Vox Veniae Podcast

Behold and Beheld

What step of hope might we take together? Christopher Mack retraces the steps of Mary Magdalene through trauma and isolation to renewal and belonging. [John 20:1-18]

 

Reflection

• What part of your human experience do you need to know God, in Jesus, experiences alongside you?
• How is what you are willing to see impacting how you live?
• What does bearing witness to belonging look like for you this week?

Resources

• Book: Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor
• Book: The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings by John Philip Newell
• Book: Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr
• Book: Belonging: 5 Keys to Unlock Your Potential as a Disciple by Karoline M. Lewis

Downward Path of Greatness

How are we invited to resist the desire for power and living out of our ego? This Palm Sunday, Weylin Lee questions what draws us to certain models of greatness rather than eschewing upward mobility as we follow Jesus on a humble path of solidarity with the vulnerable. [Matthew 21:1-11]

 

Reflection

• How are we invited to resist the desire for power and living out of our ego?
• Who and where are those we need to be in solidary with?
• What does our identity reveal about our authentic calling?

Resources

• Book: The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spiritual Life by Henri Nouwen
• Podcast: Lead Us Not by Sojourners 

Book: This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley

This Side of Heaven

How might trust grow as we invite God into our dry places? This fifth Sunday of Lent, Kimberly Culbertson companions us into vulnerable places of grief, challenge, and trauma, as she considers what healing looks like in our story here and now. [Ezekiel 37]

 

Reflection

• Where in your life are you longing for resurrection? Can you lay that before God?
• Is there somewhere in your life where you are facing resistance to resurrection? Can you lean into Trust?
• Where have you already experienced resurrection? Can you make space for joy and gratitude?

Belonging as Witness

What parts of ourselves feel exiled? On this fourth Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack places the man born blind in conversation with the woman at the well to see how they both bear witness to the power of belonging. [John 4 & 9]

 

Reflection

• How might you consider sacred repair and healing for exiled parts of your life? For  people exiled?
• How might you move toward more belonging for yourself and others?
• What does a commitment to Beloved Community look and sound like for you in the coming weeks?

Resources

• Book: River Flow: New & Selected Poems by David Whyte
• Book: Belonging: 5 Keys to Unlock Your Potential as a Disciple by Karoline M. Lewis
• Book: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human ExperienceTime Away with God by Brené Brown

Illuminating Rest

When you slow down the pace of your life what’s catching up with you? On the third Sunday of Lent, Christopher Mack slows down to listen to the woman at the well and how her encounter with Jesus invites us to rest and wonder. [John 4]

 

Reflection

• Where might you listen for your embodied life’s need for rest?
• How might the light of day be illuminating uncomfortable realities of bias in our community?
• Is there anything you need from Jesus? In mutuality what might Jesus need from us?

Resources

• Book: Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte
• Book: Belonging: 5 Keys to Unlock Your Potential as a Disciple by Karoline M. Lewis
• Book: Invitation to Retreat: The Gift and Necessity of Time Away with God by Ruth Haley Barton

Leaving Home

What helps us “leave home” in trust? On this second Sunday of Lent, Gena St. David sifts through our unsettling experiences of leaving the familiar in parallel with Abraham’s journey into the unknown. [Genesis 12:1-4]

 

Reflection

• How are you “leaving home” (identity, loyalty, authority) in this season?
• What’s helping you “leave home” in trust?
• Who are you “leaving home” with?

Naming Empire’s Enticements

What does it say about our spiritual imaginations that Lenten fasts often center on our relationship to food, drink, or media, but less often on our relationship to power? As we begin Lent, Christopher Mack examines the testing of Jesus in the wilderness through the lens of how we steward and are enticed by power. [Matthew 4:1-11]

Reflection

• Where do you feel the pull to compromise your values and purpose?
• How might the power, perks, and prestige of Empire distract us from collective action?
• Where have you seen scripture, prayer, and community used to hurt and to heal? How might this change how you engage with them in the coming weeks?

