Litsy

The Book of Common Prayer: And Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America : Together with the Psalter, Or Psalms of David | Episcopal Church

I‘d just like to take a moment to share a lil‘ picture I took of a small misprint in this morning‘s liturgy at my church 😆

I‘m sure it was completely unintentional; our admin likely copy/pasted the first Sunday of Lent liturgy from last year and didn‘t notice there were adjustments needed, but still. It made me chuckle.

marleed Oh, I bet that made some MAGA folks irritable. 3mo

Lcsmcat How I wish! 3mo

BarbaraJean @marleed The MAGA folks are few and far between at our church! The music director, who was leading this section, just skipped the names, which was probably the best way to handle it. @Lcsmcat I know, right? My husband commented “I'd rather pray for Biden anyway.“ 😆 Although for my own mental and spiritual health, I need to pray for both... 3mo

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Lcsmcat @BarbaraJean We quit naming him during Trump 1, just pray for the “leaders of the nation and the world.” 3mo

BarbaraJean @Lcsmcat We tend to fluctuate back and forth between using specific names and using the more general “leaders“ language. I have a hard time with hearing his name, especially in prayer. Even more so when I'm on the schedule to lead the Prayers of the People! The specific name is difficult for me, but it also helps me exercise the muscle of compassion, which I need so deeply—especially right now. 3mo

Lcsmcat @BarbaraJean Yes, we all need to exercise those right now! But that doesn‘t make it easy. I‘m reading Bishop Budde‘s book right now.

How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

3mo

BarbaraJean @Lcsmcat It's needed but SO hard. I need to add her book to my TBR. Maybe by the time I clear some reading space in my schedule, there will be some library copies available!! 3mo

mcctrish If only (edited) 2mo

BarbaraJean @mcctrish I know, right? 2mo

marleed @BarbaraJean That makes me happy! My fear is that so many places of worship have given way to Christian Nationalism that it‘s become harder for those believing in the separation of church and state to find comfort there. 2mo

BarbaraJean @marleed The Christian Nationalism that is creeping into so many Christian spaces is heartbreaking to me (and is one of the reasons I don't regret leaving the evangelical spaces I was previously part of). I'm glad to be a member of an Episcopal church that is progressive in its theology and encourages people to THINK for themselves instead of telling them what to think. 2mo

marleed @BarbaraJean 💕💕 2mo

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monalyisha

An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith | Barbara Brown Taylor

pick

I have more thoughts about this book than a Litsy review warrants. I think the crux of it is that I found many beautiful passages that spoke to me…but I don‘t think it‘s a perfect book.

Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “Every job has revealed some ability I did not know I had, just as it has exposed some clumsiness I was pretty sure I had.”

I think, in this (rightfully) sensitive and inclusive time, Taylor‘s writing is sometimes clumsy. 👇🏻

monalyisha 1/11: At one point, she even refers to her accidental “oafdom.” What I‘m left feeling unsure about (and there should be NO such ambiguity) is if there‘s occasionally something insidious seeping through that‘s more close-minded than clumsy. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 2/11: For instance, she writes, “We are players but we do not direct the play. Certain decisions were made for us before we were even born. Did you decide to be born in Wichita? Was being a girl your first choice?” The sticking point for me is that we do not have a choice about where we were born. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 3/11: We DO have a choice about how we present our bodies to the world. We have the power to make our outsides match our insides…even if we can‘t change where we‘re from. We can also *leave* the place we‘re born. But she provides no further exposition on the matter. So, to me, this set-up feels like a false equivalency. It feels like dangerous territory. (edited) 4mo

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monalyisha 4/11: I worry that with her focus on the incarnation and on matter *mattering* to God, that it‘s entirely possibly BBT could hold anti-trans sentiment. This may be totally off base! The point is that there should be NO SUCH AMBIGUITY. With a more careful writer, there would not be. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 5/11: There are other instances where her position in the world shines through (cis, white, white-collar). She refers to a particular place in the Bronx as “a pretty scary neighborhood” and proclaims that the Uber driver who shuttles her away from it (without any concrete example of threat), “saved her.” (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 6/11: This abuts a chapter about “loving the stranger” where she asserts how divinely-inspired it is to “surrender the priority of your own safety for love.” I guess I‘m not convinced that BBT walks the walk as well as she talks the talk, despite her insistence that this book is meant to provide practical instruction. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 7/11: In other places, I made notes about passages where it felt like she was shaming the listener: for being overweight; for being a sex-worker; for not being part of a religious community (she says that these folks (folks like me) feel like they “need to walk off a cliff all by themselves” — and I don‘t get the sense that she admires our sense of adventure). (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 8/11: On the whole, I found her tone to be too judgmental, while asserting that she absolutely was NOT being judgmental! This tonal problem is one that the church itself struggles with. It‘s interesting that she was once a representative of their governing body. (edited) 4mo

