• Email Sign Up
  • Following me around the web…
  • Liturgies for the “Be the Church” Series
  • Quarantine/Pandemic Prayers & Liturgies
  • Sermons on Video
  • Single in the Sanctuary
  • Vocational Prayers
  • Want to know about me?

Michelle L. Torigian

~ God Goes Pop Culture

Michelle L. Torigian

Monthly Archives: November 2017

A Prayer for a Hot Mess

29 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Life, Pop, Pop Culture

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

God's grace, Grace, hot mess, hot messiness, imperfect, imperfection, Life, mess, Prayer, Prayers

IMG_5622

God, who often works best in chaos, here I am – your child – a blessed hot mess.

I carry too many items in my hands, resulting in me dropping things as I walk along my path. Or I stumble into chairs or couches or tables or doors as I carry on my day. I say the wrong things as my mouth becomes a waterfall for wrong terms and awkward jokes. My stole often leans too long on one side or my hair is tucked into my robe. Or my hair falls into my face, and as I fix it, my glasses drop to the ground. And, don’t forget, my desk is swimming in too many papers.

While I would like be the model for grace and move about the earth with every kind of smoothness there is, I have failed spectacularly.

I’m imperfect and incomplete.

But maybe this isn’t failure. Maybe being made in your image means that “hot messes” are ones who shift the world’s trajectory in meaningful ways. Maybe it means that we carry the Holy Spirit’s fires and winds in our passion, and in doing so, our form is a little unconventional.

And so, Creator of Living Art, if possible, make my life smooth. Yet if it isn’t your intentions for my life, let me use my messiness to set the world on a more-loving path. May the fire within me shine a justice-filled light into your world. And may your grace splatter upon all of your creation – including those of us in a sacred state of hot messiness.

Amen.

IMG_5623

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Thanksgiving’s Empty Seat

23 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in grief, Holidays, Pop

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

first holidays after death, grief, loss of loved one, loss of parent, Prayer, Prayers, Thanksgiving

IMG_5373

God, you fill in all spaces and abide in all times, and yet today, once space will feel every kind of void.

Dad’s seat.

There will be feelings and memories and all sorts of things we want to pile onto that seat. We will fill that chair with tears and sighs and our still-stunned hearts.

How could we be here today, God? No. This can’t be…

(There is no other way around it: today will suck.)

But even as our hearts are breaking throughout the day, help us to fill Dad’s plate with delicious memories. May our time together today be one where we embed the joyful Thanksgiving moments of the past into our souls, recalling moments of laughter and creating new mirthful memories.

Amen.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Prayer in the Face of Misogyny

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Current Events, Life, Pop

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

abuse, discrimination, Eve, Mary Magdalene, misogyny, patriarchy, Prayer, prayers for women, rape, rape culture, shame, Tamar, Vashti, women

IMG_5309.PNG

God, you’ve seen the way the Bible has twisted the lives of Eve and Vashti and Tamar and Mary Magdalene…

And you see how the stories and images of women are twisted today.

We are tired, Mother God.

We are tired of the b-word and the frequent use of the words “whore” and “slut.” We are tired when people in power obviously work to intimidate us more than the men in our lives. We are tired when we are spoken over or told how we should feel. We are tired when we speak out and not believed. We are tired when our sheroes are attacked with greater fervor than the men who hold power. We are tired wheb being refused jobs because of gender (because, let’s face it, our reproductive organs have nothing to do with our qualifications). We are tired of the shame that comes with being born a daughter of Eve.

We are tired that Mother is not a good enough title for you, God.

We are tired of the little comments made to us or about us that make us feel less than human. We are tired of the larger ways our bodies and our accomplishments are tossed aside or belittled. Our energy is spent in ensuring that humanity sees us with the same dignity as cisgender men. Our sisters of color and our transgender siblings must spend even more of their spirits than we who are white women trying to achieve this dignity.

We are exhausted to hear how we should be grateful for the crumbs that have been scattered for us.

Crumbs are no longer enough. We are more than b*tches and whores and ditzes and witches. We will speak out when our voices are ignored, and we will no longer keep our stories silent.

We are worth every single piece of energy you used to mold us in your image. We are your children and deserve the inheritance of your kin-dom on earth as much as our male siblings.

You stand on the side of justice, and one day we will be equal in the eyes of our neighbors just like we are equal in your eyes.

Amen.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Prayer When the Computer Crashes

10 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Life, Pop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

computer, computer crash, crash, fail, frustration, Life, Prayer, prayer for a crashed computer, technology

IMG_5240

God who spans the infinite universe, I have this feeling you are rolling your eyes at me while I face my computer woes.

Poverty and illness rage across our planet, and I’m here cursing my crashed computer.

First world problems- right?

And yet, my writing is what keeps my soul engaged in the world. My work is to advocate for a fair universe. Wouldn’t a working computer help such a call?

(I know you are still rolling your eyes at me, God…)

Until I get this computer up and running again, give me serenity in my soul as I want to shout at the evil blank screen. May I find that the world will still revolve, and I will find ways of working until this fallible machine is running again.

