Tag: Wild Lectionary

Wild Lectionary: Breath

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Ron Berezan

Second Sunday of Easter
John 20: 19-31
By Ron Berezan

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:19-22

Living in fear can be hazardous to your health. Refugees, women subject to domestic violence, the imprisoned, the poor, the conquered and the otherwise oppressed and marginalized live with this daily. Not knowing who might burst through that locked door at any time and what violence they may inflict. Not knowing what tomorrow holds. Never sure who you can trust. Shallow breath, tension, always on edge. Exhaustion. Fear and locked doors. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Breath” →

Wild Lectionary: Jesus seeds, sprout!

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4472671089_c4d4169f44_b.jpgEaster Sunday
By Wes Howard-Brook and Sue Ferguson Johnson

Night and day, woman and man, soil and sky, humanity and God: all these primal pairs are present in this week’s proclamation of the Uprising of Jesus. Each pair echoes an element of the first chapters of Genesis, the foundational narrative of the “religion of creation” upon which John’s gospel is grounded. These connections help us to hear that the hope of Easter is not in an invisible part of one’s self (“the soul”) leaving earth for somewhere else, but in the power of the Creator God to continue to bring forth life from the earth, despite the murderous ways of empire. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Jesus seeds, sprout!” →

Wild Lectionary: Plastics as a Spiritual Crisis

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Plastics in Still Creek, salmon spawning stream, Fraser River watershed

Palm Sunday
Psalm 118:22

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

By Sasha Adkins

The ever-increasing abundance of plastic trash in land, sea and bodies is, fundamentally, a spiritual problem. Plastics habituate us to accept unhealthy relationships—and not only because our use of them is so typically fleeting. The foundation of a healthy relationship lies in a celebration of the Other’s unique and intrinsic value; disposable plastics, however, are by design both fungible and instrumental. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Plastics as a Spiritual Crisis” →

Wild Lectionary: Dry earth, Dry bones

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IMG_3439.jpegFifth Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 37:1-14

By Carmen Retzlaff

The hand of the Lord came upon Ezekiel, who was in exile from his homeland. “The prophet very rarely speaks of God’s face: he feels his hand,” says Abraham Heschel in The Prophets (Harper, 1962). In his vision, Ezekiel feels the hand of the Lord upon him, bringing him out and setting him in the middle of a dry valley, filled with bones. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Dry earth, Dry bones” →

Wild Lectionary: We Are Animals

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12289514_10153766241763739_1680757321006336246_n.jpgFourth Sunday in Lent
Psalm 23:1-3

1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2God makes me lie down in green pastures; God leads me beside still waters;
3God restores my soul.

By Ric Hudgens

I live in a household with a seven-year old who has no trouble connecting with her animal identity. I often awaken in the morning to hear her downstairs growling, barking, howling, or singing. She may be imitating a dog, a monkey, a bear, a lion, or a bird.  Like all young children she will eventually learn to separate her human identity from her animal identity. Mornings will grow quiet and my world will in one sense be a sadder place. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: We Are Animals” →

Wild Lectionary: There is No New Water. Living Water is Life-Giving Water.

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Water after a rain on the New Life Church land

Third Sunday in Lent
John 4:5-42

By Rev. Carmen Retzlaff

In Central Texas, we think a lot about water. The Texas climate is famously described by meteorologists as, historically, “drought with periods of flooding.” And so it seems. After seven years of droughts in which water wells dried up in our area, the nearby Blanco River flooded the small town of Wimberley and towns downstream in 2015. With this view of water in mind, I read the story of Jesus’s conversation with the woman at the well as a story about water. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: There is No New Water. Living Water is Life-Giving Water.” →

Wild Lectionary: Love Flows Like a River

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The Third Sunday in Lent
John 4

By Sue Ferguson Johnson and Wes Howard-Brook

John 4 is like a kaleidoscope. From one angle, it is a story about Jesus’ gender-inclusive invitation to dis-cipleship. Turn it slightly and you can see Jesus seeking to heal a hostile history between Samaritans and Judeans. From yet another angle, it speaks to the question of authentic worship. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Love Flows Like a River” →

Wild Lectionary: Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon, Mountain and Cloud

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Burnaby Mountain on the Kinder Morgan Trans-mountain Pipeline Expansion route.

Notes for Lent 2, By Laurel Dykstra

Genesis 12

In these four verses two words, rough synonyms, eretz and adamah, are used for land

  1. 1 Eretz is used twice in this verse to speak of Abram’s native country, territory or perhaps property. It is linked to his people, his kin.
  2. 3 Adamah (same root as Adam) is used for the earth—the known world, and in contrast to v. 1 it is linked to all families.

Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon, Mountain and Cloud” →

Wild Lectionary: When the Spirit Sends You Into the Wilderness

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IMG_0057.jpg(During Lent, we are journeying daily with King’s Beyond Vietnam. However, we will also continue to post the Wild Lectionary series on Thursdays)

First Sunday in Lent

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.  -Matthew 4:1-2

By Victoria Loorz

You don’t need to read the surveys to know that most people experience a sense of connection with the earth when they spend time in wilderness, but data does confirm it. A recent(ish) survey by Pew showed that six-in-ten adults in the general public (58%) say they often feel a “deep connection with nature and the earth,” with unaffiliated persons about as likely as Christians to agree (58% and 59%, respectively).  Pew Research Center survey, June 28-July 9 2012. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: When the Spirit Sends You Into the Wilderness” →

Wild Lectionary: A Way Without Fear

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Victoria Marie (blue) at the Break Free from Fossil Fuels action at the Burnaby Mountain, Kinder Morgan tank facility.

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(many churches observe the Transfiguration this Sunday)

Isaiah 49:8-16
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6: 24-34

By Reverend Dr. Victoria Marie

Today I’m just going to touch on a few points in the Gospel reading in the hopes that they stimulate more thoughts and questions for all of us. To set the stage, look at the unrestrained resource extraction, our addiction to fossil fuels, and the consumerism that threatens to consume us and the earth. Yet, we all have to earn a living and unfortunately, some people have no other choice but to work for industries and systems that are killing us. We have been drafted into a system where we are trying to serve God but are enslaved by wealth; quite a dilemma! Upton Sinclair wrote, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: A Way Without Fear” →