“Friends, you’ve got mail.
It’s an invitation to dust off your shoes,
To go deeper,
To trust that you’re worth it,
To lose your keys and your faith,
And then to find them both, along with your worth.
You are invited.
We are invited.
Again and again and again.
This invitation is for you.”
— Excerpt from “Invited” by Rev. Sarah Are
From the Again & Again poetry collection by @sanctifiedart
“God of justice, you flipped tables in the temple, and then immediately spoke to people who were eager to listen. We seem to only be able to do one or the other—we can be prophetic or pastoral. We can be angry or be gentle. We can speak or listen. Help us to hold both at…
“Change, even when welcomed, means death. I once had the unenviable task of pastoring a church through dissolution. We realized that change would happen either with us or to us. We could die to some things so that we could live to others, or we could hold onto what is and die with it. Only…
“Jesus shines like a beacon atop the high mountain while former prophets appear. The disciples are terrified, but also want to live this moment forever, making the glory-filled rock face their home. At once a cloud descends, obscuring things further, and God’s voice echoes down, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!’ (Mark…
What rhythms, habits, perspectives, narratives, or ways of thinking need to be overturned in your life? | @sanctifiedart
“When I first created this piece, it appeared to me to be three different images. The sky, the distant water, and the ripple in the foreground. As I stared at the three patterns, I desired unification. Perhaps I’d repeat the ripple in the sky, or maybe add thin lines in the foreground to tie it…
“The kind of religion [Jesus] promoted wasn’t performative, as so much of religious life can be. We give because it is necessary. Prayer prioritizes God’s will, not our words. Fasting produces spiritual, not physical evidence. What we value is different. … Again and again, God invites us into fuller ways of being. There is no…
