This week we return to Mary's experience. After receiving the news from the angel, she retreats to her cousin Elizabeth's house. When Mary arrives (perhaps unannounced), Elizabeth doesn't just welcome her—she is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks a blessing upon Mary as her own child leaps and kicks within her womb. Elizabeth sees how God is at work and names it out loud. In this moment of profound solidarity, Mary and Elizabeth see the divine in one another. This connection inspires Mary to sing her radical hymn of praise, declaring how God's liberating love remains steadfast throughout the ages. How might cultivating solidarity with each other help us see the Divine in each other? Join us this Sunday as we examine how from generation to generation we can see how God was and remains at work in our relationships and those of our ancestors. We find God in each other. The way we see the divine in each other impacts how we live and move in the world. When we view every human being as a child of God, we generate a different world. www.TheLoftLA.org

What is the purpose of calling someone out? Do you think calling out is effective at achieving its goals? If you have ever been called out, how did it make you feel? On today's episode we discuss the theological merits of call-in rather than call-out culture. The primary question that guided our conversation today is: how might we practice calling folx in rather than calling them out?

Loretta Ross coined the term call-in culture and you can read more about her amazing work and watch her Ted talk using the links provided below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/style/loretta-ross-smith-college-cancel-culture.html https://www.ted.com/talks/loretta_j_ross_don_t_call_people_out_call_them_in

As far as Joseph knows, his new wife has been unfaithful to him and broken their marriage contract. And yet, instead of punishment, he chooses not to publicly disgrace or humiliate her. This interruption in his life becomes a holy invitation when the angel comes to him in a dream and says, "Do not be afraid." When he awakes, Joseph once again has the courage to choose a better way. He chooses to stay with Mary, to become an adoptive parent. He chooses peace over violence, grace over condemnation. Like Mary, he chooses to say "yes." When have our ancestors also chosen a better way, and when have they not? What might we learn from the angle about the power of inviting people to become their best selves? www.TheLoftLA.org

"Do not be afraid" is one of the most common statements in the bible. "Do not be afraid" appears 365 times - one for each day of the year. And yet, fear is a natural and normal human response. There are lots of reasons to be afraid, and when we consider the story of Gabriel's visit to Mary to inform her that she had been chosen to give birth to Jesus, fear seems like a reasonable response. However, what we learned through our conversation with Frank Rogers on Sunday is that one way to read this passage is to recognize that the angel isn't telling her to avoid her fear. Rather he is inviting her to not succumb to it, not to become enmeshed with her fear, and to invite the Sacred inside of her so that she can work through her fears. We tried to work through this amazing interpretation in today's conversation.

Books that we mentioned: Practicing Compassion by Frank Rogers Compassion in Practice: The Way of Jesus by Frank Rogers From Mindfulness to Heartfulness: A Journey of Transformation Through the Science of Embodiment by Alane Daugherty www.TheLoftLA.org

"When the angel Gabriel comes to Mary, she is perplexed and confused—and no doubt, afraid. And yet, the angel's news is: "Do not be afraid." Do not be afraid. We hear this refrain all throughout the Christmas story and remember it is the most common phrase in all the bible. From generation to generation, God shows up in the midst of our fear and uncertainty and confusion. From generation to generation, faithful people have said, "yes," despite apprehension. From generation to generation, our ancestors in faith have accepted the invitation. I'm delighted to be joined in the center by one of my mentors, Dr. Frank Rogers, as we explore the power fear can have over us and the ways in which we can tend to those fears in order to discern how God may be speaking to us. Dr. Rogers is the Muriel Bernice Roberts Professor of Spiritual Formation and Narrative Pedagogy and the co-director of the Center for Engaged Compassion at the Claremont School of Theology. He specializes in contemplative practices and was one of the co-creators of the Compassion Practice that I have spoken about during my time at The Loft. www.TheLoftLA.org

This week is the first Sunday of Advent, the period in the Christian calendar when we prepare for and celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ. We are beginning a new series titled From Generation to Generation, which I am really excited about because my friend and fellow Claremont School of Theology alumnus Rev. Dr. Christine Hong helped create it. The stories, scriptures, and traditions of the Christmas season have been passed down to us throughout the generations. Many of us enter this season with a swell of memories and emotions as vast as the cultural and religious rituals this holiday holds. Like a tapestry woven throughout time, the Christmas story weaves us in—to remember how God has shown up in the past, to continue the work of collective liberation, to behold the presence of God in flesh and bone. This series aims to remind us of the ways our lives, histories, actions, and stories are interconnected and woven together. The work of God is always unfolding—in and through us. This Advent, we want to remember our collective belongingness, how we belong to a story etched into the wrinkles of time, to generations that have come before and will come after, and to a love that won't let you go. Our series begins with Matthew's genealogy. In that long list of names, we remember the trauma and triumph of those who came before; each name holds a story and their story gives way to Christ's story. God works through the unexpected people and stories of the past and present. The Isaiah passage illustrates a convergence of opposing groups and identities coming together. Instead of the way of the past—of war—they learn a new way by transforming their weapons into gardening tools. What are the old paths that we've followed, and where must we diverge into a new way?

American culture is, in many ways, a consumer culture. But what does it mean to be a consumer, and is being a consumer necessarily a bad thing? To be sure, consumerism is often equated with greed and the hoarding of resources. However, the biblical text paints a more complex picture about consumerism and materialism. Jesus suggests that our detachment from the stories of all those involved in creating the products we consider "our own" is at the heart of consumer culture. Importantly, the religion of Jesus offers another way through the cultivation of authentic and deep relationships. This teaching is best exemplified in the Eucharist where we learn how detachment from material things ought to lead to greater attachment to God, other human beings, and nonhuman nature.

The very basis of our free market economic system, trade - giving up something to get something else - assumes scarcity. But the Eucharist tells another story about hunger and consumption, it is the story about one who came that we might have life and have it abundantly.