In her Easter message last Sunday, Pastor Alison spoke about the idea that resurrection is not the same thing as reversal. She said:

"Just like Jesus was changed through suffering and resurrection, so too are we. In our resurrected selves, the marks of past wounds and the new life God breathes into us coexist and intertwine. We are made new without completely erasing the old. Jesus’s resurrection gives us hope that there is life after death, both at the end of our lives and after the smaller 'deaths' we experience daily. But this new life, breathed into us by the Holy Spirit, is not a simple return to how things once were. Instead it’s a movement forward into someplace new. Beauty and wisdom and goodness exist in the new terrain, but they may look very different. This seems to be the way that God works."

Pastor Alison encouraged us to consider the totality of Jesus's life — to acknowledge that pain and suffering and death are all parts of the human experience and also to remember that God’s resurrection power is at work.

Someone who really gets this complexity is Kate Bowler, an author and professor at Duke Divinity School. One of Bowler’s research topics was the American prosperity gospel — the belief that God guarantees health, wealth, and happiness. After writing a book on this topic, in a sort of tragic, ironic twist, Bowler was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage IV cancer at age 35. While she was in treatment and not expected to survive, Bowler wrote two memoirs about how her perspectives on life and faith had been fundamentally changed as a result of her diagnosis. Bowler discovered that “life is so beautiful and life is so hard. For everyone.”

Our short time on Earth is filled with ups and downs, twists and turns. It is filled with weeping and laughing, and everything in between. It is beautiful and hard. And this is what Bowler explores on her podcast “Everything Happens.” Bowler interviews lots of interesting, insightful people, and talks with them about what life looks like in the “after.” Once we know that “life is so beautiful” and “life is so hard” — once we know that everything happens — what does it look like to live with that knowledge?

If these are questions you're wrestling with, we'd recommend:

• Giving the “Everything Happens ”podcast a listen!
• Exploring the free resources available on Bowler's website — including blessings, support guides, and more!
• Reading one of Bowler's books. We have a couple available in the River Lending Library. Feel free to check them out!

If you are interested in learning more we've included some pages from the book below and we also have a copy at the church that you are welcome to look at.

We highly recommend The Book of Belonging for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of and encounter God in lifegiving ways through the Bible!

This past Sunday, Ministry Assistant Maddie Abbott preached about finding meaning in our work — and about the fine line between honoring God through our labor and accidentally making work into an idol. Together, we looked at the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32 and asked some hard questions: How do we love the people right in front of us — our coworkers, our customers, our teams — without turning our workplaces into sacred altars? How do we discern whether we’re faithfully showing up for others, or just surviving the grind?

This week's resource picks up right where that sermon left off: a Forbes interview with David Miller, a professor at Princeton University and the founder of the Faith & Work Initiative. Miller used to be a senior executive in banking and tech, so he knows firsthand the ethical and emotional complexities of the workplace. In this conversation with Seth Cohen at the NASDAQ MarketSite, he talks about the real tensions people face when trying to bring their values — especially their faith — into their professional lives.

Miller’s big question is: What does your Sabbath have to do with your Monday? In other words, how does your faith shape the way you live and work the rest of the week?

He shares stories from his time in the corporate world, including moments when he had to choose between doing what was profitable and doing what was right. He also reflects on his students — many of whom, regardless of their country or faith background, want to work for organizations that make the world better. But that desire isn’t always easy to live out in practice.
One of the most striking points in the interview is Miller’s call for workplaces to become “faith-friendly” — not faith-based, but open to honoring people's values and spiritual practices. He emphasizes that character and culture matter as much as compliance, and he challenges us to think about how our personal formation — by mentors, family, traditions — shapes the way we show up at work.

A few takeaways worth pondering this week:

• Do I know what story I’m telling about my work? What meaning am I making from it?
• Where do I draw the line between being faithful and being consumed?
• How might my workplace culture be shaping me — and how might I shape it in return?

If you’re in a season of questioning, wrestling, or just trying to hold it all together at work, this interview might feel like a deep breath. It doesn’t offer easy answers. But it opens up space to explore what it means to succeed without selling your soul — a phrase Miller’s students coined that became the subtitle of his upcoming book.

You can watch the full interview here!

In her sermon last Sunday, Pastor Alison spoke about how creating a Rule of Life can help move us toward life in all its fullness. 

