Category Archives: Inspiration

Praying about violence

Posted on by
Reply

In response to the recent spike in violence here in our home city, our church community has been praying for an increased sense of peace and worth.  Two members have had their prayer-filled perspectives published in The Christian Science Monitor.  Here are links to their articles:

Toward stopping violence in Chicago – why there is hope

How I love Chicago

In addition to these two articles, here are links to the readings from two Wednesday Testimony Meetings we recently held on this subject:

August 1, 2012 – What is possible and what is impossible?

July 25, 2012 – Is man both good and evil?

And lastly, as one additional resource to inform your prayers – here’s a link to an insightful news article, “In Chicago, heat and homicide stoke fear and frustration,” The Christian Science Monitor.

 

Hope: An opportunity for our community

Posted on by
Reply

The Christian Science Monitor has recently brought its insightful perspective to our hometown’s challenge with violence. Both online and in the July 23rd magazine, Mark Guarino’s reporting “Chicago: heat and homicide” offers a clear overview of the situation.

At the close of the article, one particularly poignant comment caught this reader’s eye, “The violence is largely spontaneous and out of control. It’s triggered by all sorts of unrelated events,” says John Hagedorn, a criminal justice professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago  who studies gangs. “The whole policy discussion is not dealing with the long-term problem, and that’s the inability of people to have hope.”

HOPE.  What is it that gives you hope about our city? How have you been praying and acting differently in light of this opportunity?

Share your hope-filled comments here (click on “leave a reply” below) or come and share your insights at our Wednesday Testimony Meetings which begin at 6:00 p.m.

“What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love!  More we cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot have.  This sweet assurance is the “Peace, be still” to all human fears, to suffering of every sort.” – Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896

Radical Acts Project Update

Posted on by
4

The Radical Acts Project has effectively stirred it up at Seventeenth Church’s Sunday School! This summer we’ve been focusing on them in our classes and working with them in our individual lives. #7 – learning to forgive 70×7 has been challenging for some as has #18 “walking on water!” (Click here to see all 18 practices.)

One practice, #16 “traveling without a wallet,” took us totally by surprise. Early in the summer, for two Sundays in a row, we found ourselves without any students in Sunday School. Commenting on this fact on the second Sunday, one staff member likened our no student situation to what it must feel like to “travel without a wallet.” No students. No wallet. The staff laughed.

At first our laughter was nervous & tentative and then it turned into a good ole belly laugh! It was a bit scary to find ourselves without students. Our regular students all had valid reasons to be absent – family vacations and attending camp. However, the thought of how to ‘get’ more students seemed daunting. And, the idea of no students all summer long was discouraging.

But as the teaching of Jesus’ willingness to travel without a wallet dawned on us our laughter became confident. We were glimpsing the spiritual insight of this radical act – to trust in God’s provision. After the group laugh, we agreed to travel together without a wallet – whatever that meant attendance wise during the summer months.

The following Sunday no students came. So, we wrote them letters! We wrote all our regular students and the visitors that came last year. In our letters and emails we expressed gratitude for their support of Sunday School, told them about the Radical Acts projects and where they could find it online, and even mentioned our own “traveling without wallet” story.

Sunday School classes have been active with student participation ever since. We’ve reconnected with a college student and have welcomed a new student that an alert staff member thought to invite and has brought to Sunday School for several weeks now. There will be more opportunities to practice these amazing teachings of Christ Jesus. We just wanted to share with the whole community at Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist the lesson we learned from this one radical act.

We encourage everyone to stop by the Sunday School room and learn more about the Radical Acts Project or go online and participate right now at time4thinkers.com.

Here’s a link to our post on time4thinkers.com where several folks from around the country/world have commented on our experience about “traveling without a wallet.”