Vox Veniae Podcast

What songs evoke lament and joy for you? Gina Bastone looks at the psalmist's cry like a mixtape to the heavens, which invites us to companion our grief and imagine how God is calling us to participate in building a new world.  [Psalm 22] Reflection What is causing your lament, what is causing your praise, and how is God showing up in between? What kind of world do you want to build—with our Vox community in Austin, Texas, and in our world more broadly? How might we dwell in God's possibility and open our narrow hands to gather paradise in these difficult times? What phrases might we add to the space after the em dash?

On Trinity Sunday, we conclude our series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus' Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looked at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Today, we consider how God is shaping our leadership for our own lives, our faith community, and the larger world.   [John 16:12-15]   Reflection In what ways can I courageously lead in my larger community? What can I do to tend to my full self while I am doing that?

On Pentecost, we are in the penultimate message in the series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus' Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looks at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Today, we consider how God might be inviting us to bear witness to beauty and brokenness, as we humbly listen to one another's stories.   [John 14:15-27]   Reflection As we sit together in our own metaphorical upper room, can we pray together that the Holy Spirit would astound us with unexpected beauty? How might God be inviting you to speak into or bear witness to another's beauty and brokenness? How might God be breathing beauty or possibility into the broken places in or around you?

On the seventh Sunday of Easter, we continue in the series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus' Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looks at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Today, we ponder how to be complete in unity by highlighting the unique ways we have been created and called to illuminate God's Love.   [John 17:20-26]   Reflection What difference does it make to hear Jesus praying for Vox Veniae, churches across our continent, and the global church? Is there a specific way you or Vox could show oneness with other Christians from whom you are divided? How might you begin to pray for people  who will be part of Vox and the global church in future? 

We pick up in our series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus' Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looks at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. On this sixth Sunday of Easter, we confront transition as an inevitable part of life and consider what it is to wake up to Jesus making a home in our everyday lives.  [John 14:23-24, 28-29]   Reflection How might our collective faith buoy us in seasons where our personal faith is lagging? Is there an invitation for you to keep company with Jesus? How might our experience of loss and joy be in transformative conversation?  

On the fifth Sunday of Easter, we begin a new series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus' Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looks at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. On this graduation Sunday, we hear reflections from Olaya Hinojosa and Sam Malare about how they are navigating this transition.  [John 13:31-35]   Reflection How do you navigate challenging feelings during times of transition? What legacy of love has been shared with you? How might God's Love guide you and ground you in times of transition?

What is Divine goodness inviting us into? On the fourth Sunday of Easter, giving his last homily as a pastor at Vox, Weylin Lee recalls moments of Divine goodness through the restoration of contemplation, comfort through solidarity, and mercy through nonviolence.  [Psalm 23]   Reflection Where can I make space to reflect in stillness and truly rest? How might I practice presence with those experiencing a dark valley? How am I invited to adopt a lens of abundance in practicing mercy?

What is that thing you just can't help but do? On the third Sunday of Easter, Vanessa Maleare sifts through our lives in search of our precious and peculiar calling as she juxtaposes our journey with Peter's call to be God's Presence in the world.  [John 21:15-19]   Reflection What is written on your rock? What are you being called to in this season? What are you being called out of this season?

How might we be tempted to over-identify with our politics in unsettling times? On the second Sunday of Easter, Nic Acosta fasts from being “that guy” in regards to seeing everything solely through a political identity and challenges us to question how a purity psychology of politics might subtly supplant our love for Christ and neighbor.  [John 12:1-8]   Reflection Has purity thinking affected how I relate to other with different political views? What are some ways I can practice detaching my sense of self from my political views? How can I lean into Christ as the true source of my identity?

How does Easter invite us to live into the unexpected experiences of rebirth? On Easter Sunday, Weylin Lee beckons us to the Risen Christ through unexpected loss, listening to unexpected voices, and reimagining unexpected hope.  [Luke 24:1-12]   Reflection How might the places of loss in our lives be generating rebirth? What unexpected voices are inviting us to disrupt our lens of normalcy? How might we expand our imagination of hope?

