Vox Veniae Podcast

Homily: The Good Work What stories and beliefs did you inherit about sexuality? On this second Sunday after Epiphany, Kimberly Culbertson invites us to question and explore our inherited beliefs and practice, in light of Paul’s paradigm of the good and beneficial.  [1 Corinthians 6:12-13]   Reflection As you consider the work of being human, can you begin to prayerfully ask God, “Is this beneficial? Or is this destructive in some way?”  How can you lean into community as you discern right actions for your life?   We are members of one another. How is your life helping your communities to thrive

Can you recall a life realization that in retrospect appeared glaringly obvious? On this first Sunday after Epiphany, Lilly Ettinger invites us to wonder at God’s radical inclusion and how it invites the formation of a Beloved Community experiencing rescue and restoration.  [Isaiah 60:1-6] Reflection Where might you “lift your eyes” and see the world around you? Is there a place where you once felt like you didn’t belong but now do?  What changed? What needs to change?  

Who do you know that gives really good hugs? On this Fifth Sunday, Vanessa Maleare leads the Wonder Moment for our New Year’s Eve liturgy and brunch. She invites children of all ages to remember and reside in our beloved belonging. [Galatians 4:4-7]

What are the glimpses of hope, peace, joy, and love that we are invited to notice and hold with us? On the Friday before Christmas, Weylin Lee looks back on our year through both a global and local lens, before inviting us to practice sacred reading or lectio divina to glimpse grace in our own lives. [Luke 2:13-20] Resource Practice: Vox Lectio Divina Guide  https://voxveniae.com/lectio-divina/

Homily: The Joy of Remembering When have you been surprised by joy? On the third Sunday of Advent, Christopher Mack ponders how Mary and Elizabeth found deep joy in challenging circumstances through gratitude, kindness, peacemaking, and solidarity. [Luke 1:46-56] Reflection How might I cultivate joy by practicing gratitude this week? Is there a person or situation where I might choose kindness and generosity? Where can I seek out community and practice solidarity for the road ahead? Resources Commentary: Luke 1-9 (Wisdom Commentary Series)  by Shelly Matthews and Barbara Reid

How are we preparing to embody the peace of Christ and live as peacemakers? On the second Sunday of Advent, Weylin Lee connects peacemaking to the practices of rehumanizing others,   Being present to decentered places, and adopting a posture of consent. [Mark 1:1-8]   Reflection How is love helping me hold on? Which parts of life feel like caterpillar soup? How am I inviting my community to come near?  Resources Article: Welcoming Prayer  by Contemplative Outreach  https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/welcoming-prayer-method/ Poem: Shalom, Her Magnetic Heart Than by Kaitlin Curtice https://www.kaitlincurtice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Curtice_poems.pdf

What helps you hold on? On the first Sunday of Advent, Gena St. David wades into the wilderness to grasp onto hope in these challenging times. [1 Corinthians 1:3-7] Reflection How is love helping me hold on? Which parts of life feel like caterpillar soup? How am I inviting my community to come near?  Resources Instagram: @blackliturgies by Cole Arthur Riley Article: The Three Elements of Self Compassion by Kristin Neff https://self-compassion.org/the-three-elements-of-self-compassion-2/   Podcast: Swearing Is More Important Than You Think by Freakonomics https://freakonomics.com/podcast/swearing-is-more-important-than-you-think/

How might we re-imagine God’s justice in a restorative framework rather than a primarily punitive one? On Christ the King Sunday, Christopher Mack reexamines scriptures on God’s justice and judgment through a lens of nonviolent theology and restorative justice. [Matthew 25:31-40] Reflection Where are you struggling to see God at work in our divisive, violent, over-consumptive, and destructive world? When you long for God to be at work in the world, what values or actions do you hope for? How might our hunger for justice reshape our baggage of images of God’s judgment? Resources Book: Raising Abel: The Recovery of the Eschatological Imagination by James Alison

Finding Wisdom What does wisdom mean to you? Gena St. David glimpses the wisdom of nature as shared through life, trees, and rain. We are invited to consider how we might find spiritual wisdom in the cycle of connection, disconnection, and reconnection embodied in nature and the life of Jesus. [Proverbs 3:13-20] Reflection What wisdom have you learned by observing patterns in nature? Where am I currently working against the wisdom of nature? What does nature teach me about the wisdom of Love? Resources Book: On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old by Parker Palmer Meditation: “Personal Weather Report” from Sitting Still Like a Frog by Eline Snell

Let’s Not Do This When you think about your story of faith, is there a season where you felt especially burdened by the teachings and ideas around you? Kimberly Culbertson follows up her October 1st message, “Rethinking Priesthood” with a reminder of three areas, Problematic Sexual Ethic, Religious Responsibility, and Disregard for Self, where we should reconsider how religious leaders have set limitations to reinforce their own power instead of offering mercy to the marginalized. [Matthew 23:1-5] Reflection What burden might God be trying to lift from your shoulders this morning? What burdensome expectation for others might God be calling you to release? How might you lean into the “rest for your soul” that Jesus promises?

