The Whole Kristen ca-Doodle

People Won't Know Their Welcome Unless You Say They Are I once told my dear friend, our church secretary at the time, this, when we were discussing open and affirming congregations.  The thing is, if you are part of a group that has been historically held to the periphery of society, or in some way made to feel less than, or been explicitly told that you are an abomination, it would be really hard, it would take extreme bravery and courage to enter any place, but expecially a faith community that didn't go out of her way to offer you a specific welcome.  So, IT DOESN"T MATTER IF YOU WOULD WELCOME THEM ONCE THEY'RE THERE or not!  Leaving a church after three decades and becoming a visitor in others has opened my eyes to how much bravery and courage is involved in visiting new faith communities at all.   So I picked one that displayed obvious welcome.  One that flies a rainbow flag, one that hangs a banner welcoming refugees and immigrants.  I am none ...

Let's go to Sunday School. Or actually, not, because I am not sure I ever learned this part of the story in Sunday School, and I was a star student in Sunday School.  I learned the story of Moses as a baby, his basket, and the princess who adopted him, but never learned the short story preceding it.  Found in  Exodus 1:13-20 , allow me to paraphrase. Remember when Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery because they were jealous he was their dad's favorite, and really Joseph was pretty smug and annoying about it?  Then he ended up in Egypt, and in jail, but God gave him the gift of interpreting dreams and he ended up doing that for the Pharaoh.  Joseph became his right hand man, of sorts, because he helped Egypt by predicting a famine and oversaw preparations for that famine.  And while he was a big boss guy in Egypt, his family was struggling and came to him, without knowing his true identity, for help, and after some weird fancy cup planting o...