January 2021

Peter Fitch speaks about 1 John 4:15-21. He talks about several ideas he sees in this passage. The main thing he considers has to do with the Nag Hammadi texts that were discovered in 1945 after being hidden since the 4th century. Some of the writings present Jesus in a different way than does the author of this letter. This demonstrates that there was a diversity of belief about Jesus in the early church, and it may be helpful for us to ask questions about where the truth lies. Ultimately, though, the most important part of the passage has to do with securing our souls in the sense that we’re loved so that we can, in turn, do our best to give that security to others.

After listening to the talk, this song, Show the Way by David Wilcox is a good follow-on.

And this Pierce Pettis cover of God Believes in You by Carolyn Arends would be good after that.

Peter Fitch continues in 1 John 4. Last week was about the way that truth and reality and looking for the fruit of something can help us to discern better paths. This week, the passage we look at explains what the best fruit looks like–it’s love. Peter uses this to speak about recent political news from the US and then turns toward the great affirmation that is found in these words: everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

After listening to the talk, a great thing to do would be to listen to this version of U2’s “Love is Bigger than Anything in its Way.”

Next, listen to Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons, Better Days, from this week’s Inaugural Concert. It was amazing.

Walter Thiessen – This is a follow-up to another reflection on the parable of the Persistent Widow by Mark Groleau at SCC on December 20. This explores the idea of active protest as prayer that enables imagination and keeps belief alive.

I’d invite you to follow up the talk by watching this video with lyrics (or this shorter video) of the song “Glory” from the film Selma (about the most important march of Martin Luther King, Jr.) – a march that was an act of prayer that kept alive the belief of millions, including John Lewis (who mentored the two new Georgia senators). I’d invite you to compare the dignity, compassion and beauty of this protest in comparison to what you saw this past week. Good protest is prayer.

Peter Fitch wonders about the meaning of the old phrase, “the beauty of holiness.” Different people give their ideas about what it might mean in light of their experiences in life. Peter then imagines it through the eyes of Martin Buber. What if it had more to do with appreciating the beauty of each thing we are observing and each person we talk with, than it does with the religious baggage it’s acquired over the years? This service began with an instrumental by Jon Balcarrass, then a video of Matisyahu’s song, “One Day.” After the talk, we listened to a recording by Dean Clark of Peter Mayer’s song, “Everything is Holy Now.” Then we watched a video collage of beautiful images as we listened to Jackson Browne’s song, “Alive in the World.”

On video and podcast, the morning talk starts at the 14:30 mark.