Monthly Archives

September 2018

Embodiment

Reclaiming the Body

Tim: I’m so glad to be back this week!
Shea: Welcome back, world traveler. Since you’re back, give us a sneak peek of where we are heading on Thursday night.

Tim: I’m going to talk about how the Christian faith is “fleshy.”
Shea: Say more.

Tim: Starting with the Incarnation, this idea of a fully embodied understanding of self and community keeps popping up. So why do a lot of Christians try to lock their faith inside their heads?
Shea: That’s a brilliant point. It almost seems that many people try to rationalize their faith, to the detriment of the rest of the body.

Tim: Which is counterproductive. It neglects the needs of our bodies and can denigrate them.
Shea: So what do we need to do about it?

Tim: The time has come to reclaim the God-ness that incarnates all of us. In antiquity, people believed that there was a spark of divine light in all people. Meister Eckhart noted this in his mystic writings.
Shea: A divine spark–I like that. How do we get in touch with that spark?

Tim: We do this when we affirm our bodies and the bodies of others–in all shapes, sizes, orientations, and identities.
Shea: To really reclaim our bodies is to embrace them?

Tim: Yes, and then we can begin to see our bodies as God does: beautiful image bearers of the divine. We are one of a kind and our bodies are temples of the Holy One.
Shea: And we should honor and cherish our bodies as such.

Tim: Exactly. This week I will talk about reclaiming our bodies, something that will lead us into deeper connection with the divine and ourselves.

Join us this Thursday at L!VE Café, 163 S. Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00p, the study begins at 7:30p. If you can’t be with us in person, join us via Facebook Live.

We need your help!

As we think about the future of Gather, please let us know what gifts you bring and would like to share with the community. There are many roles that have to come together to make Gather happen every week. This includes setup, technical support, worship, managing handouts and information, coordinating drinks, and teardown. We need your help. Please let us know what type of service you’d be interested in!

Watch God Work,
Tim & Shea

NEW SERIES BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER
What kinds of spiritual practices and habits work best for us? How do we keep our faith life fresh? What do we do when things we’ve always done feel like they’re not working? How do we stay plugged in to God’s work in us and our community? This fall we’ll look at spiritual disciplines as our means of survival in an increasingly chaotic world.
Join us every Thursday from September 6 through October 11, as we examine Spiritual Disciplines for Undisciplined Times.

UPCOMING GATHER OPPS
_____
Mark your calendars for October 27, when Pilgrim Congregational UCC will host an extraordinary concert featuring two amazing talents: Andrew Barnes Jamison (keys) and Darnell Ishmel (vocals). The concert begins at 7:30. It will be one of the highlights of the fall!

As we prepare to become a vibrant worshipping community, we invite you to enjoy a Spotify playlist that captures the kind of worship we hope to embrace. Give it a spin while you’re driving. Make it your workout jam. Add it to your devotional time. Most of all, feel yourself becoming part of a sacred village of believers who love their God and one another!
Check out the Gather Worship Playlist here.

Mindfulness

Practicing Mindfulness

Shea: Hey Tim, I’m loving this new series! What are we going to discuss this week?
Tim: Thinking through my own spiritual journey, I have found that often times the busyness of life is a great inhibitor to our spiritual practices.

Shea: Tell me about it! Between school, life, and work, I feel like I have so much on my mind that there are times when I cannot seem to find time for spiritual practices.
Tim: And it is spiritual practices that ground us in life, empowering us to live a life of faith. They sustain us in the work that we do–remember word, work, worship?

Shea: You are wise and correct, my friend. How do we embrace practices amidst our busy lives?
Tim: By practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is a conscious desire and effort to open your mind, self, and senses to your surroundings/circumstances. Mindfulness meditation allows us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness, to ourselves and others.

Shea: Wow, there’s a lot there. The word “open” really sticks out to me.
Tim: Yes, openness is key to mindfulness. If we aren’t careful, for various reasons, we can live lives closed off to the workings of the Spirit. Mindfulness helps us open up by being present and aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Shea: I want to be mindful. How do I begin?
Tim: In the Hebrew Bible, God appears to Solomon and asks him a tremendous question: “What should I give you?” Solomon responds that he wants to be able to discern what is good and evil so that he can be wise in his service to others.

Shea: Solomon practiced mindfulness.
Tim: Exactly. He made the effort to be open and to learn. Rather than material possessions and riches, he asked for the gift of wisdom that comes through a posturing and centering of the self.

Shea: Where do we begin?
Tim: It’s important, first, to know that mindfulness is not a fixed destination. It is something that we have naturally available to us; we just need to practice and develop our capacity to be mindful.

Shea: I see. Well, I’m “open” to that.
Tim: Then you’re on your way. This week Reverend Michelle Hughes will lead us on this journey as she hosts our the study this Thursday night. She’s been on the forefront of social justice for a long long time and is no stranger to struggle. We’re truly blessed to have her bring this lesson. It’s not something you want to miss!

Join us this Thursday at L!VE Café, 163 S. Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00p, the study begins at 7:30p. If you can’t be with us in person, join us via Facebook Live.

We need your help!

As we think about the future of Gather, please let us know what gifts you bring and would like to share with the community. There are many roles that have to come together to make Gather happen every week. This includes setup, technical support, worship, managing handouts and information, coordinating drinks, and teardown. We need your help. Please let us know what type of service you’d be interested in!