(Feel free to keep rolling your eyes at me, God. And, as you do, help me find humor in these glitches.)

Amen.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Lakeside

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Poetry, Pop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

fear, Poem, Poetry

This is a poem I wrote in November 2009.

I peer into a lake so deep –
A pool of despair I cannot touch.
I stay on land, the hardened shell.
It’s safe to be on water’s shores
Or so it seems from horror’s view. 
For if I were to leap right in –
Would I drown? Could I swim?
Would I swirl and twirl below
And reach the bottom, never to rise?
And if I were to wade right in,
A toe submerged, and then one more
Until a foot, a leg in deep.
Would I feel the chills beneath?
Wrinkled fingertips, shedding skin.

Yet on this seashore, lakeside day
I stare at ponds of fear once more.
Its waves are threatening those of us
On grounds that seems so steadfast, firm.

Thus I could stand on water’s shores
And find my doom from inertia’s call.
For thinking that this ground’s secure
I’ll find demise in idle’s arms.

I rise on earth, it’s strong below
Yet not for me to stay too long.
I jump towards the sparkling pool –
A pool of fear, I thought before.
My body finds it’s womb below
As water encircles every piece of skin.
Yet, spiraling to bottom not mine.
I rise to top, begin to swim –
The pond is mine! I’ve tamed the tide.

10392001_163696007809_6700173_n

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Prayer for the Needed Time-Machine

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Current Events, grief, Life, Pop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2017, Election 2016, Endometriosis, grief, grief prayers, grieving, mourning, pain

IMG_5221God who operates beyond time and space, would you mind transforming me back to one year ago this afternoon?

Would you send me back to a time when hope still pushed aside the climate of despair? A time when I didn’t know death’s frigid grasp so well… a time when my body hadn’t yet become companions with various types of pain… a time when we stood on the edge of a possibility which would have brought prosperity for more of my neighbors and a time when hate was not so loud.

Where is this time machine, God? Maybe I would have made some different decisions, spent more time with loved ones, cared for myself in new ways.

I know we cannot travel back, and I know forward through the tunnel is the only path to journey. So give me the peace and strength as the suffocating shadows swallow me as I drive this stretch of road.

And as I reemerge from the tunnels, may your sunlight warm my soul again.

Amen.

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Glimpses of Survival Through Grief

06 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in grief, Life, Pop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

grief, grief prayers, mourning, Prayer, Prayers, wilderness

pexels-photo-164018.jpeg

Sturdy God through the flimsy times,
I discovered that I may endure this time in the wilderness.
I may escape the land of everlasting shadows.
I may find more than an oasis from grief.

Now, I’m not sure how I will feel in two hours or four days, but right now, God, I embrace this gift from your Spirit.

Sure, I know the moon’s dance will cross between me and the sun,
And my soul will feel every bit of the lack of light from the eclipse.
And there will be days when the clouds leave no gap to allow the blue sky to show its friendly face.

But I’ve seen those days before.
And I cried and screamed.
And once again, the sun showed her face.

Again and again, after the shadows have had their say, the light breaks through.

This is the human life.  This is the way I know that I will endure.
This is how I know I will make it from one breath to the next
And from one day to the next.

Even as I walk through the shadow filled valleys, you are with me God.
And you will journey with me to sunlight again.  Amen.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

All Saints’ Sunday Eve

04 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Church Life, grief, Life, Pop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

All Saints, All Saints Day, grief, grief prayers, mourning, Prayer, Prayers, Totenfest

pexels-photo-205304.png

God of the brisk autumn evenings and chilly fall mornings,
Tomorrow is All Saints’ Sunday – the one time per year when we recall out loud the names of our deceased loved ones.
We speak of them aloud to give their lives dignity and grieve their passings.

But All Saints’ Sunday Eve is drastically different than All Saints’ Day Eve.
There is no hunting for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Milky Ways.
There are no costumes or parties or pumpkins.

Instead, it’s me and you, God.

I pray that I have the strength tomorrow to muddle through the service
To remember my father without publicly shedding copious amounts of tears.

It will sound strange to hear his name read in the list of saints.
And as my skin will crawl when he is named
May your peace be a salve to my irritated spirit.

Amen.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

An All Saints’ Day Prayer for Those Left Behind

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by mictori in Church Life, grief, Holidays, National Day Prayers, Pop

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

All Saints Day, All Saints' Day Prayer, grief, grief prayers, mourning, Prayer, Prayers, Totenfest

IMG_0284

God of the weeping souls, many of us sit in sorrow today.

Our favorite saint no longer abides with us. With the absence of their voice and facial expressions and stories,  we walk around today in a mid-autumn daze.

Today asks us to remember the saints when we want to forget the pain. Today begs for us to remember voices and expressions and stories as we hold onto memories for as long as possible.

So with the void that we carry around like a 20-pound weight, we face the day one less person in our world.

We logically understand that tomorrows will become more tolerable in this mediocre journey. But today we cry with the absolute loss we’ve been given.

God, you are celebrating with them on that side of heaven, but on this side, you lament with us.  Be in both places at once in this existence that we are all trying to understand.

Amen.

