Queerying 14th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Hark! My beloved! There she comes, leaping over mountains, bounding over hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or like a young stag. There she stands behind our wall, gazing through the window, peering through the lattice. My beloved spoke thus to me, “Arise, my darling; my fair one, come away! For now the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The blossoms have appeared in the land, the time of pruning has come; the song of the turtledove is heard in our land. The green figs form on the fig tree, the vines in blossom give off fragrance. Arise, my darling; my fair one, come away!

Queeries for the text:
Who is my beloved?
Who speaks in this text?
What blossoms are we waiting for?
What are green figs?
What's going on?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the religious authorities and lawyers who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, ²they noticed that some of Jesus' chosen family were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the religious authorities, and all the Jewish people, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the ancestors; ⁴and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) ⁵So the religious authorities and lawyers asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the ancestors, but eat with defiled hands?”

⁶Jesus said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
⁷in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” 

[...]

¹⁴Then Jesus called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

[...]

²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: immoral sex, theft, murder, ²²adultery, greed and extortion, wickedness, deceit, shameless excess, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?  How is it problematic?
What kind of handwashing is traditional?
How is washing good?
Why is Jesus so reactive towards these religious authorities? When else is Jesus reactive?
Which human traditions have taken over God's commands?
When else is defilement addressed?
What does immoral sex consist of?  Shameless excess?  Envy?
What else defiles from within?

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying 13th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Becoming One in the presence of the whole community of Israel; he spread the palms of his hands toward heaven and said, “O Becoming God of Israel, in the heavens above and on the earth below there is no god like You, who keep Your gracious covenant with Your servants when they walk before You in wholehearted devotion; You who have kept the promises You made to Your servant, my father David, fulfilling with deeds the promise You made—as is now the case. And now, O Becoming God of Israel, keep the further promise that You made to Your servant, my father David: ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end, if only your descendants will look to their way and walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’ Now, therefore, O God of Israel, let the promise that You made to Your servant my father David be fulfilled.

“But will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built! Yet turn, O Becoming One my God, to the prayer and supplication of Your servant, and hear the cry and prayer which Your servant offers before You this day. May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers which Your servant will offer toward this place. And when You hear the supplications which Your servant and Your people Israel offer toward this place, give heed in Your heavenly abode—give heed and pardon.
[...]
“Or if a foreigner who is not of Your people Israel comes from a distant land for the sake of Your name— for they shall hear about Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm—when he comes to pray toward this House, oh, hear in Your heavenly abode and grant all that the foreigner asks You for. Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built.

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?
What house does this text talk about?
What is home?
How long did this temple stand?
Does this home exist today?
Where do you find home? How is it constructed?
How do we care for our home?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 6:56-69
Jesus continued:
⁵⁶“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Caregiver sent me, and I live because of the Caregiver, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰When many of Jesus' community heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

⁶¹But Jesus, being aware that his community was complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the One Born of Woman ascending to where They were before? ⁶³It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. ⁶⁵And Jesus said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Caregiver.”

⁶⁶Because of this many of Jesus' community turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Leader, to whom can we go? You have the words of everlasting life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Queeries for the text:
How do we eat people?
How do we drink blood?
What teaching is difficult for you?
Does cannibalism offend you?
How is flesh useful?
What doesn't Jesus know?
From what are you tempted to turn back?
To whom can we go?
What does Jesus taste like?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 12th after Pentecost B

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
So David slept with his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem, then Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.
[...]
Then, Solomon, though he loved the Becoming One and followed the practices of his father David, also sacrificed and offered at the shrines. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the largest shrine; on that altar Solomon presented a thousand burnt offerings. At Gibeon the Becoming One appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.

God said, “Ask, what shall I grant you?”

Solomon said, “You dealt most graciously with Your servant my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and in integrity of heart. You have continued this great kindness to him by giving him a son to occupy his throne, as is now the case. So now, O Becoming One, my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David; but I am a young lad, with no experience in leadership. Your servant finds himself in the midst of the people You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted. Grant, then, Your servant an understanding mind to judge Your people, to distinguish between good and bad; for who can judge this vast people of Yours?”

The Becoming One was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

God said to him, “Because you asked for this—you did not ask for long life, you did not ask for riches, you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for discernment in dispensing justice— I now do as you have spoken. I grant you a wise and discerning mind; there has never been anyone like you before, nor will anyone like you arise again. And I also grant you what you did not ask for—both riches and glory all your life—the like of which no king has ever had. And I will further grant you long life, if you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments, as did your father David.”

Queeries for the text:
What's missing from this reading?
Who was worshipped at the shrines?
Was she God's spouse?
Is God monogamous?
Did God care about the shrine?

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Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 6:51-58
Jesus continued:
⁵¹“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵²The Judeans then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this person give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you gnaw on the flesh of the One Born of Woman and drink Their blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Those who gnaw on my flesh and drink my blood have everlasting life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Those who gnaw on my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Caregiver sent me, and I live because of the Caregiver, so whoever gnaws on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Queeries for the text:
What is given for the life of the world?
Who eats flesh?
Where is life?
When did Jesus become a vampire?
Why do we live? How?
What bread comes down from heaven?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 11th after Pentecost B

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51
³⁵Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

[...]

⁴¹Then the Judeans began to complain about Jesus because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ ⁴²They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’

⁴³Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless drawn by the Caregiver who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Caregiver comes to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Caregiver except the one who is from God; this one has seen the Caregiver. ⁴⁷Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?
What other bread came down from heaven?
What happens when we change?
How are we drawn by the Caregiver?
Where is it written in the prophets?
How do we not die?
How is flesh given?

What are your queeries?