Watch God Work,
Tim & Shea

NEW SERIES BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER
What kinds of spiritual practices and habits work best for us? How do we keep our faith life fresh? What do we do when things we’ve always done feel like they’re not working? How do we stay plugged in to God’s work in us and our community? This fall we’ll look at spiritual disciplines as our means of survival in an increasingly chaotic world.
Join us every Thursday from September 6 through October 11, as we examine Spiritual Disciplines for Undisciplined Times.

UPCOMING GATHER OPPS

September 20 – This week, Rev. Michelle Hughes, Interim Pastor of Pilgrim Congregational UCC, will lead the study on mindfulness.

September 27 – Next week, Pastor Tim will be back to talk about embodiment!

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from them!

_____
Mark your calendars for October 27, when Pilgrim Congregational UCC will host an extraordinary concert featuring two amazing talents: Andrew Barnes Jamison (keys) and Darnell Ishmel (vocals). The concert begins at 7:30. It will be one of the highlights of the fall!

As we prepare to become a vibrant worshipping community, we invite you to enjoy a Spotify playlist that captures the kind of worship we hope to embrace. Give it a spin while you’re driving. Make it your workout jam. Add it to your devotional time. Most of all, feel yourself becoming part of a sacred village of believers who love their God and one another!
Check out the Gather Worship Playlist here.

Courage

Owning Our Strength

Shea: Who is the woman above us?
Tim: That’s Irene Pappas, the 20th-century Greek theater and cinema legend. It’s a shot from her most famous film in the States, Zorba the Greek (1964), in which she plays a young widow whose fate gets tangled up with a young man who meets with a tragic end. It’s the kind of role that would bury most actresses. The Widow (as she’s known) is a helpless victim. But Pappas invests her with a ferocity and pathos that turn a marginalized character into one of the most powerful women in 1960s film. And I bet you’re wondering where this is going, right?

Shea: Well, when you start talking movies …
Tim: Not to worry. I pulled the Pappas photo because I envision her when I read the story of Rizpah. She’s a character who intrigues me every which way.

Shea: We’re revisiting her story this Thursday night at Gather as part of our series on spiritual disciplines. The theme is courage, correct?
Tim: Yes and she personifies it in how she turns grief into triumph. I don’t want to give too much away. But suffice to say when state-sanctioned violence takes her sons, Rizpah refuses to let it slide. King David plays politics, placating longtime enemies, paying no mind to the human cost. But Rizpah, a relative nobody, courageously takes a knee and humiliates him.

Shea: Again, we’ve got a passage that feels ripped from the headlines.
Tim: We live in a time of cowardice and opportunism. We see things that don’t make sense, because folks who profess to have directly opposing values are content to play politics if they think it will get them what they wants. It’s a dangerous position to take. That’s why courage is becoming an increasingly vital spiritual discipline in these undisciplined times. We’ve got to have Rizpah courage to speak truth to power and refuse to bend. We’ve got to own our strength. As I picture Rizpah, in my mind’s eye she’s got that Pappas brand of fire and fury. She knows where she’s strong and she won’t be pushed aside. We need more of that in this day and age. It’s a story that resonates deeply.

Shea: And we have a fierce and courageous teacher to guide us this week.
Tim: We couldn’t ask for better. Our own Bishop Phyllis Pennese will lead the study this Thursday night. She’s been on the forefront of social justice for a long long time and is no stranger to struggle. We’re truly blessed to have her bring this lesson. It’s not something you want to miss!

Join us this Thursday at L!VE Café, 163 S. Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00p, the study begins at 7:30p. If you can’t be with us in person, join us via Facebook Live.

We need your help!

As we think about the future of Gather, please let us know what gifts you bring and would like to share with the community. There are many roles that have to come together to make Gather happen every week. This includes setup, technical support, worship, managing handouts and information, coordinating drinks, and teardown. We need your help. Please let us know what type of service you’d be interested in!

Watch God Work,
Tim & Shea

NEW SERIES BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER
What kinds of spiritual practices and habits work best for us? How do we keep our faith life fresh? What do we do when things we’ve always done feel like they’re not working? How do we stay plugged in to God’s work in us and our community? This fall we’ll look at spiritual disciplines as our means of survival in an increasingly chaotic world.
Join us every Thursday from September 6 through October 11, as we examine Spiritual Disciplines for Undisciplined Times.

UPCOMING GATHER OPPS
September 13 & 20 – Two dear friends of Gather will be bringing the Word while Pastor Tim is away on vacation. On September 13, Bishop Phyllis Pennese will continue with Spiritual Disciplines study with a look at Courage. The following week, Rev. Michelle Hughes, Interim Pastor of Pilgrim Congregational UCC, will lead the study on mindfulness. Both of these great pastors and teachers will feed your soul!  Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from them!
_____
Mark your calendars for October 27, when Pilgrim Congregational UCC will host an extraordinary concert featuring two amazing talents: Andrew Barnes Jamison (keys) and Darnell Ishmel (vocals). The concert begins at 7:30. It will be one of the highlights of the fall!

As we prepare to become a vibrant worshipping community, we invite you to enjoy a Spotify playlist that captures the kind of worship we hope to embrace. Give it a spin while you’re driving. Make it your workout jam. Add it to your devotional time. Most of all, feel yourself becoming part of a sacred village of believers who love their God and one another!
Check out the Gather Worship Playlist here.