Vox Veniae Podcast

What does it look like to prayerfully open up more fully to both suffering and hope?  Christopher Mack wonders how we attend to the Goodness of God as an invitation to grow in prayerful discernment, empowerment, and liberation. [Colossians 1:9-14]   Reflection * What is one way I can grow in attending to God’s Nonviolent Inclusive Kin-dom? * Where do I need to grow my endurance for building Beloved Community? * How might  I compassionately welcome this moment without feeling resigned to the status quo? Resource 1. Book: The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers & Mothers by Henri Nouwen 2. Book: Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie

On this 5th Sunday worship, centered around tables and brunch, and inclusive of all ages, Vanessa Maleare reflects on the recent Art Camp and what it means that kids and all of us are created to be creative, just like our Creator.  [Genesis 1:26-27]   Reflection * What do you create? * What makes you want to create? * How might you involve the Creator to become involved in your process? Resource Book: The Creator In You, written by Jordan Raynor and illustrated by Jonathan David

What songs evoke lament and joy for you? Gina Bastone looks at the psalmist’s cry like a mixtape to the heavens, which invites us to companion our grief and imagine how God is calling us to participate in building a new world.  [Psalm 22] Reflection * What is causing your lament, what is causing your praise, and how is God showing up in between? * What kind of world do you want to build—with our Vox community in Austin, Texas, and in our world more broadly? * How might we dwell in God’s possibility and open our narrow hands to gather paradise in these difficult times? What phrases might we add to the space after the em dash?

On Trinity Sunday, we conclude our series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus’ Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looked at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Today, we consider how God is shaping our leadership for our own lives, our faith community, and the larger world.   [John 16:12-15]   Reflection 1. In what ways can I courageously lead in my larger community? 2. What can I do to tend to my full self while I am doing that?

On Pentecost, we are in the penultimate message in the series, Teach Em How To Say Goodbye: Jesus’ Parting Words to a Community in Transition, which looks at the final discourse of Jesus with his disciples before the whirlwind of his death, resurrection, and ascension. Today, we consider how God might be inviting us to bear witness to beauty and brokenness, as we humbly listen to one another’s stories.   [John 14:15-27]   Reflection * As we sit together in our own metaphorical upper room, can we pray together that the Holy Spirit would astound us with unexpected beauty? * How might God be inviting you to speak into or bear witness to another’s beauty and brokenness? * How might God be breathing beauty or possibility into the broken places in or around you?