The Work Of Connection
Where We're Sent, Who We Welcome
Dear Friends,
It’s good to be back from my stint on the trainee side of the circle for a week! I spend so much time “holding down the fort,” so to speak, that to not be the one in charge, even while doing something exhausting, is a different kind of break.
So, where was I? Don’t be too shocked, Godly Play friends, but I was at a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training. Wild times, right? CGS is not only the central practice of some of my dearest friends, and many Godly Play practitioners who I admire deeply are also trained in this approach. Keeping these practices in conversation is a strength and, particularly in terms of working with older children (this was a level 2 training - ages 6-9), our ability to be responsive to the curiosity in our circles is vital.
Where We Stand, Where We Stay
One of the first things I learned about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd some years ago was about the Parables. Godly Play has six guiding parables, plus a few extension stories, but CGS has many more across their leveled clusters. And for the 6-9 year old group, the guiding parable is one we don’t use at all in Godly Play: The True Vine. And the True Vine is one of those parables that has a very Bible word. Abide.
We spent a good bit of time last week dwelling (another version of “abide”) on this text, which is fitting now as I get my feet back under me and turn to this week’s lectionary.
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus sends disciples out ahead of him to prepare the way, visiting with people in many towns and asking to stay with them. It’s a relatable, anxious ask at a moment when I’m planning a lot of travel and sleeping in different people’s houses. With this sending, he says to the disciples, “Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid.” (Luke 10:5-7)
Remain in the same house, Jesus says. It’s another “abide” word.
Abide.
Remain.
Dwell.
These are words about staying put, yes, but also about staying connected and staying alive. We are only alive in the vine so long as we are still attached. We are only alive in our lives as disciples when we are connected to our broader community – when we go out in service. These types of connections are life-giving. We come alive in community and in connection to God. Literally, from the perspective of the vine, it’s how we stay alive.
Summer tends to be the time when our communities are scattered to the wind. Maybe your kids are at camp or your usual coffee hour buddy is on vacation. It’s a good season to look for other points of connection, ways of communicating, praying, and being together. And to consider how we carry those innovative considerations into our post-summer lives.
A Prayer
Heavenly Father, whose house is one with many rooms, you welcome us richly to abide in you. Help us to make our home with you and to open our hearts to be a home for others, for it is in connection with you and your creation that we are truly alive. All this we pray in your holy name. Amen.
Resource Round-Up
This newsletter is out on Pauli Murray’s feast day in the Episcopal Church! I highly recommend this kid-friendly biography for your church (or home) library. Church Publishing also has a bio aimed to a slightly younger audience.
I’ve been out of range, so to speak, for some especially tense times in the life of the world – not that truly every week hasn’t felt that way over the last… interminable number of years. In a fit of stressed insomnia, Dean of the the Cathedral here in Boston, the Rev. Amy McCreath, made a simple prayer zine featuring prayer for our enemies, for a world without nuclear fear, and information on joining the Cathedral from anywhere for morning prayer. I recommend sharing it with your community or making your own version with local prayer offerings.
The Religion & Race Commission of the UMC has a very cool new Lectio Divina resource they’re calling Imago Dei (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). It’s a free, five-week Bible study featuring simple breath prayers, lots of silence, and room to enter into the stories of some of the most complicated scenes of the New Testament, including Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the disciples’ encounter with the blind man, with the question of sin.
I love this new Jesus & the Twelve magnetic play scene from Shining Light Dolls! So cute and I really like how the pieces are put away like a puzzle, making it a bit of a two-for-one piece.
Are you in New England? Or maybe in or around PA? I’ve got some Godly Play trainings coming up!
That’s all for this week! Stay cool and I’m glad to be back with you all as the pace of my summer picks up.
Peace,
Bird