"He drives where he looks, he drives where he looks!" That statement made by a disgruntled wife about her husband really spoke the truth. He invariably would turn the steering wheel in the direction he was looking. This principle is also true of each of us and our life: "Lives where she or he looks!" That's why it's important to fix our eyes on Jesus! Our life will follow where we look! Let's make sure that our gaze is on Jesus.
Day 15 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramhat, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
The Fifteenth Day of the Blessed Month of Baramhat
Departure of St.Sarah the nun
On this day departed the righteous and ascetic St. Sarah the nun who was a native of Upper Egypt. Her parents, who were exceedingly rich, were Christians and had no other children. They raised her in a christian manner and taught her reading and writing. She was always reading the books of the church and especially the biography and sayings of the fathers the monks. She was influenced by their lives and desired the ascetic life. She went to one of the convents of Upper Egypt and dwelt there for many years serving the virgins. Then she put on the monastic garb, persisting on fighting the lust of Satan for thirteen years until Satan was weary of her. When Satan was exasperated from her steadfastness and purity, he wished to overthrow her by the sin of pride. He appeared to her while she was standing praying on the roof of her cell and said to her: "Rejoice for you have overcome Satan." She replied: "I am a feeble woman, and I can not conquer you except by the power of the Lord Christ" and then Satan vanished.
This Saint had many useful sayings that she used to say to the nuns. One of her sayings: "I never set my foot upon the step of the ladder, and I never go up to the next step without thinking I may die before I raise my leg so that the enemy might not entice me with the hope of a long life." And she also said: " IT is better for a man to show mercy even to satisfy men for the time will come that it will be to satisfy God." She also had many other sayings written in the Paradise of the Fathers. She stayed on the banks of the river in a cave for sixty years fighting a great fight and no one saw her until she departed to the eternal bless and she was eighty years old.
May Her prayers be with us. Amen.
Martyrdom of St.Helias of Hnes
On this day also St. Helias of Hnes was martyred.
May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
Readings for Friday of fifth week of Great Lent
Matins
Deuteronomy 11 : 29 - end Deuteronomy 12 : 1 - 27 1 Kings 17 : 2 - 24 Proverbs 5 : 1 - 12 Isaiah 43 : 1 - 9 Job 30 : 9 - end Job 32 : 1 - 5
Deuteronomy 11 : 29 - end
Chapter 11
| 29 | Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. |
| 30 | Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? |
| 31 | For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. |
| 32 | And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today. |
Deuteronomy 12 : 1 - 27
Chapter 12
| 1 | "These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. |
| 2 | You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. |
| 3 | And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. |
| 4 | You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things. |
| 5 | "But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. |
| 6 | There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. |
| 7 | And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you. |
| 8 | "You shall not at all do as we are doing here today--every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes-- |
| 9 | for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 10 | But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, |
| 11 | then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. |
| 12 | And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. |
| 13 | Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; |
| 14 | but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. |
| 15 | "However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. |
| 16 | Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. |
| 17 | You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. |
| 18 | But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. |
| 19 | Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. |
| 20 | "When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, "Let me eat meat,' because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. |
| 21 | If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. |
| 22 | Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. |
| 23 | Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. |
| 24 | You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. |
| 25 | You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. |
| 26 | Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. |
| 27 | And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat. |
1 Kings 17 : 2 - 24
Chapter 17
| 2 | Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, |
| 3 | "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. |
| 4 | And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." |
| 5 | So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. |
| 6 | The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. |
| 7 | And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. |
| 8 | Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, |
| 9 | "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." |
| 10 | So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." |
| 11 | And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." |
| 12 | So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." |
| 13 | And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. |
| 14 | For thus says the LORD God of Israel: "The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth."' |
| 15 | So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. |
| 16 | The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah. |
| 17 | Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. |
| 18 | So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" |
| 19 | And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. |
| 20 | Then he cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" |
| 21 | And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." |
| 22 | Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. |
| 23 | And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!" |
| 24 | Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth." |
Proverbs 5 : 1 - 12
Chapter 5
| 1 | My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, |
| 2 | That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. |
| 3 | For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; |
| 4 | But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. |
| 5 | Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. |
| 6 | Lest you ponder her path of life--Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. |
| 7 | Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. |
| 8 | Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, |
| 9 | Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; |
| 10 | Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; |
| 11 | And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, |
| 12 | And say: "How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! |
Isaiah 43 : 1 - 9
Chapter 43
| 1 | But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. |
| 2 | When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. |
| 3 | For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. |
| 4 | Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. |
| 5 | Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; |
| 6 | I will say to the north, "Give them up!' And to the south, "Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth-- |
| 7 | Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." |
| 8 | Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. |
| 9 | Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, "It is truth." |
Job 30 : 9 - end
Chapter 30
| 9 | "And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword. |
| 10 | They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face. |
| 11 | Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me. |
| 12 | At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways of destruction. |
| 13 | They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper. |
| 14 | They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along. |
| 15 | Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud. |
| 16 | "And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me. |
| 17 | My bones are pierced in me at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest. |
| 18 | By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. |
| 19 | He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes. |
| 20 | "I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me. |
| 21 | But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me. |
| 22 | You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success. |
| 23 | For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living. |
| 24 | "Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it. |
| 25 | Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? |
| 26 | But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness. |
| 27 | My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me. |
| 28 | I go about mourning, but not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. |
| 29 | I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches. |
| 30 | My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever. |
| 31 | My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep. |
Job 32 : 1 - 5
Chapter 32
| 1 | So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. |
| 2 | Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. |
| 3 | Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. |
| 4 | Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. |
| 5 | When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused. |
Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 86 : 9 - 10
Chapter 86
| 9 | All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. |
| 10 | For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Mark the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Mark 12 : 28 - 34
Chapter 12
| 28 | Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" |
| 29 | Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. |
| 30 | And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. |
| 31 | And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." |
| 32 | So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. |
| 33 | And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." |
| 34 | Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." But after that no one dared question Him. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Liturgy Gospel
Paulines Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Hebrews .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
Hebrews 12 : 5 - 16
Chapter 12
| 5 | And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; |
| 6 | For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." |
| 7 | If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? |
| 8 | But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. |
| 9 | Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? |
| 10 | For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. |
| 11 | Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. |
| 12 | Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, |
| 13 | and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. |
| 14 | Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: |
| 15 | looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; |
| 16 | lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. |
The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle 1 of St. Peter .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
1 Peter 4 : 15 - end
Chapter 4
| 15 | But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. |
| 16 | Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. |
| 17 | For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? |
| 18 | Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" |
| 19 | Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. |
1 Peter 5 : 1 - 5
Chapter 5
| 1 | The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: |
| 2 | Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; |
| 3 | nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; |
| 4 | and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. |
| 5 | Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." |
Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 15 : 36 - end
Chapter 15
| 36 | Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing." |
| 37 | Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. |
| 38 | But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. |
| 39 | Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; |
| 40 | but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. |
| 41 | And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. |
Acts 16 : 1 - 3
Chapter 16
| 1 | Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. |
| 2 | He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. |
| 3 | Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. |
The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
Divine Psalm
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 138 : 1 - 2
Chapter 138
| 1 | I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You. |
| 2 | I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. |
Hallelujah.
