The Sustainist

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 30

Pledge Card for Truth

Why is truth part of being an awesome steward?  Knowing the truth about myself – my financial situation, my personal resources such as emotions, skills, time, etc. – are key to how I can be generous in sharing my resources.  Knowing the truth about my church community – its strengths, passions, resources in terms of place, leadership, relationships, etc. – will allow the community to be secure as they discern how to share their resources.  Knowing and sharing the truth about the financial picture of a church community, connecting the money to the ministries that the money supports, will enable members of the community to give generously knowing the blessings for which the money exchanges.  Knowing the truth about the needs and concerns in our neighborhood community will help the church direct their resources to support relevant and impactful ministries.  Knowing the truth about the resources available in the neighborhood will open up possibilities for the church to access additional resources – time, money, place, leadership – to support the ministries of the church.  Discerning the truth about what is happening to the earth, our island home, will help us learn to keep our natural resources flowing that respect and not harm the earth.

Answer the questions on the first page of week 30 of Drawing on Holy Currencies and you will have a better idea of how to complete the pledge card. You don’t have to figure out completely how to discern the truth about the issues you named. The following weeks’ activities will help you with this.

Name a personal or family issue of which you want to discern the truth:

Why is this important?

Name a church issue of which you want to discern the truth:

Why is this important?

Name a neighborhood community issue of which you want to discern the truth:

Why is this important?

Name an environmental issue of which you want to discern the truth:

Why is this important?

Color the pledge card and you will find the completion date that you need to fill in.

Find an Accountable Person (AP) for this pledge card. He/she can be the same AP you have been reporting to or the AP of the last pledge card but can be someone else. It would be fun to explain to a new AP what you are doing.

Make the pledge card unique and beautiful. Take a photo and send it to the person who oversees stewardship ministry in your community. If this person doesn’t know what it is, you will have the opportunity to explain to him/her what you (and your group) are doing.

Small group: Gather your group, share experiences of the last few weeks on the currency of truth and work on the pledge cards together. Remember to practice presenting the Respectful Communication Guidelines and use Mutual Invitation.

And don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using #holycurrencies.

 

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 29

Way, Truth and Life

The Hebrew word that is translated as truth, emet, is composed of the three letters, א alef, מ mem, and ת tav—the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The composition of the word may signify that in order to discern the truth, one must know the beginning, the middle, and the end of the event. There is no half-truth in the Hebrew emet. We cannot take one moment, one feeling, or one perspective and call that the truth. For this reason, we do not select one verse from the Bible and use it in a polarizing way to make judgments, calling that verse the “truth.” To discern the truth, we need to read the whole Bible from beginning to end.

 

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

 

I have observed that many use the word “truth” in a polarizing way, such as “truth” versus “falsehood,” and “truth” versus “lie.” For example, John 14:6 is often interpreted in this polarizing way: Jesus is the truth, and everything and everyone else are false. Of course, this right/wrong, good/bad, either/or interpretation of the truth is often reinforced by the interpretation of the second half of the verse: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Granted, the word “truth” in the English language is often defined this way. The way Jesus used the word might have a different meaning stemming from his cultural background.

 

I often wonder why Jesus put words “the truth” between “the way” and “the life.” If Jesus wanted to use a simple either-or interpretation of “the truth,” wouldn’t saying “I am the truth” be enough? Both “way” and “life” are multi-dimensional. A way is traveled through time; there is a direction, a movement from one place to another. A life is lived over a period of time in different places, and in relationships with different people. We do not take a moment in someone’s life and call that “a life.” A life involves a past, a present and a future. Neither do we take one step of a journey and call that “the way.” The way also has a beginning, a movement through different environments, and a destination. Perhaps the meaning of “the truth” being sandwiched in between the multi-dimensional concepts of “the way” and “the life” ought to be understood in a similar way.

 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:13)

Read chapter 5 of Holy Currencies to learn more about the Currency of Truth.

Don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using #holycurrencies.

 

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 28

Imagine

… It is that very spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.  If, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.  Romans 8:16-17 NRSV

Imagine a millionaire and a homeless person are brothers; what would they be talking about?

Imagine a policeman and the young men in the neighborhood are brothers; what would they be doing in the neighborhood?

Imagine Republicans and Democrats are sisters and brothers; how would they behave in Congress?

Imagine the marketing director of a drug company and a patient are sisters; how would the new drug be priced and advertised?

Imagine the bank loan officer and a potential homebuyer are brother and sister; what would the loan process be like?

Find a spot at a cafe, park bench, a window, etc., and start coloring the first page and meditate on the words. Then spend some time watching the people in your settings.

Here comes the fun part: Do an imaginary dialogue with one of the persons you observed. Start by saying hello and then see what happens. Post your dialogue/comic with #holycurrencies. Check out the dialogues that other fellow HC drawers came up with.

Small group: Gather your group, share your comic/dialogue and share experiences of the last few weeks. Remember to practice presenting the Respectful Communication Guidelines and use Mutual Invitation.

Time to check in with your AP. 

 

Drawing Holy Currencies Week 27

Love Your Enemies and Dialogue

This week, I will let the drawing and songs do the talking. You can watch me teaching a group to sing, “Love Your Enemies” at a Music that Makes Community Conference on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9AtwVDQshU.  Listen to the song as you color the first page. Remember to take a photo of your creation and post with #holycurrencies.

 

 

You can listen to me singing “The Dialogue Song” on Youtube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dST6YClSgrc

 

 

Holy Currencies at Work

Here is a letter from Pamela who shared how her congregation has been positively impacted by Holy Currencies.  If you want to receive Holy Currencies training and/coaching go to our Holy Currencies website and learn more about utilizing this cycle of blessing model for stewardship ministry and incubation of new ministries.

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Dear Eric,

I hope this finds you well. Last summer I had the pleasure of being part of the team that signed on to your series of webinars about Holy Currencies. This was after we had had Jake come lead us through a daylong workshop and several of us had the chance to work through the book together.

Our Vestry is continuing to use Holy Currencies to guide many of our discussions and program decisions, for example discerning in February that this would be a year for us to focus on the currency of wellness. We've learned a lot from Holy Currencies and recognize that we still have a lot of work to do to fully integrate it into our way of being here at St. Martin's. 

You'll be pleased to know that last year was our best year for pledges in the history of St. Martin's. We've also done a better and better job with our currencies of relationship, time and place. We became the daily intake site for our community's winter shelter as well as sponsoring two families from Guatemala who are seeking asylum in the U.S. We're helping with all their resettlement needs, physical, spiritual, and relational, and are learning what it would take to offer sanctuary should the need arise. The major commitment we made to these families happened after we'd had some truth events talking about the situation on the border. And on it goes! 

Thank you for the work you do and the work you make possible. I hope to hear from you soon.

Blessings,

Pamela

The Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan, Rector

Episcopal Church of St. Martin

Davis, CA