John 1:10-18
The Message Translation
9-13The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
14 The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”
16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.
REFLECTIONS:
Thoughts from Monica:
I don’t know what more needs to be said about this translation of scripture by Eugene Peterson. If I chose to read it contemplatively on the regular, it would consistently bring a balm. “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” Emmanuel.
It’s easy for me to fall into the rut of thinking God is far off, uninterested, and uninvolved. Especially with the existence of pain around, and even within. So, passages like this one, and these quotes hereafter, remind me to zoom out and glimpse the meta-narrative. I love this from James Bryan Smith, who challenges his readers to rethink God-as-Angry-Judge: “The New Testament reveals a God who is pulsing with goodness and power and love and beauty. To know the God of Jesus is to know the truth about who God really is.” Bryan Zahnd writes something similar: “God couldn’t say all he wanted to say in the form of a book, so he said it in the form of Jesus. Jesus is what God has to say!”
My hope for 2025 is a deepening freedom, delight, and joy in our friendship with God-for-us, God-with-us, God-uniting-us... so much that it spills over, past our neighborhoods and to the fringes.
A Prayer for Joy
Eugene Peterson
Dear Lord of all that can rightly be called joy,
Draw me so close to the Source of that joy that it would rub off on me.
Help me to live an exuberant life,
full of laughter and song,
feasting and dancing,
the fellowship of good friends,
and the joyful anticipation of meeting new ones.
Help me to celebrate every gift that comes from your hand,
whether the holy sacrament of Scripture or the holy sacrament of sex.
Give me a grateful heart, O Lord.
wonderfully, cheerfully, hilariously grateful.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application
This week, ask a trusted colleague or friend for feedback on your behavior and impact lately.
Non-Violent Communication Question of the Week
What is one thing you can do to create safety for another person to express their feelings and emotions?
Pathways toward Centeredness
Sensation (Loving God with our senses and imagination):
What sensations occur in your body when you feel most connected to God? Spend some time this week cataloguing and reflecting on the wisdom of your body.
Questions for Reflection
What were the moments in 2024 that you experienced the nearness of God?
What are the moments you are looking forward to in 2025 that you hope to experience the nearness of God?
“Liturgy” refers to the habits and practices humans use to form community around shared values and meaning. At Church at the Park, we desire to be a community of practice, becoming people who see the world through the eyes of the marginalized, making meaning through the lens of pain and suffering, and committing ourselves to non-violence in a wounded world. This weekly email is intended to provide pathways of practice for becoming the type of people who embody these values.
Many of our reflections on each week's text come from other sources. If you're interested in reading more of what inspires us, here our our two favorite reflections.
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