Scripture: Matthew 15: (10–20), 21–28
In the midst of a teaching moment on ritual purity and purity of action, Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman calling for healing for her daughter. In the response of the disciples—and of Jesus—we are invited to tune our hearts: listening beyond the false categories of “appropriateness” of protest to the aching heart at its center… yearning for wholeness.
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:9-13
The prophet Elijah’s story shows us that God appears to us in “the sound of sheer silence.” How do we cultivate that silence and listening in our noisy world: for ourselves? For others?
Scripture: Genesis 32:22-31
We can spend so much time wrestling for acceptance and belonging that we sometimes miss the blessing that God has already offered us. With our ancestor, Jacob, can we move forward—at a jog or with a limp—towards forgiveness and reconciliation, trusting that we are worthy of blessing?
Scripture: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23
In a season in which we are closer to home, and perhaps digging in the dirt little more, Jesus’s “Parable of the Sower” invites us to reflect on the extravagance of love that God plants in the world, and how we might nurture our own spiritual soil to receive those gifts.
Scriptures: Psalm 145:8-14, Romans 7:15-25
The Apostle Paul writes of the bind of human life: where we so often do the very things that contradict our deepest commitments and values. How are we called, as Christians living in nations, to bear witness and move in hope among the contradictions inherit in our nation’s values and public actions? How do we call our communities, states, and nations to more closely match the compassion and justice we hear described in God’s coming realm of peace?