This season as the leaves fall and reveal the beauty of the bare branch it seems a good time to talk about stripping away non essentials. The lectionary points us to a passage in Mark 10:17-31 where Jesus directs a wealthy questioner to sell everything, (everything!), give the money to the poor, and travel with the movement. This story has …
Further thoughts: Divorce, children and the Garden of Eden
I love the creation stories, so my spidey senses start tingling whenever I see a reference. As we were talking on Sunday, particularly when Anne spoke of the wholeness that God desires, I started noticing that this passage in Mark could be one of those references. In How to Read the Jewish Bible, Marc Zvi Brettler makes the case that …
Resistance Reading as an Act of Faith
Resistance Reading How do we make meaning out of scripture? How do we listen for a Word of Wisdom in this ancient library of manuscripts we call the Bible? This week we transition from the book of James into a three week series drawing from the gospel of Mark and dive headfirst into a challenging passage served up by the revised common lectionary. …
Feminist Reclaiming of Churching Rite
This week we conclude with the final verses of James, the lone Wisdom book in the New Testament (Chapter 5: 13-20) Join us this Sunday as we breathe new life into a Christian rite from the Middle Ages — The Churching of Women — and celebrate Teresha and Mandy and their recent birth into motherhood. Starting in the 11th century the Book of Common Prayer and later the first …
A Guide in the Desert
At times, we all need a guide: Someone who listens to our life story with an ear for the movement of the Holy. Spiritual direction as a practice in the Christian tradition flourished during the time of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (between 300-600 CE). Something about being alone out there in the desert, looking to a) survive and b) grow as a Jesus- follower really foregrounded the need for some wise companionship. Someone to help you trust in the process and to say again and again “you are not alone” and “God meets you in this very moment.”
The Christian Practice of Right Speech
James is the lone book of Wisdom literature in the New Testament. According to this author, being Wise is all about learning to think carefully and act virtuously in complex situations. Specifically three things mark the Way of Jesus: taking care in how we speak, giving care to those in distress, and being careful about what we let into our …
Feast on the Word: Savoring Scripture in a Twitter World
We are launching a new paradigm for worship and study at Church in the Cliff this week. Come tonight and Sunday to learn more! As part of this new practice we will be drawing our scriptural lesson from the revised common lectionary (which provides four lessons for each Sunday). The worship team commits to engaging the scripture and seeing what …
Centering Summer Celebration
We have mined the tradition, we have examined our own lives, we have experimented. Some practices didn’t go so well. Wednesday night labyrinth walk drowned out by torrential rain. Basil plants cultivated in worship that didn’t make it at home. But some practices have been beautiful to experience. Evelyn leading us in body prayer under the skylight. A clothesline full …
The Story of the Seed Growing by Itself
My grandmother is going to be worshiping with us this Sunday. Mrs. Opal Morgan, 96 years old, is still gardening. My mom says that growing up my granny always planted a vegetable garden and a row of zinnias, like those above. Mom says that that row was her beauty. But what is interesting is that my granny never watered her garden. It either …
Travel as a Spiritual Practice
In much of the Hebrew Scriptures God is on the move. Literally. God could erupt anywhere and people marked the spot as best they could, like Jacob positioning and anointing the stone after his radical dream of a stairway to Heaven. Before the temple in Jerusalem, Yahweh camped out with people who were also on the move, and Moses would …