Texts: Mark 10:46-52; 1 Samuel 16:14-23

Speaker: Joel Miller

46 They came to Jericho. As (Jesus) and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

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If you were doing a crossword puzzle, and the clue was “masculinity,” five letters, and you already have t-o _ i-c, I’m pretty sure the overwhelming majority would confidently write an “x” in the open space and consider that one solved.  

As far as I can tell, the phrase “toxic masculinity” goes back to the 1980s.  It was coined, surprisingly, by men.  The self-diagnosis was that men were suffering from the ills of industrialized society: individualism, competition over comradery, loss of traditional rituals and initiation rites that give boys and men a clear sense of obligation to their community, the sense that men aren’t supposed to feel anything, except anger.  That’s the stew, they taught, that creates toxic masculinity.  This mythopoetic men’s movement – as it was called – was inspired by the feminist movement.  It…

Texts: Genesis 11:1-9, Nehemiah 2:17-18

Speaker: Joel Miller

When a pope wants to make a big statement, they write an encyclical.  For a non-Catholic, such as myself, I have learned an encyclical is a teaching document / pastoral letter on a certain theme.  It’s often quite long, more like a book.  It’s meant to circulate, en-cycle-cal, among a general audience.  This includes not just the 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, but us.  Everyone.   

The previous pope, Francis, issued four encyclicals over his twelve years.  This included “Laudato Si,” (“Praise be to you”), a phrase borrowed from his namesake, Francis of Assisi.  Happy Feast Day Francis.  It talked about the earth as our common home, warning against the perils of climate change, with a major takedown of unbridled capitalism.  That same year, 2015, when Francis was touring the US, I remember The Onion putting out an article with a definitely-photoshopped picture of the pope in a grocery store with the headline “Pope Francis reverses position on capitalism after seeing wide variety of American Oreos.”  Ah for the innocent days when fake news was funny.

The current pope, Leo, the first American pope, to my knowledge has made no public statements on Oreos.  But he did issue his first encyclical earlier this year.  If you were pope, if you were one of, if not the most influential spiritual leaders in the world, and you were going to issue your first big statement on a topic of concern, what would it be?  What do you think – right now – is most deserving of a pastoral letter to the human race offering counsel and wisdom and caution and fatherly/motherly love? 

Well, back in May, Pope Leo gave his answer.  It’s called Magnifica Humanitas.  “Magnificent Humanity.”  Subtitle: “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Age…

Text: Mark 5:21-43

Speaker: Carolyn May

When Joel asked me if I’d be willing to offer the reflection for today, he told me that CMC has beenworking through a series focused on “Courageous Peace Witness” and that there was a thought thatperhaps the retreat would be a good weekend to reflect on embodiment and peacemaking. In a lotof ways I still feel surprised that bodies have become such an integral part of my life and work. Ithink I spent much of my early years feeling very disembodied. And feeling, somehow, like that wasa virtue. Like being a good Christian meant learning to rise above all of this messy physical stuff.There are still remnants of that deep within me, I think. And so it felt a bit surprising for Joel tosuggest that I might be a good person to reflect on embodiment.

But, it makes sense. After an intense year of schooling and training, I recently became a licensedmassage therapist. Truly not a path I could have or would have ever anticipated for my life. Itcertainly wasn’t the path I imagined when I went to seminary. Though, to be fair, I don’t think Iactually had any clear path imagined when I made that move.

But as I’ve been reflecting, I think I’ve been recognizing that embodiment has been a reallyimportant part of my theological life for a long time. Because of course. It has always been part ofeverything, regardless of how much I have tried to remain separate from my body, or how much Ihave absorbed that old Christian tendency to think of flesh and body as somehow lesser, whilespirit and mind are where the real spiritual work happens. I am still a body. I think maybe, for awhile, I’ve been coming to terms with the fact that part of the spiritual work might be…

Matthew 5:1-10 and Qur’an 4:135

Imam Horsed Noah (Outreach Director of Abubakar Mosque)

…

Texts: Leviticus 16:20-22; Mark 4:30-34; Colossians 2:13-15

Speaker: Joel Miller

Maybe you’ve seen one of those posters or bumper stickers with the symbols of the major world religions side by side. 

There is the cresent moon and star – Islam.  There’s the six-pointed Star of David, or the seven-candled Menorah – Judaism.  There’s the dharma wheel with the eight spokes, each representing one aspect of the noble path – Buddhism.  There is the balance and interconnectedness of the Yin and Yang symbol of Taoism.  There is the AUM symbol of Hinduism that looks kind of like a letter or letters but represents the primal vibration of the universe. 

Stars and lights and circles and interconnectedness and unity.  Oh, and also, among the others, there is an instrument of public humiliation, torture, and capital punishment.  The Latin Cross.  Christianity.   

What’s that sesame street game?  One of these things is not like the others…

For better or for worse, of all the images that could have come to represent the community that formed around Jesus of Nazareth, it’s the cross that prevailed. 

I’m wearing one right now.

We aren’t big cross people in our worship space, but there is one front and center each Sunday, even if it is a bit understated.  

I’ve come to think of the cross as the ultimate parable of Jesus. 

In Mark chapter 4 Jesus tells a series of parables, including the one about the kingdom of God being like the smallest of all seeds – the mustard seed (v. 31).  You can barely see it, but then it grows into a great shrub where all the birds can nest. 

That would have been a cool symbol for Christianity.  You just put a little dot on the page and that’s all you need, right there. 

After this, Mark says, “With many such parables he spoke the word…