Messages on Belonging & Connection (Page 8)
Darkness Visible
Ken shares a story from Anne Lamott wherein she talks about calling around to different friends asking about what Advent means to them. She doesn’t have much luck until she reaches a Jesuit friend who has 35 years of sobriety. He shares a dramatic event which happened early in his own recovery wherein folks at a 12-step meeting showed compassion to a man in a terrible state. The patience they showed then, evoked the feeling of Advent for this friend.…
Break Your Heart
In this week’s message, Rev. Lee talks about the upcoming election, and admits that she’d gone back and forth on what kind of message to deliver this week: one where she reassures us that everything will be okay, and one that warns us that it won’t be. She remembers words Rev. Ken said to her at her ordination: “Let your ministry break your heart,” and tells us that out broken hearts are good enough. She concludes with a story about…
Woven Fine
Rev. Lee begins this week’s message by talking about a new framework for the stages of grief, including an added a sixth stage: “finding meaning.” Of course, that’s a very hard concept to accept, especially if we’re in the early stages of grief. She also talks us through the conundrum of how we can all support each other when we’re all going through the same thing. She shares the “Parable of the long spoons,” where the answer isn’t to feed…
The Care of Souls
Rev. Ken begins this new message series by offering the Mourner’s Kaddish for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. He talks about a videogame he’s playing now where a being called “Stella” guides souls to the afterlife, and how surprisingly touching it is. He also talks about how we can help each other through our collective mourning process by honoring the connections between us. The Care of Souls [00:00:00]The following is a message from Wellspring’s congregation.[00:00:06]Good morning, Wellsprings.[00:00:09]It was on Friday evening…
Blinded By the Light
This week, Rev. Ken continues our Spiritflix series with a message about the movie Blinded By the Light – a film where the main character is asking the question “How do I fit in?” Rev. Ken talks about how this film reminded him of the eulogy President Obama gave for John Lewis, calling us to a “Vibrant, big-hearted, tolerant America of perpetual self creation.” He also reflects on the importance of the Bruce Springsteen lyric “No one wins unless everybody…
Garden State
Lay preacher Beverly Fox continues our SpiritFlix series with a message about the film Garden State. Her message explores the concept of home. What does that mean to you? Where can you find home? Garden State [00:00:02]Good morning.[00:00:03]My name is Beverly Fox, and I am beyond honored to be serving as a preacher today. Today, we are going to be sharing amessage from our SpiritFlix series, which for any of you new comers welcome, who may not know what that…
Troop Zero
This week, lay preacher Josie Waldman shares the movie Troop Zero with us, and what the film meant to her, as a girl who was picked on in school. She shares some of her personal experiences and wonders what it is that makes some kids act the way they do. She asks us to consider the essential question of the movie: “What kind of world would it be if every homely, strange little girl thought she could do whatever she…
The Outsiders
Rev. Ken kicks off our message series, “Love the Hell Out of this World,” by exploring the concept of Universalism through the lens of – wait for it – Weird Al Yankovic. What can we learn from a painfully shy, almost cloistered youth who made so much safe space for those who have always felt like outsiders? “The Outsiders” Transcript START OF TRANSCRIPT[00:00:00]The following is a message from Wellspring’s congregation.[00:00:05]Hi, everybody. It’s good to be connected with you again in…