How might we put our nonviolent resistance into words? On Palm Sunday, Gena St. David draws inspiration from both the nonviolent example of Jesus and the nonviolent practice during the civil rights era on how we might resist dehumanizing evil and injustice.  [Luke 22:47-54]   Reflection How might we draw courage from Jesus' response to violence? How might you practice nonviolence toward yourself this week? Which violent patterns might you wish to interrupt?

How might some of our unquestioned core beliefs keep us from growing in the Life of Christ? On the fifth Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack wonders how we might jump off the treadmill of unfulfilled dreams and imagine what arrival at purpose and belonging in the Life of Christ looks like. [Philippians 3:7-14]   Reflection Are there some dreams for your life that seem ill-fitting in light of the life of Christ? Does understanding the love of God we experience and extend to others as cruciform, invite you to reexamine your own belovedness or someone else's? How does the cruciform love of God expand your longing and understanding of bearing good fruit?   Resources Book: Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Book: The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spiritual Life  by Henri Nouwen PDF: Core Beliefs Info Sheet from Therapist Aid https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/core-beliefs-info-sheet  Podcast: Don Koch, John Mark McMillan, Thomas Torrey, hosts, “Redefining Success” You Have Permission (podcast), March 24, 2025, accessed April 2, 2025. https://megaphone.link/TOREC2388149299

How does being made new connect with peacemaking? On the fifth Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack considers what is required for healthy new growth in our lives and community. [Philippians 3]   Reflection Are there some dreams for your life that seem ill-fitting in light of the life of Christ? Does understanding the love of God we experience and extend to others as cruciform invite you to reexamine your own belovedness or someone else's? How does the cruciform love of God expand your longing and understanding of bearing good fruit?

What does it look like for us to care for one another's pain? On the third Sunday of Lent, Gena St. David and Weylin Lee bear witness to pain & injustice, collaborative peacemaking, and hope. [Isaiah 55]   Reflection Where do you notice scapegoating inside us and between us today? Who is “an opponent” you might wish to get to know better as a person? How are you becoming a source of “unexpected kindness” toward someone?

Are you longing to fit into empire or for belonging in the Kingdom of God? On the second Sunday of Lent, Kimberly Culbertson contrasts the allure of empire to the way we show up to protect one another in the Kingdom of God. [Luke 13:31-35]   Reflection Where might God be inviting you to challenge the status quo of empire and lean more into a kingdom mindset? In this season of Lent, how are you creating space to examine the longings of your heart? What is one way you might let God gather you under her wings this week?

What do we need to let go of in order to bear good fruit in our lives? On the first Sunday of Lent Christopher Mack looks to Jesus' triumph over evil, injustice, and suffering as opening a way for us to ground pain in Divine Love . [Luke 4:1-13] Reflection As we begin Lent, is there a place where you feel acutely depleted or empty? Where do fears, resentments, and insecurities threaten to block your ability to see God at work? How can you listen to the Nonviolent Forgiving Way in silence? Resources Book: Wondrous Encounters for Lent by Richard Rohr Book: Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps by Richard Rohr Music: Sanctuary: Exploring the Healing Path by Alana Levandoski Podcast: The Cosmic We, season 4, episode 1 (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2023)  https://cac.org/podcasts/crisis/  Video: Contemplative Sit 12-Minute Meditation by Dr. Barbara A. Holmes (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Acton and Contemplation, 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGU8QusRjD0

What do you feel separate from in your life? On this Transfiguration Sunday, Lilly Ettinger reminds us that creative transformation often comes in times when we experience great challenge and turmoil. [2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2]   Reflection In what ways do we struggle with “veils” that obscure our understanding of God and ourselves? How might you open yourself to Jesus' transformative work in an area of your life where you veil a “veil” remains? What steps can you take to confront the veils that obscure God's light in your relationships, work, or community?

