Women's March- Anchorage

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to agree to go to the Women's March in Anchorage. Mostly it was because I don't like crowds and I get very anxious thinking about large groups of people milling about, even with purpose. The conversations about intersectionality, who was and wasn't included, and the vastness of the purpose also made me waffle.

In the end, though, I felt that I couldn't not go. To quote Hamilton, "If you've got skin in the game, you stay in the game." Not only is my skin in this game, but also the skin of my children, my friends, my colleagues, my neighbors, my parishioners, my antagonists, and the rest of creation. If I want to make an argument for seeing others and including others and change, I have to be where the conversation is happening.

So I started making protest hats and praying. For the first time in my life this week, I thought about getting up early to pray more than I thought I would have time to do during the day. I actually told several people that I wanted Hermione Granger's time turner, so that I could have more time to pray.

I did not carry a sign today, though I did wear my collar. In a crowd situation, I am all pastor all the time- constantly looking around and assessing what's happening. I helped up several people who fell down. Gave and received hugs. Chatted with my friends. Tried to start a sing-a-long. Waded through the snow that did not stop.

The march was powerful and enthusiastic. May the work that follows continue to be so.

I made 11 "pussy" hats (all but one in pink) that were at marches today.
Seven were at #womensmarchanchorage and three were at #womensmarchwashington.
One stayed home. :)

On our way to the Delany Park Strip in Anchorage.
It had snowed about 11 inches overnight and nothing had been plowed.

People gathering in the cold.
I don't like crowds and I had felt very anxious the night before.
However, the atmosphere was very positive and enthusiastic.

There were many signs for reproductive rights,
including lots that talked about uteruses (even though not all women have uteri).
Nevertheless, access to healthcare (of all types) and reproductive rights remain a significant issue.

The signs were great and there were all kinds.

There were kids of all ages. And lots of dogs.

Snow on snow on snow, but it did not feel like the bleak midwinter.

My favorite sign of all- it summed up lots of what I think regarding women,
feminism, LGBTQ rights, and intersectionality. We are more than vaginal vessels
or vessels defined by the absence thereof.

#WomensMarchAnchorage is estimated somewhere between 2000 and 3000 marchers.
The line of marchers was well over half a mile long before we started walking and then it stretched out far behind us.

We shall overcome... snow and tyranny.

This little light of mine... I'll gonna let it shine AND warm me.

I will never forget this picture as long as I live.
It takes deep faith and desire to come out and march with a walker on unpaved streets,
at 13 degrees (F), in a huge crowd.
You have to want to be there. And she did.

Signs at the march finish line/ work start line (depending on your view of it).

Yep.

Solidarity.

Latibule

I like words and I recently discovered Save the Words , a website which allows you to adopt words that have faded from the English lexicon and are endanger of being dropped from the Oxford English Dictionary. When you adopt a word, you agree to use it in conversation and writing in an attempt to re-introduce said word back into regular usage. It is exactly as geeky as it sounds. And I love it. A latibule is a hiding place. Use it in a sentence, please. After my son goes to bed, I pull out the good chocolate from my latibule and have a "mommy moment". The perfect latibule was just behind the northwest corner of the barn, where one had a clear view during "Kick the Can". She tucked the movie stub into an old chocolate box, her latibule for sentimental souvenirs. I like the sound of latibule, though I think I would spend more time defining it and defending myself than actually using it. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure how often I use the ...

What is Best (Sermon)

Pentecost 15 (Year A) Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 I recently read a novel set in a post-pandemic, apocalyptic world. In the book, people were working to re-establish pockets of society. A traveling symphony moved from town to town in caravans- performing music and works of Shakespeare. Early in their travels, they had tried other plays, but people only wanted to see Shakespearean works. One of the symphony members commented on the desire for Shakespeare, "People want what was best about the world." As I read and since I finished the book, I kept thinking about that phrase. People want what was best about the world. People want what was best about the world. That is true even when we’re not in a cataclysmic re-working of what we’ve always known. The very idea of nostalgia, of longing for what once was, is about wanting what was best about the world or what seemed like the best to us. One of the massive tension...

Would I Do?

Palm Sunday Mark 11:1-11 One of my core memories is of a parishioner who said, "I don't think I would have been as brave as the three in the fiery furnace. I think I would have just bowed to the king. I would have bowed and known in my heart that I still loved God. I admire them, but I can tell the truth that I wouldn't have done it." (Daniel 3) To me, this man's honesty was just as brave. In front of his fellow Christians, in front of his pastor, he owned up to his own facts: he did not believe he would have had the courage to resist the pressures of the king. He would have rather continued to live, being faithful in secret, than risk dying painfully and prematurely for open obedience to God. I can respect that kind of truth-telling. None of us want to be weighed in the balance and found wanting. For some of us, that's our greatest fear. The truth is, however, that I suspect most of us are not as brave as we think we are. The right side of history seems cle...

Faith, Grace, and Hope

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