​Our initial reaction to the word "rule" may not be a positive one. But it is important to know that the root word of rule, regula, means straight stick — like a signpost guiding the way or a stake holding up a plant so it can more easily bear fruit. A Rule of Life — a concept which comes out of monastic traditions — can function similarly for us. The Sabbath Life explains it this way:

“A rule can be fashioned either for personal or corporate use. It helps you get from where you are to where you want to be, or perhaps better, where God is inviting you to be. A rule is about habits rather than goals. A rule of life is a habit system. When we talk about habits, we’re talking about spiritual disciplines and spiritual practices. A sustainable system of healthy, spiritual habits is better than goal setting. Our habits make our days, and our days make our lives. Map out a system of habits you can do and then show up every day. Commit to your rule.”

Pastor Alison shared about aspects of her own Rule of Life and said this:

"All of these practices, and others, are helping to shape me into someone more able to embrace abundant life and unconditional love. They help me turn my attention to beauty and goodness. To be mindful and savor the present moment. To view myself as interconnected and interdependent. To consider the needs of people near and far, and of creation, alongside my own. To step deeper into mystery and into love."

Steps for Creating a Rule of Life (adapted from The Sabbath Life):​

Step 1: Set aside time on your calendar
Chances are, life is busy. Who has time to think this through and put it together? If that’s the case, you can’t afford not to. Make an appointment with yourself. Block the space on your schedule in the same way you would a meeting with a friend or client. Make it non-negotiable. If you can, make a personal retreat out of it.

Step 2: Pray
Make space to listen to God, really listen. Be quiet. Be patient. Wait through all the churn of thoughts on the surface of your mind and invite the Holy Spirit to take you deeper. What kind of person is God inviting you to be in this season of life? Don’t simply list all the things you feel guilty about not doing. Listen deeper. Be patient and allow yourself to be led by God."

Step 3: Identify your “big rocks”
Think of some of the big categories in your life. They may be family or work. They may be related to personal development or church life.

Step 4: Put everything on paper
There’s not a wrong way to do this. Brainstorm. Give a word to every idea. Get everything out of your head. Put it on paper (or digital document). Worry about editing it later. That stray idea hovering in the corner of your mind you may discover is essential. In this step allow yourself the luxury of bad ideas. They’re just ideas. Don’t judge them just yet.

Step 5: Prioritize and eliminate non-essentials
Okay, now you can judge your ideas, once they’re all out in the open. Once you see them all together, like so many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, you can start to sort them out. This is a step that may be helpful to experience with a spiritual director or mentor. Look for patterns and connections. Ruthlessly cross things out and commit yourself to the most important things.

Step 6: Share it with someone
Talk it out with your spiritual director, your spouse, your trusted peers. Listen to their feedback. Are you being realistic? Are you being gracious to yourself? Where are you challenging yourself? Are there blind spots you’re missing? Is this a religious self-help wish list or is it truly a plan for being drawn deeper into the heart of Jesus? Ask for help. Welcome accountability.

Step 7: Revisit it over time and revise
At its best, a Rule of Life is a fluid document. As you grow and change, so will it. Take 10 minutes once a week to check-in with yourself and look over your Rule. What’s working? What’s not working? What can be tweaked? Maybe you do this check-in once a quarter or once a year. Set a reminder on your calendar. Don’t forget to actually do it. This may be the most important step.

This year, during "40 Days of Faith," one of the spiritual practices we are exploring together is called The Examen.

The Examen is a reflective prayer practice created by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. It involves prayerfully reviewing the events of our days in order to become more aware of God’s presence in and direction for our lives.

St. Ignatius “expected that God would speak through our deepest feelings and yearnings, what he called ‘consolation’ and ‘desolation.’ Consolation is whatever helps us to connect with ourselves, others, God and the universe. Desolation is whatever disconnects us.” (from Sleeping with Bread by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn)

On the "40 Days of Faith" Prayer Bracelet, the green bead will help us to remember that God is with us in our "consolations" and our "desolations" and will remind us to practice The Examen.

Instructions on how to practice The Examen are included below (and in the "40 Days of Faith" Guide). 

The Examen is especially powerful as we begin to notice trends over time. And so, it will be important to track your insights somewhere like a journal or a calendar, like the ones from Praying in Color (by Sybil MacBeth) included in the Guide.

This year, during "40 Days of Faith," one of the spiritual practices we are exploring together is called Breath Prayer.

Breath Prayer is an ancient form of prayer that connects short, memorable phrases with deep breathing. This embodied practice can help us to connect with the Spirit, to release tension and stress, and to ground ourselves in the present moment.

On the "40 Days of Faith" Prayer Bracelet, the blue bead will help us to remember that God's presence is as near as the air we breathe and will remind us to practice Breath Prayer.

Instructions on how to practice Breath Prayer are included below (and in the "40 Days of Faith" Guide).

