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I don’t know that words will ever be able to capture the significance of the final day with my Cohort this July, but I will try.
One of my biggest struggles in life has been feeling inadequate. I’ve gauged my self worth on my achievements, performances, perfections, and imperfections. I’ve placed far too much value on what others think of me. I’ve always been my biggest critic and I’ve never lived up to my own expectations.
This is why it was so important for me to find my “Sabbath”…
Read MoreI’m a pretty big fan of love, justice and mercy, and I’ve got the other nine commandments down pretty well. But asking a perfectionist, people-pleasing, full-time working mom of three elementary-aged kids, with a husband who struggles with bi-polar II disorder, to rest is laughable. There simply isn’t time.
On our first night together, as we studied Sabbath, I dove in with the intent to find any loophole I could…
Read MoreWe sent our next Perspectives teacher, Rev. Jia Starr Brown, the following question: Narratives of the human experience invite us to find ourselves somewhere in the story. When thinking about Scripture, where are you in the story right now?
Here’s how she responded: “...I believe a huge part of growing (stretching!) our faith is when we challenge ourselves to step into the narrative that we DON’T commonly - or comfortably - gravitate toward…”
Read More“One of my biggest reminders of God’s unconditional love is my body. It does not judge an injury. It simply moves towards healing and life.” - Joe Davis
When Joe said this in our Perspectives Listening Session earlier this month, I just about fell off my chair. I have never had this thought in my entire life. Like many of us, my relationship with my body is complicated. I’ve been learning to embrace my own embodiment, but it is slow and difficult work.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul paints a picture of human community as a body. As Joe taught us from this passage, I realized that I had never put my own physical body into this imagery.
How are we to embrace the body of a community if we cannot even hold our own embodiment with tender care?
Read MoreWe recently sent our first Perspectives teacher, Joe Davis, the following question:
Narratives of the human experience invite us to find ourselves somewhere in the story. When thinking about Scripture, where are you in the story right now?
Here’s how Joe responded: “When I think about the personal narratives we share with each other, I wonder if we can listen long enough to hear the humanity. That, to me, is…”
Read MoreWe believe we have much to learn from others—especially from voices we don’t often hear in our insulated, echo-chamber lives. That’s why we’re so excited to announce a whole new series at 40 Orchards, called Perspectives. We’ll be inviting local BIPOC leaders to teach us Scripture, and we’ll be wrestling through it together.
Our first session will feature Joe Davis, a Minneapolis artist, poet, and teacher.
Read MoreIf God’s people have been able to gather in caves and catacombs throughout history and still have the Spirit show up, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that the Spirit shows up when we gather via Zoom.
Read MoreWe have had to shift many things in the last three weeks. Work commutes, school classrooms, trips to the store, and social gatherings that were normal parts of our lives have had to be recreated in new forms.
It is exhausting.
This week, yet more modifications are coming for many of us, this time in our religious lives.
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