June 2021

Today, Jessica Williams shared drawing parallels between the lectionary reading in Mark 5 (the healing of Jairus’ daughter and the bleeding woman), the history of Pride, and St. Thecla. She asks the question, “what does faithfulness look like?” while pointing out how in each of these stories the rules/law had to be broken in order to be faithful to the greater law of Love, and to the voice within their own hearts. To end, we watched Glennon Doyle’s animated short-story from her most recent book, Untamed. 

We also listened to the song “Liberty” by Isa Ma.

Here are the notes to today’s talk.

Please take time to listen to this lament by Brian Doerksen and Cheryl Bear, 215

Peter Fitch spoke today about John 2, the story of Jesus turning water into wine. This was Father’s Day, but it was also the Sunday closest to Juneteenth, World Refugee Day, and National Indigenous Peoples Day. The mother of Jesus knew that it was time for a change. Jesus didn’t think so, but he followed her lead. The mother of Emmet Till, the 14 year old who was killed in Mississippi in 1955 for offending a white woman at a store, insisted on an open casket so that people could see what had been done to her son. It is believed that 600,000 people walked past his coffin over three days when he was returned to Chicago. Three months later, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, and soon the Civil Rights Movement was underway. Jesus took the old system and produced something better. So did Emmet Till’s mother and the other heroes of that day. Peter thinks we need new and better wine now. 

We listened to Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel to end the time today.

Walter Thiessen tells the story of Mark 3,
paraphrasing the account of Jesus and the authorities worried about
losing their grip. With amazing boldness, Jesus speaks about the end of
the Enemy as he announces the good news that the “Strong Man” is all
tied up. Hope, courage and imagination are now possible.

In this talk, Peter Fitch continues to examine the first chapter of John’s Gospel. Today he looks at Nathaniel, the person in the narrative who has the easiest time believing that Jesus is the Messiah. His name means “gift of God” and his story can be a reminder that we ourselves ought to quickly receive God’s gifts. Sometimes, for instance, we struggle to receive an attitude of contentment. His example could help us to be more open to this and to other gifts of perspective and wisdom.Music shared today: ‘Be Thou My Vision’ by Fernando Ortega, ‘I Shall Not Want” by Audrey Assad, ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ by Coldplay