A Perfect (Interfaith) Day in Iowa...

What a lovely day!

We started out for the Hindu Cultural Center in Madrid for Holi. Prior to seeing the event invitation online, I didn't even know we had a Hindu Cultural Center in Iowa. However, it is a beautiful place, and everyone was so gracious and welcoming. Every parking spot was completely filled out at their countryside home. The front plaza was filled with hundreds of members of the Holi community and many friends and visitors. As soon as my kids and I arrived, other kids surrounded them and helped them to join the fun of covering each other in the brightly-colored powder, and showing them how to cup it in their hands and then apply it to each other's faces and heads. Then there was an amazing lunch... and a delightfully long lunch line, which also allowed me to look inside the temple as I waited. The kids enjoyed the curries and rice as well as the Indian sweets!

Next, we headed to First Unitarian in Des Moines for the Central Iowa Transgender Festival, in which we also experienced wonderful hospitality and friendship from so many people, and got to meet so many artisans as well as advocacy organizations.

After this, realizing we wouldn't be back up to Mason City in time for me to make something for our potluck, we made a quick trip to Namaste grocery store for Ramadan iftar desserts, which was recommended to us from our new friends at the Hindu temple. We must go back again when we have more time, because we could have spent hours looking at all the amazing things they have!

Then we were on the way home again to Mason City, arriving just in time to change out of our Holi powder-covered clothes and into fresh clothing for iftar with our Muslim friends at our local mosque. I hadn't looked in the mirror, though, and our friends had a good laugh at the bright orange on my cheek.

Finally, droopy and with delightfully full tummies, we headed home to bed. After all, we have to be up early tomorrow for Easter!

A Dead God Does No Good

 Were Crucifixion the means of Atonement,

there would be no need for Resurrection.

A Dead God does no good.

A metaphor used to explain Jesus

to cultures and peoples accustomed to temple sacrifice

keeps getting twisted into the idea

that if we just kill the right people,

justice will be served

and society will be healed.

There is no Redemption in violence.

On This Good Friday, May We Remember

 On this Good Friday

May we remember

All the innocent people

Killed by unjust courts

And brutal laws

And those who are

Beaten and

Lynched and

Left for dead

Without hope of making it

To trial.

On this Good Friday

May we remember

All the innocent civilians

Killed in war

To pay for

The sins of their leaders.

Such violence

Only begets more violence

And there is

No Redemption

At all.

Here's to All the Clergy Mamas

Here's to all the Clergy Mamas

who not only
planned, preached, and led
Lent, Holy Week, and Easter

but also, more than likely,
planned and prepared
all the holiday celebrations
at home, too:

the Easter dinner and
the Easter outfits and
the Easter egg hunts and
the Easter baskets and
the Easter bunny 'magic'
(like moms usually do)

and,
who likely still did all
the cooking, cleaning and parenting
the laundry and dishes
the shopping and scheduling
and maybe even
tending a sick child or two
(like they usually do)

throughout these long days
of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter

it's quite similar,
after all,
no matter the season
or the holiday

It's well known by now
that Clergy Women
can do anything and everything
that Clergy Men can do

even at half their pay
even with half the respect
even when needing
to be their own secretaries
even with the full weight
of the housework at home, too.

The world seems to get a bit better
with each generation
a bit more equitable
and surely some notable exceptions
here and there,
as some will boast;
but on the whole,
we're not there yet...

So here's to the Clergy Mamas
who do all that they do

Christ has died, Christ is risen
once again and every year

And may you, Clergy Mamas,
when the holiday frenzy is over
find a moment
of rest.

(c)2024 Le Anne Clausen de Montes

Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes is a pastor, parent, poet, and creator of Clergy Mamas International and Clergy Parents of Children with Special Needs. She has served congregations in the PC(USA), UCC, ELCA and UMC and is active in ecumenical and interfaith cooperation through the Iowa Faith Leadership Network and Center for Faith and Peacemaking. Prior to seminary and parenting, she was an international human rights worker who helped to investigate the Abu Ghraib scandal; trained hundreds of international volunteers for human rights documentation and reporting and nonviolent direct intervention; and was an assistant program developer for the first Arabic-speaking women's crisis center in the Middle East. During seminary, she was a Prisoner of Conscience in a maximum-security federal facility for her nonviolent protest of the use of torture. She continues to be active in multiple efforts to promote equity and inclusion at home in the North Iowa area of the United States.

Surviving Christian Nationalism by Embracing Radical Ecumenism

 If we are going to not just survive

Christian Nationalism,

but offer Christians something

worth belonging to,

Then we must embrace a radical ecumenism,

Loudly proclaiming who we include,

because we have followed

the call of Jesus

to welcome and include

those who others

would exclude.

Christian Nationalism vs. Radical Inclusion

 We must seek out every opportunity

to practice radical inclusion

in the face of Christian Nationalism.