TheBookHippie This is my petty comment. I loathe her and believe her to be dangerous. 4mo

monalyisha 9/11: Onto the good stuff, of which there was *plenty!* Many of her thoughts about reverence, awe, & attention hit home. In particular, I loved her thoughts about Moses and what made him special (his willingness to “turn aside” and “look”); her account of walking through a laurel portal with her husband, finding their way in the breathing, moonlit dark… (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 10/11: …and her assertion, inspired by the Jewish candle-lighting ritual which illuminates Shabbat, that rest and freedom are intrinsically linked.

An Altar to the World won‘t become my new Bible (though, BBT would insist that the Bible doesn‘t have to be treated like your Bible [infallible teachings, taken wholesale]). (edited) 4mo

monalyisha 11/11: I will take from it her suggestion to read Wendell Berry poems to trees. I will take from it her proclamation that “The meaning we give to what happens in our lives is our final, inviolable freedom.” 4mo

monalyisha @TheBookHippie That‘s certainly a passionate position! Which details made you feel so clear in your conviction? I feel a lot muddier with the info I currently have. 4mo

monalyisha Tagging those of you who I know have read this, so I can get your two cents. 💞 @kspenmoll @BarbaraJean 4mo

TheBookHippie @monalyisha she irritates me, I said it was petty 😅🤷🏻‍♀️… there is something in her writing and speaking that feels extremely dangerous to me. I know people love her and get a lot from her. I personally don‘t trust her. Her vibe is off for me and I also find her very condescending. 🤷🏻‍♀️😅 I love your review. It‘s very honest. I love a lot of Berry‘s poems. And a lot of his religion I do not. 🙃 I‘m fun. 4mo

Amiable What a wonderfully written and thoughtful review. 4mo

kspenmoll I did quote some passages from her that I liked… I grew up white & privileged (except for my femaleness)when Catholics, Jews, blacks, browns, whites were largely separated geographically, which meant socially, politically, & psychologically. Life has changed me because I sought that change & grasped the new. I went to a regional integrated HS when the nuns & priests were throwing off their habits & leaving the church in droves. So maybe 🔽 4mo

monalyisha Thank you, @TheBookHippie & @Amiable ! Christine, it can be hard to put your finger on the source of “vibes.” I‘m totally sympathetic to that! I need to read more Berry. Coincidentally, a friend (who‘s going through a really difficult time) just texted me that he was currently reading the tagged and was so grateful that he was. I think I‘ll pick up his most famous, A Timbered Choir, next.

World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry

4mo

kspenmoll 🔼 I can relate to some of her experiences. I avoided certain areas of Hartford (although I lived there several years) & the reality is poverty & violence still exists & there are places my students tell me not to drive thru aline-they know, they live there. Not sure what I trying to say here. @monalyisha @TheBookHippie Am I making sense?! Also I do enjoy Berry‘s

A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems, 1979-1997

(edited) 4mo

monalyisha @kspenmoll You *are* making sense. I just think language is so important. Why refer to “urban neighbors” as being a challenge to love, or call a residential area a “pretty scary neighborhood,” when you could introduce more nuance by calling it something like, “a neighborhood with high need and a high crime rate to match”? Neighborhoods aren‘t scary. They‘re a symptom of a scarier reality. Wealth disparity is scary. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha @kspenmoll I think when your whole M.O. is careful attention, that ethos needs to be applied to your language. 4mo

monalyisha @kspenmoll Another example: at one point, she talks about the “adolescent energy” of Hawaii. She writes, “its divinity had not yet suffered from the imposition of shopping malls.” But what about the suffering on the sugar plantations? It feels like she‘s negating the very real, historical suffering of the people. 4mo

monalyisha @kspenmoll I think so much of her writing *was* considered and crafted. The part where she discusses the beattitude plays, for instance, brought me to literal tears! Or her final discussion of transubstantiation (how Jesus has no hands but ours, no bread other than that which we make…How we ARE his body? Gorgeous!). But if you bring a judgmental tone to your writing and then aren‘t perfect yourself? 😬 That‘s a hard position to find yourself in. (edited) 4mo

TheBookHippie @monalyisha She, the author, White Privilege is for sure, the number one feeling I get is bigot and unsafe ally. The vibe is way offffff. Oy.

