Be Still and Go

"Mary didn’t rejoice because she was blissfully unaware of real-world danger; rather, she rejoices through it as a radical practice in faithfulness."

What is one thing you can rejoice about today?

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Luke 1:46
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Lynn Casteel Harper, the Minister of Older Adults at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear, Redwood Hills by Heartland Nights and Joy to the World by Renderings.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

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• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"If you stay silent, where will the oppressed find their freedom? Who will bring truth to power?"

In your own words, why is it so easy to stay silent, especially about the things that matter?

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Esther 4:1-17
When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went through the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry; he went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

When Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why. Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther, explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king to make supplication to him and to entreat him for her people.

Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that, if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law: to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.” When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Jonathan Favors-Grimes. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear and I'll Miss You by Young Bay.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

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• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"As we walk with Jesus this Advent season, Christ gave us to each other so that we can remind each other of the promise that Christ is coming to make the world new."

Where do you see Christ making the world new around you?

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Matthew 24:36-44
“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Bruce Lamb, Riverside's Minister of Faith Formation. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear, Sundown Motel by Rest & Settle, Out of Darkness by Moments, and I Want Jesus to Walk With Me by Marion Williams.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

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• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"Even though it went against every fact that surrounded her, Mary could see a world where the hungry would be filled and promises would be kept. Mary could see God’s vision. She dreamt God’s dream."

In your own words, what is God’s vision and dream for our world?

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Luke 1:47-50
My spirit celebrates God, my Liberator!
For though I’m God’s humble servant,
God has noticed me.
Now and forever,
I will be considered blessed by all generations.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
holy is God’s name!
From generation to generation,
God’s lovingkindness endures.

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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Carol Howard Merritt. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear and Instrumental 2 Revisited by Gillicuddy.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.carolhowardmerritt.org to find out more about Rev. Carol Howard Merritt and her latest book, Healing Spiritual Wounds.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

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Debauchery is a part of militarism. It can’t exist without the debasement that a person undergoes. But hopefully we can move beyond it and become a more peaceful people.

In your opinion, what is one thing we should do to become a more peaceful people?

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Romans 13:11-14
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

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This episode was written and recorded by Jeremiah Drake. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo/#sign-up to receive new episodes by email.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"I want to experience Jesus growing in me during Advent. I want to feel him moving in me and moving me to greater closeness with him."

How do you experience Jesus growing in you during the season of Advent?

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O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia!

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This episode was written and recorded by Irene King, a member of the Riverside Church and a part of The Riverside Choir. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear, O Magnum Mysterium as performed by The RIverside Choir, and Lull to Sleep by Cast of Characters.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo/#sign-up to receive new episodes by email.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"The birth of God-with-us is our orientation and the season of Advent is a perpetual invitation, to place one foot in front off the other as we discover God born in us, among us, in spite of us, again and again and again."

How have you discovered God in us, among us, and in spite of us?

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Psalm 122
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.”
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

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This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Digital Minister at The Riverside Church. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear and In the Dark You're More Colorful by Corrina Repp.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo/#sign-up to receive new episodes by email.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

Let us transform our weapons into garden tools.
Let us study love and justice.
Let us lay down our burdens, down by the Riverside.

Where do you go and what resources do you turn to in order to study love and justice?

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Isaiah 2:1-5
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!

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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Amanda Meisenheimer the Interim Minister of Worship and the Arts at The Riverside Church. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear and Riverside by the Middle Church Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit https://youtu.be/ZZyrNXTDxAI to watch the Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir perform "Riverside" at Middle Collegiate Church.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

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• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"Justice is like the sun. Watch for it. If you're not paying attention you'll miss it's arrival. You'll overlook the little hints of light everywhere."

Where do you see the "little hints of light" rising in our world?

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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Adriene Thorne, the Senior Minister at The Riverside Church It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear and The Tide by Alex Fitch.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo/#sign-up to receive new episodes by email.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.

"Advent gives us the lens and then we look through it all year long, always watching and waiting and anticipating and expecting Jesus to be born again and again and again, in us, through us, and sometimes even in spite of us."

Where do you see Jesus in the world around you?

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This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rev. Jim Keat, the Digital Minister at The Riverside Church. Background tracks include Relinquish by Podington Bear, O Come O Come Emmanuel by Melinda Kathleen Reese, and Once In Royal David's City by Andy Ellison.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all eight seasons of Be Still and Go.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/Donate to support this podcast and other digital ministry resources from The Riverside Church that integrate spirituality and social justice.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo/#sign-up to receive new episodes by email.

• Visit www.trcnyc.org/app to download the Riverside app.