God Loves Every Part What does a hug from God feel like? On this Fifth Sunday, Vanessa Maleare, leads our entire community, including our younger ones from Greenhouse and Zamyn, in a wonder moment. She reminds us that God loves us holistically, including our being, thoughts, and feelings [Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, 31]   Reflection Which song or breath practice might you deepen? Where do you desire to feel more free? How might song or breath help you decide to wait or move? Resources Film: Inside Out by Disney’s Pixar Poem: Broken Record by Michael Moynahan SJ

Marcus Clarke, Resident Artist at Vesper, enters into a conversation with Weylin Lee exploring how art articulates and forms us along our spiritual journey, and encourages us to see our various callings as part of exercising our God given creativity. [Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, 31] Reflection How are we invited to practice creativity and co-create with Creator? How might our practice of making invite healing and restoration? How might we explore our own expression of creating and making? Resources Website: Studio Delmar.  The artistic practice of Marcus Clarke  https://www.delmar.work/

What is Collective Discernment? How do we create a community of equals that resists becoming a cult of personality… that resists celebrity culture? Gena St. David wraps up our fall series on non-hierarchy by inviting us to recall the wisdom we’ve gained from each of our teaching team’s perspectives and practicing collective discernment by listening deeply to the Spirit, our bodies, and to on another as we navigate community conversations and practices. [Philippians 2:1-2]   Reflection What questions are alive inside me today? How might I practice listening deeply to the Spirit, my individual body, and others? Which voices do I tend to elevate above others?

How do we exercise power effectively and holistically? Christopher Mack examines different organizational models and what characteristics might characterize a faith community moving beyond non-hierarchy. [Philippians 4:1-7]   Reflection In a crisis, where do you tend to look for safety, control, or influence? How might you seek a “loyal companion” to help facilitate an  impasse in your life? Is there a practice for right-sizedness you feel drawn to this week?   Resources Book: Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations by Frederic Lafloux

What hesitancies do you have when you consider yourself in relation to priesthood? Kimberly Culbertson explores how we are invited to be hope carriers, resource facilitators, and sacrificial relators as we live out a shared calling. [1 Peter 2:4-5, 9]   Reflection How have you been called out of darkness into marvelous light?  How has God wired you to be part of creating spiritual space for others? How does interdependence change the way you view priesthood?   Resources Book: Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans

How can we grow from engaging tensions in our world? Vanessa Maleare shares her story of being shaped by tension in living out her calling, while reflecting on the story of Peter living in the tension of past failure and present affirmation.  [John 21:18-22]   Reflection Where in your life are you fleeing from tension? Which of these unresolvable tensions calls to you the most?? Which of the unresolvable tensions feels most pressing to engage in personally? Corporately? Resources Book: Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown

How is a practice of shared leadership resistance against oppressive and harmful structures? Weylin Lee vulnerably reflects on the journey of Vox from hierarchy toward non-hierarchy and how this practice is a form of resistance.  [Philippians 2:1-8]   Reflection Who are the voices we need to include at the table? In what ways might you practice love with the most vulnerable? What areas of power and privilege are we invited to let go of? Resources Podcast: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill by Christianity Today Book: When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse by Chuck DeGroat Book: A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture by Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer

What has been your experience of (non)hierarchy in faith communities? At the beginning of our Fall vision series, Gena St. David interrogates our relationship to power and experience of hierarchy in light of a nonviolent messiah who embodied humility.  [Philippians 2:5-8]   Reflection What are the strengths and shadows of hierarchy? How might I practice embracing myself, and others? Do I tend to overutilize or underutilize my power?  Resources Podcast: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill by Christianity Today Book: When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse by Chuck DeGroat Book: A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture by Scot McKnight & Laura Barringer

How do you work through your expired dreams? On the eve of our Fall vision series, Christopher Mack ponders how setbacks, dead ends, failure, and loss shape our spirituality. How might we see ourselves and one another with new eyes of hope, imagination, and solidarity for the journey ahead?  [Exodus 3:1-15]   Reflection How have you been shaped by expired dreams? How might you cultivate humble awareness to see the unexpected in the ordinary? Where are you trying on your own, where you might need to invite others in? Resources Book: Does God Have a Big Toe? Written by Marc Gellman and illustrated by Oscar de Miejo Song: Defying Gravity by Stephen Schwartz from Wicked: A New Musical Article: The Ghosts of Archer City by Michael J Mooney  

How do we show mercy to our bodies as God does? Gena St. David juxtaposes a living sacrifice with the death dealing ways we often do violence to our bodies. She explores how showing mercy, as God does, to our bodies through gentleness, rest, and healing is an act of worship. [Romans 12:1-2]   Reflection Where is God inviting me to try softer this week? What prevents me from resting when I need to? Whose help could I ask for in my healing process? Resources Book: Try Softer: A Fresh Approach to Move Us out of Anxiety, Stress, and Survival Mode--and into a Life of Connection and Joy by Aundi Kolber Book: Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey Book: My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies  by Resmaa Menakem