Last Sunday at the River, we wrestled with how Jesus used stories and shared history to attempt to connect with people who were suspicious of him and who saw him as a threat. Stories shape what feels “obvious” to us, and they can both reveal and reshape how we see ourselves and others. At the end of the sermon, Maddie offered a few book recommendations for folks looking to explore stories as a response to our current political moment. Today we're going to explore two of those books in a little more depth.

This week’s Resources of the Week offer two paths to practice listening and witness in our own lives: one by learning from the faithful stories of Christians in a hard historical moment, and the other by learning how we can share and receive stories courageously today.

For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional
by Hanna Reichel
This devotional draws deeply on the lived stories and reflections of Christians during Nazi Germany, especially those connected to the Confessing Church resistance, whose faith was tested under real threat and ambiguity. It uses those voices as everyday witnesses to help us sit with scripture and our present moment with patience, humility, and grounded attention. Their stories remind us that faith grows through presence in the midst of fear and confusion.

Why it matters this week:
When our conversations feel urgent or polarized, listening to those who lived through incomparable fear with attentive faith can help us slow down, notice assumptions, and ask where God might be at work in our moment.

Try this: Read one reflection each day, journal about what lingers with you, and pray for the courage to notice God’s movement before rushing to conclusions.

I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times

by Mónica Guzmán

This book is helpful guide for engaging others' stories and sharing our own with curiosity. Guzmán’s work is a thoughtful guide to navigating deep divides but by cultivating fearlessly curious conversations grounded in wonder, humility, and careful questions. She draws from personal experience, research, and real-life dialogues to show how simple curiosity can bridge seemingly unbridgeable gaps in understanding.

Why it matters this week:
Jesus’ parables are invitations to say, “I never thought of that that way.” Guzmán shows how those moments of insight—when we’re genuinely surprised by another’s view—can happen in our own conversations if we’re willing to ask better questions and listen deeply.

Try this: Notice one person this week with whom you’ve felt divided, and ask a genuinely curious question like, “What shaped your view on that?” Then listen to understand before responding.

Reflection Prompt for the Week
​Where have you been sure you were right—without listening first?
Write that down. Then pick a moment this week to ask one question that opens instead of closes a conversation.

This past Sunday, I (Alison) was excited to kick off a new sermon series called "Jesus's Parables: Meeting God Through Story." Each week during this series we are going to take a look at one — or maybe two — of Jesus’s parables. And we are going to explore how these engaging, provocative, and often ambiguous stories can help us to meet God in new, life-giving ways. 

The first parable we explored is referred to by a variety of names — the Parable of Hearers and Doers, or the Parable of Wise and Foolish Builders, or the Parable of the Two Foundations. It appears in both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke at the very end of Jesus’s most famous recorded sermon — commonly known as The Sermon the Mount (Matthew) or The Sermon on the Plain (Luke). It was as if Jesus ended his sermon by saying something like, “I have shared much wisdom with you today. What you do with it is up to you. Will you act upon what you’ve heard? Or won’t you? The choice is yours.”

Matthew's version of the parable says this:
“Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. 
“And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (Matthew 7:24-27, NRSVUE)

It seems to me that this parable is less about what labels we embrace or what beliefs we hold, and more about our ability to respond to the wisdom that we receive. When we encounter thought-provoking ideas and practices that resonate with us, how able are we to take what we’ve heard and apply it to our lives? Does it come in one ear and go out the other? Or does it stick with us, shaping us, and spurring us to take action? When it comes to Jesus’s teachings, how able are we to not just understand and agree with what Jesus taught but to also do the things he said to do?

What’s really interesting to me is that in this story Jesus did not say that those who fail to act on what they hear are bad people, or that they’re lazy, or that they don’t love God, or that God is disappointed in them, or that they are going to be punished in the afterlife. Instead Jesus appealed to his audience’s self-interest regarding their experiences of life on Earth. To me, this sounds a lot like Jesus saying that following his teachings — especially those laid out in the Sermon on the Mount — can help us to develop the inner strength we need to better weather life’s storms. The storms will still come — that’s just the nature of life — but putting Jesus’s words into action can help us to feel more grounded and resilient.

Dr. Rick Hanson's Research on Inner Strength
Toward the end of my sermon, I briefly mentioned the research of psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson. Much of Hanson’s work is focused on how, in his words, “we can use the power of positive neuroplasticity to change our brain and grow inner strengths so we can be happier, more confident, and more calm — no matter what life throws our way.”

Hanson says that inner strength — which he defines as “the reservoir of psychological and emotional resources within us that allows us to face life’s challenges with resilience, grace, and determination” — is not purely innate. Instead, inner strength is actually something we can cultivate by taking steps to change our brain.

