Queerying 17th after Pentecost C

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10
⁵The sent ones said to the Leader, “Increase our faith!”

⁶The Leader replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

⁷“Who among you would say to the one you enslaved who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸Would you not rather say to them, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’?

⁹“Do you thank the person you enslaved for doing what they have been ordered? ¹⁰So you also, when you may have done all that you have been ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
Who has faith?
What is a mustard seed like?
What grows in the sea?
Who among you has people you enslaved?
How do humans exploit labor?
Who does what was ordered? 

What are your queeries?


 

Queerying Narrative 104

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29
⁵When the Pharaoh was told that the Israelites had left Egypt, Pharaoh and his officials' minds were changed toward the people, and they said among themselves, “What have we done, letting our slaves leave our service?” ⁶So he had his chariot made ready and took his entire army with him: ⁷six hundred of the elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with his best military commanders over them.

[…]

¹⁰As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back and saw the vast multitude of Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Becoming One, ¹¹ and said to Moses, “Why have you taken us to die here in the wilderness? Were there not enough graves in Egypt to bury us? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Did we not tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so we can serve the Egyptians’? For we knew if we left there would be major ramifications to our safety.” ¹³But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, remain steadfast, and see how the Becoming One will bring deliverance for you, for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. ¹⁴The Becoming One will fight your oppressors on your behalf, and you have only to keep still.”

[…]

²¹At the Becoming One's command, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Becoming One sent such a strong east wind toward the sea that it turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. ²²The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground with waters forming a great wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. ²⁴At the morning watch the Becoming One, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic. ²⁵Xe clogged their chariot wheels so that they could barely turn. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Becoming One is fighting on their side against us!”

²⁶Then the Becoming One said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians and their army.” ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Becoming One tossed the Egyptian army into the sea. ²⁸The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; all of them were drowned in the sea. ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Queeries for the text:
What is this passage building on?
What's missing?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this headed?
How are the seas affected today?
What would the parting of the sea look like?
How are justice and freedom traded for capital gain?
How does war between an oppressing force and an oppressed force play out?
When is it okay to doubt God's plan?

What are your queeries?

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, 1831

Queerying 16th after Pentecost C

Suzannah Porter and Brooke McLain musically queery the RCL readings.

 What have you learned about trusting in God through trials and tribulations?

In whom as God shown up when you have faced turbulence?

What treasures do we store up when we set our hopes on God?

How does God invite us to join in flipping the script?

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River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Becoming One in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the prison compound attached to the palace of the king of Judah.For King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him, saying, “How dare you prophesy."

[...]

Jeremiah said: The word of the Becoming One came to me:
Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say, “Buy my land in Anathoth, for you are next in succession to redeem it by purchase.”

And just as the Becoming One said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the prison compound and said to me, “Please buy my land in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; for the right of succession is yours, and you have the duty of redemption. Buy it.”

Then I knew that it was indeed the word of the Becoming One. So I bought the land in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I wrote a deed, sealed it, and had it witnessed; and I weighed out the silver on a balance. I took the deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one according to rule and law, and gave the deed to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah in the presence of my kindred Hanamel, of the witnesses who were named in the deed, and all the Judeans who were sitting in the prison compound.

In their presence I charged Baruch as follows:
Thus said the The Becoming One, ruler of angel armies, the God of Israel: “Take these documents, this deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one, and put them into an earthen jar, so that they may last a long time.” For thus said the Becoming One, Ruler of angel armies, the God of Israel: “Houses, fields, and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land.”

Queeries for the text:
Who is stuck in the prison compound?
What is missing from this passage?
How do we value land?
How do we redeem?
What does it mean to be a kindred?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said:
¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where the no-longer-rich, dead man was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴He called out, ‘Daddy Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’

²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Little one, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, between you and us a grand canyon has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

²⁷He said, ‘Then, Daddy, I beg you to send him to my Papa’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may serve me and warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’

²⁹Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

³⁰He said, ‘No, Daddy Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

³¹Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip? How can it be good to skip?
Why is purple so special?
Who receives scraps from the table?
How do dogs comfort and heal?
How does the rich man's contempt continue after death?
How does God flip the script?
Where are grand canyons today?
What would startle you into repentance?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Narrative 103

