Vox Veniae Podcast

Weylin Lee reflects on the areas of discomfort that we are being invited to explore in our movement towards experiencing restoration and rest [Psalm 23].

Reflection

How can we adopt more of a posture of willingness instead of willfulness to allow ourselves to let go of control?

What patterns need to be disrupted in order for our soul to be restored?

How can we allow ourselves to receive the goodness and mercy that is chasing after us?

Resources

Book: A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

MWG: Discussion Guide

Spiritual Practice

Posture of Willingness.  Pick a situation, activity or relationship this week to adopt a posture of willingness.  Pay attention to how letting go of control might move you into comfort and rest instead of isolation and exhaustion.

Detox.  Pick an area of your life to practice a detox this week (e.g. technology, social media, food, work, social activity).  Pick an appropriate amount of time (e.g. week, day, portion of a day). In the spaces of discomfort, notice what parts of your true identity are needing to be restored.

Jason Minnix reflects on how we respond to change in our lives [John 21:1-14].

Reflection

How can I wait in the familiar with patience and compassion?

How are the fires of belonging calling me to forgive myself?

Spiritual Practice

Embracing the Familiar. What do I turn to when things don’t go the way I want them to?  Wait in the familiar with compassion this week. Assume it’s meaningful.

Reflect on Belonging.  Where are the small fires of belonging now?

Gena Minnix reflects on how Jesus invites us into the process of forgiveness and what that looks like to practice [John 20:19-23].

Reflection

What injury is currently disturbing my peace?

This week, how might I practice consenting to the Spirit’s movement toward forgiveness within me?

Resources

Video: SNL - Astronaut Anne McClain

Video: Mariachi and Tacos Party

MWG: Discussion Guide 

Spiritual Practice

Name the injuries that disturb our peace.  Pass the peace of Christ during liturgy.

Listen and tell the stories of our grief.

Forgiving ourselves as we extend forgiveness to others. Learning to consent to the Spirit’s movement of forgiveness within us.

As we celebrate Easter, Gideon Tsang invites us to consider what resurrection means for us and why we tell this story over and over [John 20:1-18].

 

Reflection

Awakening begins while it is still dark. How can we be present and patient with our slow awakening?

What does it look like to live out of abundance this week?

Resources

Video: Dax Shepard Interview on Recovery

MWG: Discussion Guide

 

Spiritual Practice

Catch a sunrise.  Be present for the entirety of the sunrise.  Remind yourself of the gentle slowness of healing & awakening.

LOVE says unmerited, “I’m so happy you exist”.  Tell a neighbor you’re so happy they exist. Once a day this week, tell someone, I’m so happy you exist.

As we continue in the season of Lent, Jason Minnix invites us to reflect on what is bringing us transformation into our lives right now [Luke 19:28-40]. 

Reflection

What is bringing my transformation now?

How am I being converted into gentleness?

Resources

Podcast: Hidden Brain - One Head, Two Brains

Podcast: On Being (Jean Vanier)

MWG: Discussion Guide

Spiritual Practice

Godly Play.  Where am I at with new meaning today?  Opening. Insight. Scanning. Articulation.  Will to Closure.

Create a metaphor for your transformation.  What’s my changing journey/ transformation like?  Reach for stories that are like what you’re being invited into.

As we continue in the season of Lent, Liz Schepel invites us to explore and embrace our needs that we sometimes push aside [Psalm 63].

 

Reflection

What emotion has been dominant in your life?  What personal need might be at the root of those feelings?

What do you tend to put ahead of your own needs?

In what ways can we respond empathetically to our own needs this week?

Resources

Song: After the Storm (Mumford & Sons)

MWG: Discussion Guide 

Spiritual Practice

Feelings and Needs.  Find ways to slow down and discern your dominant feelings and name the need.  See if you can find different ways to meet that need.

Safe love.  What does safe love feel like for you?  What is it inviting you to receive? What do you need to receive?

As we continue in the season of Lent, Melanie Jones reflects on the relationship between our faith and suffering and how Jesus is in it with us [Mark 10: 28-31].

Reflection

How am I being invited to access salvation?

What does it look like to follow Jesus in a meaningful way now?

Resources

MWG: Discussion Guide

As we continue in the season of Lent, Gideon Tsang reflects on what maturation looks like for us personally and collectively [Exodus 3:1-15].

Reflection

How can you sit with a part of you that might be flaring up, ready to mature?

What can you do to listen to the parts of you that need healing this week?

Resources

Podcast: Experts on Expert - John Gottman

Art: Brown State of Mind

MWG: Discussion Guide

Spiritual Practice

What do you sense flaring up in your life?  Sit with it like a campfire without judgement.  How might it be a part of you, ready to mature?

As we continue in the season of Lent, Jason Minnix explores the role of permission in our journey and reflects on the ways we may have been stuck in our faith [Luke 13:31-35].

Reflection

Who have I given permission to love me?

Where does my trust need healing today?

How am I being invited in a gathering love?

Resources

Video: The Natural History of Chickens

MWG: Discussion Guide 

Spiritual Practice

Four Responses to our Demons.  Acknowledge, Validate, Compassion, Share

Attending to the Craft of Spiritual Intimacy.  What creates movement now towards spiritual intimacy for you? What was once helpful that you’re now finding no longer helpful and need to let go of?

As we enter Lent, Matt Inman explores the temptations of Jesus and what that means for how we engage our own temptations and vulnerability this season [Luke 4:1-13].

Reflection

What role does shame play in your current temptation?

Where might your vulnerability in life right now lead you to acts of courage and love?

Resources

Podcast: Inefficiency

Video: SNL - Devil Can’t Write No Love Song

MWG: Discussion Guide

Spiritual Practice

Jump into Barton Springs.

Pick a temptation or fantasy and extend it out from the point it usually ends. What comes of it?

Journal about a relationship where you get stuck consistently testing the other person. Find solitude and reconnect with the part of you that feels threatened.