When you encounter systems of oppression do you tend to shrink or fight? Kimberly Culbertson acknowledges the conflicts we encounter all around us and within us, inviting us to creatively resist the destructive violence, and imagine a world in harmony with God's Reign. [Luke 6:27-30, 35b-36]   Reflection How might you lean into the creativity of a third way when you are caught in the either/or thinking of shrinking or fighting as you encounter systematic oppression? When you encounter dissonance, how open are you to repentance as a move toward greater freedom and strength in relationships and community? How compassionate are you toward yourself when you make missteps in your pursuit of justice and right relationship?

How does remembering our past shape who we are becoming together in the coming years? Christopher Mack facilitates a panel of Carol Lee, Hannah Friesen, and John Bagwell, longtime members of Vox, as they tell the story of what has made Vox such a special community. This is in conversation with our scripture which talks about the importance of roots both for resilience in times of adversity and for bearing good fruit in the years to come. [Jeremiah 17:5-10]   Reflection How has your time at Vox shaped your spiritual journey? Where are you hoping to bear fruit in your own life this season? Is there an invitation for you to become more rooted in spiritual community?

How can we pay attention to the conversation of Majesty and Mystery in our own humble lives? On the fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Christopher Mack connects our experience of Divine Majesty to our need to receive and give mercy in a way authentic to our calling. [Isaiah 6:1-8]   Reflection What is your soul longing for today? How can we validate the deeper questions of one another's lives? Where do you need to see yourself or others more clearly and compassionately?

What might it mean to be exceptional? On the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Vanessa Maleare invites us to see the Divine guiding us to harness our power through acts of mercy, resistance, and hope rooted in God's Beloved Community. [Luke 2:22-38]   Reflection How do I see God's movement around me? Do I hear an invitation? Does the invitation align with who God is?

As we reflect on how Christ is revealed during the season of epiphany, how are we invited to embody the good news Jesus lived and taught? On the third Sunday after Epiphany, Weylin Lee guides us to meet this moment of uncertainty with a robust embodiment of the good news of Jesus the Christ. [Luke 4:14-21]   Reflection How do we respond to unexpected invitations to embody good news? What opportunities resonate for us to embody good news to the most vulnerable? What is our collective work to embody good news as we move into a new season of Vox (4.0)?

On the second Sunday after Epiphany, Lilly Ettinger wonders what happens when we look at spiritual gifts less as markers of our individual superiority and more like gifts to further our common good. [1 Corinthians 12:4-11]   Reflection Where do you find communities of mutuality in your life? Where are you looking for them or hoping to find them? Where have I seen the beauty of community flourishing, and how can I participate more fully in that? What role does vulnerability play in the strength of a community, and how am I invited to lean into it?

What might baptism have meant for Jesus and what might it mean for us today? On the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, Christopher Mack plunges into waters of chaos and upheaval to hear baptism  as an invitation to be transformed into the person, who by God's grace, we are called into becoming…for God, ourselves, and one another. [Isaiah 43:1-2; Luke 3:21-22]   Reflection What wisdom have you gained from participating in a community moving through fear and upheaval together?  How can we reorient ourselves around that which is life-giving, for our flourishing, inviting us into mutuality and interdependent beloved community? If you feel you've lost sight of who you're becoming in Christ, how can you listen for the voice calling you beloved this week?

On the second Sunday after Christmas, Aurelia Dávila Pratt reminds us of our true identity as children of God, image bearers, and beloved. Repeating The Jesus Prayer and other intentional phrases and mantras, we are invited to ground ourselves in our deeper meaning and purpose.  [Luke 18:9-14]   Reflection What helps you remember who you truly are, especially when life feels overwhelming? When do you feel most grounded or connected to the Divine within you and around you? When have you felt the need to start over, and what gave you the courage to begin again?