Divine Gospel
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
John 8 : 21 - 27
Chapter 8
| 21 | Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come." |
| 22 | So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, "Where I go you cannot come'?" |
| 23 | And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. |
| 24 | Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." |
| 25 | Then they said to Him, "Who are You?" And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. |
| 26 | I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." |
| 27 | They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. |
And Glory be to God forever.
Unitive consciousness—the awareness that we are all one in Love—lays a solid foundation for social critique and acts of justice. (Sunday)
In the Trinity, the three must be maintained as three and understood as different from one another. Yet the infinite trust and flow between them is so constant, so reliable, so true, and so faithful that they are also completely one. (Monday)
Gravity, atomic bonding, orbits, cycles, photosynthesis, ecosystems, force fields, electromagnetic fields, sexuality, human friendship, animal instinct, and evolution all reveal an energy that is attracting all things and beings to one another, in a movement toward ever greater complexity and diversity—and yet ironically also toward unification at ever deeper levels. (Tuesday)
People can meet God within their cultural context but in order to follow God, they must cross into other cultures because that’s what Jesus did in the incarnation itself. —Christena Cleveland (Wednesday)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s observation that eleven o’clock on Sunday mornings is the most segregated hour in America still stands to challenge each congregation to examine the difference in its midst and to develop a higher capacity and moral compass to embrace it and to celebrate it. —Jaqueline Lewis (Thursday)
Nothing exists without these three interdependent energies that emerged from the first flaring forth over 13.8 billion years ago: differentiation or diversity; subjectivity, interiority, or essence; and communion or community and interconnectedness. —Joan Brown (Friday)
Practice: You Belong
At the Center’s spring conference, The Universal Christ, we read the following call and response with 2,000 people gathered in Albuquerque and thousands more online. Later we heard from so many people that this litany of welcome was powerfully moving. Read it aloud to yourself and feel truly welcomed—all of you, even the parts that culture or church have denied. Are there pieces of you not named here that you would like to recognize? Consider sharing your own welcome statement with your faith community and invite others to collaborate in making this vision more complete and actualized.
We would like to let you know that you belong. . . .
People on all parts of the continuum of gender identity and expression, including those who are gay, bisexual, heterosexual, transgender, cisgender, queer folks, the sexually active, the celibate, and everyone for whom those labels don’t apply. We say, “You belong.”
People of African descent, of Asian descent, of European descent, of First Nations descent in this land and abroad, and people of mixed and multiple descents and of all the languages spoken here. We say, “You belong.”
Bodies with all abilities and challenges. Those living with any chronic medical condition, visible or invisible, mental or physical. We say, “You belong.”
People who identify as activists and those who don’t. Mystics, believers, seekers of all kinds. People of all ages. Those who support you to be here. We say, “You belong.”
Your emotions: joy, fear, grief, contentment, disappointment, surprise, and all else that flows through you. We say, “You belong.”
Your families, genetic and otherwise. Those dear to us who have died. Our ancestors and the future ones. The ancestors who lived in this land, in this place, where these buildings are now . . . we honor you through this work that we are undertaking. We say, “You belong.”
People who feel broken, lost, struggling; who suffer from self-doubt and self-judgment. We say, “You belong.”
All beings that inhabit this earth, human or otherwise: the two-legged, the four-legged, winged and finned, those that walk, fly, and crawl, above the ground and below, in air and water. We say, “You belong.”
Reference:
Adapted from “Diversity Welcome,” Training for Change, https://www.trainingforchange.org/training_tools/diversity-welcome/.
For Further Study:
Christena Cleveland, Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart (InterVarsity Press: 2013)
Jacqueline J. Lewis, The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multi-Racial and Multi-Cultural Congregations (Abingdon Press: 2008)
Richard Rohr: Essential Teachings on Love, eds. Joelle Chase and Judy Traeger (Orbis Books: 2018)
Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe (Convergent Books: 2019)