Vox Veniae Podcast

New Creation

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?

Sacred Witness

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

1. Where do you notice scapegoating inside us and between us today?
2. Who is “an opponent” you might wish to get to know better as a person?
3. How are you becoming a source of “unexpected kindness” toward someone?

Lent & Longing

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?

Fasting From Our Exhausted Selves

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

1. Book: Wondrous Encounters for Lent by Richard Rohr
2. Book: Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps by Richard Rohr
3. Music: Sanctuary: Exploring the Healing Path by Alana Levandoski
4. Podcast: The Cosmic We, season 4, episode 1 (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2023) 
   1. https://cac.org/podcasts/crisis/ 
5. 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

Transfigured/Transformed

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?

Resisting Oppression with Repentance

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?

Remembering Vox's Roots

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?

RSVPing to the Astounding Vocation of Our Humanity

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?

The Explosive Power of a Still Small Voice

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?

Good News Embodied

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)?

Gifted for Mutuality

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?

Watering Down Fear

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?

Grounded in Imago Dei

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?

Being a Blessing

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?

Joyfully Undone

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?

Navigating Uncertainty

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?

Chords and Metal

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

1. What are my non-negotiables?
2. Who do I have to have around me?
3. What is true for me right now?

Bearing Witness with Whole Lives

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

1. Book: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
2. Website: Hokusai: Waves of Inspiration https://nelson-atkins.org/art/exhibitions/hokusai-waves-of-inspiration-from-the-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/ :

Welcoming Wanderers, Skeptics, and Believers

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?

Pursuing Justice

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?