Thanksgiving 11-20-2011 from Praxis UCC on Vimeo.

The scripture passage was Matthew 6:25-33

What do you think? Do have some beautiful Thanksgiving moments to share? We’d love for you to add your comments below.

While there is some confusion about what Occupy Wall Street and its affiliates stand for, the community that has sprouted up around the movement is something to behold.  At Occupy Atlanta they offer food, childcare, legal assistance, and health care to anyone participating as a testament to an alternate way of doing community.  Occupy Atlanta actually includes many people in its ranks who were already experiencing homelessness.  Together with those who have chosen homelessness in protest of a broken economic system, they have now created what is so difficult to find in so many American cities: a group of neighbors willing to take care of each other and share “all things in common,” distributing “to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44)

This is a movement where it’s difficult to see who has a home to return to and who does not.  Whether you agree with the many grievances the movement has espoused, the occupiers have shown us a face of solidarity between those who have and those in need.  Isn’t this what the church should be striving for?  To erase the lines that divide us?  To treat one another as equals regardless of social location? This might be summed up in our UCC motto: “That they might all be one”.

I’m excited for the upcoming Mission 1, where the United Church of Christ will take 11 days between 11/1/11 and 11/11/11 to feed the hungry and confront food related injustice.

As part of our Mission 1 collection at Praxis we’ll be taking donations to the Occupy Atlanta movement where it will help support those who are living on the street–whether by choice or by circumstance.  We’ll also collect canned goods that will go to the Atlanta Community food bank.

Here’s a list of items that the Occupy Atlanta protesters are requesting.  If you bring these to Praxis we’ll make sure that they get to the organizers:

Camp Sunshine is an incredible organization that helps kids that are living with cancer. They are centered locally in Decatur. For more information on Camp Sunshine, go to www.mycampsunshine.com.

Please join us in supporting Always Saturday in their mission to help Camp Sunshine! To listen to some of their great music check out alwayssaturday.com and then download the song through itunes by clicking here!

You’re invited to Service Saturdays, a ministry of Praxis UCC’s Service and Justice team in partnership with Journey, the Druid Hills Men’s Shelter.

Now twice a month, we gather for coffee and fellowship to reflect on issues surrounding homelessness; then we hop across Ponce de Leon Ave. to Journey (next to Druid Hills Presbyterian) and do art with the residents in a low-key, fun environment. Our goal is to create relationships and allow everyone’s creativity to flourish, no matter how “good” at art we are–or aren’t! Come join us!

Preparing stencisl that say "Jesus was Homeless"

George's awesome "FAITH" t-shirt

Praxis UCC gathered last night with thousands of other Georgians for an Atlanta rally in support of stopping the execution of Mr. Davis. A prayer service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King served, was held afterwards.

As Christians, we worship a man who was unjustly executed by the state.  We are also called to walk humbly with a God who embodies justice and love.  Whether you are against the death penalty in general, or for justice to be done in this particular case, we ask you to join us in showing support for Troy and in praying for the family of Officer Mark MacPhail, the victim in the case, as we work for just alternatives to an unwarranted execution and a broken judicial system.  For more info on the case and why there is too much doubt to execute, go here.  To add your name to a 600,000+ signature petition to stop the execution, go here.

Our friend, and member of the Praxis community, Laura aka Lucki devi-dasi is celebrating the opening of her new art show this evening. Her show will feature her eclectic found object paintings, assemblages, collages, and sculptures.

Come join us tonight (August 5) from 7-9pm at Red Wall Studio. 1428 Ponce de Leon N.E. Atlanta. It’s right next to St John’s Lutheran Church where we used to have worship.

To see more samples of her fabulous art check out her web page - Art Outside the Box – here.

Quick reminder: our first meeting to discuss Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical is THIS THURSDAY: dinner at 6:30pm (bring a dish to share!) followed by discussion from 7:30-8:30(ish) at Chris and Leah’s place, 1093D N. Jamestown Rd.  Our gathering will focus on CHAPTERS 2-5.  Dinner will be gazpacho + nachos, and whatever else you bring!

Come out and join us for thought- and faith-provoking conversation, good food, and great fellowship!  All are welcome!

I realize this photo is not all that appealing (curse you, bad lighting!).  But trust me, friends, this was one tasty dinner.

We hand-rolled 100+ bean and cheese enchiladas Friday night for the guys at the local men’s shelter, cooked up a big pot of Mexican rice, and collaborated on a salad (thanks Marvin!).  Then we cleverly forgot to take pictures until all was devoured except the last half-pan.

Synopsis of Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Many of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we’ve made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world. Shane’s faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 in coins and bills on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and ‘practicing resurrection’ in the forgotten places of our world. Shane’s message will comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable . . . but will also invite us into an irresistible revolution. His is a vision for ordinary radicals ready to change the world with little acts of love.

Typically the second verse is translated like this:

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

We are looking at multiple translations, so I turned to the Jewish Study Bible, where I found this:

O LORD, my crag , my fortress, my rescuer, my God, my rock in whom I seek refuge, my shield, my mighty champion, my haven.

The first use of rock is cela` and it’s translated as “crag” in the Jewish Study Bible. This is so much more evocative – not just a rock, or a stone, or even a boulder, but a high precipice. A mountain top. The second word for rock is tsuwr which could mean a stone, or a piece of rock, or also can mean a sharp edge, as in a rock that’s been sharpened and turned into a knife.

Seeing God as “my crag” reminds me of mountain climbing, of that exertion that it takes to get to the top, and then the beauty of the view. God is not only a solid mountain top, but firm footing from which to see the hills and valleys of life.

So much meaning in just two words that translators have frequently conflated into one. I’m looking forward to unpacking more of the psalms during Lent.