Through his research, Hanson has identified twelve aspects or qualities that contribute to inner strength. The Awake Network summarized them this way:

• Self-Caring: Be on your own side and become more resilient
• Mindfulness: Steady your mind and become more focused
• Learning: Grow beneficial traits and take in the good
• Vitality: Befriend your body and become determined
• Gratitude: Find the beauty and take more pleasure
• Confidence: Let go of shame and satisfy your core needs
• Calm: Learn to cool your anger and become more relaxed
• Motivation: Honor your desires and enjoy the fullness of life
• Intimacy: Get connected and create better relationships
• Courage: Become assertive and rise to challenges
• Aspiration: Deal with fears and realize your dreams
• Service: Resource yourself and become compassionate

As I considered these qualities, I found myself curious to see how much they connected with Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. I discovered that they actually correlate quite well! As a bit of a thought exercise I connected sections of the Sermon on the Mount to each of the twelve qualities, identifying specific teachings from Jesus that can help us to cultivate the different aspects of inner strength. Below, I've outlined what I came up. Let us know what you think! We are always happy to hear how you are responding to our sermon messages and Resource of the Week Posts.

Self-Caring: Be on your own side and become more resilient

• “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
• Notes:
  • ​The logic of the Golden Rule only works if we start from a place of loving and treating ourselves well.
  • Thus, learning how to love ourselves well is an aspect of spiritual growth.

Mindfulness: Steady your mind and become more focused

• “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:25-34)
• Notes:
  • ​It’s wise to plan for tomorrow. Please do!
  • At the same time, there is wisdom and freedom in acknowledging and learning how to identify the limits of our control. There are limits to how much worrying can accomplish. ("And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?")
  • The encouragement of this teaching is to ground ourselves in the only time that truly exists (the present) and to not miss the “wow that’s happening now.” (Thanks Daniel Tiger!)
  • Jesus tells us that connecting with God's creation (the birds of the air and the lilies of the field) can help us to lean into mindfulness.

Learning: Grow beneficial traits and take in the good

• “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-17)
• Notes:
  • If we want to be intentional about taking in the good, then we need to look at the fruits. Whether it's a teacher, a teaching, a practice, a theology, a habit, a relationships pattern, a coping mechanism, etc., we can evaluate it's usefulness by the fruit that it bears.
  • A "good" tree bears "good" fruit, while a "bad" tree bears "bad" fruit. For example, "good" theology leads to "good" results, while "bad" theology leads to "bad" results; "good" coping mechanisms lead to "good" outcomes, while "bad" coping mechanisms lead to "bad" outcomes; and so on.
  • By “good” results I mean more love, more connection, more life rather than more shame, more disconnection, more death.
  • At the River, we believe that engaging with God should be life-giving and that the spiritual journey is meant to positively engage all aspects of our selves — our hearts, souls, minds, bodies, etc. So, we seek to embrace theology that bears "good" fruit — or living water — for ourselves, for others, and for the world around us. As a result, this means that we try to emphasize things like freedom, joy, and emotional health, and that we are adamant that things like shame, fear, pressure and manipulation are not compatible with the way of Love.
  • This approach — evaluating the fruit — is one that you can apply to so many aspects of your life, not just the ones that are viewed as explicitly spiritual. 
    
    

Vitality: Befriend your body and become determined

• “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)
• Notes:
  • This may not be exactly what Jesus was getting at here, but these verses make me think about he ways that all the different parts of us are interconnected  — heart, mind, body, soul, etc.
  • Unfortunately, much of Christian tradition has a strange relationship with bodies — fearing them, shaming them, controlling them, punishing them. These impulses are odd for a faith that is centered around embodiment or incarnation — God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus.
  • The stories of Jesus in the gospels are incredibly physical: a mother giving birth, water being turned into wine, a woman bleeding, a person being lifted down through the ceiling, mud being wiped on a man’s eyes, bread being broken and eaten together, feet being washed, wounds being touched, and so on.
  • It seems that matter matters to God. And yet, many of us can testify to the ways that we have been taught to treat our bodies as hindrances to spiritual practice.
  • I wonder, what might it look like to reclaim our bodies as good, sacred, and made in the image of God? To engage our senses as entry points into deeper spiritual practice? Might this be one way of embracing the kind of healthy vision that can fill our bodies with light?
  • I've found the work of Dr. Hillary L. McBride to be a helpful resource in this area.

Gratitude: Find the beauty and take more pleasure

• “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.​
• “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
• “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
• “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
• “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
• “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
• “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
• “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:3-11)
• Notes: 
  • The Beatitudes remind me that one of the challenges of faith is to learn how acknowledge and hold both the good and the terrible. To not bury our heads in the sand; or slip into toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing, or be overcome by cynicism, hopelessness, and despair.
  • In my own life, I have experienced incredibly comfort (from God and from friends) in the midst of profound grief. This comfort did not magically make everything okay or fully relieve the pain of mourning, but it did help me to continue to put one foot in front of the other and to know that I was not alone in what I was going through. It was a blessing in the midst of terrible circumstances.
  • My theological understanding of these ideas has been shaped significantly by the work of both Kate Bowler and Thomas Jay Oord. I encourage you to check out their work and below I've included a couple quotes that have been meaningful to me over the years:
    • “Victims needn’t say, ‘thank you, God,’ because evil occurred. It wasn’t God’s will. But they can believe God works in every situation, trying to squeeze good from the bad God didn’t want in the first place. They say, ‘In spite of pain and tragedy, I’m grateful for the good that is in my life, good that has God as its source.’” --Thomas Jay Oord
    • “Life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.” --Kate Bowler

