monster is preaching to her little monsters?"
Uproar Around Celebrity's Opinion Allows Nation to Have Productive, Nuanced Conversation About Serious Issues by Ben Howard
"As the nation gathered for their respective family Christmas celebrations this week, conversations across the country turned to the outspoken comments of a reality television star."
Song of the Week
"Beating Hearts" by King Charles
Peace,
Ben
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