The spaces through which we are changed tend to be experiences of great love or great suffering. Peter’s life is an example of both.

God is always present.

And it is in the present moment – no where else – that we experience God (and, each other).

Growing, maturing, deepening our faith requires us, therefore, to be present – a very very difficult challenge for humans to believe and live.

 

Week 2: The end of the rope is a beginning.

The story of Jacob and Esau points us to a number of important truths about growth and transformation:

• life is not all upward and onward
• we all will reach the end of our rope
• but the end of our skills, knowledge and willpower holds immense potential for a new beginning.

The six stories we’ve considered so far fall short of their promise. They give us something, but it is not what we really want. We need a seventh story.

We see aspects of the seventh story in the hours before and after Christ’s death and resurrection — and we see it clearly in the resurrection itself. This story is hard to believe, if we’re honest, but it is the story that leads to life.

 

The Story of Victimization is a challenging one. It tells us that when we’ve been harmed we should let our pain define us. It’s a story that encourages us to get stuck in our pain — sometimes even fueling us to harm others while feeling righteous in doing so.

But getting stuck in our pain — allowing our pain to define who we are — does not move us toward life. Instead, we must courageously face our pain and move toward it — almost certainly with the help and care of others.

 

Teresa and Chris (from Palestine) share thoughts on the third story in our series — the Story of Purification.

We begin a series for Lent that considers six stories we encounter regularly in our day to day lives — a series that ends on Easter, which is a seventh story of sorts.

These six stories promise us happiness, security and fulfillment but rarely deliver. As we move through Lent we’ll be asking ourselves which of these stories do we believe and might we want to leave them behind for a better story.

Week 1 is the story of Domination.

 

 

Jesus is our example, and at every turn Jesus extends welcome to all. Those on the margins, those society considered ‘last’, those disregarded are all included.

Within the community Jesus creates, we find significant difference (socio-economic, political, gender). This is by choice. Jesus chooses to include those who he knew would disagree — those who would see the world very differently — those who the world would say should be opponents, if not enemies.

What happens when we choose to include? What happens to us? What happens to the world? We consider these questions together.

From moving trucks to our hope for reconciliation to an inn (or house) in Bethlehem, it often feels like there is no room. No room for repair. No hope of things getting better. No space for this or that group. But the Christmas story reminds us that God is able to make room, to make the last first, to find space for all, to open our often-closed hearts.

As we considered last week, it is possible for joy to surprise us and show up at any moment, in any circumstance.

This week, Elliott shares the story of the days following John the Baptist’s birth – a story in which Zachariah’s muteness ends and he breaks into a song of sorts — a blessing for the world and for his son.

In this story, awe and wonder are prevalent. In fact, they are prevalent in all of the stories surrounding Jesus’ birth. What do we make of this? Is there a connection between awe and joy? And is it possible to cultivate awe in our everyday lives?