Confidence: Let go of shame and satisfy your core needs

• “People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:15-16)
• Notes:
  • Shame is such a pervasive force. In the Garden of Eden story, we see how Adam and Eve go from being naked and unashamed to covering up and hiding themselves from God. 
  • Overcoming shame, letting go of our "coverings," learning how to receive the unconditional love of God, and learning how to love and accept ourselves are all crucial aspects of spiritual growth.
  • It can be very scare to let ourselves be seen, to let our light shine before others. It is an inherently vulnerable act because it involves opening ourselves up to potential judgement. It takes courage, but it's important to remember that this is how we let the love in and help to set others free.
  • I am reminded of these quotes from Marianne Williamson, Brené Brown, and Hillary L. McBride.
    • "​We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, Our presence automatically liberates others.” —Marianne Williamson
    • “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” --Brené Brown
    • “Belonging is the innate, human desire to be a part of something larger than us. Because this yearning is so primal, we often try to acquire it by fitting in and seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging, but often barriers to it. True belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world. Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” —Brené Brown
    • “Seeing and being seen are rehumanizing. Feeling felt inherently connects us back to ourselves and to each other.” --Hillary L. McBride

Calm: Learn to cool your anger and become more relaxed

• “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the Gehenna of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5:21-26)
• Notes: 
  • Feelings themselves are neither good nor bad — they are messengers trying to tell us something important. What matters is what we do with our feelings — how we choose to process them, express them, act in response to them, etc.
  • Anger expressed in healthy ways can be healing and constructive. At the same time, it's worth considering the ways that anger expressed destructively can lead to experiences of “Hell” on Earth in our lives now.
  • Interestingly, the second half of this passage seems to be about someone else having something against you — meaning you have done something to harm them and you now need to pursue repentance/restoration/restitution. What does healthy engagement with anger (theirs and yours) look like in this context?

Motivation: Honor your desires and enjoy the fullness of life

• “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)
• Notes:
  • Connecting with our desires can feel scary. What if they don’t come true? Sharing them with God can feel vulnerable. What if my prayer isn’t answered (at all or in the way I hope)?
  • These feelings are valid. At the same time, it’s important to remember that there are also natural consequences to not connecting with and pursuing our desires. ("If you don't ask, the answer is always no." "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." And so on.) 
  • Additionally, unacknowledged and unexamined desires can come out sideways. They often make themselves known in the form of things like jealousy, judgment, dismissiveness, a sour grapes attitude, mean-spiritedness, and/or superiority. Getting curious about our envy, instead of shutting it down, can be a path to joy, fulfillment, and better relationships with ourselves and others.
  • I have faith that God cares about our needs, hopes, desires, and dreams, and that God is always, always working for our good. But, there are limits to what God can do in our lives and in the world without our cooperation. (For more on this consider Thomas Jay Oord's concept of “amipotence.”)

Intimacy: Get connected and create better relationships

• “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)
• Notes:
  • These teaching from Jesus encourages us to lean into self-awareness, to be able to see ourselves more clearly, and also to be more generous in how we engage with others.
  • Drs. John and Julie Gottman are known for their research around what allows relationships to be healthy and long-lasting. In particular, they’ve done a lot of work on marital stability and divorce prediction. While they focus primarily on romantic relationships, their advice can be applicable to many different types of relationships.
  • The Gottmans have found that the four most common relationships killers are Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, and Stonewalling. Unhealthy judgement (which is different from critiques or complaints offered in constructive ways) and lack of self-awareness add fuel to the fires of these destructive relationship patterns.
  • The good news is that there are antidotes — specific habits we can adopt instead. You can read more about them here and here.
  • I'd also recommend reading here about how boundaries are an essential component for developing a generous spirit.

Courage: Become assertive and rise to challenges

• “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
• Notes:
  • Pursuing unconditional love and putting Jesus's words into practice — i.e. entering through the narrow gate — are not easy tasks. They invite us to be reflective and intentional about how we move through the world; to, at times, act counterculturally so that we can live in accordance with our values; to be willing to let go of things like power, status, and wealth for the sake of defending the dignity and worth of all people.
  • The Bible is clear that taking up our crosses daily is an important part of following Jesus. This means reckoning with things like pain, hurt, rejection, disappointment, remorse, failure, loss, and grief. Borrowing language from Brené Brown, it means “putting our vulnerability on the line.”​
  • This is what it means to die to the self, to lose your life for the sake of finding it. And all of this requires courage!
  • If we choose to enter through the narrow gate, let’s not do so because we are glorifying suffering and sacrifice, or out of guilt, fear, shame, or manipulation. Instead, let’s follow the way of love with courage — even through life’s inevitable pain and hardship — with a deep sense of freedom. And let’s do so because we are truly convinced, each of us for ourselves, that this is ultimately the path to life and to mutual flourishing.

Aspiration: Deal with fears and realize your dreams

• “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
• Notes:
  • A life of faith asks to us to consider what really matters. What kind of treasures are short-lived (treasures on earth) and what kind of treasures are long-lasting (treasures in heaven)?
  • Fear often drives us to pursue the former. Embracing, sitting with, and moving through fear helps us to set our sights on the latter.
  •  The final line of this teaching is so interesting: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
  • It seems like common sense that if we care about something we will naturally invest in it, and in many cases we do operate this way. But the reverse is true as well! We have a tendency to protect, and to continue to invest in, places where are treasure already is.
  • This instinct to safeguard, to double down on our investments, can be constructive if the target is worthwhile (i.e. treasures in heaven). However, this instinct can also keep us stuck (focusing on treasures on earth) and prevent us from moving toward things that would be more life-giving. (Consider the sunk cost fallacy.)
  • In the capitalist society we live in, we often find ourselves placing greater value on things that we have spent money on (regardless of their value when measured through other lenses) and devaluing things that are "free." It is worth trying to push back against this tendency by being intentional about putting our money into the things that really matter (treasures in heaven). Even a small amount can speak volumes to our hearts and souls!

Service: Resource yourself and become compassionate

• “Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:42-48)
• Notes:
  • It’s very important to take care of ourselves, to take steps to protect ourselves from harm, and to do things like setting healthy boundaries. All of these things are part of loving ourselves well — the foundation of The Greatest Commandment.
  • Some of the challenges of faith are learning how to pursue our own needs while also considering the needs of others; how to honor our own unconditional dignity and worth while simultaneously doing the same for every other person made in the image of God; how to recognize the interconnectedness and interdependence of all beings; and how to build communities rooted compassion, generosity, and mutual care.
  • Love God, love your Self, and love your Neighbor broadly defined is the Christian message, and we are called to do so without hierarchy or conditions. This is no easy task. It is the challenge of a lifetime; a journey with an unreachable destination.
  • As we seek to more fully embody Love, all we can do is continue trying to take the next right step and the next one after that; to continually work toward broadening our circles of care and concern.
  • I find it helpful to remember that we can't pour from an empty cup, that it (often) feels good to do good, and that all God asks of us to try to move in the right direction.

This past Sunday at Conversation Church, we spent time looking ahead into the new year — not by making resolutions or setting rigid goals, but by noticing what we’re carrying with us, what we might be ready to release, and what we hope to make space for.

If you’d like a simple practice to continue that reflection, our Resource of the Week is the practice of choosing a Word for the Year.

Unlike New Year’s resolutions, choosing a word is not about self-improvement or achievement. It’s a gentle, prayerful way of naming a posture, quality, or orientation you want to return to again and again — especially when life gets busy, uncertain, or overwhelming.

Your word might be something like rest, courage, patience, trust, joy, grounded, or open. It could also be a phrase or image rather than a single word. There’s no “right” choice — and it’s okay if your word changes over time.

How to Try It

You might begin by asking yourself:

• What do I notice myself longing for as I look ahead into this year?
• What quality feels life-giving rather than demanding?
• What do I want to be reminded of when things feel hard?

Some people like to sit quietly with these questions, journal about them, or pray with them. Others choose a word intuitively and see what unfolds. You might write your word somewhere visible, return to it during prayer, or simply hold it loosely as a reminder.

This practice isn’t about controlling the year ahead—it’s about staying open to how God might meet you in it.

An Additional Resource: A Scripture to Sit With

As you reflect on the year ahead, you might also find it meaningful to spend time with this passage from the Psalms:

“Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
— Psalm 90:12

This verse doesn’t call us to optimize our time or predict the future. Instead, it invites humility, attentiveness, and wisdom — an awareness that our days are limited and therefore precious.

You might read this verse slowly a few times and ask:

• What does a “heart of wisdom” feel like for me right now?
• How does this verse invite me to live this year more attentively or gently?
• What might God be teaching me as I step into this next season?

You don’t need to arrive at clear answers. Simply letting the question linger can be its own form of prayer.

This past Sunday, Maddie continued our sermon series "Advent through the Gospel of Luke" by preaching about the story of Anna and Simeon. One of the themes we explored through that story is that waiting is never neutral. While we wait, something is always shaping us.

In the story of Simeon and Anna, Luke shows us two people who have waited a very long time — and who have somehow not become numb, cynical, or closed off. They are able to recognize God when God shows up quietly, not because they are unusually holy or spiritually gifted, but because they’ve practiced showing up, praying, and paying attention over time.
So this week’s resources are meant to help us practice the kind of waiting that keeps us open.

A Simple Prayer Rhythm: The Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is a collection of set prayers that has been used by Christians for centuries, and it’s still prayed today by a surprisingly wide range of people. It’s used by Episcopalians and Anglicans around the world — but it’s also used by people who didn’t grow up with liturgy at all. 

​People pray the Book of Common Prayer today because:

• it allows you to pray even when you don’t have the words
• it doesn’t require certainty or inspiration
• it assumes long seasons of waiting, grief, and unfinished hope
• it reminds you that you’re not praying alone

This kind of prayer fits beautifully with the story of Anna and Simeon. Like them, it’s about showing up consistently, even when nothing dramatic seems to be happening. It’s about trusting that returning — again and again — keeps our hearts from closing.

If you’re curious, you don’t need to do everything. Even praying a single psalm or the Lord’s Prayer once a day is enough. The point isn’t perfection — it’s presence.

You can find a free online version of the book here or you can buy a copy here.

Practicing Attention Through Poetry: Mary Oliver
Alongside prayer, poetry can help train us in attention. This week, we recommend reading a poem by Mary Oliver, especially “Why I Wake Early”. Oliver’s poems don’t rush toward answers. They linger. They notice. They stay with what is small, ordinary, and easily overlooked. That kind of noticing is spiritual work.

Simeon recognizes salvation in a baby. Anna recognizes redemption in a moment most people would have missed. Poetry helps us slow down enough to notice what we might otherwise pass by.

You might try reading one poem slowly this week. Don’t analyze it. Just notice what line stays with you. Let it accompany you through your day.

Advent doesn’t promise that our waiting will end quickly. But it does promise that our waiting is not empty. As we practice prayer and attention — as we keep showing up — we become the kind of people who can recognize God when God comes near quietly, humbly, without spectacle. That’s the kind of hope we’re practicing together this season.

In her sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Alison shared an excerpt from Sarah Bessey's thought-provoking essay "Why Everything You Know About the Nativity is Probably Wrong." If you found Bessey's perspective to be interesting or helpful to you, we think you will appreciate learning more about her and engaging with more of her work!

In this week's post, we want to share some more information about who Sarah Bessey is and where you can find her online.

Who Is Sarah Bessey?
Here is how Bessey introduces herself in her own words:

"All right, let’s do the ‘official stuff’: My latest book, Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith (2024) was a USA Today, The Globe and Mail, Indie Book, McNally Robinson, Bookshop.org, and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller. I’m also the author of the best-selling and critically acclaimed books Jesus Feminist (2013); Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith (2015); and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things (2019). My collaborative book, A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal (2021) was also a New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The Globe and Mail Bestseller. 

I write a weekly bestselling newsletter called Field Notes with exclusive essays, devotional series, conversations, and more. You can sign up for Field Notes here. Along with my friends, the late Rachel Held Evans and Jim Chaffee, I co-founded Evolving Faith. And I was also the co-host of The Evolving Faith Podcast with my friend Jeff Chu, which has been downloaded by millions of listeners worldwide. After seven years at the helm, I stepped away from that leadership role in 2024 but Evolving Faith is still going strong.

You might have come across my work anywhere from an article in a magazine or newspaper to a favourite podcast, perhaps the occasional conference or church event, or maybe even my one-time blog back in the day. However you got here, I’m glad you’re here. I was born and raised in the prairies and foothills of western Canada. We lived in Oklahoma, Texas, and British Columbia over the years, but have returned home to Calgary, Alberta, Canada (on the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in southern Alberta and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3). This is where my soul belongs.

My husband Brian and I have been happily married for 24 years (he’s Nebraskan so we are all contractually obligated to say, 'Go Big Red!' when that comes up in conversation). Together, we have four beloved children, formerly known as The Tinies (the older three are all taller than me now, it’s fine) who range from young adults/teenagers to a little middle schooler. We also have two cats named Amy and Rory and yes, they were absolutely named after Doctor Who companions." 

​Where Can I Find Bessey's Work?

• Bessey's books are available wherever books are sold and we have some available to borrow from the River Lending Library!
• "Sarah Bessey's Field Notes" on Substack
  • This is a weekly newsletter with exclusive essays about faith and spirituality, occasional devotional series, community conversations, book recommendations, and so much more.
• Podcast episodes:
  • Past episodes of The Evolving Faith Podcast
  • F4NP Podcast | Episode 37: Sarah Bessey – It’s Okay to Deconstruct: https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-37-sarah-bessey-its-okay-to-deconstruct/
  • Everything Happens with Kate Bowler | Sarah Bessey: Faith That Survives:   https://katebowler.com/podcasts/faith-that-survives 
• Website: https://www.sarahbessey.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahbessey
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.styles.bessey

This past Sunday, we spent time with Mary’s Magnificat — her bold, beautiful song in Luke 1 where she praises God, confronts injustice, and imagines a world transformed by mercy. Mary’s song is courageous, disruptive, and full of hope for a world made right.

Because Mary responds to God with music, we spent part of worship listening to contemporary songs that help us enter her emotional and spiritual landscape. This week’s Resource of the Week is the full playlist, organized into five movements that mirror the structure of the Magnificat and bring its themes into our world today. Below is a guide to how these songs illuminate different parts of Mary’s song.

​
Songs of Vulnerability and Honest Fear
“He has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.”

Before Mary sings about justice, she is still a young woman facing something overwhelming. These songs help us hear the Magnificat beginning from a place of fragility and courage held together:

• Elastic Heart — Sia
• Fast Car — Tracy Chapman
• What’s Up — 4 Non Blondes
• Sound of Your Voice — Griff

These tracks echo Mary’s emotional landscape: stretched thin, uncertain, longing for assurance, and trying to take the next faithful step.


Songs of Courage, Consent, and Praise
“My soul magnifies the Lord . . . the Mighty One has done great things for me.”

Mary’s praise is the praise of someone who has counted the cost and still says “yes.” These songs capture that complicated, forward-leaning trust:

• Thank U — Alanis Morissette
• Thank U Lord — Faith Evans
• Are You Ready — Blanca
• Tell Him — Lauryn Hill
• Walk On — U2

Each of these songs reflects gratitude that lives alongside uncertainty, and the quiet bravery of stepping into a future led by God.


Songs That Expose the World’s Love of Power
“He has scattered the proud . . . brought down the powerful from their thrones.”
​
Mary’s song includes a clear critique of systems of domination. These songs help us hear her words not as metaphor, but as a real challenge to the world as it is:

• Everybody Wants to Rule the World — Tears for Fears
• Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana
• We’re Not Gonna Take It — Twisted Sister
• My Favorite Mutiny — The Coup
• Fight the Power — Public Enemy

These tracks highlight the patterns of pride, control, and exploitation that Mary insists God disrupts.


Songs of Liberation and Hope for a New World
“He has lifted up the lowly . . . filled the hungry . . . sent the rich away empty.”

The Magnificat is a song of liberation — a vision of a world turned right-side-up. These songs echo that longing for justice, healing, and freedom:

• Freedom — Beyoncé
• Rise Up — Andra Day
• Redemption Song — Bob Marley
• A Change Is Gonna Come — Sam Cooke
• Blowin’ in the Wind — Bob Dylan
• Glory — Common & John Legend
• Talkin’ ’Bout a Revolution — Tracy Chapman

Each track helps us feel the Magnificat’s hope that oppression will not have the last word.


Songs of Communal Struggle and God’s Promise
“He has remembered his mercy . . . according to the promise made to our ancestors.”

Mary’s song is not just personal. It is part of a long story of people crying out for God’s justice. These songs connect the Magnificat to global movements for liberation—especially the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

• Hamba Nathi — South African hymn
  “Hamba nathi” means “Go with us, Lord.” It emerged in the Black South African church during apartheid, a violently enforced system of racial segregation (1948–1990s). People sang it in worship and in the streets as a plea for God’s presence in the struggle for freedom. It became a spiritual anchor for communities resisting state violence and injustice. Like Mary’s song, it is a prayer from within oppression: Walk with us into the struggle; do not leave us alone.
• Azania — Catrina Brenaé
  “Azania” is a name used by South African liberation movements to envision a future free and decolonized South Africa. It symbolizes the world as it should be—where Black South Africans have dignity, land, future, and political power. Songs invoking “Azania” were expressions of resistance and unshakeable hope. Like the Magnificat, they proclaim what God’s justice will look like when the oppressed rise.
• Angels — Chance the Rapper​

These songs help us hear the Magnificat as a living prayer: God goes with those who suffer, joins them in the struggle, and keeps the promises made to generations before us.


This Week’s Invitation
As you move through Advent, let these songs accompany you. Play them while you cook, commute, rest, or pray. Let them help you inhabit Mary’s courage, her honesty, her longing, and her vision for a world remade by God’s mercy and justice. May these songs deepen your hope, broaden your compassion, and open your imagination to the upside-down kingdom Mary proclaims.

In her sermon last Sunday, Pastor Alison spoke a bit about the nature of Jesus's story in the Bible and the process by which the relevant texts were formed. There are four books in the Bible — or four gospels narratives — that tell the story of Jesus’s life through an ancient form of biography. These books — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — agree on many points, but they also have distinct perspectives and particular details that differ from each other and that cannot be reconciled. Some of the reasons for this are because these books were written by different authors, in different years, for different audiences, and using different sources.

In many cases, the differences were actually a result of intentional choices made by the gospel writers regarding how they wanted to present Jesus's story. Hearing this can be troubling for modern audiences with modern sensibilities around historical accuracy. But it's important for us to understand that ancient people did not have the same expectations. When it came to biography, they were more concerned with conveying the essence of a person (their essential characteristics and personality traits) than with conveying indisputable facts about the events of their life.

With this lens in mind, we can approach the differences and contradictions between the gospels not as a problem to be solved but, instead, as an invitation to dive deeper. To be curious about what the author was trying to help the original audience, and now us, to understand about Jesus and about God in particular. To ask ourselves, “What truth about Jesus (or about God) was this author trying to convey?”

To help you explore this topic further, we'd like to recommend an episode of The Bible for Normal People podcast with special guest Bart Ehrman (the New Testament scholar Alison quoted in her sermon). The details are included below:

Episode 263: Bart Ehrman – The Gospels & Historical Reliability
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman joins Pete Enns and Jared Byas to discuss the historical reliability of the Gospels, highlighting the roles of oral tradition, authorial bias, and contradictions within the texts. Join them as they explore the following questions:

• What’s involved in the historical study of antiquity?
• What are we talking about when we’re talking about the question of the Gospels and their reliability? 
• Does having an eyewitness account guarantee accuracy?
• Do we have literary evidence of Jesus from the same time frame which is outside of the Scriptures?
• What examples from the ancient world do we have documenting other historical figures?
• Is there such a thing as an unbiased source?
• What do we mean when we ask whether the Gospels are reliable? Is that usually assumed to mean historically accurate?
• What is orality?
• What kind of assumptions are we prone to placing on the Gospels about their accuracy?
• If we don’t have outside sources to compare the Gospels to, then what has led scholars to their conclusions about the historical reliability of the Gospel traditions from within the Gospels themselves?
• How can we look at the Gospel contradictions as positive?

