Tabernacle United Church - Philadelphia Progressive Presbyterian UCC

Hi Tab Family,

This past Sunday, Pastor Katie quoted one of the brothers she met at the Holy Cross Abbey in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland this summer. Upon starting up the abbey, the brother said:

“We had to ask for everything! And this was the greatest
blessing of all: to not have money and to be in need! You know, self-reliance is not a Christian virtue.”

Pastor Katie went on to bring our attention to just how present loneliness has been, especially over the last three years, and highlighted some writing and research on the phenomenon.

What a blessing to be in need. What a blessing to be lonely. What a blessing to avoid having to be The End-All-Be-All of your own life, to avoid having to know it all, do everything right, constantly think twelve steps ahead, anticipate everything, be everything to everyone– including yourself. What a blessing to need other people.

It was a blessing to be lonely back in Spring 2021, when I found Tabernacle United Church listed in the More Light Presbyterians (MLP) directory of open and affirming churches. At that time, all I knew is I needed a home church closer to where I hoped to be going to seminary, because I knew I wouldn’t make it through seminary without one. I knew I needed a church already affiliated with More Light Presbyterians because I didn’t want to be The Person coaxing a whole congregation along further into the kin’dom of God, to a place of queer and trans affirmation.

And there y’all were, Tab. I didn’t know how much I needed this community both as a whole, but also specifically, down to each person. What a blessing to be in need. What a blessing to know also, that you’re needed.

My hope for all of us as the week continues is to revel in the ways in which we need one another. I hope you feel in need and needed. I hope we can run after each other across patches of great green clover, and find one another.

Blessings on the rest of your week,
Taylor

Hi Tab Family, 

This week, Sana preached:”Whether we like it or not, neoliberal capitalist ideology like white supremacy culture is the air we breathe. It determines our thoughts and the very act of thinking otherwise becomes more difficult without a counter narrative and disruptive beliefs that challenge the status quo – or the capitalist empire’s power and narrative. I know of such a narrative. 

It is the liberating message of Jesus. The good news of the gospel. Jesus shared with us, through his life, the truth that God is always with us when God chose to be made flesh. Through the incarnation, we are reminded that we are connected to God and that we are never alone. Moreover, our lives are not defined by our productivity or how the market values our worth. We know that in God and through Jesus we are worthy and loved. But this love that is given to us by grace requires much of us. The love and freedom given by God is meant to worship God by serving others. Accordingly it’s a love that finds its fullness in taking responsibility for justice and disrupting systems of oppression. Here is where Peloton and other forms of corporate spirituality fall short of the glory of God. Peloton and other corporate spiritual organizations aren’t trying to remake the world or dismantle unjust systems. Like Audre Lourde stated, the master’s tool will never dismantle the master’s house.” 

It’s not easy to find a sustainable source of worth in a world that, as Sana mentioned, is dead-set on selling you products to “help” you cultivate that worth. And since we live under global capitalism, those products are actually designed and produced to break and to be ineffective, so that you’ll return and buy it again. And again. And again. I could go on forever about anti-aging skin care products that instead of buying, you might as well just put your money in a paper shredder. Y’all do not want me to start about the diet industrial complex and pseudoscientific wellness— I’m confident I’ll preach on that myself sometime in the future, so, stay tuned.

At the end of the day, in a global capitalist hellscape, the rush you get after purchasing a product that promises wholeness and worth will quickly turn to dust and you’ll feel emptier than you did before you bought it because you are emptier. Well, at least your bank account is emptier. 

But as Sana said— we have offered to us a counter narrative to this and that is the liberating message of the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The message that God is with us and love is for us. The message that we all receive grace regardless of our deservedness or worthiness. 

What a relief. 

If you want to go deeper into the book Sana referenced this Sunday, take a look here!

Blessings on the end of your week,

Taylor