How can we create a shared world where God's love is experienced? On the fourth week of Advent, Vanessa Beltran highlights how moments of shared vulnerability–like Mary's journey to Elizabeth–are essential to becoming who God created us to be, so we can truly understand God's blessings. [Luke 1:39-45]   Reflection How can you open your heart and life to others in ways that allow both you and them to experience the blessing of God's love, even in moments of vulnerability or unknowingness? In what ways do you sometimes forget that you are blessed by God, and how can community—your relationships with others—help you remember and live into this truth? How can you actively create spaces of relational freedom and blessing in your daily interactions, allowing both yourself and others to experience God's love and affirmation?

Is there a part of your life that feels exiled or stuck in a rut? On this third week of Advent, Christopher Mack hears in the message of John the Baptizer, an invitation for our lives to be joyfully undone in the wilderness of waiting. [Luke 3:7-17]   Reflection When have you experienced a disruption that led to transformation? How can this season of waiting re-envision our way in the world? Where is there an invitation for God's newness in this current disruption?

What comes up for you when you think about uncertainty? Weylin Lee begins our season of advent with three markers for wading into waiting and uncertainty: discerning with imagination; recalling God's gifts; and embodying a path of love. [Psalm 25]   Reflection How might we practice discernment with imagination? What are some of God's gifts that you can recall in this current season? What is the path of love you are invited to walk and embody?

How powerful can we be when our one voice is not just one voice? Vanessa Maleare tends to our collective healing with four admonitions inspired from Ecclesiastes: grab your people; conserve energy; grab hold of your joy; and make decisions. [Ecclesiastes 4:9-12]   Reflection What are my non-negotiables? Who do I have to have around me? What is true for me right now?

What does it look like for you to listen to your whole life? Christopher Mack looks for a way see God in those who see differently than us and how to experience communal solidarity in uncertain and challenging times. [Psalm 146:2-3, 5-10]   Reflection How might we be centered in God's Peace this week? Where do you find it challenging to bear witness with your whole life? How might you reconnect with the larger worlds of creation and community this week? Resources Book: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun Website: Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration https://nelson-atkins.org/art/exhibitions/hokusai-waves-of-inspiration-from-the-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/ :

How do we practice radical welcome? Gena St. David explores how inside each of us exists a wanderer, skeptic, and believer as we conclude our fall series “Who is Vox?” She uses the practice of walking a prayer labyrinth to help us recognize vulnerability, value the winding path, and practice small experiments. [John 3:3-8]   Reflection What does the wanderer inside you want from Vox? Who at Vox do you trust with your inner skeptic? How does the believer inside you wish to participate in Vox?

What is Vox's invitation and practice of pursuing justice as a spiritual community that seeks to embody Christ? Weylin Lee considers our hospitality to the vulnerable, embodied presence for solidarity, and nonviolent resistance for flourishing in our fall series “Who is Vox?” [Matthew 5:3-6, 10]   Reflection Where are the places we can practice hospitality as an act of justice? What are some practical ways you can meet physical needs of the vulnerable? How might our nonviolent resistance be needed for restorative justice?

Do you have fear around showing up in church spaces? Kimberly Culbertson invites us to embody Jesus together by becoming a community of repair and wholeness in our fall series “Who is Vox?” [John 14:18-19, 25-27]   Reflection Thank you for being part of my healing. Love, Kimberly. How might God be healing you in this season, both through and for deeper community? Who is God asking you to see or champion or smile on in this season?

What is an indicator of a healthy spiritual community? Christopher Mack focuses our fall series “Who is Vox?” on the centrality of community as a rhythm that forms us in the Jesus Way of living, dying, and rising. [John 13:1, 35-38]   Reflection What wisdom could we learn if we explored the broader history of the church with humility and curiosity? Are there areas of Christian tradition that are unhelpful to our growth, and what would it look like to let go of them and explore other areas? What are some ways we might embrace our collective imperfection as a community?

Nic Acosta continues our fall series “Who Is Vox?” by connecting us to being the Body of Christ by delving into what it might mean to embrace both our  Christian pluralism and our collective imperfection. [Colossians 1:15-23]   Reflection What wisdom could we learn if we explored the broader history of the church with humility and curiosity? Are there areas of Christian tradition that are unhelpful to our growth, and what would it look like to let go of them and explore other areas? What are some ways we might embrace our collective imperfection as a community?

