Hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines …. The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover them sever as created free; free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances; free also to leave and follow their own vocations. Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adore the lifestyle of the host but the gift of a chance for the guest to find his own. (Henri Nouwen: Reaching Out)
In our recent Facebook live discussion on hospitality Lilly Lewin and I talked about the necessity for radical hospitality at this season in the history of our world. She began by reading this quote from Henri Nowen which made me realize that hospitality and justice go hand in hand. Living as Christ lived has at its centre a commitment to hospitality, not just to friends and family but to strangers as well.
Interestingly as we look back over the history of the human race we see that it was hospitality to wanderers, pilgrims and strangers that held society together. We see it, and often take it for granted as we read the Bible. In Genesis 18, Abraham offers lavish hospitality to three strangers that turn out to be messengers from God, but he did not know that when he invited them to stay for a meal. Jesus of course is constantly sitting down to eat with strangers that become friends, and he seems to delight in mixing city leaders with outcasts. He encourages them to sit down and eat together and often they become friends just by this example.
When we speak of hospitality we are always addressing issues of inclusion and exclusion. Each of us makes choices about who will and will not be included in our lives…. Hospitality has an inescapable moral dimension to it. It is not a mere social grace; it is a spiritual and ethical issueIt is an issue involving what it means to be human. (Radical Hospitality Lonni Collins Pratt with Father Daniel Homan)
We have become cultures of exclusion. We exclude the disabled, the old, people of color, the poor, the homeless, those of different religions. Sometimes we see those of us who look differently and think differently as less than human.
Tragically these last couple of years have not just disconnected us from others they have made all of us distrust those around us and think that the lack of hospitality, even in something as simple as smiling at a stranger or talking to the person who sits next to you on the train, is one of the reasons. Now is the time to venture out however and what we need to pay attention to is our need to socialize with strangers as well as family and neighbours.
This morning I read an article about a book by Joe Keohane called The Power of Strangers. In his review of the book Robert Shaeffler comments:
Keohane examines these issues within the context of overwhelming psychological research demonstrating that when we do connect with strangers, we like it, we value it, and want to do it again. And it turns out there are many people and groups that can’t wait to sit with just about anyone (who knew?) and have a good chat—on a street corner, in a classroom, at a convention–about your life, your worldview, even (gulp) your political ideas, all free of agenda and free of conflict. (The Power of Strangers by Joe Koehane)
I think it’s true. No wonder radical hospitality was so important for early Christians. The Rule of St Benedict affirms “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me'” and of course, as I often remind us Celtic Christians held the same view, seeing hospitality as a doorway to the kingdom of God.
When was the last time you talked to a stranger in a way that gave them the potential to become a friend, maybe not a long-term friend but at least a friend for a season? And when was the last time you sat down and had a meal with a stranger who was very different from you in appearance or behaviour?
Part of what I have missed in our social isolation over the last few years was the opportunities to sit down and share a meal with people from different cultures and perspectives. Hospitality is an incredibly enriching practice at many levels and I look forward to doing more of it in the coming months. How about you?
If you have time I hope you will watch or listen to, the video from Lilly and my last Facebook live session.
These beautiful prayer cards available for download include 11 prayers by Christine Sine and watercolor succulent design with contemplative imagery crafted by Hilary Horn. Each card provides a prayer on the front with a photo for reflection as well as scripture and suggested meditative response to the prayer. Allow yourself to relax, refresh, and commune with God through each prayer. Immerse yourself in the reflection as you give yourself space to enter into God’s presence. You can find Prayers for the Day in our shop, as well as Pause for the Day – a sister set of prayer cards with morning, evening, and general prayers to pause and contemplate.
Our contemplative service has been absent due to illness over the last couple of weeks and boy have we missed it. So glad to have it back today. Enjoy!