Resources

• Book: Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading by Warren Carter
• Book: The Jesus Way: A Conversation On the Ways that Jesus Is the Way  by Eugene Peterson
• Litany: Levingston, Zhailon. “Hope: A Litany Claiming Another World Is Possible and On Its Way.” In Rally: Communal Prayers for Lovers of Jesus and Justice, edited by Britney Winn Lee 
• Vox Values

Trust in the Midst of Uncertainty

How might uncertainty propel us deeper into the mystery and revelation of God’s grace in the midst of injustice, suffering, and oppression? Virginia Cumberbatch sits with the sense of being out of control in our chaotic and heartbreaking world to find faith in learning to trust and work toward God’s Dream when we do not currently see it. [Psalm 99:1-5]

 

Reflection

• How might we invite a spirit of exploration and curiosity in the midst of uncertainty?
• How can the uncertainty or mystery of our human condition embolden us in our faith and in our purpose?
• What’s one thing this week you can invite spirit led revelation?

Resources

• Book: The Cross and the Lynching Tree  by James Cone
• Book: Shoutin’ In the Fire: An American Epistle by Danté Stewart
• Dance: The Dance Theatre of Harlem
• Instagram Social Media Account: @BlackLiturgies Project by Cole Arthur Riley  
• Song: “Man of Your Word” by Maverick City

What Does it Mean to be Reconciled?

How does relational conflict feel inside us? Gena St. David delves into Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to share a hopeful practice for navigating conflict with others, make amends, and embody peace. [Matthew 5:21-24]

 

Reflection

1. Who are you currently separated from (externally or internally)?
2. How might you talk with them about your role in the separation?
3. What might change (be reconciled) inside you after talking with them?

Embodying Our Identity

How are we invited to live out the identity that Christ offers us? Weylin Lee invites us to embody Jesus’ images of salt and light as we collaborate in God’s work, reveal injustice, and  see scripture as wisdom rather than a rulebook. [Matthew 5:13-18]

 

Reflection

• How can we participate and collaborate in God´s work around us?
• Where are the injustices we are invited to reveal and uncover?
• How might we engage scripture as a journey to wisdom?

Resources

• Book: Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women by Grace Ji-Sun Kim
• Book: How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers–and Why That’s Great News by Peter Enns
• TV Show: Hulu’s The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones

Come On Down

Where do you return for renewal when your heart feels heavy with sorrow? Christopher Mack holds recent national tragedies up to the beatitudes and wonders how they invite us into an alternative to the violence of our world, while simultaneously creating space for us to process the hardships we encounter while partnering for God’s Justice. [Matthew 5:3-12]

 

Reflection

• Where do I most struggle to see God present and enveloping my own life?
• Is there a situation or group in your world where it’s hard to imaging God? How might you open yourself to Radical Love?
• What invitation in the beatitudes might there be for action and contemplation this week?

Resources

• Book: Shoutin’ In the Fire: An American Epistle by Danté Stewart
• Book: The Ninefold Path of Jesus: Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes by Mark Scandrette 
• Book: Rally: Communal Prayers for Lovers of Jesus and Justice Edited by Britney Winn Lee
• Art: The Mothership Designed by George Clinton, Peter Larkin, Jules Fisher 
• Art: The Mothership (Capsule) Created by Jefferson Pinder

Cruciform Care

How is Jesus revealed through our community? Christopher Mack reflects on the messiness of community and how the cross leads us into solidarity with the marginalized as our personal and communal wounds are mended. [1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17-18]

 

Reflection

• Where do you experience the wounds of severed community?
• How might the cruciform power of Jesus bring care to your pain?
• What creative redemptive foolishness might you be invited to participate in?

Resources

• Book: Forgiveness and Reparation, the Healing Journey by Mpho Tutu van Furth

Immersed in the Way of Christ

As we begin a new year, how might we discover rhythms and moments of immersing ourselves in the way of Christ? Weylin Lee opens up about how experience and encounter get us unstuck and in step with God’s Radical Love  [John 1:35-42]

 

Reflection

• How might we sit in the tension of the paradox of Christ?
• How can we intentionally make space to listen?
• What ways can we foster community towards transformation?

