God, you call us in surprising ways.
I was socialized to act demure, to take care of others first, to affirm the gifts of others but keep mine under wraps. I was told I could not be a pastor because I was a girl.
As our communal awareness grew, and women were allowed to be ordained, my imagination also grew. My heart opened to the idea that I could study theology and that preaching the gospel in my voice, from my body, was a calling that people in my community could now affirm.
Over the years, I have learned from my community about other issues about which we were once so sure. Slavery is not God-sanctioned, for example, and our LGBTQIA+ siblings fall well within the cornucopia of God’s imagination. My daughter and her wife are legally married today, a miracle of cultural transformation, and a redemption of previous denial of the breadth of your creation, God.
God, you will continue to call us into a fuller expression of your love. What will you call us to learn next?
This message is excerpted from “What other surprises await?” by Catherine Malotky in the April 2020 Gather magazine.
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