Advent 2A
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:9
Sacred Earth Camp at NEB hearings
By Zoë Tobin Peterson
When I first read this passage my immediate thought was; what holy mountain is Isaiah referring to? It seems like a fairly important thing to know given that he so clearly tells us that nothing will be hurt if destroyed on it. Why has he not told us the name? Continue reading
By Will O’Brien
For several years, the Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia has offered an annual Advent program called “Peace on Earth and The Politics of Christmas” Alternative Seminary coordinator and frequent contributor to the Radical Discipleship blog Will O’Brien leads the discussion on how we reclaim the domesticated biblical narrative of Jesus’ birth with their powerful message of challenge to worldly powers. Folks in the Philadelphia area are encouraged to join this year’s program on Saturday, December 7. You can also spread the word via the Facebook page.
Can we liberate Christmas from its cultural captivity and rediscover the truly prophetic story that speaks to the crises of our world today? Continue reading
Advent 1A
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:1-3)
By Laurel Dykstra
It is hard to be hopeful in the Anthropocene, in the days when the destructive human impact on climate, individuals and communities, creatures, waterways and ecosystems is unprecedented. The lectionary passages this week have a fierce and compelling urgency but they seem far from the Advent theme of hope and further still from this lectionary project’s focus on Creation. Just what should we be awake to? Why the urban emphasis the focus on judgment?
Sermon by Denise Griebler,
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, November 17, 2019
Isaiah 65:17-25
Malachi 4:1-2a
Luke 21:5-19
May we see like God sees and hope like God hopes. And may we not be afraid to live by that sight and that love in the meantime. Amen.
These scripture passages each get us thinking about the end. Nothing like beginning with the end. But since we are dealing with these readings so rooted in apocalypse, maybe we are on the right track.
Imagine this community, this city, this country, this world that is going to pieces in so many places – whether by poverty or war or climate reckoning – and hear the words of Isaiah again: “I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the holy city as a joy and a place where I will rejoice in my people the way they take care of each other – no more inconsolable weeping, no body in distress, babies get to live and old people get to live our their days. People enjoy the fruits of their labor, have homes to live in, food to eat. Predators will cease terrorizing of the vulnerable and they will eat side by side. Healing and peace will come to the whole community. Continue reading
By Sarah Holst
Dear RadicalDiscipleship readers,
For the last several years, we have been putting out a RadicalDiscipleship store in November full of advent reflection books, kids’ calendars, greeting cards, and books. We have loved putting it together and the ways it felt like we were physically in touch with communities who read and contribute to this space.
This year we do not have a store up through RadicalDiscipleship, however that energy and creativity of making resources for radical Christian communities has not stopped, we are simply turning it over to Geez magazine’s website where there is much better capacity and technology to accommodate such things. Continue reading
Landscape with Shepherd and Sheep; Anton Mauve, Vanderbilt lectionary project for art
Proper 29(34)
Jeremiah 23: 1-6
By Reverend Kelly Giese
Jeremiah’s oracles of a future king, a messiah, indicate that the sheep, the pasture, the people, the flock, never leave the watchful eye of the Lord. All are referred to as “mine” belonging to Yahweh. There is a close association of the Lord the God of Israel to those who shepherd and know the sheep; and to the land, its fecundity, and even to the spiritual lives of the sheep and shepherds: God dispels fear, corrects those who are in error, and even finds the missing. Continue reading
By Lane Patriquin, originally printed in Geez 54: Climate Justice
Grief Rituals Credit: Molly Costello (link below)
Tolstoy believed that every generation has a zeitgeist – an emotion that acts as the unspoken guiding force of a time in history.
^Lane Patriquin reads their piece as part of Geez Out Loud. The audio is an exact reading of the written article.
For those of us coming of age in the climate-changed world of late-capitalism, it could be said that the predominant guiding force of our generation is grief.
With the news media surrounding us every day, we are steeped in images of grief. Whales washing up on shores with stomachs full of plastic. Pollinators dying off. Climate change records surpassed decades before predicted, and neo-fascist governments suppressing environmental conservation efforts around the world. Continue reading
