“There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world.” – Elrond, J.R.R Tolkein, The Fellowship of the Ring
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“I am, We are, He/She/It is”: Learnings from the South Pacific
by Talitha Fraser with Kaumatua Gregg Morris
Allow me to invite you to join in for a game of kilikiti, to sing and dance with us, to walkabout… sit here at the campfire and I will tell you story…
Coranderrk was one of several Aboriginal missions set up in Victoria . Wurundjeri leaders William Barak and Simon Wonga advocated for Aboriginal people to live in their own place, their own way. Many times to petition the Victorian Government Barak and Wonga would gather a delegation together, speak to motivate and inspire them, then they would walk together the 60 miles (12 hours) to deliver the message: “Please leave us alone, give us our land back, don’t take it away again”. Leaders of one people to another, approaching as equal and in person. Continue reading ““I am, We are, He/She/It is”: Learnings from the South Pacific”
Wild Lectionary: The Very Edges of Your Field
Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am YHWH, your God.” (Lev 19.9-10)
By Wes Howard-Brook and Sue Ferguson Johnson
More than any other biblical text, the book of Leviticus claims to express the direct voice of YHWH. Of the 160 uses of the phrase, “I am YHWH” in the Hebrew Bible, 49 uses are in Leviticus. And yet, the book may be among the least respected or understood scriptural texts. It is to this very chapter in Leviticus that Jesus turns when asked about the greatest commandments. Just a few verses down from the quote above we find: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Lev 19.18; cf. Mk 12.31). Indeed, not only Jesus, but also Paul and James—made into opponents of each other in the post-Reformation culture wars—cite Lev 19.9 as central to discipleship (Rom 13.9; Gal 5.14; James 2.8). Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: The Very Edges of Your Field”
Sermon:On Practicing a Mystical Anarchist Ethic
By Joanna Shenk, February 5, 2017, First Mennonite Church of San Francisco
Isaiah 58:1-12
When my older brother went to college, I remember being taken aback when he said his roommate’s mom was an anarchist. I felt so sorry for his roommate and figured he probably had a terrible childhood. In my mind, being an anarchist meant something related to the anti-christ. It was all one category to me because I thought it was all related to the same word. Continue reading “Sermon:On Practicing a Mystical Anarchist Ethic”
Nana’s Cabbage Soup
By Em Jacoby. Part of our series on food and discipleship
Nana is incomprehensible these days. We can laugh together, and occasionally a name will come from her lips that connects to a person in her long life, but most of the time we are laughing because she talks as much as ever and it is beyond recognition. Last time I visited her, I laughed until I wept. I pray for her to leave this earth, but Alzheimers has its cruel course and I must witness it. Continue reading “Nana’s Cabbage Soup”
Sermon: Stories of Salt and Light
By Katerina Friesen, February 5th, 2017, Fellowship of Hope Mennonite Church
Matthew 5:13-20
In recent sermons and reflections here at Fellowship of Hope, we’ve pondered how Jesus’ wisdom teachings and the way of the cross are foolishness to the world. Foolishness, to love our enemies. Foolishness, to be persecuted and blessed. Foolishness, that those who hunger and thirst are the highly favored ones. Yet this foolishness is the wisdom of God that we are given to chew on, the bread of life. Today, we draw our attention to a crucial ingredient in bread baking, the seasoning of our dough: salt. Continue reading “Sermon: Stories of Salt and Light”
Welcome to the Resistance. Here’s Your Survival Guide.
By Rose Marie Berger. Reposted from Sojo.net
Even during a constitutional crisis and a white nationalist assault on the executive branch of federal government, the kids still need to get to school, bills must be paid, homework done, groceries bought, clothes washed, church attended.
In addition to your regular job, you are now a full-time grassroots organizer and obstructionist, showing up for protests and rallies. You’re also trying to implement a full-time legislative strategy, calling representatives, signing petitions, encouraging others to do the same. And for some, your full-time government job or journalism job or advocacy job now requires a renewed understanding of the ethics of public service, while also developing strategies to implement or refuse unclear and possibly illegal directives.
How do you keep from flaming out? Continue reading “Welcome to the Resistance. Here’s Your Survival Guide.”
Challah’s Hands
By Bill Ramsey
Our hands eagerly drape
a shear cotton cloth,
a delicate canopy
over an unassisted rise,
warm tent of challah.
Underneath, tepid water
raw sugar and new yeast
compose an unheralded
first hint of challah. Continue reading “Challah’s Hands”
Wild Lectionary: An Unordinary Time
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 58:1-12
By Valerie Luna Serrels
We enter this week’s story through a blind spot. The people who historically have awakened to and connected to God, find themselves unable to see, disconnected from God, one another, and the land. This blind spot invites us to reflect on the ways in which we too are unaware and disconnected. Unaware of which world’s code of conduct we abide. What religion we practice. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: An Unordinary Time”
Sermon: Grounded in the Bedrock of Faith
By Joyce Hollyday. January 29, 2017,
Circle of Mercy, Asheville, NC
Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:1-12
On the night of January 19th, the eve of the inauguration, several of us from Circle of Mercy’s immigration mission group gathered at the home that Bill and I share. We kept a vigil in the tradition of the Watch Night Service.
Watch Night is typically traced back to New Year’s Eve of 1862, when enslaved communities stayed up all night waiting for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect on January 1st. When I was collecting oral histories among African-American UCC churches during my time as an associate conference minister, I was told that the custom is actually much older—that enslaved families stayed up every New Year’s Eve, because January 1st was when masters decided whom they would sell off. Families facing the imminent threat of separation spent all night singing and praying and hoping that they would be together for another year. Continue reading “Sermon: Grounded in the Bedrock of Faith”
Radical Discipleship 