Words Matter

Not that you need me to tell you this, but...

Words matter.

They have the power to give or to take life. They can sting, soothe, divide or delight. They can give voice to our thoughts, truths, emotions & experiences.

They can even point toward something beyond us. They can bring clarity, wisdom & a framework to our spirituality.

Here's where we must be careful though, because words also have limits. They can point toward, but they can never fully encapsulate the ways we connect, relate to & experience the Divine.

Still, we use them & at times, we do it poorly.

Over then next couple of months, we’ll be exploring some of the key words that have been used to guide our theology & faith. Unfortuntately, some of these words have also been used to paint a harmful image of God, one that needs healing. Despire their limitations & the way they've been abused, instead of throwing these words out altogether, we're spending some time delving deeper into them. We're spending some of our Sunday gathering time over the next couple of months exploring the meanings of some powerful, but often wielded-like-weapons-words - words like God, Bible, sin, salvation, blessed, heaven & hell.

We'll ask a pretty basic question:

What are we talking about when we use these words?

Maybe that's a question you're asking. Maybe you're wondering if these words even have any significance for you any longer. Wherever you are, whateve your questions, doubts or beliefs, you're invited to join us as we gather to listen, sing, pray, share communion & take a fresh look at some words that have been central to Christianty for a long time &- words that are meant to be a means to life, never a destroyer of it.

Join us beginning this Sunday, September 1st at 10:30 a.m. at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Springfield.