The Armor Of God, The Favorite T-Shirt of Grace

Escaping Anxious Faith Through the Bread of Life

Dear Friends,

Even as a kid, I found the idea of the Armor of God to be a bit unsettling.

In the worksheet-based curriculum I grew up with, those lessons always had gladiator vibes. Plus, the belt of truth simply isn’t an actual belt! I am hardly one to mind a metaphor, but stop trying to convert it back into something literal, guys.

Of course, I do think I was on to something with my feelings about the Armor of God when I see how it gets used in the curriculum world today. It seems to be a favorite of conservative programs and I’m sure the militarism of it helps, despite the peaceful foundation you’ll find in the shoes – and I am partial to Paul’s phrasing, “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.”

I’ll be wearing whatever my AFOs fit into, then, because I can’t proclaim the Gospel of peace if I’m injuring my ankles and hips.

Like more than a few of the lessons stereotypically picked for children, the Armor of God isn’t necessarily one of the essentials – but it’s one with apparently appealing visuals for teaching purposes. (David and Goliath never seems to come up in my adult dealings with the Bible, I’ll be honest.) I’m not saying we shouldn’t teach this passage in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, but I do think it demands a closer look at what each of these traits – truth, righteousness, spirit – means and what it means to clothe ourselves in them, to integrate them into our daily sense of presence. I don’t want the breastplate of righteousness, I want a favorite t-shirt of grace.

Whatever my take on the pedagogical merits of this passage, here it is this week and it makes me wonder why I would need so much gear to stand strong in the Lord? It makes me think, in continuing my thread on why this passage seems to be so popular in conservative circles, about the extent to which some corners of Christianity seem to believe they need to legislate the rest of the world – need such serious protection – to be firm in their faith.

How do we understand the elements of the Armor of God without turning it into an anxious defense?

Nourished, Not Nervous

Shocker (especially in this part of the RCL), the answer to what I read as the anxious defensiveness of the Armor of God, I suppose, must be the nourishing Bread of Life. And really, isn’t one of the first defenses against feeling unsettled, cranky, or generally dysregulated, a nourishing meal? (Enter the You Feel Like Shit flowchart for reference.)

I wonder how you feel when you receive the Eucharist?

Depending on your context, maybe this happens every week or maybe it’s only once or twice a month. Maybe you are also one of the people who celebrates the Great Thanksgiving, who consecrates the bread and the wine, or maybe you help to share it with your community. I don’t always have the clearest sense of what I’m feeling, but the Eucharist grounds me. It leaves me feeling fortified for what lies ahead.

I wonder how the children in your life feel when they come to the table?

We spend so much time on things like how we behave in church, the mechanics of receiving communion (I love almost nothing as much as watching the children in my community gently cup the chalice in reverence), but less about the emotional elements of the sacrament. What will we discover by asking that question? As we resume some of our more regular routines, this might become one of the ways you think and talk about church together.

Resource Round Up

I can’t wait to be back in my classrooms and I’m busily preparing that space. In the meantime:

• Everyday Godly Play is coming to your phone with a new option for inspiration and wonder! Just text 833-359-7488 to get a weekly text. I can’t wait to see how this feeds my own spirit. I must say, the initial posts about it started with a quote from a Carrie Newcomer song, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re already off to a great start.

  

• I recently tapped into my library of grief resources for families, and as much as I love a good book, I’m really interested in material practices – whether that’s creating and adding to a home altar or learning a craft or recipe that was important to the person who died. I really appreciated this recent article from NPR about a “Grieving & Weaving” group, which is a community that engages in fiber arts projects while building community by talking about death and loss. I think it’s a valuable model for thinking about how we support our communities and find connection in the face of grief.

• I am a walking library of “children’s” church music. While I definitely grew up with a pretty robust library in hymns once I hit about first grade, I also taught a lot of Vacation Bible School with its accompanying curriculum tunes – and let’s face it, most of them are not very good, even if they are a lot of fun. (I may have told my rector that I was going to do my best to refrain from singing and teaching “People Be Strong In The Lord” from a VBS program c. 2014.) Kids can do better and they deserve better.
  
  All of that is to say that I appreciated this article from Christianity Today about why children deserve church music that’s made for them, but is more than cheerful affirmations. In particular, in pointed to a new collaboration between Keith and Kristyn Getty (and their pack of daughters) and, one of my favorites, Sandra McCracken, “Jesus Calms the Storm (Hymn for Anxious Little Hearts)”

That’s all for this week! Cue up your playlist and I’ll be back next week.

Peace,
Bird