A blog post entitled, "The Recess Queen: A Parable About Subverting Empire" inspired me to read this book alongside Matthew 5:38-48.
Here's an excerpt from my sermon:
Perhaps those who hear Jesus’ teachings and put them into practice are like a little girl named Katie Sue. . .
. . .a teeny, tiny kid who enters the playground ruled by the tyrant Mean Jean free of fear---bouncing and swinging with joyful, reckless abandon.
When Mean Jean raced and chased and in-your-faced her, Katie Sue stood her ground. Not with fists and insults, but by unmasking her adversary with a simple question, “How did you get so bossy?”
Then that Katie Sue took an even bigger risk and invited Jean to play---and through this simple gesture, the whole playground was transformed!
The Recess Queen may be a simple story, but it nevertheless provides a valuable illustration of just the kind of radical, subversive action Jesus calls his disciples to. Through her joyful spirit Katie Sue provides the playground with an alternative narrative---one in which joy casts out fear; one in which the enemy is viewed not as a monster, but as a potential friend.[1] Her refusal to play by the bully’s rules and willingness to embrace the enemy as friend, results in the transformation of the entire playground.
[1] http://justanapprentice.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/the-recess-queen-a-parable-about-subverting-empire/