Berry can be very very soothing. Some of his poems I read over and over. I'll have to go look which book I own, I know it's a collection. 4mo

monalyisha @TheBookHippie I guess, overall, I did feel like she was trying. And I think she succeeds in a lot of radical ways! She seemed open to me, and willing to admit her mistakes. But I do have concerns. I‘m inclined to think that it comes down to being a little out of it (which is evidence of privilege) and a lack of timely care. She doesn‘t know she‘s leaving room for interpretation. 4mo

kspenmoll @monalyisha Now I understand what you‘re saying! You have a wonderful way with the words. 4mo

JamieArc I think I read this (or at least one of hers) as I was leaving the evangelical church, and I remember I was glad to have read it at that hard and confusing time as a transitional piece. This was also just at the point that I started to examine my own whiteness, so I wasn‘t paying attention to certain aspects of it. I wonder what she would say for herself 16 years later. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha @JamieArc Oh! I was not *remotely* conscious of the fact that this was published more than a decade ago! That actually blew my mind. 🙈 It‘s an important detail to consider. I just saw it on more than one #AuldLangSpine list and assumed it was new, which is entirely my fault! Thanks for pointing it out! I did try to Google her stance on trans rights… but I didn‘t find anything directly related. (edited) 4mo

monalyisha @kspenmoll Thank you. 🥹 4mo

TheBookHippie @monalyisha I think for sure she does not know her privilege. I too appreciate any effort of any kind. I just didn't feel she was genuine. But I love this conversation! 4mo

monalyisha @TheBookHippie @kspenmoll @JamieArc Yes! I‘m so happy I had people to discuss it with. 😊 4mo

DrSabrinaMoldenReads I loved this book too 4mo

BarbaraJean Thanks for the tag! And my thoughts aren‘t going to fit just one comment, so you‘re not alone! You‘re very right about the clumsiness/inconsistency, and I really appreciate your thoughtful review. I‘m frustrated I didn‘t pick up on more of the issues you raise—a measure of my own privilege that I missed a lot of the examples you pointed out, and was willing (perhaps too generously) to give her a pass on others. I think it‘s partly generational, ⬇ 4mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...but I agree with @JamieArc that some of it can also be chalked up to when this was written. I really resonated with the chapters on getting lost and finding purpose (but even the purpose stuff comes from privilege, so…). I‘m not at home and don‘t have my copy handy, but doesn‘t she have a whole passage about a power outage where she tries to acknowledge her privilege while coming across as super privileged? ⬇ 4mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) Same with her reflections on physical labor while volunteering at a shelter? All of that tracks with @TheBookHippie‘s vibes! And BBT‘s background as an Episcopalian tracks with the white privilege, unfortunately. I say that as someone who left the evangelical church and landed at an Episcopal church because of its progressive & affirming theology. The Episcopal Church is trying, and there‘s a lot of good intent (and actual good) there, ⬇ 4mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...but a lot of the people in the pews are still pretty darn privileged and white. Much like BBT and this book. @kspenmoll Also, perhaps not coincidentally, I‘ve been (very slowly) reading through Berry‘s Timbered Choir for the past few months… 4mo

TheBookHippie @BarbaraJean My vibes have never been wrong in all my life. It is annoying but helpful. OY VEY. 4mo

BarbaraJean @TheBookHippie My husband gets similar vibes and I tend to find it annoying… then inevitably I have to admit he was right 😆 4mo

TheBookHippie @BarbaraJean Mr BookHippie suffers the same issues 😂😂😂😂♥️ 4mo

monalyisha @BarbaraJean I actually don‘t have my copy anymore, either! I passed it along to my stepmom, who I think will appreciate a lot of BBT‘s ideas. I just met her & my dad for brunch and I finished the book while my husband drove. 😅 My stepmom finds comfort in religion but she also has a bit of a wild streak, which always comes as a surprise given some of her other identities (Canadian, special or accessible education teacher turned principal)…👇🏻 4mo

monalyisha @BarbaraJean There‘s a line that reads, “More to the point, there are times when dancing on tables is the most authentic prayer in reach, even if it pocks the table & clears the room.” My stepmom‘s been kicked out of at least one bar for that exact kind of “authentic prayer.” So. It seemed right. 🙈 I underlined the sentence and directed her to it in my inscription (where I also mention that it‘s not a perfect book & note my favorite bits). 4mo

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