Shhh…

For Reflection Roundup 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 stillness and silence, the gut string chord of striving relaxes to the ringing philharmonic of divine sufficiency; it is enough.

1. Ruth Haley Barton reflects confessionally on the specific need for Christ’s own ministry in the life of the minister, recalling a time when she longed to receive the very service she was offering. In ministry, we circle through points we learn to anticipate along the way. We realize, at these stopping places, that the tools that so consistently fuel our connection with God – prayer, time in Scripture – can become too externally focused. We lose the sense of unconditional love with which they pulse and can feel caught up in some sort of performance exchange. It’s often at these same moments that we say we don’t have time to invest in a pause, but Barton hearkens, “You Say You Don’t Have Time for Retreat? Think Again!” in her blog with the Transforming Center.

2. Writing “A Worship Practice Zoom Can’t Replicate” for the Christian Century, Chris Palmer makes the point: silence is worshipful, as it “assumes that everything we need is already available to us without additional words or sounds.” Our online opportunities have removed some elements that easily go by the way. That is, until we notice. Silence is vulnerable when we are in the presence of others, a nearness we don’t sense in the same way digitally. Embodied silence reminds us of our weaknesses, our humanity, our breath, as we communally sit in the presence of God’s strength.

3. Don’t miss the recent interview Karissa Herchenroeder caught with Jennifer Schroeder, new Summit director for the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry. Upon reading, it will be clear that Schroeder’s gifts are perfectly tuned to the task (she’s highly musical!). Schroeder explains some of the most meaningful and impactful moments she experienced while attending ACU Summit over the years, particularly concerning ministry alongside the marginalized, which Schroeder took straight to practice within her own context. She comes to Abilene from Atlanta with her family.

4. Competition can be ubiquitous and subversive, with self-centeredness forming the ugly veins with which our perspective pulses at times. Self-promotion, or even simply the elevation of one’s own view, can make it hard for us to get along. Jake Owensby writes “Dealing With Difficult People” for the Christian Century blog Looking for God in Messy Places, reminding us of love, patience, and forgiveness. It may seem obvious, but our egos and misordered priorities can make it easy to let these fruits grow stale.

5. The folks at Alabaster present a new guided meditation that brings the neglected fruits mentioned above back to the fore. Rather than ruin the scriptural surprise uncovered within the six-minute pause, I’ll hope you’ll personally experience its refreshment and renewal of your strength and courage.

6. Highlighting the anniversary of commitments made to non-violence and healing between different expressions of Abrahamic faith, Cheryl Mann Bacon shares “Texas rabbi held at gunpoint has helped Christian school understand antisemitism” with the Christian Chronicle. At an ecumenical healing service held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a local rabbi shared his strong commitment to love and interfaith relationships. This commitment has also woven itself into the fabric of the teaching at a local Christian school, where students testify to its life-changing impact. Days after being held at gunpoint in his own synagogue, Rabbi Cytron-Walker reminds us of Dr. King’s words, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

7. Robert L. Briggs writes “A Challenge for the New Year: Resolve to Be a Wounded Healer” for Christianity Today’s blog, the Better Samaritan. Briggs is leading in vulnerability, challenging readers to trust the strength that sharing our weaknesses provides to others. In this way, we follow Christ’s model of serving one another in humility and, together in community, glorifying God as our strength.

8. Kelsey Dallas writes “Could Sabbath closure laws make a comeback?” for Desert News. Apparently one thing all the pundits, policy makers, and posers in positions of power can agree upon is that Americans could use a day off! So hearty is their agreement, they’ve kicked around the when and the how. Universal mandates get tricky, especially for those who are already part of Sabbath-honoring groups. The bottom line seems to be thumbs up to taking a personal day each week: a day away from work, or at least silencing cell phone notifications. Would anyone like a peek at God’s reaction to these “great human epiphanies”?!

9. Bob Smietana shares, “For dying congregations, a ‘replant’ can offer new life” for Religion News Service. Smietana describes how churches have successfully merged resources, with one “replanting” the other and pouring in all the necessary nutrients for new life. Third spaces are being explored, particularly by those with differing views on sensitive subjects. It seems that meeting around a kitchen table rather than in a sanctuary helps us see that church really is about people, sharing our knowledge and experience of the history of God’s faithfulness, and challenging one another in discipleship. Sounds a little like a first-century church, doesn’t it?

10. And in the spirit of normalizing and good music, this is worth knowing if only for the chuckle. We’re all just who we are, aren’t we?