Spiritual Resilience

Last Sunday was the first in an 8-week worship series on Spiritual Resilience, where we will together explore how tools from Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects and from Christian scripture and tradition can help us all to foster spiritual resilience through challenging times.

The beginning of the spiral at the heart of this series and of the Work is “Coming from Gratitude,” and specifically gratitude that isn’t dependent on external circumstances but instead is rooted in the deep blessing of taking part in human life, as part of the whole of Creation, with the ability to make choices for ourselves and the future.

Perhaps you already have gratitude practices of your own. If you don’t, or would like to add to them, I invite you into a practice called “open sentences.” I’ll share some of these open sentences periodically throughout the worship series, whether in service itself or here in the e-blast. Choose one or more and either spend some time journaling about them or, if you have someone at home or work who you’d like to be in conversation with, take turns responding to them in real time. If you come to realize something you’d like to share in this practice, I’d always be delighted to hear from you about it.

Some things I love about being alive on Earth are…
A place that was wonderful to me as a child was…
A person who helped me believe in myself is…
I understood myself to be part of something larger when…
Some things I appreciate about myself are…

Peace

Pastor Megan

P.S. Since several people asked, the two books I mentioned in my sermon last week were Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown.

Past Posts

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Rev. Megan Berkowitz
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It’s very fitting that our Annual Meeting falls on Pentecost this year. As we remember the Holy Spirit filling the early church and moving them into meaningful action, following in the Way of Jesus, we, too, experience the movement of the Spirit in our own church community. Learn More
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Rev. Clark Feldman
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From Our Pastors
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
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We’re heading into a season of joy, celebration, community, and preparation for the future over the next several weeks, and I wanted to be sure to lay it all out in one place so you can plan and save the dates. This weekend, we’ll celebrate and dedicate our new accessible pews in worship and have the second meeting of the spring New Members class immediately following. Learn More
From Our Pastors: May 16, 2025
Rev. Amy Clark Feldman
May 16, 2025
As some of you know, I was away for part of this week at a program for clergy and spiritual directors. Each morning began at 7:45 a.m. with worship; and ended around 9:00 p.m. with worship. Spiritual leaders from around the country each led one of the first five services; with each service focusing on one of the five senses – taste, touch, smell, hearing, sight – knowing that Jesus engaged and experienced all the senses in his very human, embodied, incarnate ministry. Learn More
From Our Pastors: May 9, 2025
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
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I had a lot of interest in the prayer structure I shared during last Sunday’s worship, so I wanted to write it out for you here. If you’re feeling like you’re not sure how to pray or what to say, sometimes a little scaffolding can help get you started. Don’t think that this is the ‘right’ way to pray though — any way to pray that leads you to open your heart to God is the right way! Learn More
From Our Pastors: May 2, 2025
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
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From Our Pastors: April 25, 2025
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
April 25, 2025
On Easter morning, we sang the hymn “Now the Green Blade Rises,” with its refrain: “Love is come again like wheat that rises green.” While it raises questions for me every year about how much pronunciation has changed in the last hundred years (did been/green and again/lain really rhyme?), it so beautifully captures the confluence of Easter and the coming of Spring in the Northern hemisphere. Learn More
From Our Pastors: April 18, 2025
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
April 18, 2025
Throughout Lent, we have been Making Space: for compassion, humility, discernment, generosity, and prayer. As we move from yesterday evening’s Maundy Thursday Tenebrae service, sharing around the table and recognizing the coming darkness, to Sunday morning’s joyful worship, we are given one last, sacred opportunity to reflect in this year’s Lenten season. Learn More