Resources

• Book: Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems by Wendy K. Smith and Marianne W. Lewis

The Mystery of God

Speaker Gena St. David uses the phrase "all bodies matter" in today's homily in the context of support and solidarity for the vision and mission of Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/. She begins the new year reflecting on Epiphany and how mystery can lead us into goodness, belonging, and beautiful embodiment. [Ephesians 3:5-12]

 

Reflection

• When have you felt part of a larger body?

Resources

• Visual Art: Myein by Ann Hamilton
• Vox’s Values: Mystery

Unexpected Joy and Peace

What are we invited to do or change as we consider the unexpected disruption that the first Christmas brought with the birth of a baby? On the eve of Christmas Eve, Weylin Lee leads us in the practice of lectio divina through a reflection over the past year and through the Christmas story  [Luke 2:8-15]

 

Resources

• Book: Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans

Dreaming of a Just Love

How do we move from our reasonable resolutions to dreaming in league with the Divine? On the fourth week of advent, Christopher Mack opens up about how experience and encounter get us unstuck and in step with God’s Radical Love  [Matthew 1:18-25]

 

Reflection

• How is Jesus being “with us” an anchor through imperfections and surprises this season?
• Is there someone you might respond differently to in light of God’s Love?
• What’s awakened and unsettled in you as you move with God through the certainty of the status quo to the creative unfolding of God’s Just Love?

Resources

• Book: Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor
• Book: Silence: And Other Surprising Invitations of Advent  by Enuma Okoro
• Poetry: For a New Beginning By John O’Donohue https://luminaryquotes.com/quote/for-a-new-beginning

Making Space for the Unexpected

How do you usually respond to something that’s unexpected? On the third week of advent, Weylin Lee invites us to glimpse restoration and healing for ourselves and those around us, even in the most uncomfortable places and seemingly invisible people. [Matthew 11:2-11]

Reflection

• What are the glimpses of restoration around us in the midst of disappointment?
• What are the uncomfortable truths that we’re invited to hear and engage?
• Who are the invisible that we need to acknowledge and advocate for?

Resources

• Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women by Grace Ji-Sun Kim

What Does It Mean to Repent?

How does God relate to us through trust? As we enter the second week of advent, Gena St. David invites us into a wilder waiting in the wilderness, as we reconsider misperceptions of our life and their ramifications. [Matthew 3:1-6]

 

Reflection

•  Who has embodied God’s love for you?
•  How has your perception of love changed after being with them?
•  What misperceptions about God, love, or ourselves need confessing?

 

Resources

•  The Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature by Gerald May 

Daring Disruption

How might we foster hope among so much grief and cyclical injustice in the world? Christopher Mack begins this season of Advent slowing down to glimpse with the prophet Isaiah, a word that might remake our world. [Isaiah 2:1-5]

 

Reflection

• What ruts of routine or quicksands of status quo are constraining your life or world?
• How might you move in ways congruent with your openness to hope?
• Is there a place of deadly chaos you are lamenting? How might that be an act of hope?

 

Resources

• Sometimes by David Whyte https://www.themarginalian.org/2020/08/19/david-whyte-sometimes/
• Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing through Grief by John Claypool
• Rise Up Shepherd: Advent Reflection on the Spirituals by Luke Powery

Whose Apocalypse Is It Anyway?

How might I endure in the presence of fear without being overcome by it? Christopher Mack looks at an apocalyptic biblical text, and how it invites us to reflect on our own fears, challenges, tragedies, and violence in light of the Jesus Way. [Luke 21:5-8, 10-13, 17-19]

 

Reflection

• How might the name of Jesus guide and ground you in chaotic and troubling times?
• Where might you be led astray by easy answers, charismatic personalities, shiny spectacles, or a group to scapegoat?
• What is essential about your life that you must not betray in challenging times?

 

Resources

• Pope Francis Discusses LGBTQ Catholics with James Martin SJ In Private Vatican Audience by Gerard O’Connell