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Genesis 39:1-23
¹After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he was taken to Egypt where Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of the Pharaoh and the captain of the guard bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. ²The Becoming One was present with Joseph, leading Joseph to become successful in the house of his Egyptian master. ³His master saw that the Becoming One was alongside Joseph and that the Becoming One caused all that Joseph did to prosper in his hands. ⁴So Joseph became Potiphar's favorite and attended to him; Potiphar made Joseph the overseer of the house and put him in charge of all his finances and possessions. ⁵The Becoming One made all that Joseph touched prosper, leading Potiphar to prosper as well, so that Joseph would be taken care of. ⁶So Potiphar left all of his possessions in Joseph’s care, and with Joseph in charge of the household, Potiphar was able to rely on Joseph's labor for all things so that all Potiphar had to worry about was what to eat.

Now Joseph was very, stunningly attractive. ⁷ And after a time his master’s wife saw Joseph and said, "Sleep with me." ⁸ But Joseph refused and said to his master’s wife, "Look, with me here, my master Potiphar has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has under my control. ⁹ As a result, he sees me almost as his equal and he hasn't kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this awful deed and cause harm against God?" ¹⁰And although she asked Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her let alone sleep with her. ¹¹One day, however, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and he was alone in the house, ¹²she caught hold of his clothes saying, "Sleep with me!" In his hurry to leave, she was able to keep hold of his clothes as he ran away, leaving them with her. ¹³ When she realized his clothes had torn off and were in her hand as he ran outside, ¹⁴she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to my room to rape me, and I cried out with a loud voice, ¹⁵and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out for help, he left his clothes beside me and fled outside." ¹⁶Then she kept his clothes by her until his master, Potiphar, came home, ¹⁷and she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew slave, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to rape me, ¹⁸ but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out for help, he left his clothes beside me and fled outside."

¹⁹When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, "This is the way your slave treated me," he became enraged. ²⁰And Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison where the Pharaoh's prisoners were confined; Joseph remained there in prison. ²¹But the Becoming One remained faithful to Joseph and showed him steadfast love, which in turn gave Joseph favor with the chief jailer. ²²The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, Joseph was the one who did it. ²³The chief jailer gave Joseph free reign over the prison because the Becoming One was with Joseph, and whatever Joseph did, the Becoming One made it prosper.

Queeries for the text:
What is this passage building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this headed?
Does God have favorites?
In what ways is Joseph's story queer?
How do prejudice, power, and racism play into this narrative?
Who has agency in this passage?
Why does God reward Joseph's masters?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 15th after Pentecost C

Suzannah Porter and Brooke McLain musically queery the RCL readings.

For what sorrows and wounds are you calling out to God to soothe?

How will humans need redemption for blessings being squandered now?

How do you pray for people who abuse their power?

How does prioritizing financial security prevent faithful living?

-----

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
When in grief I would seek comfort,
My heart is sick within me.
“Is the Becoming One in Zion?
Is not her Sovereign within her?
Why then did they anger Me with their images,
with alien futilities?”

Hark! The outcry of my poor people
from the land far and wide:
“Harvest is past,
summer is gone,
but we have not been saved.”
Because my people are shattered I am shattered;
I am dejected, seized by desolation.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Can no physician be found?
Why has healing not yet
come to my poor people?
Oh, that my head were water,
My eyes a fount of tears!
Then would I weep day and night
for the slain of my poor people.

Oh, to be in the desert,
at an encampment for wayfarers!
Oh, to leave my people,
to go away from them—
for they are all adulterers,
a band of rogues.

Queeries for the text:
Who is in mourning?
What is the outcry of "my poor people"?
What is the Balm in Gilead?
What is the physician doing?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 16:1-13
Then Jesus said to his chosen family, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this steward was wasting his possessions. ²So the rich man summoned them and said to them, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your stewardship, because you cannot be my steward any longer.’

³Then the steward said to themself, ‘What will I do, now that my Proprietor is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to do unskilled labor, and I am ashamed to ask for what I need. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am fired as steward, people may welcome me into their homes.’

⁵So, summoning their Proprietor’s debtors one by one, they asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my Proprietor?’

