Reflection Roundup: Cultural Reflections
Each week we gather news stories, notable pieces, and other important items for Christian leaders today. As always, listening broadly draws together differing perspectives from which we can learn but may not concur. Here are 10 things worth sharing this week.
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In order to imagine ourselves in difference-making positions, we all need models in place, models who look like we do and who don’t all look like each other.
1. When we’re in a storm, the obvious is not clear. Luke describes Paul’s trip ultimately to Rome as containing a storm in which “we could not see the sun or the stars for many days” (Acts 27:20). Losing hope and ceasing our efforts is common even for the tough guys. Chuck Lawless writes “8 Things to Do When You’re Ready to Quit Ministry” for the Church Answers blog, reminding the reader of what may be obvious ... that is, until a breaking point has been reached. It may be time to check Lawless’s list twice, once for ourselves and once with eyes on those on the path with us. We all need to take a look around and see who needs encouragement. Whose foothold is slipping? Who needs to borrow a set of crampons to regrip slippery trust in the Lord? We travel at the pace of the slowest. Anybody falling back? Let’s keep them out in front where the group can lend support and care while taking a look at what it’s like to walk in their footsteps for a while.
2. Carson Reed, vice president for church relations at Abilene Christian University and executive director of the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry, writes “Developing Resilience,” riffing on the theme of relationship and reminding us a great deal of our well-being as ministers, as people of resilience, has to do with our own functionality within our relationships. Relationships are where we enact our faith, where we display the difference that it makes, and where our faith acts upon us.
3. Jesper Svartvik writes “The New Testament’s most dangerous book for Jews” for the Christian Century, asking the reader to consider one of the earliest Christian sermons in a new light. Specifically, Svartvik reopens the idea of pilgrimage in the book of Hebrews. We are still on our way, we do not yet have all the answers, but we can look toward eschatological completion when the world as we know it is replaced with perfection. Svartvik suggests to the modern reader that the presence of God in Jesus Christ, uniting all people with God’s chosen, encourages gentiles specifically to view the Jews honorably and in partnership while looking toward a time when all evidence of prior faction and division will be removed. It’s as if the writer of Hebrews could imagine how society might deteriorate into divisiveness over the course of time. Svartvik’s suggestions offer light on more than simply how to read and share the message of the ancient sermon.
4. The Christian Century continues the thread of pilgrimage in Debra Dean Murphy’s “Ways to walk.” Murphy writes, “There’s something sacred in choosing to love the world at the speed of walking,” sharing eloquently what we all will admit is true. The ability to walk is a physical privilege yet also a humble means of transportation. A walking pace allows the body to perceive the surroundings at a digestible rate while the mind clarifies connections with greater facility. Mindfully participating in those activities that are common to all people can yield sacramental realization. Murphy commends walking to the reader as a means of grace.
5. In Anderson, South Carolina, two quite different churches have joined together. A Church of Christ and a Slavic evangelical congregation not only share the same building, but they also worship jointly. “It is an excellent example of what Christian unity looks like in actual practice,” reports Andrew Hicks, preaching minister for one of the two congregations. Christian Chronicle intern Chloé Franklin includes an important detail in “A mission of menus: Meals promote unity”: there’s a weekly fellowship meal after worship where traditional Slavic cuisine shares a plate with Southern fare. Mac and cheese meets boiled dumpling and realizes they are fundamentally the same.
6. “Former US presidents, religious leaders launch organization to aid Afghan evacuees,” writes Emily McFarlan Miller for Religion News Service. “Three former presidents and first ladies have joined with religious leaders, faith-based refugee resettlement agencies and others to support a new national organization with the goal of making it easier to help Afghan evacuees arriving in the United States.” The website Welcome.US offers a single domain in which Americans can locate ways to offer help to the incoming Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban. Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, says, “Americans across the country and across the political spectrum … are eager to welcome Afghan allies and refugees as their newest neighbors.”
7. “Representation Matters: Stories Shape Who We Become.” So says Tina M. Cho, children’s author and guest on the blog hosted by Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young. Through her story, My Breakfast With Jesus, Cho exemplifies how all cultures enrich the table of fellowship we will surely experience in heaven in a way we might practice here on earth. Cho describes reading books to children in which they can identify with characters like themselves. “Their eyes brighten, and they sit up a little taller. Children gravitate toward characters like them, whether it’s with their looks or some shared feature/hobby.” Children love a “wonder question.” I wonder, don’t we all engage more deeply, when we see those with whom we identify in some unique way engaged in any facet of life and leadership?
8. On a recent and rich episode of the Growing Edge podcast, songwriter, poet, and co-host Carrie Newcomer says, “I don’t write because I have an answer, I write because I have a question.” She and co-host ParkerJ. Palmer wonder together, how do we sit without knowing how to do so many new things required of us “these days”? In roles that are new, in a world that is so different, how do we give ourselves permission to be in process? Our country, our churches, and our families require creative energy and the ability to befriend our mistakes. When we practice self-compassion, we create safe space as individuals to grow in ways that society also needs to grow. Check out “Episode #36 Until Now: Creativity at the Growing Edge.”
9. As we watch the seasons turn from summer to fall, monarch butterflies fill the ACU campus as do the sounds and savory smells of the Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. In “My Hispanic Heritage Month message to my newborn son: Don’t be ashamed of your Latin American roots,” J.D. Long-García explores the impact of the experiences of his son’s ancestors as Latinos/Latinas in America on their hopes and dreams for his young life.
10. Joe Cory, CIVA Network board chair, presents the following prayer titled “Grace in Trials.” Praying over our church leaders, Cory adapted this prayer from the Puritan prayer book, The Valley of Vision.
Father of mercies, hear us for Jesus’ sake. We are sinful and your mercy has saved us. Your grace gives us faith, and your love draws us near to you. Giver of all graces, we look to you for strength to maintain your grace in our brothers and sisters toiling in full or part-time ministry. Strengthen them against doubt and temptation. Help them see their only strength is to be found in you. Equip and sustain them and hold back the enemy. Let these current trials reveal more of your peace and love. Holy Spirit, increase your grace upon them, help them to persevere, and continue to do your work through these servants. May they trust in your promises and walk humbly in dependence upon you, for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.