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756. Thank you for praying with us!
by Carol Dixon
God has boundless treasures to give us, and a moment’s sense of devotion is enough for us. We are blind who so bind the hands of God, and we stem the abundance of his grace. When he finds a soul imbued with living faith, into it he pours grace on grace, a flowing stream, which, when it finds a new outlet, spreads wide, abundantly.’ (Br Lawrence Day Conversation)
River Aln & Alnwick Castle
Rivers have always fascinated me. I grew up in Alnwick and often played by the river Aln from which the town takes its name – trying to catch tiddlers in a jar, running across the stepping stones or lying on my back in the sun on the grass opposite the ancient castle imagining knights in armour and great ladies in all their finery.
The Pastures, Alnwick
Beyond Denwick Bridge
Towards the Stepping Stones
In the summer our parents would take us to the beach at Alnmouth where the same river met the sea. We travelled by bus (not many folk had cars in the 1950s). I could see over the hedges and glimpsed the river from time to time wending its way to the sea, bubbling over stones under the bridges and opening out into the estuary full of sea birds. It was good to ponder its journey.
Prayer: (taken from David Adam’s Love the World)
Blessed are you, God of all creation, Creator
Of the great deeps, Lord of heaven and earth.
We give you thanks for the wonders around us.
We thank you for the rains that water the earth,
For sparkling burns and running streams,
For mighty rivers and reservoirs,
For clear refreshing water,
For sunlight that brings warmth and life to our world;
Blessed are you, God, giver of light and love,
Teach us to love and care for all living creatures
And for all green and growing things.
Show us we pray, how to cherish the land,
The air, the waters,
So future generations may enjoy their beauty
With wonder and awe. Amen.
Mudflats near Lesbury
Reaching the sea
One of my favourite writers, Margaret Silf in her book Landscapes of Prayer has written a wonderful reflection on the river in our spiritual lives:
You can keep on going to the same river, and even the same spot on the riverbank, but you will never see the same water twice. Rivers are wonderful teachers of how the continuum of our being can be perfectly balanced with the immediate present moment.
What does the image of the river mean to you?
You might like to look at the course of your own life in terms of the flow of a river. Where was its source and what or who were its early tributaries — those people, family or strangers, contemporary or long-dead, who influenced your way of seeing?
How has the river flowed, through the years of your life?
Times of quiet flow, and “white water” times when our lives hit the rapids. Sometimes the flow will have been brisk, clear and healthy, and at other times your life may have felt stagnant sluggish, or even polluted.
Through what kinds of landscape has your river flowed?
You may recall wilderness times, and times of great fruitfulness. Perhaps your river may has brought life to others’ deserts. Where is your river now, and how is its flow? How do you feel about its meanderings so far, and what are your hopes and dreams for its future course?
An ancient mystic tells a story about a river that could offer us a picture of our spiritual journey. This is how he describes his vision (Ezekiel 47 v1-12) (adapted by Margaret Silf)
My guide showed me a stream that had its origin in the sanctuary, but flowed out from there, under the threshold, all round the outside of the building, and finally found its course in the wider world. A man was trying to measure the river. Using a measuring rod he calculated a certain distance of the river’s flow and asked me to wade across the stream at this point. I did so and the water came up to my ankles. He measured a further span downstream and asked me to cross again. Now the water came up to my knees. A third time he measured off a span of the river, even further downstream, and at this point the water reached my waist. When he made his final measurement, and asked me to wade across again, it was impossible. By this point the river had become so deep and fast flowing that I couldn’t have crossed it. I was out of my depth.
Only when I realized that I couldn’t measure the flow of this river of life, and nor could he, did I see the river from a different perspective. Now it was no longer about how we could measure it out or cross it. Now the focus was entirely upon the river itself. I saw what the river was really about. I saw the fish swimming in it, healthy and full of life and fishermen on the riverbanks. I noticed that the marshes and salty lagoons along the course of the river came to fresh life when the living stream flowed through them, but that where this flow was blocked or denied or resisted, they remained lifeless and stagnant. I saw that the riverbanks were lined with many different trees, each bearing fruit in its season and with leaves that provided medicinal cures. And all this life, I came to understand, was sustained because the flow of the river of life had its source in the very heart of God, the life-giver.
When we allow the Holy Spirit to flow through our lives we often find that our times of prayer can flow like a river, following a sometimes winding course. At other times it is good to remember those times when God has refreshed and renewed us, leading us to sit by still waters with him and feel at peace.
One of the people who often walked with me along the river Aln during my childhood was my granny, whose faith had a profound affect on me and helped me to draw close to God. One of the hymns she taught me was about a river:
HYMN: Like a river glorious [Frances R Havergal] See it Performed Here by A Virtual Choir – Holy Trinity Church Dubai
1.Like a river, glorious is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.
(Chor:) Stayed upon Christ Jesus, hearts are fully blest;
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
- Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the Spirit there. (Chor) - Every joy or trial falling from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Son of Love.
We may trust Him fully all for us to do;
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true. (Chor)
A Blessing for today: (from Christian Aid The river of prayer)
May justice roll down like a river,
may righteousness flow like a never-ending stream
and may the joy of creation fill you anew
as you pray, act, and live
for the restoration of creation and flourishing of all people.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, And the companionship of the Holy Spirit flow into us and through us each day. Amen.
Featured photo by Carol Dixon, ‘Towards Cannongate” – youtube republished with permission. As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links. Thank you for supporting Godspace in this way.
Enjoy A Sacred Summer
Summer is here! Let Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin guide you through the symbols of summer into sacred refreshment. Enjoy 180 days of access to retreat at your own pace. All the details can be found in our shop!
By Lilly Lewin and Rob Lewin
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” LUKE 10: 25-37 NIV
Lilly asked me to write for Godspace this week, so here goes. This week’s gospel passage from the Lectionary is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here are some take-aways that surprised me.
The religious person testing Jesus asks what he needed to do “ to inherit eternal life.” And after an accurate confession of the first two commandments, Jesus says basically “do that.” But the expert then says “Who is my neighbor” expecting something clear, doable and Jewish. So Jesus tells the story to him. Then he asks “who was this man’s neighbor?” The expert, unwilling to even say the word Samaritan, says “the one who had mercy on him.” And then Jesus does a “mic drop” that would have made his audience crazy. He simply says “go and do likewise.” What? No way. Jesus are you saying that an unclean person will “inherit eternal life?” That’s as far away from Hebrew orthodoxy as you could possible get! Or that eternal life is based on my action, not my beliefs? That’s “works!” Hey? What about the Reformation? This must be wrong! What about worship, singing, doctrine, theology, sermons and Bible studies? Jesus never retreats, never makes excuses, and never feels the need to explain. It’s as if he’s saying “Those are the words of the Son of God. Maybe you had it wrong. Deal with it.”
How do we deal with that? I wonder if we’ve built our lives on “go and do likewise” or we’ve built them on everything else?
What is your life built on?
I’m evaluating my life, even as I write, and it’s not a pretty picture. Over the last 4 decades, everyone in my life sold me something else to do in order to get eternal life . Eternal life had nothing to do with practicing hands-on mercy to suffering people. That was always a good idea, but last on the list. Was it for you?
And I wonder if 20 years of deconstruction has deconstructed me right out of “having mercy.” How ‘bout you?
On April 3rd 1968, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr gave a speech where he discussed the Good Samaritan passage. He thought that the Levite and Priest were afraid of what might happen to them if they helped the man. What if he was not really hurt? What if it was a set up? Then Dr. King changes the focus. He said what if the correct question isn’t “what might happen to me if I help?” But “What happens to HIM if I don’t help?” Dr. King thought that the lack of compassion not only leaves the suffering without help, but it also corrodes our souls if we ignore the suffering.
So for us, what do we need to do to “inherit eternal life,” or change our focus to what happens to the other instead of what happens to me?
What steps can you and I take to focus a part of our week on people suffering all around us?
Can you feel your existing schedule and family and expectations crowd it out before you even begin? Yea, me too! As I’ve worked at this, it’s not easy. The ” I’m too busy” screams in my head every day. All I can do is just keep moving forward…
Baby steps to becoming a really good Samaritan:
Journal or take a walk and tell Jesus how you really feel about this. Do you want to avoid this? Say so! What things stop you? We all have a million reasons not to take time to show compassion or help other people who are suffering. Jesus isn’t surprised by any of it. Scream it to him if you need to.
What communities are you already familiar that directly touch suffering people? Call them today. Ask how you could help. Just start somewhere.
Do you already see and help folks like Jesus said? How can you invite others to help, so their souls don’t calcify or corrode in the future? You’re a lifeline to them even if you can’t see it yet.
USE this prayer of confession and talk to Jesus about your answers to the above questions
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
the good samaritan by rembrandt
USE ART to help you engage the Parable of the Good Samaritan
LISTEN TO RICHARD ROHR’S Sermon on the Good Samaritan
READ OR LISTEN TO MARTIN LUTHER KING’S SPEECH including the Good Samaritan
What do you notice? Take time to talk to Jesus about these things.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
COVER ART “The Good Samaritan” by Vincent Van Gogh
Looking for hospitality inspiration? We have an entire resource page dedicated to hospitality. Find recipes and reflections on numerous hospitality topics, including Celtic hospitality, prayers, and liturgies. Click on Hospitality for more!
Editor’s Note: Each Thursday this month we will be featuring art centered around our current theme Living as Christ Lived: Towards Justice, Love, and Peace For All Creation. Please enjoy these creative reflections offered by our authors!
Part Two: Towards Love For All Creation Part Three: Towards Justice For All Creation Part Four: Living As Christ Lived Compilation Booklet: Free download!
Featured photo: Multimedia Painting by Keren Dibbens-Wyatt, Turquoise Tide
Doves
Doves alight on the tips of the waves
Bubbled, cooing petticoats rolling into shore
Proclaiming them well-loved with foaming wings
And we remember Him in the water.
Doves sat in baskets, on the Temple tables
Waiting in wicker for the death of innocence
His hand stays these tables, turning others
And we remember His gentle wrath.
Doves of peace come rolling into shore now
Riding the momentum of justice
With righteousness as undertow
And we remember His words to Amos
Doves cresting, crashing into shore
Washing away the stench of tepid praise
Crashing over the music become noise
And we remember His snowy silence
Doves’ wings could be called for now
To carry him to shelter, take him to safety
Far, far away from Golgotha’s storm
And we remember his Sorrows
Doves sent out now from the Ark
Of this New Covenant, this Crossroads
Offering olive branches to every sinner
And we remember His Sacred, trembling Heart,
His precious love-blood that will flood the world,
With Mercy and with Grace.
A Morning Prayer
This prayerful observance comes to us from Jenneth Graser, originally posted here. Photo is by Christine Sine, “Winter Sunrise”
A Morning Prayer
You will need: a bowl, some small stones and a candle with matches.
Place these before you as you find a comfortable place to encounter God in silence.
Opening reading:
“You lead me with your secret wisdom.
And following you brings me into your brightness and glory!”
Psalm 73:24 TPT
Meditations:
Father I give you my mind, as clouds on the horizon
bending over to wake up the sun from her slumber,
reminding the ocean that under her covers
a parallel world is waking up.
- Place into the bowl a stone of intention. The intention of interior silence.
Spirit, I give you my body, as a temple on a high mountain
where worship comes naturally surrounded by
winds blowing straight out of Heaven
and into my inner court.
- Place into the bowl a stone of worship. Your sound of worship.
Jesus, I bring you the energy in me, as lava in a dormant volcano
currently steaming with vapours and potential,
allowing the heat of your deep-inside love to build new lands
and restore the broken ground.
- Place into the bowl a stone of your dreams. The dreams buried inside of you.
Father I give you my heart, as an orchid ready to open
like a bird swooping
into the holy Trinity of you, always eager
to see and greet me.
- Place into the bowl of stone of your heart. As stone turned to flesh.
Poetry reading:
Walking softly on the surface of the earth,
each step holy.
Breathing together with the breath of
humming birds about their breakfast.
Taking in the dew-drop necklaces on flowers
shining with praise and prayer.
Being to you a friend on days opening wide
with wonder happening within us again.
It is too easy to rush by these gifts,
too easy for a day to sleep before the sun goes down.
Let us wake into your presence,
in one accord with all life is.
Let us create a moment by moment fellowship,
the sharing of what brings joy or pain.
Your hand rests on our temple
with lavish rest in time and place.
We will be kind to ourselves as well,
generous grace is meant for the sharing.
Closing reading and practice:
“Nothing is more appealing than speaking beautiful, life-giving words.
For they release sweetness to our souls and inner healing to our spirits.”
Proverbs 16:24 TPT
Light a candle in closing as you listen to (47) Requiem: The Lord is my Shepherd – John Rutter, Cambridge Singers, Aurora Orchestra, Thomas Barber – YouTube
Peace to You
Carol Dixon offers this sung version of “Peace To You” – a song written by the Monks of Weston Priory, and used here with permission. Listen to the MP3 Below
Peace to you and every good that life can bring. Evening’s song is calling us to wonder. The night has come and all is quiet now to end the day in listening… Shadows fall and linger long ‘till morning. In life’s hands today becomes a memory. Look up and see the vast and endless sky: who knows how far and wide the stars intensely shine… Calm again are hearts so weary from the day. Life gives peace and peace will bring the morning’s song, and peace will bring the morning’s song.
“Peace to You” © 1974 The Benedictine Foundation of the State of Vermont, Inc – used with permission
Pause for the Day – find a pleasant focus in this downloadable set of prayer cards inviting you to pause and restore. This set of ten prayers include three morning, three evening and four general prayers for the day. Each prayer is paired with a photo to help you focus and enter into that still place where you can hear God’s voice. On the back of each card is a short reflection or activity to deepen the impact of the prayer. This is a downloadable pdf. You may also enjoy its companion set of Prayers for the Day – 11 more prayers by Christine Sine paired with beautiful imagery by Hilary Horn.
words and pictures by June Friesen, all scriptures given in The Message translation Editor’s Note: We hope this reflection helps you prepare for World Forgiveness Day tomorrow, July 7th!
Forgiveness – a topic that is often a struggle for much if not all of humanity. We admit that it is important to embrace giving and receiving of forgiveness yet it is often one of the greatest struggles in relationships. In most, if not all religions it is something that all people are encouraged to practice and embrace however it probably is one of the issues humanity struggles with the most. Over my lifetime it is something that I have struggled to embrace and practice. I have struggled to really understand what forgiveness is from God’s perspective and how I can truly embrace and live in and through it actively. Many of us may hear talks, sermons, and meditations on forgiveness. There are many books that deal with forgiveness in one way or another. Yet, to really understand how to embrace and benefit from it in our own lives personally is an ongoing challenge. I think the writing on the above photo says it well: “Forgiveness – a virtue that surpasses Understanding.”
“The Christian Embassy of Christ’s Ambassadors (CECA) founded National Forgiveness Day in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They hung a single banner proclaiming this day in downtown Victoria. As this day gained prominence throughout the world, it was renamed Global Forgiveness Day. “ (Global Forgiveness Day website)
It was interesting doing a study on the background of this day. Forgiveness is a challenge most if not all of the time in our lives. Forgiveness also holds tremendous power in one’s life as does unforgiveness. Forgiveness does not come naturally in most situations. Forgiveness is something that one must choose to embrace. It is something that is different with nearly each situation because there are different people, different personalities, different circumstances, different cultures, different feelings and there is so much more. In the Scriptures there is much reference to forgiveness. There is reference to the struggles with forgiveness. There is most of all the revealing of God/Jesus continual, unconditional forgiveness over and over again. If one takes the time to read the Old Testament story, of the Israelite nation there is a continual story of sin, forgiveness and restoration over and over again. The Scriptures reference forgiveness many times and in the New Testament Jesus as well as the apostles taught about it. One of the passages most if not all of us can quote and probably do on several occasions is called The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
14-15 “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.
And then a couple of verses from Paul’s writings:
1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.
There is a concept of forgiveness as well as an emotion of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not just saying “I am sorry, please forgive me.” Forgiveness also includes action that needs to follow up the apology. For many of us that is where we struggle. In fact, when I was growing up, I often heard this phrase in response to asking for forgiveness: “Yes, I will forgive you but I will not forget.” When one chooses to carry around the baggage of ‘unforgiveness’ in their spirit it becomes a burden. It becomes a cloud that begins to block the Son/Spirit from being the light for our life. And over time it can become a thunderous storm cloud that affects one’s whole being not just spiritually but emotionally and physically as well. Jesus knew this to be true and that is why his teaching on forgiveness not only included accepting God’s forgiveness but also included forgiveness of others. The phrase in the Lord’s prayer that many if not all Christians know and repeat often states: “Forgive us/me as we/I forgive others.” And in verses 14 and 15 Jesus even emphasizes that part of the prayer. Yet for many of us, and I include myself here, they are often just words we speak rather than being something that we practice regularly. We tend to concentrate on only God’s forgiveness of us.
Here are two examples I found on true forgiveness:
“Japanese fighter pilot, Nobuo Fujita, had bombed the west coast of the U.S. over Oregon during WW2, which sparked great fires. The town of Brookings, Oregon, was greatly affected by this. When Fujita visited the town in 1962, he asked for forgiveness and was granted it by the townspeople. Then, in the late 20th century, Pope John Paul II publicly forgave the man who tried to assassinate him and even visited him in prison during his sentence.” (Global Website: https://nationaltoday.com/global-forgiveness-day)
As I reflect on these two examples as well as the Scriptures, I find myself challenged. Many years ago, I met a man one Sunday afternoon who shared a story from his own life of his son who had been murdered. He said he was just returning from visiting the man in prison who committed the crime. He shared how he forgave the man. He attended the trial of this man and after he specifically asked the judge to grant him permission to visit the man in prison. I could see the joy he had found through embracing true, godly forgiveness. I have never forgotten that man’s story and it continues to challenge me to this day when I feel I have been wronged by someone. As well, when I recite the Lord’s Prayer – I remind myself that I must take the words that I speak seriously, especially when I am speaking to God.
So how can one forgive? Is it possible to forgive? And if it is not possible than why did Jesus specifically tell us we needed to forgive to truly experience the power and full experience of His forgiveness of us?
Many years ago, someone challenged me to write letters of forgiveness. I did not necessarily need to send them because the person may no longer be alive, or one did not want to and/or have contact with them etc. Then lift the letter up to God surrendering the feelings, the hurt as well as the person to God, claiming God’s healing. I did that and found it to bring healing into my spirit. I went one step further; I began writing letters to God – in fact for many years I wrote my daily prayers to God. These practices have helped me begin to embrace the presence of God alive within me. Yes, and embracing and really feeling the presence of God alive within me has helped me grow into a life of love – as when one begins to embrace forgiveness love becomes the fruit.
Today I hope you have found encouragement and as well as maybe challenge here. Below is a rock garden I created and had on my table for a number of months – yes there is a stone with forgiveness on it even though it is not prominent. What is more prominent is the stones with the fruits that come from living a life of forgiveness. It is my prayer today that you will find a way to truly embrace and celebrate this day in your life not just today but every day to the glory of God. Amen.
Looking for some inspiration? Consider one of our courses! Most offer 180 days of access, perfect for working through a virtual retreat at your own pace. You can find them all right here! And did you know? We offer discounts if you have purchased a course or virtual retreat from us before or are buying for a group. Email us before check-out for the code!
Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present this guest post by Kendall Vanderslice from Edible Theology. Kendall is the author of We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God. You can find more about Kendall here.
