This week Jess shared more reflections on the poem that we used last week (“God’s Dream” by Charles Peguy) and its relevance to the season of Epiphany – recognizing the Presence of God’s heart as we experience what resonates in us.
On Christmas Eve we had a candlelight service full of the warmth of friends and family, songs, dance, readings and a thoughtful homily by Jess Williams.
On the Second Sunday of Advent, Jess Williams gives a talk on the Jeremiah passage that emphasizes that a surface peace that doesn’t face real and present divisions is no peace at all.
We had our first communion liturgy service (downstairs). You can hear the readings and listen to Jess Williams share some reflections on All Saints Day with the help of Nadia Bolz-Weber and some responses from those gathered (you may have to turn your volume up to hear some of them).
Jess Williams begins sharing about the four “core longings” that the Imagination Team heard from those that they interviewed on their hopes for the SCC community. The first is the longing for continued growth in diversity and inclusion, and Jess connected our need for diversity with Jesus’ emphasis on including the marginalized and on the interdependence that is named for us so well in 1 Corinthians 12.
This morning, as we began a new season for SCC, Jess shared some thoughts on transitions before Rachael led us in a lectio divina exercise with a John O’Donohue reading on thresholds.
Today, Jess Williams reflected on the themes we’ve been exploring this month, placing particular emphasis on how we get through times of struggle or growth. She invited everyone to contemplate what it feels like to be in the middle of a struggle, and the time of sharing that followed was a gift to experience. Then, using some insights from Rilke and others, she explored what it’s like to treat our questions as guides, and to live our way into the answers.
Today, Jessica Williams spoke about hope and defiance and shared how accessing her own defiance helped her to access hope. She pointed out some good reasons for defiance in these times — and thanked SCC for the ways they’ve defied oppressive practices in the church and allowed the presence of God in the people around them to change and propel them toward new, more loving and inclusive ways of being a community together. She thinks that this matters more than we might know, and encourages the community to keep going.
Today, Jessica Williams explored ideas about what it means to be seen by God. She began with the story of Hagar, relying on womanist midrash for deeper insights into the lived experience of Hagar. After this introduction everyone was invited to share what they noticed through this lens, and all of these perspectives created a fuller, more empathic understanding of the text and of Hagar’s life. Then she shared a personal “Hagar story” from a difficult season in her life. Reflecting on this, Jessica points out that when we understand that the God who sees us loves every part of us we can begin to come out of hiding and open ourselves up to experience what it’s like to be seen, to be known, and to be loved. To end the service we listened to Everything by Alanis Morrissette, and after the service we conspired about road trips to catch Alanis on tour this summer.Â
Jessica Williams talks about the experience of deconstruction in her own life, and reflects on how the reality of this experience has been a little more like the work of careful excavation to recover something precious. She uses this metaphor and others to share a bit about her history of losing the ability to believe certain church doctrines while maintaining a deep love and affection for church communities throughout her life. She sees this process of losing, or letting go of what was, as a gift that can reveal a truer beauty that’s been there all along.