Vox Veniae Podcast

Liz Schepel reflects on how we handle tension and how we relate to God in that tension? [Job 2:1-10].

 

Reflection

What tensions am I holding in life right now?  How have I been relating to God as a result?

What would it look like to be present with God in a non-transactional way this week?

 

Resources

Podcast: On Being - Resilience After Loss (Sheryl Sandberg)

 

 

 

Spiritual Practice

In times of tension, how do I approach God in a transactional way?  Is there a transactional tension that I am wrestling with right now?

Gideon Tsang reflects on how full we are of gratitude and what questions we can ask that lead us to gratitude [Psalm 103].

 

Reflection

How has God healed us?

How does contentment work in my life?

What does it mean that God's love is steadfast and expansive?

 

Resources

Video: Obama Dropping Off Malia for College

 

 

 

Spiritual Practice

Consider a friend in the pit. Offer them tender mercy. Observe their experience.  Consider that’s God’s gift to our woundedness

God, grant me the grace to be in the space between impulse and action.  God, grant me the space to be in the grace between impulse and action

Jason Minnix talks about how we reflect and engage the place we find ourselves and the vulnerability that it requires [Mark 9:30-37].

Reflection

What or who am I struggling to accept in my journey now?

How can I welcome vulnerability, both mine and those around me, this week?

Resources

Video: Pink Surprised

 

Spiritual Practice

Disillusionment Prayer - God I’m feeling ___ (disillusioned, hopeless, despair, exhausted, sad, angry, crushed) by ___ happening or not happening.  Please give me some support and presence this week as I process. Remind me of your acceptance, even now. Amen.

Acceptance Prayer - God of acceptance, thank you for choosing me and refusing to reject me even when I reject you. Help me this week to believe you are accepting the parts of myself and others I find annoying and am embarrassed about. Show me how to accept ___ about myself this week with your compassion and gentle smile. Amen.

Welcoming Prayer - Welcome, welcome, welcome.  I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it's for my healing.  I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control.  I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure. I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself. I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within. Amen.

Chris Morton reflects on how we navigate problems in our lives and how it is connected with our worship and community [John 4:1-26, 39-42].

 

Reflection

Do I know what I have and don’t have to give to God?

Does my worship bring life or death to myself and others?

Tim Brosnan reflects on how we interact and respond to difficult and challenging situations we experience [Psalm 146].

 

Reflection

Where have you seen God’s help break into impossible situations?

How might you posture yourself to participate in the giving and receiving of such help?

 

Resources

Video: Thai Cave Rescue

 

 

 

Spiritual Practice

Reflect on these questions in the context of your current season.  What help do I need? Where am I looking for help?

Jason Minnix reflects on how our habits move us into healthy spiritual living with others and God and to consider whether certain habits are useful or not [Mark 7:1-8].

Reflection

What habits of thinking, feeling or doing am I being invited to renegotiate?

Where do I hear invitation to direct intimacy?

Resources

Video: SNL Sean Spicer Press Conference

 

Spiritual Practice

Name Empty Habits: What habits of thinking, feeling or doing have outlived their usefulness?  How can we begin to see them for what they are? Consider your habits that attempt to address your spiritual needs. Do they do this, or are they empty?  Begin to be curious about what’s behind them.

Sarah Berson reflects on how we are invited to put on the image of God [Ephesians 6:10-17].

Reflection

Where do I need support for my gut and/or strength in resisting shame?

Where do I need support for my heart, and what doubts hold me back from emotional safety?

What thoughts dominate my self-talk, and how can I find strength to connect to God?

Resources

Video: Best of Coyote and Roadrunner

Jason Minnix invites us to lean into an area of our life that needs direction and how God invites us to walk in wisdom [I Kings 3:5-15].

 

Reflection

Where do I need to ask for support in order to fulfill my calling now?                                          What is something simple I can prepare a meal for this week?

 

Resources

Film: Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

 

Spiritual Practice

Consider an area of your life that feels overwhelming or too much. Perhaps there’s something you feel inadequate to navigate on your own.  Hold out your hand with your palm open. Ask God to walk with you this week and give you wisdom in this area.

Host something or someone simple this week.  What’s an area within or a person in your life whose simpleness is hard to be around?  Offer what is simple the food and drink of empathy. Make room for questions that may not even have answers right now, but they are worthy of being asked.

Jane Patterson reflects on the the ways that God sustains us through life when the journey seems too much for us [1 Kings 19:4-8].

 

Reflection

What have you learned from experience about what truly fuels you in difficult times?

What is your experience of the dance of grace and effort in your own life? When has God surprised you with sustenance? When have you needed to "get up and eat"?

 

Resources

Instagram: lawngonefoodfarm

Matt Inman reflects on the love we have been given and are called to live from [Ephesians 4:1-16].

 

Reflection

What barriers to love exist in your life currently?

Who in your life is helping you grow in love?

Resources

Video: Missouri vs Kansas Football

Video: TED Talk - Play is Fundamental (Stuart Brown)

Spiritual Practice

Does gentleness, humility or patience most resonate with you right now? Practice living one out this week, and when you fail, double down on living it out for yourself all the more.

Consider who your rivals are and what is so threatening about them to you. How does this kind of hate create a barrier to allowing love to come in and go out in you life?

Consider what growth and maturity look like to you. Does it make space for you to play?  Is there one way you carry yourself physically that is too rigid, too serious or closed off that doesn’t accurately communicate the love you have for others?