“Humanity is an organic unity that is yet being born”

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori notes that every component of our world has a cosmic task. David Khan, a Montessori Scholar, shares that “this cosmic task is carried out as a result of the day-to-day actions of each, and contributes to the maintenance of balance and harmony for all” (Khan, NAMTA Journal, 2016, Global Science & Social Systems). Every cosmic being of the world - from water to flesh and bone - serves as a resource to this task of balance and harmony. Continuing this metaphor into a queering finds the great river as a source of ever-flowing fluidity that seeks transformation for all human beings and creation.

Queer Practical Theology begins with the concrete being of all bodies in their local context for the sake of their transformation as they move carving, depositing and carrying human experiences.

There are no silos or lone working parts in this cosmic task of transformation within Queer Practical Theology. This cosmic task is ever-flowing and continuous as long as we, people, theologians, pastors, care-seekers, care-givers, and beyond show up to the water front and do not inscribe their own readings of the unique bodies before them. The Great River of Queer Practical Theology is the metaphor for human transformation. When we as humans choose embodiment through the Great River, we thus choose wonderment, offering, and hope of peace, love and connection - ultimately we choose life for all. We choose to preserve and make space for all human bodies: each unique and wonderfully made and in need of tending.

The Story of The Great River, Maria Montessori

Imagine a great land that has existed for millions of years. In this land live billions, even trillions, of inhabitants, of citizens. Every single citizen of this great land is continually working – working every single second. Citizens are working day and night and they work for the benefit of the nation. They have never been paid for their work. And they have never stopped working for any reason. They know that if even one of them stops working the nation will fall and they will all die. So, knowing this, they live to work, and they work to live. You might think this is a hard life for the citizens of the nation, but in fact they have lived peacefully since the earliest times. Each worker has a specific task. Each worker performs this task without any question.

 Across this nation flows a beautiful red river called the Great River. It reaches every citizen of the nation and it has many small channels and streams and creeks that crisscross the land, so every citizen is able to reach it. This river is what gives life to this nation. It nourishes every citizen and it removes waste to keep the citizens healthy. It also links all the citizens to each other. There are times when some of the workers die of old age and then the river carries them away….

Queer Practical Theology evokes a reminder that we, the people of God, are called, blessed and given a unique cosmic task for the sake of justice, love and mercy. Queer Practical Theology carves, carries and deposits the truth that humans can work together for a more just world through the resourcing of our cosmic tasks together. Queer Practical Theology is a healing theology rooted in activism in the public square, church, and academy for embodiment. The Great River embodies queer action and queer presence as a consensual force which pushes practical theologians to steer clear of siloing bodies and disembodiment. The Great River lives, feels, embodies and offers transformation through living practices of freedom - water that nourishes, moves and tends to the river bank for care.