It already is enough. God has called you AND equipped you for Her Service. And as Eugene Peterson says, ‘A Long Obedience in the Same Direction’. This is who you have been and who you are now.
Jo, I don't know you and I have no idea why you are trying to stir up trouble on this day of all days. It comes across at best as uncharitable.
Anyway, since you want to talk about the textual clues about God's gender—as if God could or should be bound by human understandings of gender, which I don't believe—you have forgotten to note that in the Hebrew Scriptures, which you mention, the Spirit of God is feminine. See, for instance, Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God is described as hovering above the waters—with words that are decidedly feminine.
Sure. Yet languages change over time and as far as I can tell from the Psalms, Isaiah and even Jesus’ life, pronouns don’t matter as much as God has called and equipped..l So let’s disagree and celebrate Jeff’s call and ordination!
Thank you so much for giving a glimpse into your thoughts as you lead up to the big day! I appreciate your perspective on things so much— your meditation on worms actually brought me to tears, as I have been struggling this week with feeling like nothing any of us do matters. It gives me encouragement to keep "making compost" where I'm at.
Dear Jeff, I am very moved by what you have written with such honesty and revealing so much of your heart. May God bless your ordination tomorrow and continue to lead you in paths old and new. Thank you so much for your fellowship. Celia
As always, your writing is too rich and deep and wide for one comment to seem like anything appropriate to the whole. But I do have to say that when you spoke about ordination and the metaphor of marriage to God and you said, " I encourage you not to examine the metaphor too closely." You really made me laugh. Deeply. Thank you.
Regarding ordination, I am so happy for you but also, like you point out it has been such a journey and that makes me irrationally angry. My call is different though. Part of the beauty of self-examination has been understanding that my call is to use that anger to move past the systems and create new ones. But not everyone has that call. I admire your devotion which I know has to remain in constant check for your deepest wellbeing. I celebrate with you. As for me, I was ordained finally, too, (re-ordained actually since the UMC church doesn't let you keep it if you leave). There were some lovely people there. It was weird and wonderful. A chose a tree as my elder. It takes all of us and all of our wirings for change.
I love this reflection on your ordination. I’m a new subscriber and have so appreciated how you weave these stories and images in such a beautiful way. And what an awesome vocation of storytelling and witness! What seems “cobbled together” feels exactly right and needed, and I am guessing there will be more of this in the season ahead. I can so understand that sense of overwhelm Bonhoeffer describes in light of all that our world is going through. If I think of myself alone, facing it. But together… that feels different, my little contribution, with others and their little contribution, all part of a larger whole. Blessings to you tomorrow and may you hear that Voice saying, “You are my beloved,” as the Spirit moves upon you with your loving community all around you!
While I am thinking of it, I want to share these two prayers with you from my tradition (Episcopal). The first is a prayer that the priest prays when they are called to a new ministry. They kneel down in the midst of the congregation as they pray it. When I had to pray this, I cried through the entire thing:
To you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit. Fill my memory with the record of your mighty works; enlighten my understanding
with the light of your Holy Spirit; and may all the desires of
my heart and will center in what you would have me do. Make
me an instrument of your salvation for the people entrusted
to my care, and grant that I may faithfully administer your
holy Sacraments, and by my life and teaching set forth your
true and living Word. Be always with me in carrying out the
duties of my ministry. In prayer, quicken my devotion; in
praises, heighten my love and gratitude; in preaching, give me
readiness of thought and expression; and grant that, by the
clearness and brightness of your holy Word, all the world may
be drawn into your blessed kingdom. All this I ask for the
sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The second is a collect prayed at the ordination of priests and it's one of my favorites from the prayer book:
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look
favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred
mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry
out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world
see and know that things which were cast down are being
raised up, and things which had grown old are being made
new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection
by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sure. Yet languages change over time and as far as I can tell from the Psalms, Isaiah and even Jesus’ life, pronouns don’t matter as much as God has called and equipped..l
So let’s disagree and celebrate Jeff’s call and ordination!
I have followed you since I first heard you interviewed by Kate Bowler on Everything Happens. Your ministry has been a blessing to my journey as I move forward on the path of evolving and reconstructing what the Christian journey looks like. A strange and wonderful trip.