⁶The first answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’

They said to that one, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, remove the interest, and make it fifty.’

⁷Then they asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’

The other replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’

They said to that one, ‘Take your bill, remove the interest, and make it eighty.’

⁸And the Proprietor commended the corrupt steward because they had acted wisely; for the children of this age are more wise in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of corrupt securities so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the everlasting homes.

¹⁰“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is corrupt in a very little is corrupt also in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the corrupt securities, who will entrust to you what is genuine? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No domestic servant can serve two Proprietors; for they will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and securities.”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
When else was there a rich man?
Who stewards for the rich?
Who brought the charges against the steward?
Who is strong enough for unskilled labor?
Who changes debt?
What has corrupt securities?
How do you make friends?
What is another's?
What is your own?

What are your queeries?



 

Queerying Narrative 102

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Genesis 12:1-9
Now the Becoming One said to Abram, “Go from your country and your people and your parent's house to the land that I will show you. ²I will make a great nation out of your descendants, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

⁴So Abram went up and left as the Becoming One told him to, and his nephew Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the slaves they had stolen from their families in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were native to the land and called it their home. ⁷Then the Becoming One appeared to Abram and said, “Let's make this destiny manifest–I'll just rob this land from their people and give it to your offspring.” Abram built there an altar to the Becoming One, who had appeared to him. ⁸From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and made camp, between Bethel and Ai, and there he built an altar to the Becoming One, calling out Xyrs name. ⁹And Abram continued on his journey slowly toward the Negeb.

Queeries for the text:
What is this passage building on?
What is the accompanying reading?
Where is this headed?
Why would God give Abram an already occupied land?
Who else has used the image of God gifting occupied land for their own benefit?
What does it mean to be heirs of a stolen land?

What are your queeries?

Queerying 14th after Pentecost C

Suzannah Porter and Brooke McLain musically queery the RCL readings.

What do you pray for the wind of God to blow through and sweep away?

What are we running from when we engage in sin?

How does God's mercy released you from regrets?

How is God protecting you and searching for you, even in your lostness, waiting for you to come home?

-----

River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
At that time, it shall be said concerning this people and Jerusalem:
The conduct of My poor people is like searing wind
from the bare heights of the desert—
it will not serve to winnow or to fan.
A full blast from them comes against Me:
now I in turn will bring charges against them.

[...]

For My people are willfully ignorant,
they give Me no heed;
they are foolish children,
they are not intelligent.
They are clever at doing wrong,
but unable to do right.
I look at the earth,
it is unformed and void;
at the skies,
and their light is gone.
I look at the mountains,
they are quaking;
and all the hills are rocking.
I look: no human is left,
and all the birds of the sky have fled.
I look: the farm land is desert,
and all its towns are in ruin—
because of the Becoming One,
because of Xyr blazing anger.

For thus said the Becoming One:
the whole land shall be desolate,
but I will not make an end of it.
For this the earth mourns,
and skies are dark above—
because I have spoken, I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.

Queeries for the text:
What is missing from this pericope?
What slurs can we eradicate from our language?
When else was the Earth unformed and void?
Who suffers when mountains quake?
What might the end of humanity look like?
Why won't the Becoming One relent or turn Xyr back from desolation?

-----

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. ²And the religious leaders were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³So Jesus told them this parable: ⁴“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until you find it? ⁵When you have found it, you lay it on your shoulders and rejoice. ⁶And when you come home, you call together your friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

⁸“Or what woman having ten silver coins, a daily wage each, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she has found it, she calls together her gal pals, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
What did tax collectors do?
Who are "sinners"?
Who grumbles today?
What would shepherds do?
How do we rejoice with others?
Which sheep repented? Which coin?
What prompts you to clean the house?
Who repents?

What are your queeries?



 

Queerying Narrative 101

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; 9:8-17
^6:5The Becoming One saw that evil had infected humankind's hearts, ever increasing as it forced wickedness against other humans and the earth. ⁶And the Becoming One became remorseful that Xe had created humanity on the earth, and Xe grieved this in Xyrs heart. ⁷So the Becoming One said, "I will blot out from the earth the humans I have created–people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air–for I am bitterly hurt that I made them." ⁸But Noah found favor in the sight of the Becoming One.