What's your reason for getting out of bed? Vanessa Maleare begins our fall series “Who Is Vox?” by introducing our communally crafted purpose statement: Vox Veniae (Voice of Grace) is a spiritual community that seeks to embody Christ by fostering collective healing, pursuing justice, and welcoming wanderers, skeptics, and believers.   Reflection How have I defined my personal purpose in the past? How do I define my personal purpose now? What is Vox doing right now that excites me?

What are ways you know you are loved? On the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Brittany Graves connects our spiritual journey, which starts out  the size of a mustard seed to seasons of growth and embracing shifts, while nourishing ourselves in Divine Love. [Mark 4:26-34]   Reflection When hearing the text for today, what stands out to you in the parable of the growing seed? What spiritual practices are grounding for you? What are ways that you know you are loved or you witness the kingdom of God surrounding you?

Where might we compassionately reconsider the messages we are embodying and passing on? On the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Christopher Mack wonders how we might learn to use our words to build a more compassionate world for ourselves and others. [James 3]   Reflection Are there words of wisdom you can immerse yourself in over the coming weeks? Who is someone whose wise presence you might seek out and from whose practice you might learn? How might you choose life giving words for family, friends, and social media this season?

What excites you about what Vox is (or could be) creating?  On the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Kimberly Culbertson propels us into creative tension as we consider our communal gait. [Matthew 13:31-34]   Reflection How often have you seen yourself as a vital part of the church body versus as a recipient of church services? How does the concept of tensegrity shift the way you think about the Vox value of participation? Do you see Vox as part of a new imagination or new movement of the church? And if so, what does this energize you toward?

If our practice of faith is to be aligned with the way of Christ, what are we invited to embody? practice? On the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Weylin Lee grounds us in a nonreactive posture of engaging with presence and intention toward others. [James 1:22-27] Reflection How might our posture of listening facilitate a healthier practice of faith? What does a more freeing and sustainable practice of faith look like for us? How is our practice of faith being guided by the most vulnerable around us? Resources Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley  

What comes to mind when you think of Christ's power? On the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Christopher Mack examines the armor of the oppressive Roman Empire, and how it was reimagined as strength for creative nonviolent resistance in challenging and tumultuous times. [Ephesians 6:10-20]   Reflection How might you practice pivoting toward God's Peace in this season? What does it mean to experience God's Peace without detaching from challenges around you? How might we creatively embody God's Peace for our loved ones? For those marginalized?

When you think of wisdom, what do you usually think of? On the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lilly Ettinger sees in Wisdom not boredom, over-spiritualizing, or dry asceticism, but joy, celebration, and a way of seeing clearly. Wisdom is an invitation to really live. [Proverbs 9:1-6]   Reflection How does the imagery of Wisdom building a house and preparing a feast invite me to live this week? How do the metaphors of Wisdom resonate with my understanding of spiritual nourishment and growth? What does the invitation to “Leave your impoverished confusion and live!” (The Message) mean for me? Resources Quote: “We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.” -9th Step Promises, Big Book AA Quote on Hospitality: “We make sure we always create space to welcome others” -Lilly Ettinger

How much do I look to God as I try to discern what is true and good? On the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Kimberly Culbertson acknowledges that to speak the truth requires us to wrestle with our practice of discernment, rather than outsource it to others. [Ephesians 4:24, 29] Reflection What stops me from engaging the practice of discernment? What stops me from speaking the truth? How can I lean into community as I practice discernment? Resources Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept that there are things I do not know, The courage to speak the truth I do know, And the Wisdom to know that even what I think I know today may seem wrong tomorrow.”  –Serenity Prayer revised by Kimberly Culbertson

What are the ways we might impose our own priorities onto Jesus and fail to see him for who he really is? On the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Nic Acosta reminds us to acknowledge our own biases, how we project them onto Jesus, and how God's generosity is active among those we consider to be wrong . [John 6:1-15]   Reflection What do I find when I engage with Jesus as presented in the Gospels? How might our cultural and political biases be keeping us from seeing Jesus clearly? How can we be gracious and generous even toward those who misrepresent Christ?

