We welcome the return of The Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins to our pulpit.  The Rev. Dr. Nuri-Robins works with people and organizations that are in transition — or ought to be.  Today she invites us to consider the big stones in Numbers 20 and Mark 16.

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What does the simple / difficult practice of rest look like for us?  As a way of slowing down and paying attention is rest or sabbath, a legalistic rule or is it a gift of grace?  For a community of newly released slaves the sabbath was a profound sign and symbol of freedom.  Tricia Hersey says that that even today rest is an act of resistance and liberation.  

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How do we consume information?  So far we've considered the spiritual practices of eating together (communion) and reflecting on highs and lows (the Examen).  Today we look at reading (Lectio Divina / Sacred Reading) to help us slow down and pay attention.  

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We can find a history of Christianity and racism at the geographic and ideological site of the plantation.  But like Lucille Clifton's poem, Won't You Celebrate with Me, there is also a celebration mapped against the haunt.  In honor of Black History Month, this is a conversation with Victor Andre Greene about our tangled history of a Christianity used to enslave, and a faith embraced and reshaped in the service of Black resilience, courage, and freedom.

Our guest speaker is VICTOR ANDRE GREENE (He/Him), a Spoken Word Poet + Creative and Editorial Assistant + UCC Licensed Minister + Founder of Room 305 + Community Developer located in Paris, France. 

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There are all kinds of ways of being scattered.  Globally, refugees have been physically scattered away from their homes.  Relationally, we can feel scattered or distanced from family, friends or God.   And even our inner world can feel scattered or fragmented.  Is there are way for God to gather us back together and make us whole? 

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For thousands of years humans have been sharing food and not just as a way of consuming enough calories so that we can survive.  Eating together is one of the primary ways of being family, of being friends and of being a community.  Eating together is a ritual or practice that has the power to form us, our relationships and our values in part because of how frequently it happens.  As a result, HOW WE EAT TOGETHER, can reveal what’s important to us.  

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Who has better vision?  A wise, well-known, spiritual figure or...  his donkey?  Epiphany is the season after Christmas when we try to figure out what to do with what is revealed in the light.  Will we become more aware, or will we choose to close our eyes?  

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The season of Epiphany is a celebration of the light of God with us.  In this strange story the light reveals the poison of oppression and the light offers a way toward healing both then and now.  

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We are in another Epiphany moment where the light of God with us is inviting us to see more clearly and honestly.  The darkness, however, will always fight back.  Herod responded to the light with violence.  Jim Crows laws followed the Emancipation Proclamation.  White supremacy fought back against the the Civil Rights Movement and today the darkness of racism and injustice is alive and well.  Dr. King famously proclaimed, "Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation onto the sun-lit path of racial justice."  We have the light of God with us!  Will we allow our eyes to adjust to the light?  Or will we once again choose to close them?

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The Magi or the wisemen come as stereotypes into  the Christmas story.  Based on past stories we assume that we already know them.  We know they are wrong, that they will be wrong and that we are right.  But then the story takes a surprising turn that will invite us into a new and greater openness and humility.  

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