​Also included in the Guide is a calendar with a different Breath Prayer for each day of “40 Days of Faith.” These prayers have been drawn from Bible verses, @blackliturgies (Cole Arthur Riley), and @liturgiesforparents (Kayla Craig).

You are welcome to use these Breath Prayers in whatever way resonates with you. You may want to follow our daily calendar, to skip around to the prayers that stand out to you, to use the same prayer for multiple days, or even to write your own!

Last Sunday, Pastor Alison led us through Conversation Church — a special service format we use from time to time on Sundays to help facilitate connection through guided conversation. During the service, Pastor Alison helped us begin to think about the season of "40 Days of Faith" (the River's name for Lent) and shared about the River's tradition of creating Prayer Bracelets. Each bead on the bracelet symbolizes something and serves as a reminder of a truth about God, a spiritual practice, or something we are praying for.

As part of this year's "40 Days of Faith" Guide we have included a page with reflection questions connected to each bead on the Prayer Bracelet. (You may recognize some of these questions from Conversation Church!) We hope that they will be a helpful tool as you begin to think about the sermon series theme and your personal prayer practices and requests. The guide is available on our website as a PDF and we will also have some printed copies available at the church on Sundays.

Last Sunday, Ministry Assistant Maddie Abbott wrapped up our sermon series titled "Can Faith Help Us Navigate Difference?" with a message called "Experts Say." Maddie spoke about the limits of expert culture, the ways that Jesus invites us into possibility rather than certainty, and how letting go of our need to be right can help us to connect across difference. And so this week, we'd like to offer two resources that can help us think more about the limits of certainty.

1) The first resource is a book by Bible scholar Pete Enns called The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs. 

Here is a description of the book:

​"Enns offers a model of vibrant faith that views skepticism not as a loss of belief, but as an opportunity to deepen religious conviction with courage and confidence. This is not just an intellectual conviction, he contends, but a more profound kind of knowing that only true faith can provide. Combining Enns’ reflections of his own spiritual journey with an examination of Scripture, The Sin of Certainty models an acceptance of mystery and paradox that all believers can follow and why God prefers this path because it is only this way by which we can become mature disciples who truly trust God. It gives Christians who have known only the demand for certainty permission to view faith on their own flawed, uncertain, yet heartfelt, terms."

2) The second resource is the movie Conclave, based on the book by Robert Harris. 

In the film — which stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow, among others — "Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events — participating in the selection of a new pope. Surrounded by powerful religious leaders in the halls of the Vatican, he soon uncovers a trail of deep secrets that could shake the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church."

As I (Alison) watched the film, I was very moved by a homily (sermon) that was delivered by Cardinal Lawrence at the beginning of the conclave. Lawrence cautioned against the sin of certainty and argued that doubt is an essential aspect of faith. He said this:

“Saint Paul said ‘Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.’ To work together, to grow together, we must be tolerant. No one person or faction seeking to dominate another. And speaking to the Ephesians, who were of course a mixture of Jews and gentiles, Paul reminds us that God’s gift to the Church is its variety. It is this variety, this diversity of people and views, that gives our Church its strength. Over the course of many years in the service of our mother the Church, let me tell you there is one sin which I have come to fear above all others. Certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end. ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ He cried out in his agony at the ninth hour on the cross. Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore no need for faith. Let us pray that God will grant us a pope who doubts. And let him grant us a pope who sins and ask for forgiveness, and who carries on.”​ ​

Last Sunday, RiverKids Director Amelia Cunard preached a sermon titled "From Inner Storm to Outer Peace" as part of our sermon series "Can Faith Help Us Navigate Difference?" She addressed the idea that Jesus had to navigate internal struggles even as he bore public witness and talked about the dangers of viewing Jesus dualistically.

As part of this sermon, Amelia cited Franciscan Friar and public theologian Richard Rohr, who says that "How we in organized Christianity got in trouble is we largely, overwhelmingly read the words of Jesus -- who was talking nondually-- with a dualistic mind." Rohr elaborates on what it means to view Jesus through a non-dual lens in his book, The Universal Christ. Here, Rohr presents a nondual understanding of Jesus by distinguishing between Jesus (the historical figure) and Christ (the divine presence that permeates all of creation). He argues that many Christians have been trapped in a dualistic mindset, seeing Jesus merely as an individual rather than as part of a greater, cosmic reality. Rohr invites readers to see Jesus not just as an exclusive savior for Christians, but as a revelation of a universal reality that transcends religious boundaries. A nondual approach to Jesus moves away from rigid doctrines and toward a mystical, experiential faith that sees Christ everywhere.

If you're interested in reading more about Rohr's thinking on viewing Jesus nondually, check out ​The Universal Christ.