How many of us feel an incongruence throughout liturgy, questioning if we really believe the prayers and psalms passing through our lips? On the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Vanessa Maleare breathes life into our incongruencies around faith and life by inviting us to make space. [Matthew 14:13-21]   Reflection What space are you craving? What beliefs are you wrestling and contending with? What nourishment are you lacking and who might you ask for what you need?   Resources Book: A Faith of Many Rooms: Inhabiting a More Spacious Christianity by Debie Thomas Book: Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren Winner Book: Feminist Prayers for My Daughter: Powerful Petitions for Every Stage of Her Life by Shannon K. Evans

When you feel joy… how do you know?  On the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Gena St. David, delves into the relationship between joy and grief and points us to how embodying joy can be an act of sacred resistance. [2 Samuel 6:14-19] Reflection When you're experiencing joy what do you sound like?  When your body feels joy, what do you notice? When you want to share joy, what does it occur to you to do? Resources Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley Article: Why Michal Rightly Despised David, Womanists Wading In The Word by Wilda Gafney https://www.wilgafney.com/2018/07/12/why-michal-rightly-despised-david/

In a world bent on dividing and condemning, how might we listen to and seek reconciliation with the complex song our whole life is singing?  On the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Christopher Mack seeks illumination on the intimacy shared between David and Jonathan, and what it teaches us about loving ourselves and loving our enemies. [2 Samuel 1:23-27]   Reflection What part(s) of your life and story do you struggle to welcome or find wholeness?  Where have our interpretations of scripture  reinforced problematic, or unjust understandings of ourselves or others? How can we embody God's good news to ourselves and others? Resources Book: Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times by Tom Horner  Book: The Love of David and Jonathan: Ideology, Text, Reception by James E. Meredith Book: Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte

How might your life work differently when you can feel in your body the joy, safety, and pleasure of which the psalmist writes?  On this Pride Sunday, Amy Wolfgang encourages us to feel the embodied confidence of God beside, before, and within our being. [Psalm 16:8-11]   Reflection How can our community go before and beside those in fear of their call to embodiment?  Who in your life deserves their flowers? What would today be like if you knew that God rejoices in your body? Resources Video: Writing The Funeral of Cecilia Gentili at St. Patrick's Cathedral NYC https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxUxJAq0_SHZ-vpIv62DizFhX6Ozu-TVch

How might our faith community speak about God in a way that is inspired and inspiring?  On the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Kimberly Culbertson reminds us to exhale as we prepare to leave behind our old narratives to embrace the new God is forming among us and through our mutual work. [1 Samuel 16:6-12]   Reflection Who do you say that Jesus is?  How might the Spirit be asking you to see as God sees? What lenses might you need to set down? What might God be asking Vox to see, embrace, and become in this season? Resources Book: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley

How can we overcome the adversity of our divided times without losing a radical love for those on the other side? On the third Sunday after Pentecost, Christopher Mack notices parallels between anxieties about political leadership in the time of Samuel and our own. He offers practical tools for how to co-create understanding and connect across differences. [1 Samuel 8:4-9, 19-22 ].   Reflection Where might you acknowledge your own understanding as partial and incomplete?  Have you experienced co-creating understanding with someone? What might it look like for you to take one step closer to someone important to you, who you disagree with this week? Resources Book: I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Mónica Guzmán Video: Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides by Geoffrey L. Cohenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shqgkOTeS6U  Video: How to Understand and Be Understood by Dr. Ruchi Sinha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU7Dg8VP3dA

When you hear someone say, “God is not just our father, but also our mother,” what comes up for you? On the third Sunday after Pentecost, Vanessa Maleare walks us through passages throughout scripture, to birth maternal images in our imagination and experience of God [John 3:3-8].   Reflection Is there a part of yourself you need to reintegrate for wholeness? How can you imagine God as your mother comforting you today?   Resources Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley