Vox Veniae Podcast

Hard Times

For Kid’s Sunday, Gena Minnix reflects on how God invites us through difficult times in our lives [Hebrews 12:1-2].

 

Reflection

• How does my small story connect with the larger story?
• How does 'looking where the artist looked', help me see God's trustworthiness?

 

Resources

• Video: Mountain of Hell Race Crash
• Artist: Tomás Saraceno

 

 

 

Touching the Eternal

Jennifer Cumberbatch reflects on the invitation to joy in the midst of suffering [Romans 5:1-5].

 

Reflection

• Is it possible that suffering (loss, trials, temptations, tribulation) is a portal to the presence of the Holy One and thus a path to experiencing joy?
• Is there divine purpose in suffering?

 

Resources

• Video: Joyful Joyful (Sister Act 2)

 

 

Spiritual Practice

• PLAN: P - Play (Creativity in God’s image), L - Listen for God’s emotions, A - Praise is Appreciation, N - Nurture a heavenly rhythm

Scarce Abundance

Jason Minnix invites to reflect on what we are striving for and what Jesus invites us to consider regarding our attachments [Luke 12:13-21].

 

Reflection

• How might I access the grace to see the nightmares I'm holding onto?
• What does it look like to experience the abundance I already possess?
• Where do I hear invitation to move into my interior work?

 

Spiritual Practice

• What’s my Attachment?  (IF-THEN Belief) “If” _______  - What am I striving for?
 “Then” _____ - What do I imagine that will give me?
• Practice Releasing an Attachment.  Reflect on my attachment, or false belief (IF-THEN Belief).  Take some time to really see it as a nightmare when I look to it as a source of lasting fulfillment.  Become aware of the possibility that I have everything I need to be content right now.

Growing in Substance

Weylin Lee explores what it means for us to grow in a meaningful way if the substance of our faith is Christ [Colossians 2:6-19].

 

Reflection

• How can you allow gratitude to overflow in your life?
• In what ways can you engage the dying process in order to experience life?
• In what ways is our practice of freedom moving us towards Christ?

 

Resources

• Podcast: On Being (David Steindl-Rast)
• Film: The Farewell

 

Spiritual Practice

• Practice of Gratitude: Stop Look Go.  Stop - slow down, stop trying so hard and be present.  Look - open your eyes, ears, senses to soak in all that we’ve been given.  Go - move into the world with gratitude that is overflowing.
• Imagine the Dying Process.  Imagine the death of a loved one, a job or a dream.  Sit in the emotions and feelings that surface from that imagined loss. Invite the disappearance of clinging that is tied to anxiety and insecurity and fear.

 

Here it Comes

For Kid’s Sunday, Gideon Tsang reflects on the story of Mary and Martha and how we can be present here [Luke 10:38-42].

 

Reflection

• How can you invite God into your mess this week?
• What does it look like to practice your preferred posture of presence?

 

Resources

• Song: First World Problems (Chance the Rapper)
• Video: 4 Year Old Mic'd up at Hockey

 

Spiritual Practice

• Welcome Your Mess.  Invite someone into your home without cleaning it.  Sit in the discomfort of being accepted in your mess.
• Learn to Idle.  Sit for 10 minutes in a room with a friend.  Do nothing. Share your observations.

 

Learning Love - Luke 10

Jason Minnix reflects on how we are when it comes to loving people [Luke 10:25-37].

 

Reflection

• Where do I sense empty love in my attempts to care for others?
• How can I receive mercy in those places?
• Where am I waking up to love's invitation now?

 

Spiritual Practice

• Empty Love.  Where do I sense empty love in my attempts to care for others? What fuels it? 
• Practice of Love.  What empty ideas of love need to go?  What is my body telling me about love?

Freedom and Community

Matt Inman reflects on how we can grow in our freedom and what freedom means in community [Galatians 6:1-4].

Reflection

1. Do you believe that God is for your freedom? If so, what does that freedom look like?
2. How might freedom grow for us as a community at Vox?

Resources

• Model: Stages of Change
• Poem: How to Be a Poet (Wendell Berry)

Spiritual Practice

1. Journal. Where does criticism run wild in your mind? Who might you be able to join in a more loving way if you quieted that critical voice?
2. Reflect. Explore what is “ours” and who is “we”? How have you narrowed that in at times and what might it look like to start widening it back out?
3. Write a reminder to yourself.  Base this reminder on your own personality, story and what your work requires of you.

 

Now is the Time

Melanie Jones reflects on what it means for us today that the kingdom of God is here and now [Mark 1:14-15].

Reflection

• How do we live in the wake of freedom?
• How do we #staywoke and avoid daydreaming in our current season of justice-seeking?

Art of the Trinity

For Family Sunday, Gideon Tsang reflects on what we can learn about God and ourselves from creation [Psalm 8].

Reflection

• How can your experience of being loved drown out the unlovable voices in your life
• What thunderstorms are you experiencing that might bring healing and new life?

Resources

• The Observable Universe
• Food: Vietnamese Crawfish

 

The Gift of Presence

For Pentecost Sunday, Weylin Lee explores why God’s spirit and presence is a meaningful gift for us [John 14:8-17].

Reflection

• How can you practice becoming more aware of God’s presence in your life today?
• What does it mean for you to embody God’s Spirit and be a gift of presence to others?

Resources

• Book: Practicing the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence)
• Podcast: NYT The Daily - The Legacy of Rachel Held Evans

Spiritual Practice

• Prayer of Presence. 1. Start and end each day with consenting to God’s leadership for the day (just as you’re waking up and before falling sleeping). 2. Choose a prompt in your day (e.g. favorite color, alarm, daily chore) and pause to invite God’s presence into your actions, your words, your thoughts, your emotions. 3. Practice different time intervals. Start with a few minutes, then an hour, then a full day (inviting God’s presence in the smallest things like picking up groceries, typing, opening and closing doors).
• Welcoming Prayer. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it's for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure. I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself. I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within. Amen.

Resonance

Jason Minnix explores how we can attune to others in life-fostering ways [John 17:20-26]. 

Reflection

• How am I being invited to resonate more with myself, other people, and/or God?
• What does it look like to relax this week into a deeper story?

Resources

• Documentary: Too Funny to Fail
• Movie: The Biggest Little Farm

Spiritual Practice

• Practice Resonance.  What’s it like to be me right now? What’s it like to be me becoming aware of this?
  Share this with someone in one sentence, “Right now I’m aware of …” Imagine what that would be like and respond with an attempt to resonate. (non-verbal or verbal)
• Practice Resonating with God.  What is God resonating with me around today.  Reflect in silence.

 

Peace I Leave With You

Virginia Cumberbatch reflects on how God can use our anxiety to invite us into spaces of refuge, remembering and reconciliation [John 14:23-28].

Reflection

• Remember a time you experienced God's comfort and care in the midst of anxiety?
• How might your anxiety serve as a path to spiritual formation this week?

Resources

• Blog: Camille Styles - Advice from Women Married Over 40 Years
• Song: P E A C E
• MWG: Discussion Guide 

Spiritual Practice

• This week begin to record the times God’s word has met your obedience and your trust. And may I suggest the following reflection on all the times God has said and done: “I will help you.”  “I will strengthen you.” “I will uphold you.” “I’ll give you what you need.” “I will protect you.” etc...
• Together let us eliminate one avoidance practice this week to make room for the Holy Spirit.  How can we clear a pathway for the Spirit to be the loudest voice – even louder than our own?
• How can we step outside the noise of doom, of fear, of chaos this week to practice pursuing peace?

Clean or Profane

Gideon Tsang reflects on how God is inviting us to clean our profane view of the other [Acts 11:1-18].

Reflection

• Who in your life is loving you into more expansive ways of seeing?
• Why do you think we are addicted to judging our distinctions?

Spiritual Practice

• Commonality.  Think of someone who you see as less worthy.  What do you have in common with that person? Try engaging them this week with commonality rather than distinction.

Resources

• MWG: Discussion Guide

 

Discomfort

Weylin Lee reflects on the areas of discomfort that we are being invited to explore in our movement towards experiencing restoration and rest [Psalm 23].

Reflection

• How can we adopt more of a posture of willingness instead of willfulness to allow ourselves to let go of control?
• What patterns need to be disrupted in order for our soul to be restored?
• How can we allow ourselves to receive the goodness and mercy that is chasing after us?

Resources

• Book: A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23
• MWG: Discussion Guide

Spiritual Practice

• Posture of Willingness.  Pick a situation, activity or relationship this week to adopt a posture of willingness.  Pay attention to how letting go of control might move you into comfort and rest instead of isolation and exhaustion.
• Detox.  Pick an area of your life to practice a detox this week (e.g. technology, social media, food, work, social activity).  Pick an appropriate amount of time (e.g. week, day, portion of a day). In the spaces of discomfort, notice what parts of your true identity are needing to be restored.

Familiar Change

Jason Minnix reflects on how we respond to change in our lives [John 21:1-14].

Reflection

• How can I wait in the familiar with patience and compassion?
• How are the fires of belonging calling me to forgive myself?

Spiritual Practice

• Embracing the Familiar. What do I turn to when things don’t go the way I want them to?  Wait in the familiar with compassion this week. Assume it’s meaningful.
• Reflect on Belonging.  Where are the small fires of belonging now?

 

Forgiveness

Gena Minnix reflects on how Jesus invites us into the process of forgiveness and what that looks like to practice [John 20:19-23].

Reflection

• What injury is currently disturbing my peace?
• This week, how might I practice consenting to the Spirit’s movement toward forgiveness within me?

Resources

• Video: SNL - Astronaut Anne McClain
• Video: Mariachi and Tacos Party
• MWG: Discussion Guide 

Spiritual Practice

• Name the injuries that disturb our peace.  Pass the peace of Christ during liturgy.
• Listen and tell the stories of our grief.
• Forgiving ourselves as we extend forgiveness to others. Learning to consent to the Spirit’s movement of forgiveness within us.

 

Resurrection & Meaning

As we celebrate Easter, Gideon Tsang invites us to consider what resurrection means for us and why we tell this story over and over [John 20:1-18].

 

Reflection

• Awakening begins while it is still dark. How can we be present and patient with our slow awakening?
• What does it look like to live out of abundance this week?

Resources

• Video: Dax Shepard Interview on Recovery
• MWG: Discussion Guide

 

Spiritual Practice

• Catch a sunrise.  Be present for the entirety of the sunrise.  Remind yourself of the gentle slowness of healing & awakening.
• LOVE says unmerited, “I’m so happy you exist”.  Tell a neighbor you’re so happy they exist. Once a day this week, tell someone, I’m so happy you exist.

Fetching Transformation

As we continue in the season of Lent, Jason Minnix invites us to reflect on what is bringing us transformation into our lives right now [Luke 19:28-40]. 

Reflection

• What is bringing my transformation now?
• How am I being converted into gentleness?

Resources

• Podcast: Hidden Brain - One Head, Two Brains
• Podcast: On Being (Jean Vanier)
• MWG: Discussion Guide

Spiritual Practice

• Godly Play.  Where am I at with new meaning today?  Opening. Insight. Scanning. Articulation.  Will to Closure.
• Create a metaphor for your transformation.  What’s my changing journey/ transformation like?  Reach for stories that are like what you’re being invited into.

Embracing Needs

As we continue in the season of Lent, Liz Schepel invites us to explore and embrace our needs that we sometimes push aside [Psalm 63].

 

Reflection

• What emotion has been dominant in your life?  What personal need might be at the root of those feelings?
• What do you tend to put ahead of your own needs?
• In what ways can we respond empathetically to our own needs this week?

Resources

• Song: After the Storm (Mumford & Sons)
• MWG: Discussion Guide 

Spiritual Practice

• Feelings and Needs.  Find ways to slow down and discern your dominant feelings and name the need.  See if you can find different ways to meet that need.
• Safe love.  What does safe love feel like for you?  What is it inviting you to receive? What do you need to receive?

Last Shall be First

As we continue in the season of Lent, Melanie Jones reflects on the relationship between our faith and suffering and how Jesus is in it with us [Mark 10: 28-31].

Reflection

• How am I being invited to access salvation?
• What does it look like to follow Jesus in a meaningful way now?

Resources

• MWG: Discussion Guide