Blessed Are the Binary Breakers
Religion & Spirituality
Sometimes the stories we think we know by heart are the ones most worth revisiting, and examining from new angles. In this episode, Avery focuses on a version of the Nativity that will likely be new to many of you: one in which the Greek of Luke 2:7 is translated differently to imply that Jesus was not born in a stable because Bethlehem's inn was full up, but rather was born right in the heart of a peasant home.
As they explore the Nativity from different angles, Avery shares several poems that invite the reader into various versions of Jesus's birth, familiar and unfamiliar alike. Their hope is to help us all learn how to embrace the beads of truth within each different telling of the tale, discovering how contradiction need not mean conflict.
Click here for an episode transcript.
Talking Points:
(0:00 - 7:46) Introducing versions of the Nativity story — listening for what's actually in Luke 2
(7:47 - 11:18) Questioning the Greek word kataluma in Luke 2:7 — an inn, or a guest room?
(11:19 - 19:15) Cultural context: Joseph's ties to Bethlehem; hospitality; the layout of an ancient Judean home
(19:16 - 21:50) Poem 1: "the in-laws you acquaint yourself with first...are in-law hen and cow..."
(21:51 - 26:19) Reading this "new" version through a liberationist lens: emphasizing hospitality; celebrating the generosity of Jesus's fellow poor
(26:20 - 28:42) Poem 2: Jesus does not wait for us in his designated corner — he bursts into our bustling, compels us to make room in our mundane mess
(29:42 - 31:52) Closing thoughts on why all this matters
(31:53 - end) Poem 3: "Nativity Beads" — rosary meditations; 5 versions, all pregnant with a little bead of truth
"We’re in this for the liberation” — More from Rev. Krissy on transforming the Church
Marginalized Bodies as Spectacle & the Good News in Jesus's Disabling Wounds
Queering the Cross, Tomb, and Resurrection
Making Space for Gethsemane: two disabled & trans theologians discuss what people in pain actually need
What's in a Name Change? — How I became Avery Arden and made it through the legal process
O Beautiful Dust — Lenten Prayers & the Gospels’ genderqueer water bearer
Coming Back to Life — Rev. Krissy is a politically queer UCC pastor
Naming Faith — Eric Sharp is a Pluralist Agnostic & Systemic Therapist
The Binary Breaking Transness of Jesus — Clip from an interview with Joseph Peterson
Numinous Names: Stories of name changes across genders, cultures, and faiths
"His Name Is John": magnAUtism & allyship in Luke 1
The Blending of Pagan & Christian Belief: Black Book's tour of nineteenth-century Russia
The Transcendent Tale of Brigid of Ireland: Celtic Goddess, Catholic Saint, and Voodoo Lwa
Sex Work and Satanism with Azura Rose
Manlike Babies, Cuckolded Joseph, & the Sex Worker Madonna — More from Neville on Morality in Renaissance Art
"I am God and not a man" - Exploring God's gender in the Book of Hosea with Liam Hooper & Peterson Toscano
God Gets Vulnerable: A trans & autistic look at Elijah and the "still small voice"
When a trans traveler and an autistic apostle cross paths: Reading Acts 8 in community
"God's love should not be tainted by the fear of earthly hatred" - April is a proud Catholic Latina trans woman
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