The World's Okayist Pastor

They say "grief is a funny thing." While sometimes funny things happen as part of the grief process, I'm not sure I buy into this saying.  Recently, a colleague died unexpectedly, leaving behind a partner, two adult kids and countless friends, colleagues and others. Many people are in shock and grieving the surprise of this person's death. Others are feeling some relief and PTSD as their lived experience of this person has been different from others. Watching the social media posts roll in and seeing people go at it in the comments breaks my heart a bit. Most of the comments have been about sorrow and how good this person was. Other people have chosen not to share anything and a few have expressed that they feel a relief or even sorrow because this person is not going to be held accountable for their actions against them. And people are attacking those who have not had positive experiences with this individual. As someone who has attended hundreds of deaths and offici

Can God handle our rage? This question was posed to me this weekend by the Rev. Dr. Velda Love at the UCCB meeting in Cleveland. Simply put - yes. If we are created in God's image, with all of God's feelings included in us, then why wouldn't God be able to handle our rage? But maybe the better question is, can we, humanity, handle each other's rage? Can humanity handle God's rage? I would say no. We have a culture of stuffing feelings down or in, of not being real and honest with ourselves and others. We demonize others as being "emotional" if they express their rage. We all know the current troupe of the "angry black woman." We've heard that a woman couldn't possible by president and be left in charge of the nuclear codes because she'll become overtaken by their emotions and push the "big red button." Going back in history, most major civilizations and religions have a story of a great flood; god/gods get so enraged by huma

The Nebraska legislator started its 2023 session with over 600 bills submitted. 3 bills targeted the LGBTQIA+ community: LB371, LB574, and LB575. I do not support any of these bills and it's a matter of faith for me. A group of Christians have decided to write the word "homosexuality" into the Bible. Jesus never speaks about the modern day concept of homosexuality. The other verses in the Bible that people claim speak about homosexuality total 6 verses, 3 in the Old Testament, 3 in the New Testament. The Bible, a book made up of 66 books, with thousands of verses only has 6 possible verses that speak to LGBTQIA+ community. In short, some Christians today are trying to justify their bigotry and hatred by putting words/concepts into sacred texts that just aren't there. They are using old tactics of twisting scripture to fit their wants/needs/desires to hate the other - standing in direct opposition to the words of Jesus, recorded in scripture.  I'm not surprised tha

 Let's open up Kate's urban dictionary. "Unbiblical-ness" - a word whose definition is evolving - means living a life I deem faithful yet other Christians find morally repugnant and  based in my assumed lack of understanding of “true Christianity” aka their version of Christianity. I’ve decided to embrace the “unbiblical-ness” my existence seems to trigger in others. By embracing my “unbiblical-ness” I mean I’m going to stand my ground as a proud ordained, woman of faith, who speaks when the Spirit compels and do the hard work of creating a space where all know love, safety and justice. My unbiblical-ness has prompted people to call me “preacher gal” even when asked not to. My unbiblical-ness has had people attempt to block me from leaving a rally/vigil because they want to try to intimidate me to take back my statements and to” re-educate” me. My unbiblical-ness has prompted me to leave two calls because in one I dared to utter the name George Floyd and say the w