You and your ministry already have and will continue to bless so many. Thanks to you, I have a new respect for worms! Going forward, I will, indeed, be remembering the worm.
You have been and will remain in my prayers. And let me say, I loved seeing the tip of your tennis shoe peeking out from beneath your Cassock in the picture - it seems so you.
Congratulations. I admire your patience and grace that has brought you to this moment. Prayers are with you for this very special day. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. As always they are rich and speak volumes.
Oh thank you Jeff for this very personal reflection on your process to become ordained. I admire your tenacity and patience and grace for a very long drawn out process to get where you are this week. I feel so honored that you place your llfe before us in your writings and share your vulnerabilities and are just who are! I'm excited for you and happy that you see your value in what you do in so many different and unique ways. Here's a big hug for you today! ((((((hug))))))
Dear Jeff, my prayers will be with you tomorrow. You have served as my priest these past years through your writings and preaching when I could not face attending church. Thank you. God has spoken to me so often through your sensitive, thoughtful and beautifully crafted words and imagery. So, you’ve got this! Some of us are called to work within the Church to be part of its evolution from the inside. Your being part of the “inside”is very good. When I pray for you going through this process, I have a picture of you strolling alongside Jesus with the rest of his crew doing disciple stuff. He would not have made you wait 8 years! You would have got the gig at hello. You rock the Magdalena by the way! Nothing like custom. I got my cassock - alb from Rome with lace even though that is not regulation gear for the COE. Blessings upon you! X
You often make me cry, but today I am sobbing. Because you have been called, so many of us live with bigger hearts, with the possibility of illumination, and with hope. Sending blessings on your much deserved ordination.
It already is enough. God has called you AND equipped you for Her Service. And as Eugene Peterson says, ‘A Long Obedience in the Same Direction’. This is who you have been and who you are now.
Alleluia!
Dear Tiare,
Genesis 1:31 states:
“God saw all that HE had made, and it was very good.”
God never refers to Himself as “She”
In His Word.
Jo, I don't know you and I have no idea why you are trying to stir up trouble on this day of all days. It comes across at best as uncharitable.
Anyway, since you want to talk about the textual clues about God's gender—as if God could or should be bound by human understandings of gender, which I don't believe—you have forgotten to note that in the Hebrew Scriptures, which you mention, the Spirit of God is feminine. See, for instance, Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God is described as hovering above the waters—with words that are decidedly feminine.
Thanks for your input.
Sure. Yet languages change over time and as far as I can tell from the Psalms, Isaiah and even Jesus’ life, pronouns don’t matter as much as God has called and equipped..l So let’s disagree and celebrate Jeff’s call and ordination!
Thank you so much for giving a glimpse into your thoughts as you lead up to the big day! I appreciate your perspective on things so much— your meditation on worms actually brought me to tears, as I have been struggling this week with feeling like nothing any of us do matters. It gives me encouragement to keep "making compost" where I'm at.
I hope the ordination goes well!
Blessings as you cross this threshold! 💞
Dear Jeff, I am very moved by what you have written with such honesty and revealing so much of your heart. May God bless your ordination tomorrow and continue to lead you in paths old and new. Thank you so much for your fellowship. Celia
As always, your writing is too rich and deep and wide for one comment to seem like anything appropriate to the whole. But I do have to say that when you spoke about ordination and the metaphor of marriage to God and you said, " I encourage you not to examine the metaphor too closely." You really made me laugh. Deeply. Thank you.
Haha. You're welcome. The metaphor is terrible in so many ways!
Regarding ordination, I am so happy for you but also, like you point out it has been such a journey and that makes me irrationally angry. My call is different though. Part of the beauty of self-examination has been understanding that my call is to use that anger to move past the systems and create new ones. But not everyone has that call. I admire your devotion which I know has to remain in constant check for your deepest wellbeing. I celebrate with you. As for me, I was ordained finally, too, (re-ordained actually since the UMC church doesn't let you keep it if you leave). There were some lovely people there. It was weird and wonderful. A chose a tree as my elder. It takes all of us and all of our wirings for change.
Beautiful reflection, Jeff. Prayers are with you for tomorrow! Zach and I will be there praying and celebrating with you.
