Commons Church Podcast

There are times in life when either/or decisions are super important. Life-saving, even. Is this food good for me or bad? Is this relationship what I want or isn’t it? Do I believe this thing about God or don’t I?

The answers to these questions may serve us well for a time. Maybe even a long time. But there are some questions that aren’t settled with either/or answers. Contemplative thinkers even insist that an either/or posture to the world is antithetical to human life. After all, we know ourselves to be not only nice but sometimes cruel, to be not only tame but sometimes wild, to be not only strong but sometimes weak.

So what comes after an either/or spirituality? How about both/and.

Both/and draws us towards the wisdom at the heart of all creation and towards the wholeness of God’s relationship to the world.

Let’s look at a spirituality that is both loud and quiet, both strong and weak, both alone and together, both sacred and secular, both faithful and full of doubt.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

What feelings grip us when everything is awful? Resentment. Fear. Isolation. Loss.
In those moments, such words of encouragement as “do not be anxious about anything” or “I can do everything in him who gives me strength” may sound almost glib.
Except...when they come from a friend who’s been though awful and does not sidestep it.
Writing to his friends in Philippi, Paul speaks words of comfort. Clear, simple words about Christ as a way of life. Life anchored in joy. Joy that defies prison chains, cruel empires, petty disagreements, and nagging opposition.
Paul has heard his friends’ story and wants them to know his. We are listening in on a conversation of profound mutual care.
When everything is awful, we need caring words that name the reality of our suffering without bitterness. Words that awake us to the possibility of joy.

The legend of Esther is about a Jewish queen in the Persian empire. It’s a story of imperial power, wise beauty, and devious plots. It’s got lavish banquets, rebel queens, and conniving court officials. The story of Queen Esther is found in the Hebrew Festival Scroll. The Book of Esther is tied to the Feast of Purim. It’s a feast that celebrates the near-miss of disaster. It celebrates all the times we are outnumbered but aren’t ruined, bullied but not overwhelmed, pushed to the sidelines only to find our voice needed at the centre of the story. In and amongst a great story is the human predicament of what we become when we are threatened. Will we rise to become greater than we thought we could be? Or will threat turn us against those we love and those we are meant to serve? The book of Esther isn’t explicit in its language of God. But you will find wisdom in the workings of relationships, in the challenge of power that abuses, and in the strength of a young woman who shouldn’t be anyone’s hero ... but is.