It's our 5th birthday here at The Word Is Resistance!  And incredibly, the gospel reading is about a party!  Mary insists that Jesus liven up the party at a wedding banquet.  Is this a frivolous magic trick, or was Mary on to something important? Join Rev. Anne Dunlap for this take on John 2:1-11.

Join us for our first-ever virtual meet-up! Register here: https://bit.ly/twirmeetup

Transcript available here:
https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 1.16.22 Let's Liven Up the Party!

Join Rev. Sarah Howell-Miller as she follows Jesus in the wake of his first act of public proclamation in Luke 4:21-30 and asks why the good news of liberation for the poor and oppressed is so hard for people of privilege to receive.

Transcript available here:  https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 1.30.22 No Prophet Is Accepted

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

Shema

Fighting antisemitism is key to our work of dismantling white supremacy.  And fighting antisemitism during Lent, when the lectionary editors ramp up what they *think* the conflict is, is crucial.  Join Rev. Anne Dunlap to learn what an alternative reading of Luke 13:31-35 might look like -- we might just find that the Pharisees are on Jesus's side.

Resources to learn more about how to fight antisemitism are here:
https://bit.ly/CounterASResources

Transcript available here:
https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 3.13.22 Reject the Deflection

Mary Magdalene is a fierce, pissed off, visionary whose power and story have been silenced by the sexism and whorephobia of the church. Join Blyth Barnow and Chanelle Gallant in this incredible conversation and homage to the Original Bad Bitch Apostle.

Transcript available here:  https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 4.17.22 Easter, Sexuality, and Self-Determination

Rev. M Barclay (they/them) finds the story of Pentecost rich with imagery of mutual interest. Differences are not a barrier but an opportunity to deepen into understanding and authentic relationships while working toward the common goal of collective liberation.

Transcript with action links available here:
surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 6.5.22 #MutualInterest: Pentecost Miracles and the Turning of the Era

This Trinity Sunday, Dr. Sharon Fennema explores the ways in which the mystery of the Trinity invites us to take a posture of wonder.  This practice of wonder and curiosity not only helps us cultivate a growth mindset that counters the logics of supremacy, but also nourishes the roots of revolutionary love.

Transcript available here: surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 6.12.22 Trinity, Mystery, & Wonder: What We Cannot Bear

To begin our new #Disability Justice series, Rev. Anne Dunlap re-visits the story of the "Gerasene Demoniac" in Luke 8 and discovers the man from Gerasa is already whole, and Jesus's commitment to disability justice.

Transcript available here:  https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/

TWIR 6.19.22 #DisabilityJustice: Getting Liberated from Legion, Again

On this episode, Rev. M Jade Kaiser (formerly Barclay) and Rev. Anna Blaedel talk through the scripture together, considering greed and riches in a multitude of forms. In their conversation, they weave in intimate reflections on sharing in life and chronic illness together and how forms of supremacy and collective possibility unfold in all of it.

TWIR 7.31.22 #DisabilityJustice: Take Care.

Where do we turn when the bottom drops out? This week's episode with Nichola Torbett is about salvation in those moments and how we can begin building the safety net we need now, a safety net big and broad and voluptuous and "unreasonable" enough to support everyone. Join us!

Visit https://surj.org/our-work/surj-faith/twir/ for transcripts, resources, and copyright information.

TWIR 9.18.22 #DisabilityJustice: Unreasonable, Voluptuous Accommodations!

Abraham and Sarah laughed at God's vision and promise of new life.

Before we write them off, we are called to remember how white Christians - yes, liberal/progressive ones - have "laughed" at the idea that chattel slavery could be abolished, that segregation could be ended by militant nonviolent civil disobedience, and more. 

Are we laughing at the idea of defunding, dismantling, and abolishing the police now? Or do we have faith, commitment, and strength enough to make real the "impossible" dreams of God again?

In this episode, Rev. Seth Wispelwey takes us into a place of rest and challenge through where we locate ourselves in this seismic living moment in history.

Oh, and defund, dismantle, and abolish the police.

Transcript can be found here: https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/the-word-is-resistance.html

TWIR 6.14.20 We Are Unstoppable! Another World is Possible!

From January 2017 to December 2023, “The Word Is Resistance” was a weekly podcast from SURJ-Faith by white anti-racist Christians based on the Christian lectionary, offering an anti-racist Word for other white Christians -- though all are welcome to check it out.  We are pleased to keep this incredible resource alive here as an ongoing resource to help us all get free.

What do our sacred texts have to teach us about living, surviving, even thriving, in the context of empire, tyranny, violence, repression - the times in which we are living today?  What do they have to teach us, as white Christians, about our role in resistance, in showing up, in liberation?  They teach us this: 

Our traditions were made for these times.  They come from these times.  So we have resources in our texts, our practices, to help us right now.  We can reclaim our stories and re-tell them to nourish our resistance against white supremacy and our work for collective liberation.