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

CCblogs Network

CCblogs Network

RevGalBlogPals

RevGalBlogPals
Follow Michelle L. Torigian on WordPress.com

Michelle L. Torigian

Michelle L. Torigian

Rev. Michelle Torigian's Instagram

No Instagram images were found.

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • September 2011
  • December 2010

Blogroll

  • A Southern Pastor's Life in the North
  • Ancient/Future Faith
  • Associated Luke
  • Coffeehouse Contemplative
  • Emily C. Heath
  • For the Someday Book
  • Go and Tell with Grace
  • Katie Steedly
  • Liturgy Geek
  • musings about liturgical adventures, poetic journeys and such
  • One Whole Step
  • Reflections of Ryberg
  • Scattered Graces

Tags

Advent advent prayer Advent prayers anxiety Armenian Genocide Body of Christ careers Childless Childlessness Christ Christianity Christmas Church Communion Communion Liturgy Coronavirus COVID-19 death depression divorce domestic violence Easter Endometriosis Epiphany Feminism God Grace Grey's Anatomy grief grief prayers Healing Holy Week Hope Infertility Jesus Justice Lent Lenten Prayers LGBT Life Liturgy loss of loved one loss of parent Love Mental health Mother's Day motherhood mourning National Day Prayers pain Prayer Prayers progressive Christian progressive Christianity Progressive Christianty Quarantine racism rape Resurrection sexism sexual assault Single Singlehood single in the sanctuary Social Justice Surgery Syrophoenician woman Thanksgiving UCC United Church of Christ Vashti vocational prayers vocations widows worship

Categories

  • Advent prayers
  • Be the Church
  • Church Life
  • Communion Liturgy
  • COVID Prayers
  • Current Events
  • Epiphany Liturgy/Prayers
  • grief
  • Health
  • Holidays
  • Lent Prayers
  • Life
  • Liturgy
  • Movies
  • Music
  • National Day Prayers
  • Poetry
  • Pop
  • Pop Culture
  • Prayers
  • Quarantine Liturgy and Prayers
  • Religion
  • Single in the Sanctuary
  • Social Justice
  • Social Media
  • Sports
  • Television
  • UCC Statement of Faith
  • Vocation Prayers
  • Wordpress Blogger University

RSS Michelle L. Torigian

  • A Prayer for Over Caffeination
  • A Prayer for Freedom to Use My Voice
  • A Prayer for Rest
  • A Prayer for Times of Twigs and Ashes
  • A Prayer for Fogginess and Focus
  • A Prayer of Gratitude for Nostalgia
  • A Mid-Winter’s Prayer
  • A Blessing on the Last Days of Christmas
  • A Prayer When Delighting in Hope
  • A Prayer of Gratitude

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 313 other subscribers

Pages

  • Email Sign Up
  • Following me around the web…
  • Liturgies for the “Be the Church” Series
  • Quarantine/Pandemic Prayers & Liturgies
  • Sermons on Video
  • Single in the Sanctuary
  • Vocational Prayers
  • Want to know about me?

Blogroll

  • A Southern Pastor's Life in the North
  • Ancient/Future Faith
  • Associated Luke
  • Coffeehouse Contemplative
  • Emily C. Heath
  • For the Someday Book
  • Go and Tell with Grace
  • Katie Steedly
  • Liturgy Geek
  • musings about liturgical adventures, poetic journeys and such
  • One Whole Step
  • Reflections of Ryberg
  • Scattered Graces

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • September 2011
  • December 2010

Tags

Advent advent prayer Advent prayers anxiety Armenian Genocide Body of Christ careers Childless Childlessness Christ Christianity Christmas Church Communion Communion Liturgy Coronavirus COVID-19 death depression divorce domestic violence Easter Endometriosis Epiphany Feminism God Grace Grey's Anatomy grief grief prayers Healing Holy Week Hope Infertility Jesus Justice Lent Lenten Prayers LGBT Life Liturgy loss of loved one loss of parent Love Mental health Mother's Day motherhood mourning National Day Prayers pain Prayer Prayers progressive Christian progressive Christianity Progressive Christianty Quarantine racism rape Resurrection sexism sexual assault Single Singlehood single in the sanctuary Social Justice Surgery Syrophoenician woman Thanksgiving UCC United Church of Christ Vashti vocational prayers vocations widows worship
November 2017
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Oct   Dec »

Category Cloud

Advent prayers Be the Church Church Life Communion Liturgy COVID Prayers Current Events Epiphany Liturgy/Prayers grief Health Holidays Lent Prayers Life Liturgy Movies Music National Day Prayers Poetry Pop Pop Culture Prayers Quarantine Liturgy and Prayers Religion Single in the Sanctuary Social Justice Social Media Sports Television UCC Statement of Faith Vocation Prayers Wordpress Blogger University

Recent Posts

  • A Prayer for Over Caffeination
  • A Prayer for Freedom to Use My Voice
  • A Prayer for Rest
  • A Prayer for Times of Twigs and Ashes
  • A Prayer for Fogginess and Focus

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Michelle L. Torigian
    • Join 313 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Michelle L. Torigian
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: