Adversarial

Written for and presented at the September 30, 2021 chapel service at Drew Theological School. Video / Order of Worship.

A poem in 7 movements

Psalm 8 (revised)

Creator God,
Maker of music and majesty,
You have set before us Life,
In the tender touch of our loved ones,
And in the bounty of the natural world.

Back to the Bible Resources

For those of us who have experienced spiritual violence, reading scripture can feel more dangerous than inspiring. Finding resources to help us think about the Bible in new ways can be helpful towards reclaiming the tradition. This list is a diverse array of books (in alphabetical order by author), each with their own perspective, but not specifically about OtherWise experience. 

What Is the Bible?: How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters, and Stories Can Transform the Way You Think and Feel About Everything (2017) by Rob Bell

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith (1995 with later reprints) by Marcus Borg

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Claiming Our Mourning, Claiming Our Resistance

Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed annually on November 20. It is an unusual observance in that it is not a celebration holiday, but rather a time set aside for lamentation and resistance.  In transgender communities, when we remember our beloved dead; our siblings; our loved ones; our children, who have been lost to anti-transgender violence, we are doing more than compiling statistics. We are reclaiming our history and re-membering our community in the face of ongoing violence and humiliation, particularly against young transgender women of color.

The National Day of Mourning occurs shortly after Transgender Day of Remembrance each year and has many parallels. Created as an alternative to the (U.S.) Thanksgiving “holiday,” the National Day of Mourning is a

Seeing Trees

This sermon was originally preached at Tabernacle United Church on April 22, 2001 as a reflection on experiences at the Witness Our Welcome 2000 conference. Versions were subsequently reprinted in the More Light Update and Open Hands magazine (summer 2002). The sermon is updated here to adjust for shifts in my self-understanding, time-passing and for clarity in making it more relevant to a wider audience.

by Chris Paige
Mark 8:22-26 (Psalm 61:1-5)

They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

Mark 8:22-26

In August 2000, I attended an event called Witness Our Welcome (or WOW 2000). It was a gathering of the “welcoming churches” movement – organized by several of the (predominantly white) Protestant groups that advocate for the inclusion of LGBT people in our churches – including More Light Presbyterians, the Open and Affirming program of the UCC, the Reconciling United Methodists, the Brethren Mennonite Council, and several others. This was the first event of its kind where we gathered across denominational lines in this way. There were over 1000 people attending the program which lasted several days.

The Race Game (2018)

I (a white person) proposed The Race Game [source: Thandeka’s Learning to Be White: Money, Race, and God in America, 1999] to a (majority but not exclusively white) planning committee for a major LGBT Christian conference in 2003. They had asked me to bring a proposal about what they might do to confront the legacy of racism at a past event.

As I remember it, I (a white person) was told by older, more experienced folk that my proposal was both too naive and too radical. My proposal was set aside for other tactics and approaches.

#YouAreLoved

After the Republican National Convention of 2016, I began posting #YouAreLoved status updates on Facebook daily as a way to invite resistance to the fear and anger that were filling civil society.

The response to these short, pithy posts from people who report looking for them for encouragement has been overwhelming, though they have not been without controversy. After making the posts increasingly private, I finally moved them off Facebook to an email/texting system as part of my OtherWise re-branding.

Public posts to my #YouAreLoved blog occur approximately once per week. If you would like daily posts delivered to your phone or email, please sign up for OtherWise Engaged updates.

Remember. You are loved!

Claim Who You Are

I’ve never fit in. As far as I can remember, I’ve always made people uncomfortable.

Don’t get me wrong, I had supportive and flexible white liberal parents in the 1970s and they taught me I could grow up to be anything I wanted to be. But they literally couldn’t imagine all that would entail.

Beyond “Brothers and Sisters”

In times of stress many people, religious leaders as well as regular folk, often invoke a sense of community by calling on “brothers and sisters.” However, many people who fall into the category of non-binary gender do not identify as male or female, brother or sister.  That binary language leaves us out.

White parents and white kids discuss race

My child is not white, so this is not my experience per se. But someone asked me today about resources for white parents wanting to talk with their white kids about race. I thought I would save the links from a quick search here. I am glad to add additional recommendations, prioritize, etc based on feedback.