So glad and grateful you’re in the world. Joy and peace on your ordination.
I love this reflection on your ordination. I’m a new subscriber and have so appreciated how you weave these stories and images in such a beautiful way. And what an awesome vocation of storytelling and witness! What seems “cobbled together” feels exactly right and needed, and I am guessing there will be more of this in the season ahead. I can so understand that sense of overwhelm Bonhoeffer describes in light of all that our world is going through. If I think of myself alone, facing it. But together… that feels different, my little contribution, with others and their little contribution, all part of a larger whole. Blessings to you tomorrow and may you hear that Voice saying, “You are my beloved,” as the Spirit moves upon you with your loving community all around you!
Thanks so much. I think individualism devastates us and tells us untrue stories.
While I am thinking of it, I want to share these two prayers with you from my tradition (Episcopal). The first is a prayer that the priest prays when they are called to a new ministry. They kneel down in the midst of the congregation as they pray it. When I had to pray this, I cried through the entire thing:
To you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit. Fill my memory with the record of your mighty works; enlighten my understanding
with the light of your Holy Spirit; and may all the desires of
my heart and will center in what you would have me do. Make
me an instrument of your salvation for the people entrusted
to my care, and grant that I may faithfully administer your
holy Sacraments, and by my life and teaching set forth your
true and living Word. Be always with me in carrying out the
duties of my ministry. In prayer, quicken my devotion; in
praises, heighten my love and gratitude; in preaching, give me
readiness of thought and expression; and grant that, by the
clearness and brightness of your holy Word, all the world may
be drawn into your blessed kingdom. All this I ask for the
sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The second is a collect prayed at the ordination of priests and it's one of my favorites from the prayer book:
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look
favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred
mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry
out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world
see and know that things which were cast down are being
raised up, and things which had grown old are being made
new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection
by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thank you so much!
Sure. Yet languages change over time and as far as I can tell from the Psalms, Isaiah and even Jesus’ life, pronouns don’t matter as much as God has called and equipped..l
So let’s disagree and celebrate Jeff’s call and ordination!
I have followed you since I first heard you interviewed by Kate Bowler on Everything Happens. Your ministry has been a blessing to my journey as I move forward on the path of evolving and reconstructing what the Christian journey looks like. A strange and wonderful trip.
You and your ministry already have and will continue to bless so many. Thanks to you, I have a new respect for worms! Going forward, I will, indeed, be remembering the worm.
You have been and will remain in my prayers. And let me say, I loved seeing the tip of your tennis shoe peeking out from beneath your Cassock in the picture - it seems so you.
Blessings to you.
God knows the church (writ small and larger) needs you.
Congratulations. I admire your patience and grace that has brought you to this moment. Prayers are with you for this very special day. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. As always they are rich and speak volumes.
You have served as a pastor in so many ways throughout this long a d arduous "process ". Thank you for your faithfulness to this moment.
Oh thank you Jeff for this very personal reflection on your process to become ordained. I admire your tenacity and patience and grace for a very long drawn out process to get where you are this week. I feel so honored that you place your llfe before us in your writings and share your vulnerabilities and are just who are! I'm excited for you and happy that you see your value in what you do in so many different and unique ways. Here's a big hug for you today! ((((((hug))))))
Thank you, Ruth!
Dear Jeff, my prayers will be with you tomorrow. You have served as my priest these past years through your writings and preaching when I could not face attending church. Thank you. God has spoken to me so often through your sensitive, thoughtful and beautifully crafted words and imagery. So, you’ve got this! Some of us are called to work within the Church to be part of its evolution from the inside. Your being part of the “inside”is very good. When I pray for you going through this process, I have a picture of you strolling alongside Jesus with the rest of his crew doing disciple stuff. He would not have made you wait 8 years! You would have got the gig at hello. You rock the Magdalena by the way! Nothing like custom. I got my cassock - alb from Rome with lace even though that is not regulation gear for the COE. Blessings upon you! X
I am so grateful for your prayers and for your kind words.
You often make me cry, but today I am sobbing. Because you have been called, so many of us live with bigger hearts, with the possibility of illumination, and with hope. Sending blessings on your much deserved ordination.