I sipped my glass of wine under a string of lights on an outdoor patio with friends last week. The table was spread with roasted lamb, arugula salad, and an elaborate cheese board. It was the first time this group had been together in two years, since cross-country moves had separated us all. And yet between the laughter and the storytelling, it felt as though no time had passed. We had much to celebrate: birthdays, a baby, multiple ordinations. Our friendship had been built together around the table through a regular meal share in seminary—we each took a night of the week to cook for the crowd, allowing us rest from cooking the other nights and ensuring a break from our studies to eat with friends. So formative were these rhythms to our friendship, it only felt natural to slip right back in.
Almost everyone can share of a similar event, a meal that made them feel grounded, loved, known—I imagine you’re conjuring up the memory of one right now. You feel your shoulders and jaw relax as you remember what it felt like to belong. Your stomach growls as the faint scent of the food hits your nose.
I also imagine you can just as easily think of a meal where you felt out of place. Perhaps a tense family thanksgiving or an awkward coffee hour at church. You feel yourself gripping your mug of coffee a bit tighter, just as you did that day.
Our senses have a powerful ability to hold onto memories. Oftentimes we view sight and sound as superior in the hierarchy of senses, treating taste, touch, and smell as less reliable, less important, more basic. But these basic senses, especially taste and smell, are actually spectacular at helping us locate memories. The location in the brain that processes smell sends information immediately to the limbic system, which processes memory and emotion. It’s why a smell can transport you back to a place or an event, and why you can so easily conjure up the taste and smell of the meal you just brought to mind.
This close connection between memory, taste, and smell, is the reason meals can be powerful places of storytelling and remembering, as well as a meaningful platform for social bonding—a fancy way of saying they help us forge relationships.
It’s also, I believe, why so many stories in Scripture are told through meals: the meal of forbidden fruit that brought death into the world in Genesis 3, to the meal of bread and wine that marks a death which brought the world back to life. Meals of miraculous provision, from manna in the desert to loaves and fish for an audience of 5,000. Meals that mark God’s presence, from the showbread held in the ark of the covenant to the bread broken on the path to Emmaus.
And it’s why Jesus offered a meal to us as the cornerstone of Christian worship—a bite of bread and a sip of wine to tell the story of Christ’s death and resurrection, to sustain us as we wait for the full redemption of all things, to teach us to hunger for the meal to come: what Revelation describes as a marriage supper of the Lamb.
As a food scholar who studies the social dynamics of eating together, as well as a student of theology, I’m fascinated by the ways that meals can shape our understanding of God, of community, of worship, and more. And I’m convinced that around the table, as we probe our relationships to food, eating, and the table, we can find healing in relationship to our own bodies and the Body of Christ as well.
Enter: Worship at the Table, a six-lesson curriculum for churches, Sunday schools, small groups, and groups of friends that traces the story of God, as well as our own stories, through meals.
Developed out of my research in the fields of both food studies and theology, in collaboration with expert curriculum builders, I believe this program is just what is needed as we grapple with the impact of Covid isolation on our communities. Each week, a group gathers together around the table—an elaborate spread of lamb and salad, or simply a box of doughnuts and steaming mug of coffee—to study the meals contained in Scripture, to probe their own relationships to food and the table, and to imagine together how to use the table as a place for spiritual formation and for healing.
Worship at the Table is built on a fundamental tenet of Christian practice: the table set with bread and wine — a simple setting that tells the most profound story of all time. The story of Christ’s broken body and our fragmented humanity, of God’s presence, provision, and promise to heal.
By the end of this program, participants will understand the role of meals in the story of Scripture, be able to reflect on the positive and negative aspects of their relationship to food, be aware of their gifts and limitations in hosting meals for others, and have a plan for building community in their own homes and church.
I hope that, through it, you and your friends, family, community, or congregation will sense more deeply God’s healing presence and ongoing provision in your own lives too.
Learn more about Worship at the Table, which we will pilot in 25 churches this fall, by visiting www.edibletheology.com/worship-at-the-table
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