Blog (Page 50)

The Hebrew Bible is primarily the narrative of a community making and breaking its covenant with God.  The NT affirms that the capacity to join with others in a life of prayer and service is one test of receiving God’s spirit….And from the heart of my own spiritual experience, I know that God is constantly moving within and among us, calling us back to that unity, that wholeness, in which we were created.  (from The Promise of Paradox by Parker…

Maybe you remember this classic Sesame Street piece on recognizing “the other”.  Recognition of the “other” is something we learn. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b0ftfKFEJg] What observations do you employ in order to recognize and name “the other”?

We continue our five-week worship series this Sunday called Healing the Heart of Democracy, based on the writings of Parker Palmer.     This Week’s Habit of the Heart: An Appreciation of the Value of “Otherness” “Despite the fact that we are all in this together, we spend most of our lives in ‘tribes’ or lifestyle enclaves. Thinking of the world in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’ is one of the many limitations of the human mind that can be overcome…

Out Of a great need We are all holding hands And climbing. Not loving is a letting go. Listen, The terrain around here Is Far too Dangerous For That ~Hafiz

Despite our illusions of individualism and national superiority, we humans are a profoundly interconnected species – entwined with one another and with all forms of life, as the global economic and ecological crises reveal in vivid and frightening detail.We must embrace the simple fact that we are dependent on and accountable to one another, and that includes the stranger, the “alien other.” ~ Parker Palmer

Chutzpah & Humility Chutzpah means knowing that I have a voice that needs to be heard and the right to speak it. Humility means accepting the fact that my truth is always partial and may not be true al all so I need to listen with openness and respect, especially to “the other” as much as i need to speak my own voice with clarity and conviction. Humilty + Chutzpah = the kind of citizens a democracy needs.    …

Citizenship is rooted in the knowledge  that I am a member of a vast community of human and nonhuman beings that I depend on for essentials I could never provide for myself. ~Parker Palmer

We begin a new five-week worship series this Sunday called Healing the Heart of Democracy. We move fully into the election season in which the lines are already drawn. Defenses are up. Attacks are endless. Politics in our day = demonizing the other. It’s breaking our hearts. We pray our Kitchen Tables will provide space for healing the heart of democracy. Our five-week worship series will be based on the writings of Parker Palmer, a Quaker social activist.   Overview  Take…

How will you respond?

  When do you see others who you might consider “in need”?  When are your eyes tuned to the people and situations around you?  Who might you see today that you have never seen before?   “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?”  Matthew 25: 44

Sometimes it is hard to understand Jesus.  He says, ‘Come inherit the kingdom prepared for you…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink….’  Then in almost the same breath he says, ‘I was hungry and you gave me no food…a stranger and you did not welcome me.’    Either way the answer from the people that is recorded in scripture is  – “Lord, when did we see YOU…..”  The…

We conclude our worship series on Hospitality this week by reflecting on Jesus’ witness to hospitality in his own life and death and resurrection. The biblical tradition is a rich resource for understandings of hospitality. Images of God as gracious and generous host are found throughout the Scriptures. Writers in the New Testament portray Jesus as a vulnerable guest, a needy stranger, and a gracious host. Jesus both welcomes and needs welcoming. For the early church, hospitality was crucial to…