​
Tweetables
Pithy, shareable, sometimes-less-than-280-character statements from the episode you can share.

• If you’ve got two sources and one borrowed from the other, then you actually don’t have two sources. You’ve got one source. — @BartEhrman @theb4np
• Archaeology can tell us a lot. The problem with artifacts is that they don’t interpret themselves, right? So it’s also interpretation not just if you have a writing, but also if you have some kind of material remain. — @BartEhrman @theb4np
• Sometimes people say that there’s lots of references to Jesus outside the Christian sources, the Gospels, and it’s actually not true. — @BartEhrman @theb4np
• There’s no such thing as an unbiased source. If somebody decides to write something about someone, they’re doing it for a reason. And if they’ve got a reason, they’ve got a bias. — @BartEhrman @theb4np
• It’s not that there are such things as unbiased sources. It’s that you have to compare sources with one another and to try and figure out what the biases are so you can get beneath them. — @BartEhrman @theb4np
• If you’ve got two sources that flat out contradict each other, they both can’t be historically accurate. Either one is accurate and the other’s not, or they’re both inaccurate—but they both can’t be accurate historically. — @BartEhrman @theb4np
• You know, they’re called gospels. They’re not called histories. — @BartEhrman @theb4np

In her sermon this past Sunday, guest preacher Leah Martens (Lead Pastor at Haven Berkeley Faith Community) explored the meaning of Jesus's "Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector" (Luke 18:9-14) for our world today. 

Leah spoke about the ways that superficial readings of this passage (where we automatically identify ourselves as the "good guy" tax collector) have led us to miss the challenge of Jesus’s words for us today and have also contributed to antisemitic narratives (by promoting stereotypes about the Pharisees and Judaism as a whole). 

By diving deeper into the parable’s original context, Leah was able to illuminate the ways that this passage invites us to reject bounded-set mindsets in favor of centered-set approaches to life and faith; the ways that Jesus invites us to focus less on who is in vs. out, good vs. bad, and more on what will help us move toward alignment with the ways of the Divine.

If you appreciated Leah's exploration of this parable, then we think you’ll enjoy this book by Amy-Jill Levine: Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. Details are included below. Feel free to check out the copy from the River Lending Library!

Or, alternatively, you may enjoy this podcast episode from Amy-Jill Levine and The Bible for Normal People: "Episode 278: Amy-Jill Levine – Who Are the Pharisees Actually?"

About the Book
The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers.

Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives.

In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

About Amy-Jill Levine
Amy Jill Levine (“AJ”) is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, at Vanderbilt.

Her publications include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi; six children’s books (with Sandy Sasso); The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III, the first biblical commentary by a Jew and an Evangelical); The Jewish Annotated New Testament (co-edited with Marc Brettler), The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (with Marc Brettler), The Pharisees (co-edited with Joseph Sievers), and thirteen edited volumes of the Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Literature.

Along with Introduction to the Old Testament for the Teaching Company, her Beginner’s Guide series for Abingdon Press includes Sermon on the Mount, Light of the World, Entering the Passion of Jesus, The Difficult Words of Jesus, Witness at the Cross, and Signs and Wonders. The first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute, an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the first winner of the Seelisberg Prize for Jewish-Christian Relations, AJ describes herself as an unorthodox member of an Orthodox synagogue and a Yankee Jewish feminist who works to counter biblical interpretations that exclude and oppress.

On Sunday, Maddie preached about what it means to be a community that doesn’t run on crisis mode. We looked at the ways urgency, pressure, and anxiety shape so much of our daily life, and how easily those patterns seep into our relationships, our work, and even our churches. Many of us know what it’s like to feel as if everything depends on us — as if the only way to keep things from falling apart is to push harder, say yes more often, and carry a weight that was never ours to begin with. The sermon invited us to imagine a different way of living together. We turned to the story of the Israelites in Exodus 16, newly freed from Pharaoh but still carrying the habits of slavery in their bodies. Instead of demanding more production or more effort, God meets them with manna — a daily provision that teaches them to live at a new pace. And we looked at Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, where he encourages early Christian communities to practice generosity not from guilt or fear, but from confidence in God’s abundance. In both stories, we see a God who leads people out of crisis and into trust, out of anxiety and into shared life. This week’s resources invite us deeper into those themes.

The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity
In this article, Hebrew Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann offers a strikingly clear vision of the same dynamic we explored on Sunday. He describes how the Bible tells a story shaped by the generosity of God — a story where creation is blessed, where manna falls each morning, and where communities share what they have because grace keeps showing up. In contrast, he describes the “myth of scarcity,” the story our world tells us over and over again: that there is not enough, that we must compete, that security comes through hoarding, urgency, and control.

What I (Maddie) found most compelling is how Brueggemann connects these themes across the whole arc of Scripture. The manna story becomes part of a larger pattern: God continually inviting people to trust that there will be enough for today. And the early church’s practice of generosity becomes a quiet rebellion against the empire’s logic of fear. This is the same invitation we heard in the sermon — to live not as people driven by crisis but as people grounded in God’s abundance, able to give and receive without anxiety.

