listening Archives - Treasure Valley Prays

Listening for the Questions that Give Life

Post author:Keith Hammer
Post published:March 23, 2023
Post category:Keith Hammer
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“Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, ‘Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?’Jesus said, ‘You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.’… Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, (the man who had received his sight) and went and found him. He asked him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of…

When All Else Fails, Listen

Post author:Casey Cross
Post published:October 28, 2022
Post category:Casey Cross
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If you’ve been following along with the lectionary, you might be aware that a major theme of our recent gospel lessons has been prayer. It’s been a great opportunity to talk with our kids in the children’s message about the ways we pray and what happens when we pray. Far too often, we think of prayer as what we say to God. Far too often, prayer is described or used as a kind of wish list where we name all the ways we…

It’s Not All About Me

Post author:Penelope Smith
Post published:February 11, 2022
Post category:DEVOTION Penelope Smith
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Did you ever attend a baby shower for a first-time mother-to-be, and the guests decided to be “helpful”? Get a bunch of moms in the same room sharing their childbirth stories, and it can be scary! The horrors of 38-hour hard labor. The couple who barely makes it to the hospital in time. Frightening trips over icy country roads. The pain of natural childbirth. The side effects of drugs administered during labor. Each tale sounds worse than the last. It’s a bit like…

Prayer and Justice

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:April 16, 2021
Post category:Meggan Manlove
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On April 9 the church and world remembered German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who died in the Flossenbürg concentration camp on that day in 1945. I shared this Bonhoeffer quote, posted by the Lutheran World Federation, on my Facebook Page ,“Our being Christian today will consist in only two things: in praying and in doing justice among people.”I have been reflecting on the relationship between prayer and doing justice regularly since last February. I attended a training in California with Mark Yaconelli,…

Doing Faith

Post author:Heidi Gainan
Post published:February 6, 2021
Post category:Heidi Gainan
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In fact, (St. Paul) dares to say (in Galatians 5:6), nothing else matters except faith expressing itself in love. Brian McLaren, “Faith After Doubt” Every day I walk a three to four-mile route through my neighborhood. It’s part prayer time and part working through the things that are on my plate to deal with (I guess that would mean it should ALL be prayer time!) I live in a semi-businessy area, so there always seems to be a lot of trash discarded along…

Silence

Post author:Kathryn Baerwald
Post published:January 23, 2021
Post category:Kathryn Baerwald
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For those of us old enough to remember the music of the 1960’s, one of the iconic songs was “Silence is Golden” by the Four Seasons, later covered by the Tremeloes. The protagonist, upon losing his love to someone else, knew he should keep quiet about the new boyfriend. For as much as he wanted to warn his former girlfriend about her new flame, he knew that saying something would only make matters worse. Best to be silent. Best to wait until more…

A Two-Way Relationship

Post author:Diane McGeoch
Post published:September 4, 2020
Post category:Diane McGeoch
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My best friend Penny is an introvert. This is a good thing, because I am an extrovert so we balance one another nicely. Penny knows me very well; and understands my tendency to talk on and on about things in my life. She listens well and offers good feedback. We’ve known one another for over 50 years, and Penny recognizes all of the nuances in my voice and all my pet phrases and expressions. I’ve learned how to draw Penny out and get…

New Applications for Tools of Our Faith in this Moment

Post author:Keith Hammer
Post published:July 18, 2020
Post category:Keith Hammer
Post comments:1 Comment

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25 I recently read the thoughts of two (white) Christian commentators who challenged me to think about racism and white privilege from the perspective of Christian faith differently than I have thought about it recently.…

Listening to the Silence

Post author:Heidi Gainan
Post published:July 8, 2020
Post category:Heidi Gainan
Post comments:3 Comments

“The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days.” Revelation 12:6 I, too, flee to the desert twice a year for a silent retreat, but I don’t get to stay twelve hundred and sixty days. I wish! Marymount Hermitage, a place in the desert definitely prepared by God, is located between Cambridge and Council off Highway 95. You have to slow to a…

A Backyard Walk

Post author:Ken Carrothers
Post published:May 6, 2020
Post category:Ken Carrothers
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We're experiencing a strangeness around us. Outside of the constancy I once felt, there's this newness, bringing forth new life. Let's take a backyard walk. (video)