We must seek out every opportunity

for cooperation, from the ground up:

in parenting groups

in Sunday Schools

in Vacation Bible Schools

in Church Camps

in Confirmation

in pastor sharing agreements

in community parish agreements

in regional lay pastor trainings

in seminaries

in theological scholarship

in denominational relief and development services

in stewarding all of our resources.

We can't afford

to hold on to our little fiefdoms

or our denominational egos

any longer.

On Disinformation as A Weapon of War

Never believe anything reported by armed combatants in war that hasn't been independently verified by journalists, human rights organizations, or other reputable outside agencies. Disinformation is as much a weapon of war as any other machinery of mass destruction.

All killing of civilians is wrong, no matter the demographic background of the civilians in question.

All sexual assault of persons during armed conflict is abhorrent.

All taking of hostages and other prisoners without charges or due process for indefinite lengths of time, is wrong, no matter what 'side' the prisoners / hostages are from.

All denial of food, water, safe shelter, and adequate healthcare to civilians is an abomination.

Never trust anyone, especially any religious leader, who uses ancient Scripture or tradition to justify modern-day atrocities.

On the Klan and Its Modern Descendants, and Selling Your Soul

Joining the Klan,

or any of its modern descendants:

The Proud Boys
The Moms for Liberty
or anyone else
that promotes Klan teachings

This is no less than selling your soul.

It is turning your back
on the teachings of Jesus Christ

in exchange for the Devil
and all his empty promises.

Which promises, you ask?

- That "Jews will never replace us"
- That we can "whitewash" history
- That we can make transgender people disappear
- That we can create neighborhoods, school districts,
and entire cities, where we don't have to see or deal with
people who are different than ourselves.

God's grace is abundant, available, and sufficient;
Repent now, and be reconciled.

Otherwise, of what use to you is Heaven?
After all,
it will be filled
with all the people you so loudly despise:
Brown and Black people
Asian and Arab people
Muslim and Jewish people
Immigrants from all nations
People with disabilities
and so many more.

Even LGBTQIA+ people,
people who simply loved who they loved
and did no harm to anyone.

After all,
they didn't join a hate group
to twist and mock the teachings of Jesus.

That's all on you.

Can such a sin-sick soul be redeemed?
Of course...with a truly penitent heart.
This is what Jesus taught us, too.

Turn back now
from your evil ways
and Live.

Go and sin no more.

A Pastor's Job Is Not to Convince People...

Unpopular opinion: A pastor's job isn't to convince people that any particular Bible story is literally true; it's to help them understand why people felt it was important to write each part and preserve it for future generations-- how does it help people come to terms with issues they face in their own lives, such as suffering, grief, love, vocation, and family struggles?

Some of the Bible is poetry.
Some is is metaphor.
Some is fable.

Most of it was passed down around the campfire for thousands of years before it ever got written down.

Some of it is cringeworthy, dysfunctional family stuff.

A lot of it is how people interpreted things that happened to them: military victory or defeat, famine, exile.

A lot of the Bible isn't about the 'afterlife,' it's about daily life, and how people have coped throughout the centuries.

Many people today still find that certain passages 'ring true,' or help them gain insight into their lives, relationships, anddaily struggles.

Pastors can foster this deeper level of understanding by providing historical and cultural context in preaching on a text, as well as in pastoral care. When we help people understand how different Biblical passages were written by particular people for particular purposes and people, we can also help them avoid applying Biblical passages in ways they were never intended, to do harm to people today.

Nearly a Century After Niemoeller...

 First they came for the migrants,

and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a migrant.

Then they came for the people who needed abortions,
and I didn't speak up
because I didn't need an abortion.

Then they came for the transgender people,
and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't transgender.

Then they came for the Muslims
and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't Muslim.

Then they came for the Jews
and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't Muslim.

Then they came for the people with disabilities
and I didn't speak up
because I didn't have a disability.

Then they came for the Black people
and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't Black.

then they came for the teachers

then they came for the librarians

then they came for the scientists

then they came for the doctors

then they came for the union leaders

then they came for the journalists

then they came for the university professors

then they came for the university students

then they came for the 'liberal' pastors

they came for the homeless

they came for the hungry

they came for the sick

they came for the working poor

Nearly a century after Niemoeller wrote his poem,
why don't we see

we are repeating this terrible lesson
all over again?

There's Nothing 'Christian' About 'Christian Nationalism'

There's nothing 'Christian' about 'Christian Nationalism,'

except that history shows us how the Church,

and especially the White Church,

chooses Nationalism time and time again.

Those Christians who choose to stand up to Nationalist movements

(whether in Nazi Germany, or here in the United States)

frequently do so at great cost

not only to their vocational prospects,

but their lives.

On Rejecting the Evil of Christian Nationalism, And All Its Empty Promises

Our next chapter in ecumenical partnership-building must be working together to reject the evil of Christian Nationalism and all its empty promises.

Our future is not in holding on to the shards of our White European immigrant squabbles, but in creating sanctuary and a society in which all people are truly, fully, and unabashedly welcome and included as a vital part of God’s Beloved Community.