Be Still and Go

Isaiah 43:16-21
This is what God says,
the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
who carves a path through pounding waves,
The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—
they lie down and then can’t get up;
they’re snuffed out like so many candles:
“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands.
Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’
—the coyotes and the buzzards—
Because I provided water in the desert,
rivers through the sunbaked earth,
Drinking water for the people I chose,
the people I made especially for myself,
a people custom-made to praise me.


//

This episode was written and recorded by Lee Sartain. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear and Endless Possibilities by Solitude.

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

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

“When you are praying to Jesus you are praying to someone who understands you because he is human and has experienced all things."

What difference does it make to know that Jesus understands your suffering?

//

Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

//

This episode was written and recorded by Rev. James Martin. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. It was originally published on April 5, 2020 as part of Season 6 of Be Still and Go. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear and Seeking Clarity by Alex Fitch.

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

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

Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author and Editor at Large at America, the national Catholic magazine.

"When we come together in the face of loss, when we discover empathy in the midst of grief, resurrection is possible, new life in the midst of what might feel like endless death."

How have you experienced hope in the midst of grief?

//

John 11:35
Jesus wept.

//

This episode was written, recorded, and produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear and Threnody by Goldmund.

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

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

“Nothing will ever change unless we speak to the injustices in the world.”

What power and privilege do you possess and how can you best use it to fight injustices?

//

For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours;

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.

And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.

//

This episode was written and recorded by Rachel Ricketts. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear and The Soft Glow of Christmas Lights and The First Person Awake by Will Bangs.

Visit http://www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all five seasons of Be Still and Go.

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

Rachel Ricketts is an activist, speaker, and writer. Visit http://www.RachelRicketts.com to find out more.

"We are thirsty for change."

What changes do you want to see in our world?

//

“I am thirsty.” - John 19:28

//

This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Bruce Lamb. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear and Aqueducts by Falls.

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

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

Isaiah 50:4-9
The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.

The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.

//

This episode was written and recorded by Phil Salmon. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear, Neo by Brent Wood, and The Voyage Home by Enoch Yang.

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

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

"What is justice if we can’t hear the judge? What is love without the voice of the lover?"

These aren’t rhetorical questions. Love and justice are essential to our humanity.

//

This episode was written and recorded by Amanda Meisenheimer and Rebecca Stevens-Walter. It was originally published on March 16, 2019 as part of Season 3 of Be Still and Go. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. The spoken word portions were written by Amanda Meisenheimer. Vocals by Amanda Meisenheimer. Background vocals and acoustic guitar by Rebecca Stevens-Walter. Say Something was originally written by A Great Big World. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear.

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

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

“We are sacred possibilities, the image of God always ready to manifest in our skin.”

What does it look like for the image of God to manifest in your skin?

//

Matthew 27:46
And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

//

This episode was written and recorded by Rev. M. Barclay. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms, Chimera, and Burned by Podington Bear and Wanderlust by Cody Martin.

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

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

"Lament is important because it reminds us to pay attention."

What do you need to pay attention to today?

//

1 Corinthians 12:14, 20-21, 26
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many....there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

//

This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Elle Dowd. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear and Seeking Clarity by Alex Fitch.

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

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

“Like a grain of wheat falls into a compost pile, Jesus falls into the earth. The damp and still and timeless earth. The quiet earth, accept for the faint percussion of the blind critters who tiptoe over the beads of transforming matter.”

When was the last time you really noticed the natural world around you?

//

John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

//

This episode was written and recorded by Farley Lord, Riverside’s former Minister of Stewardship & Development. It was originally published on March 21, 2018 as part of the first season of Be Still and Go. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms, Golden Hour, and Song for a Pea by Podington Bear.

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

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