Vox Veniae Podcast

Weylin Lee reflects on how even though we typically fast and deny our body during Lent, we might also be invited to connect with our bodies and practice embodiment to connect with God [John 2:13-22].

Reflection

How are you invited to embody disruption towards injustice this Lent?

What are the "thin places" you can explore and experiment with this Lent?

Practice

Embodying disruption. Make space and sit with our deeper responses to injustice. How might we embody disruption that’s in alignment with God’s heart for the oppressed? How might we give space to our anger to disrupt unhealthy patterns and injustice?

Explore “thin places”. Experiment and explore what the thin places are for you in experiencing God's presence.  Discover God's embodied presence in people and places we haven't considered before.

Matt Inman reflects on how disorientation invites us to create space to honor both our hardship and a deepening gratitude and love.  Erin Inman and Jason Ikpatt also share reflections from their own experiences [Mark 8:29-33].

 

Reflection

What experiences do you find most difficult to validate or legitimize? 

Where were you most surprised by where love or connection showed up for you this past week?

Jennifer Cumberbatch reflects on how we wait as we wait in the liturgy of our lives during this season of Lent [Malachi 3:1-4].

Reflection

What areas are you called to act as priest and mediator in your spheres of influence?

What areas are you invited to expand the kingdom of God?

 

Resources

Song: And He Shall Purify (Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vyOk09uxUc

Song: Hallelujah Chorus (Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGbXPvWR79o

Weylin Lee reflects on how Jesus' transfiguration invites us to transformation and change as we enter this season of Lent [Mark 9:2-9].

Reflection

How might you be invited to expand your symbols of God?

How is listening to Jesus being embodied in your life?

How are you being invited to sit in the paradox of wholeness and woundedness?

Practice

Expanding our symbols for God. Use a different image or word to refer to and connect with God. How does this new image or word expand the container you’ve placed God inside?

Listening to Jesus exercise. Read the Gospels during Lent and pay attention to what Jesus said and did.  Use a different translation or listen to the text. In your listening, wrestle with and discern how to embody his words and actions.

 

Resources

Book: Wearing God (Lauren Winner)

https://smile.amazon.com/Wearing-God-Clothing-Laughter-Overlooked/dp/0061768138/

Judy Peterson reflects on how the incarnation of Jesus invites us to live our faith in an embodied way [Luke 7:11-22].

 

Reflection

What do you long to see made manifest in this world?

When was the last time you were moved from your innermost being and how did you respond?

Title: True Authority

Kelly Cutbirth reflects on how Jesus modeled another way of authority and how we’re invited to embody this truer way of authority as we lead and follow others [Mark 1:21-28].

 

Reflection

What ideas about authority am I being invited to let go of?

How can I use my authority to care for and restore freedom to others?

 

Practice

Authority grounded in love. Practice caring by writing a note to a leader whose authority has inspired you. Or, as a leader, write a note to someone who follows your authority letting them know you care about them.

Authority restoring freedom. Next time you’re overwhelmed by an emotion, try taking three long belly breaths. See if you can restore some of your freedom.

 

Resources

Video: Ted Lasso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u7EIiohs6U

James Alison reflects on how the good news of God is God’s own self and the invitation for us to repent which is meant to soften our hearts [Mark 1:14-20].

 

Reflection

Why does the good news of God have anything to do with repentance?

Why Galilee? Why fishers? And why brothers?

Jane Patterson reflects on how we might practice courageous speaking and listening that makes space for discerning God's truth and guidance in these times of difficult conversations  [1 Samuel 3:1-10, 11-20].

Reflection

What do you know from your own experience of courageous speaking: what factors help others listen to you?

What do you know from your own experience of courageous listening: what makes it harder to listen? What helps you listen?

If you could write a letter to the future about the times we are living through, what wisdom would you want to hand down?

As we enter a new year, Weylin Lee reflects on what our invitation is toward a new way of being and experiencing transformation [Mark 1:4-11].

Reflection

What area of your life is in need of truth-telling?

How are you invited to consent to God's unconditional love in this year?

Practice

Confession.  Acknowledge your choice of deception over truth.  Invite yourself to return to the original goodness God created you with.  How can you sit in the tension of those two things this week as you reflect on what's happening in our world and what's happening within you?

Examine your discomfort.  Examine the moments and seasons of discomfort that you have encountered.  Be curious about how the Spirit might be inviting us to change and transformation in that discomfort.

Resources

Podcast: On Being (Louis Newman)

https://onbeing.org/programs/louis-newman-the-refreshing-practice-of-repentance/

 

MWG Discussion Questions

What facilitates spaces of truth-telling for ourselves?  When have you experienced a meaningful moment of truth-telling?

How might the experiences and seasons of discomfort be opening opportunities for change and transformation?  Why might it be difficult to recognize the Spirit’s work in those moments?

How has your understanding and practice of repentance and confession been driven by guilt and shame?  How might God’s unconditional love and our invitation back to our original goodness change our experience of repentance and confession?

Jeff Chu reflects on God's grace and how our gratitude for that grace is the driving force for whatever work we do in the world [Isaiah 61].

 

Reflection

Where do you see evidence of God's grace in your life?

How can you cultivate a discipline of holy gratitude?

 

Practice

Spend time in the presence of oak trees.  Reflect on God's craftsmanship and grace that allows oaks to grow.  Reflect on how oaks can survive in isolation, but they thrive in community and how that informs our invitation to live a life of righteousness and justice together in community.

 

Resources

Book: The Hebrew Bible

https://www.amazon.com/Hebrew-Bible-Translation-Commentary-Three/dp/0393292495/