thanksgiving

so, it's the day after thanksgiving and instead of going shopping, i decided to stay in hyde park and get some work done...then i got a bit distracted and here i am writing on my blog. such is life, sometimes. so, today i'm taking inspiration from a dear friend's blog and doing a list of things i'm thankful for.

i'm thankful for a year spent falling in love with a community of people in eastern slovakia

i'm thankful for the support i had in that year

i'm thankful for a fellow yagm who was my saving grace and shared her glee with me

i'm thankful for my fellow yagms (in the rca-inclusive sense) around the world who shared in the experiences with me and who shared in coming back with me at re-entry

i'm thankful for continued communication with some of those i love in slovakia

i'm thankful for visits while in slovakia from friends and family

i'm thankful for my return to the united states

i'm thankful to be back in the same country as my cerp

i'm thankful for pre-thanksgiving time with my favoritest roomie ever

i'm thankful for friends and family who love and support me and my journey to and in seminary

i'm thankful for seminary and the amazing learning and growth opportunities here

i'm thankful for open hearts, homes, and tables for relationships

i'm thankful for continued opportunities to be with people

i'm thankful for a church family that supports all of me in this journey

i'm thankful for opportunities to grow and push beyond my comfort zone, to challenge myself, and to find that me that is a bit hidden deep inside right now

i'm thankful to be surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

i'm thankful for my relationship to a loving creator who has counted every hair on my head

love, laughter, tears, miles, time, space, hugs, handshakes.  my year has been full and blessed with good and bad.  for that i am and hope to always be grateful

emily's creed

so, the other day, a friend asked me in an email what i believe and the following is what i came up with.

i question my faith and my beliefs all the time. it's not a bad thing. for example, the only time i really ever feel any kind of certainty about jesus' resurrection is on easter. if you ask me on easter, i'm confident that jesus rose from the grave. if you ask me at another time, then i'm not as sure.

doubt is a normal and natural part of your faith. a lot of people pin doubt against faith, but someone once told me that the opposite of faith is not doubt, it's apathy. struggling with what we believe and how we believe is how we grow in our faith. questions our beliefs, the things we've been taught since forever, is how we mature. it is necessary for us to grow.

anyway, you actually asked me about my beliefs so here goes:
i believe in a triune god, three persons in one essence in a way that i can't fully understand and can't even come close to fully explaining.
i believe in the person of god who created me and the world and everything in it and everything to come.
i believe in the god incarnate, jesus christ, who came to bring us back into right relationship with god. i believe that jesus loved fiercely and radically each person he met, but especially those who were oppressed. i believe that jesus' love is not the easiest thing to accept or to live into, but it is always there for everyone. i believe that jesus was tortured and killed on the cross and i believe that he rose again.
i believe in the person of god who works in and through us each day as the creative and holy spirit. i believe in the creativity and reconciliation that comes to each of us because of the holy spirit.
i also believe in people, that we are created good and that we are created in god's image, each and everyone of us just as we are.

so, that's my own "emily's creed," and it comes out far more confident than i necessarily feel most of the time, but my beliefs are not about being 100% on any of these. if i knew any of these things, it would cease to be faith, it would lose its meaning. faith is about not being certain, but believing anyway. people can say that believing unknowable things is stupid or silly, but we all do it, we believe in love, a concept that none of us can fully grasp. for me, my faith is about this inability to give up on hope, hope that there is something bigger, something beyond me, which is the source of all of our love and that something (god) is constantly working in and through us, so that everyone and everything on earth might know love and justice and peace.

why i'm glad to be lutheran

happy reformation day!!!  one of my favorite celebrations in the church calendar (aside from easter, i suppose), perhaps because it is very specifically connected to lutheranism.  anyway, this reformation day, my computer decided to join in the reform...long story short, i now have a new hard drive and none of my old hard drive stuff (biggest bummers about that: no class notes and no slovak music! :( )

anyway, i was planning on posting this weekend (before my computer decided to reform itself), so here's the post i was thinking about:



this is a message from the presiding bishop of the evangelical lutheran church in america (my lutheran church!).  in it he addresses bullying and makes sure that kids, especially the lgbtq (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans[gender/sexual], and queer/questioning) kids out there, know that they are beloved by god just as they are.  In this day and age where the radicalists seem to be getting more radical and more vocal, it can be hard for people to understand themselves as being beloved children of god, but that is what each and every one of us is.

bishop hanson also included the following links below his message:

Resources - (866) 488-7386

The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LBGTQ youth by providing resources and a nationwide, 24-hour hotline.  If you are considering suicide or need help, call: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386).

BullyingInfo.org
BullyingInfo.org is a project of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) focused on providing tools and resources for youth, parents, teachers and mental health providers to prevent and address bullying.

It Gets Better Project
You can watch more videos at ItGetsBetterProject.com.


something for everyone.  not everyone that participated in the "it gets better" project addressed bullying itself.  the primary focus was on those who are victims of bullying (which is what the first link is for).  i am deeply grateful to bishop hanson for including the second link, which provides resources for those working against bullying.

bullying is not just a problem in our schools, but as a friend told me, it is a problem in our society.  kids may be the most obvious victims of it, but there is bullying throughout our lives, at work, in neighborhoods, in our churches.  bullying is not ok, and we as a country, and especially as christians who are called to love god, love the stranger, love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us (among other things), are especially called to not only pray for those who are bullied and those who bully, but to work to change that: to bring god's love here on earth in a very real way.