As you read, notice any places where the “myth of scarcity” feels familiar in your own life. Where do urgency, competition, or fear shape the way you move through the world? And what might it look like to lean into a different story this week?

For today's post, we want to connect you with two resources that Pastor Alison mentioned in her sermon on Sunday: 1) The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle, and 2) The Post-Evangelical Collective.

In her sermon, Alison shared about Tickle's argument, from The Great Emergence, that we are living through a period of historical upheaval — marked by significant social, economic, political, and religious change. According to Tickle, “About every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at that time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur.”  We currently find ourselves in one of those every-500-year periods, which means that we — as individuals and as a community — have the opportunity to help shape the "new, more vital form of Christianity" that is emerging in this historical moment. One of the ways that the River is doing this is through the Post-Evangelical Collective (or the PEC).

For those who haven’t heard the term before, post-evangelical is a descriptive term that can apply to individuals or to faith communities. It describes former evangelical Christians who have experienced a break with evangelical subculture, beliefs, or practices. Although not every individual who is part of our community here at the River would describe themselves as post-evangelical — the River, as an organization, is a post-evangelical church. What we mean by that is that the River was founded as part of an evangelical denomination called the Vineyard. And then, over a decade ago, we experienced a break — leaving the Vineyard for reasons not limited to, but including our conviction that God affirms LGBTQ+ individuals and relationships.

For many years, post-evangelical churches like ours were pretty isolated after choosing to leave or, in many cases, being forced to leave their previous denominations. The PEC set out to change that by building an ecosystem where churches like ours can connect more easily with one another. There are a number of ways they are doing this.

Once a month, the PEC hosts a webinar devoted to a relevant spiritual topic. Anyone connected to the PEC can join these webinars — you do not have to be a pastor or work for a church. Past guests have included Zach Lambert (who wrote Better Ways to Read the Bible), Hillary McBride (who wrote Holy Hurt), and Andrew DeCort (who wrote Reviving the Golden Rule). If you are interested, you can receive information about upcoming webinars by subscribing to the PEC mailing list.

Once a month, Alison joins a call with PEC pastors around the country to build relationships, to share ideas and resources, and to collaborate with and learn from one another. And, for the past two years, she's attended the PEC’s national gathering in the Spring. Next year’s gathering will be taking place in Cambridge, Massachusetts at our sister church, Reservoir. If you are interested in joining Alison and other members of the River staff who will be attending, please reach out for more information!

In her sermon, Alison said this about the River's involvement with the PEC:
"It’s been really exciting for me to see the variety of ways that this partnership has been bearing good fruit at the River. For example, there are so many resources that I have discovered through the PEC ecosystem. Ones that I’ve benefited from personally and have also been able to share with all of you in sermons, and Resource of the Week posts, and the Lending Library, and in one-on-one conversations. Brian Recker, the author of Hell Bent who came to speak here recently, is someone I got to know through relationships in the PEC. And at the book event we hosted, it was exciting to meet so many people in our region who are exploring similar faith questions. The church map on the PEC website has been a great way for folks to discover the River — I know of some folks here who found us that way! And the map has also been a really helpful resource when members of the River have moved away from New York City — it has allowed us to better support them in finding a faith community wherever they land. Engaging with the PEC has also helped me to feel more supported as a pastor. When navigating new or challenging situations, it’s been really wonderful to be able to reach out to other PEC pastors to hear about their own experiences and approaches.

There are so many ways that we are benefitting from our engagement with the PEC, but perhaps, just as exciting to me are the ways that we are contributing to and helping to shape the movement. The same way that we are learning from other PEC churches — other PEC churches are learning from what we are doing here at the River. In addition to the official PEC churches listed on the website, we are also a resource for churches that aren’t quite there yet. Churches that are considering breaking with evangelicalism or becoming LGBTQ+ affirming but need some support to get there.

Through our involvement with the PEC — and in various other ways — we are helping to shape the new, more vital forms of Christianity that are emerging in this historical moment. And our impact extends far beyond New York City."

About the Post-Evangelical Collective
The Post Evangelical Collective exists to connect, cultivate, and resource post evangelical churches. We are church leaders, artists, and other stakeholders who find ourselves estranged from the dominant expressions of American Christianity. ​

Shared Values

• The Way of Jesus: We are committed to being rooted in and formed by the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like the very first Christians who were called “followers of The Way,” we seek to model our lives and ministries after the work of Jesus.
• Full Inclusion: We believe that every person is made in the image of God and are committed to having no restrictions in membership, leadership, sacrament, or anything else based on sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
• Holistic Justice: We believe the way of Jesus should lead to both spiritual and social freedom for all people. Holistic justice is the pursuit of liberation in our selves, church communities, cities, and the world.
• Deep and Wide Formation: We value digging deeply into Scripture while learning widely from various traditions, interpretations, and practices.
• Gracious Posture: We strive to lead with grace in every circumstance, especially within disagreement or conflict.

Articles About the PEC

• "The post-evangelicals take their next step forward" by David Gushee
• "Meet the post-Evangelical Christians. They’re just getting started." by Harry Bruinius