REV. DR. MICHELLE J. MORRIS HAS A MASTER OF DIVINITY DEGREE AND A PH.D. IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES BOTH FROM SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY. SHE ALSO SERVES AS A UNITED METHODIST PASTOR IN ARKANSAS. SHE STARTED THIS BLOG BECAUSE SHE TAKES THE BIBLE SERIOUSLY, NOT LITERALLY. FOLLOW THE BLOG AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT SHE MEANS.
All in Public Bible Scholar
It is a decision someone at Crystal Bridges made, and each time I see it, I am moved, almost to tears. Instead of being Unknown Artist, or Anonymous, Artist Once Known acknowledges that there was someone there, someone who at one time was admired for their skill, someone whose work was so beautiful that people throughout ages sought to preserve and keep it. Someone whose work was treasured.
“ In times like this we have big questions. And sometimes we say careless things, like “God was watching out for me.” But what I know is that in tornadoes, the people in houses who didn’t get hit were praying. And the people who were in houses that did get hit were also praying. Times like these cause us to wonder where God is in the midst of tragedy. And that is exactly what the Book of Job is confronting – the capricious nature of life and loss. “
“Samson is a prime example of someone who does not become who God most wanted him to be. Yet I have to believe God’s grace is with him anyway.”
“But the second reason I am tired of talking about this is that I have been talking about it… for 22 years. Nothing has changed with all of those words. But just for kicks, let’s just make a run through all that I have been saying, shall we?”
“And now we are not divided by devices that are feeding us what we want to hear. We are gathered around the campfire again, and we are sharing in our common humanity, and we are living as a people in community. We have a story that we all share. And that, my friends, is a rare and sacred moment these days.”
“Fear was not God’s intention for us. God did not name it. God did not introduce it into our world. We did that. And I think God has been trying to get us to uncreate fear ever since.”
“My personal apocalypse very helpfully coincided with a worldwide one, making what could have been a terribly lonely space at least collectively lonely.
But one thing I did have on January 1, 2020 was a stove.”
And then I said this: “It is so funny how people think the Bible has no applicability to today.”
Then I went on with a challenge to speak the Good News into our world, while I watched a parishioner stand up and walk out of the church.
“Ahh here we are, October. One of my favorite and least favorite months. I love that it turns cool and fall arrives, the crispness of the air and the aura of contemplative reflection that it inspires. I hate that it is Pastor Appreciation Month.”
“The thing is, we will never get better without love. And we will really never get better just loving people like us, or people who agree with us. Instead, we will all sink into our irrational hatred.”
“Now, I admit, I figured as I scanned through this letter a few weeks ago, that this would be a section we would kind of blow past. Who cares about the debate about whether we eat meat sacrificed to idols or not? It is a non-issue today. But as I prepared for this week’s lesson, I could not help but notice that if I substituted “wearing masks” for “eating meat sacrificed to idols”, we had an incredibly applicable passage of Scripture here.”
“My father was a plaintiff in a landmark civil rights case in Arkansas 25 years ago.
I always give people a minute to absorb that. Most of my friends have never seen my dad. He was a bit of a recluse, really all my life but definitely after the case. But in case you are looking at me and wondering, yes, he was a white man. And yes, he filed a racial discrimination suit. He was, as far as we could determine, the first person in Arkansas to file racial discrimination… due to association.”
“So before we stand in judgement of those who are not speaking, perhaps we instead should get quiet. Perhaps we should listen intently. Perhaps we should seek to hear the whispers of the traumatized voice.”
“As you face any kind of change in your life, be it a very weird pastoral transition like we face this year, or really any significant life altering event, these means of coping will help you make it through. “
Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look! I’m making all things new.” He also said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5, CEB translation)
Uh, seriously, God! Do you have to make ALL things new?!?!?! What if I don’t want those words to be trustworthy and true? There are times when I don’t want things to change. I want things to stay old and familiar. Comfortable. Easy.
“I was in a meeting of church developers and I raised the question as to what people were doing for pastors transitioning to a new church this year. At first there were crickets. Then someone spoke up and said roughly that they were moving their usual face-to-face meeting to an online option. I pushed back.”
“And then, let’s acknowledge that we still need Easter Monday. But maybe instead of needing it to rest and recover, we need it for weeping and gnashing of teeth. We need the space to name for ourselves that this is not how we envisioned serving Christ.”
“I think I would rather have a savior who understands the full reality of what it means to try to navigate life in this body that gets tired and leaks from time to time, whether it is convenient or not. A savior who sometimes flips out and flips tables. Part of what is compelling to me about following Christ is that he did experience the pain we do.”
After I share these insights, person after person has asked me this question: “Has all this given you any insight into what will happen to us in May?” Then they sort of laugh, as if there was any chance that such a thing would be possible. And then I say, “Yes, it has. I am not worried.” That is usually when they look at me like I have lost my mind. And then they want to know why in the world I would say something like that. So here is why.
“Pastors often bemoan how we struggle to get anyone to kneel at the altar and pray, and we know that at least in part that is because people don’t want to announce that they are weak and need help, or to start any rumors about their lives. Social media now exacerbates this pressure to always show a perfect selfie face and a Pinterest worthy house. But I would like to push against those false realities.”