⁹These are the offspring of Noah. Noah was righteous, blameless among his generation of wicked humans; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹Now the earth was polluted in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw that the earth was corrupt, for all humankind had polluted its ways upon the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end to all living things, for the earth is filled with violence and pollution because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶Make a roof for the ark and finish it to a cubit above, and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷For my part, I am going to bring a great flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under the sky all living things in which is my breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be a reproducing pair. ²⁰Of the bird according to their kinds and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in with you, to keep them alive. ²¹Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up, and it shall serve as food for you and for them." ²²Noah did all this; he did all that God commanded him.

[…]

^8:6At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷and sent out a raven, and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸Then Noah sent out the dove to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground, ⁹but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to Noah to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. ¹⁰Noah waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark, ¹¹and the dove came back to him in the evening and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹²Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove, and it did not return to him anymore.

[…]

^9:8Then God said to Noah and to his family with him, ⁹"As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰not just with the humans, but with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall I destroy all living things by waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the entire earth." ¹²God continued, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature, for all generations: ¹³I have set my weapon, a bow, down upon the clouds over the earth and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and all the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant that is between me and all living creatures, and the waters shall never become a great flood that destroys all life. ¹⁶When my weapon, the bow, is laid to rest in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all kinds that is on the earth." ¹⁷God finished speaking to Noah, saying, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all living things upon the earth."

Queeries for the text:
What's missing?
What is the accompanying reading?
Where is this headed?
Why didn't Noah argue back against God?
What ways do floods harm the environment and humans?
How are humans wicked against the earth today?
What else does a rainbow symbolize?

What are your queeries?

Noah’s Ark
Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César, Kingdom of Jerusalem (Acre) before 1291
British Library, Additional 15268, fol. 7v

Queerying 13th after Pentecost C

Our newest segment: Suzannah Porter and Brooke McLain musically queery the RCL readings.

What does this week's lectionary tell us about what Jesus will do for our lives?

What changes, from God and from my own self, do I need to open myself up to?

What fearful and wonderful things about who you are has God been waiting, on the edge of Xyr seat with joy, for you to grow into?

What in our past can we now seek to make amends for? To whom can we reach out for reparation and reconciliation?

What things must we let go of in order to build a better life that honors ourselves, our community, and our God?

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River Needham, MA ThM queeries the Tanakh reading.

Tanakh: Jeremiah 18:1-11
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Becoming One:
“Go down to the house of a potter, and there I will impart My words to you.”
So I went down to the house of a potter, and found her working at the wheel.
And if the vessel she was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter’s
hands, she would make it into another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make.

Then the word of the Becoming One came to me:
O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this potter?—says the Becoming One. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel!
At one moment I may decree that a nation or a state shall be uprooted and pulled down and destroyed; but if that nation against which I made the decree turns back from its wickedness, I change My mind concerning the punishment I planned to bring on it.
At another moment I may decree that a nation or a state shall be built and planted;
but if it does what is displeasing to Me and does not obey Me, then I change My mind concerning the good I planned to bestow upon it.

And now, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus said the Becoming One:
I am devising disaster for you and laying plans against you. Turn back, each of you,
from your wicked ways, and mend your ways and your actions!

Queeries for the text:
What do potters make today?
How can we make something new out of mistakes?
How have people mistreated the earth?
What hope is there to avoid disaster?

-----

While many of these are the same as were accidentally queeried last week, there are a few different queeries and a different translation to explore.

Rev. Emily E. Ewing queeries the Gospel reading.

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether you have enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when you have laid a foundation and are not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule you, ³⁰saying, ‘This one began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what ruler, going out to wage war against another ruler, will not sit down first and consider whether they are able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against them with twenty thousand? ³²If they cannot, then, while the other is still far away, they send a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my chosen family if you do not give up all your possessions.

Queeries for the text:
What did we skip?
Who hates family?
How are nonbinary people uniquely lovable?
Who hates life?
How do humans hate life?
How are building cost estimates inaccurate?
Who actually builds towers?
How is peace negotiated?
What harm does war cause?

What are your queeries?