Ahhhhh, another SALT original, "Twelve Ways to Respect Other Religions!"
Print them up, memorize them, live them, love them, give them out at church on Sunday, give them out on street corner on Monday, retweet, repost, or pin them up on Pinterest. Love and respect are what we are called to do as Christians - let's get the word out and get to work!
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A big SALT "thank you" to Lance Salemo, our in-house graphic designer extraordinaire, for creating this sunny, smart printable!
]]>Give me one hundred people who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergy people or lay people, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth. + John Wesley
Pentecost, that lovely, red-colored holiday that comes fifty days after Easter, is coming! Soon we will celebrate the descent of God’s sweet Spirit upon the followers of God’s strong son and, in doing so, the church will be born again (or so we hope and pray!).
In Italy, rose petals will be dropped from the ceilings of cathedrals to recall the tongues of fire. In France, trumpets will sound to evoke the mighty wind, and in churches all around America, women and men will wear red and children will hand out crimson carnations.
But, given the radical, subversive, and quasi-apocalyptic nature of this holiday, shouldn't our churches do more than just hand out carnations? It seems to us here at SALT that Pentecost might be a perfect day to let our sons and daughters prophesy, our young men and women see visions, and our elders dream dreams.
Pentecost is a day to remind everyone in the pews that "even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:18).
That's why we love thinking about LOVE146 as we anticipate this firery day. Simply put, LOVE146 is committed to not only combating child sex slavery and exploitation, but also to the restoration of survivors.
Our prayer this week is that God's Spirit will dive deeply into this world where two children are sold into slavery every sixty seconds, and that God's church will be born again and strengthened to help abolish hurt and pain around the world, and in our own backyards.
Together with the power of the Holy Spirit, we will shake the gates of Hell and do our part to build up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth...
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If your faith community would like to join hands with LOVE146 to work for the abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation, click here for more information.
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Okay, we couldn't wait until Monday! We put all of the names that you submitted into a hat, and instead of picking just three, we decided to draw them all right back out again! Which means we're giving everyone who added a comment to the last post one of our brand-spankin' new "House Party Kits," complete with a step-by-step "how-to" guide, Baptism (one of our signature short films), a small group discussion guide, and resources for taking action.
So, sometime this weekend, send your snail mail address to Garrett over at: community@saltproject.org
After we receive your information, we'll send out a kit as soon as possible. Again, thanks for all your support and for being a part of the SALT Community!
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It’s May and newness of life is in the air! In honor of God's resurrection springing up all around us – we are giving away three "House Party Kits," complete with step-by-step "how-to" guide, Baptism (one of our signature short films), a small group discussion guide, and resources for taking action!
SALT is working hard to encourage individuals and church communities to join with groups across the country (and around the world!) who are gathering together for home viewing parties. Our house party initiative hopes to build communities of conversation and resource-sharing that, like salt itself, preserve and season the best and most beautiful of the Christian tradition.
So, just leave a comment below (no muss, no fuss!). We’ll draw a name out of a hat this weekend and post the winners on Monday morning.
Good luck!
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The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. + Psalm 23:1
The abundance of sheep and shepherds that walked through Sunday’s readings inspired us to create the image collage above. The SALTy twist, however, is that almost all the photos were taken in Afghanistan, a country full of shepherds, mountain tops, and dark valleys full of violence and pain.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me. + Psalm 23:4
How, as pastors and as people of faith, do we proclaim peace and comfort in the midst of ongoing war and violence? Afghan photographer, Massoud Hossaini, was just awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for breaking-news photography. He is perhaps most famous for his photograph of a young girl, dressed in emerald green, standing in the midst of the shadow of death and injury, her blood-stained hands opened as if crying out to God and to all who will listen, “Why?”
In her face, we see the anguish of Psalm 22 and the need to hold God accountable to her promise of comfort and protection in Psalm 23.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. + Psalm 23:6
In the midst of pain and violence, around the world and in our own backyards, can the church be a place of shelter full of goodness and mercy?
That’s the word we're going to keep coming back to this week: shelter. God’s promise in this psalm is shelter, even and especially in the presence of the enemy. With this word in mind, we found many, many architects and designers who are building sustainable, eco-friendly shelters for our brothers and sisters in developing nations.
We’re particularily smitten with Mohammed Rezwan’s work in the low-lying areas of Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated areas in the world and extremely vulnerable to frequent flooding. When monsoon season comes, children cannot attend classes, families are displaced, and basic community needs become impossible to meet. So, working with local boat builders, Rezwan modified the area’s common, flat-bottom riverboats into floating schools, libraries, health clinics, community meeting spaces, and homes.
See for yourself (Noah's Arc meets Psalm 23 - God is good!):
God’s shelter comes to us in all shapes and sizes. It comes in the form of an embrace, a favorite hymn, a floating school, a casserole, a food pantry, a kind word, a cool cup of water.
This good news makes us want to lift voices and join all the people from Long Street, Cape Town, South Africa as they proclaim the deep truth embedded in Sunday's psalm: God's shelter, in all it's various shapes and sizes, finds us all in one way or another. It also makes us want to go to church next Sunday so we can give thanks to a God who is and continues to be our strength and our shelter.
Now, it's your turn. Tell us where God's shelter finds you? Or, where you've seen God's strength and comfort in the world?
Peace,
The SALT Team
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Thanks to Afghanistan Matters for capturing this wise shepherd travelling with his flock through a tank graveyard on the outskirts of Kabul; to James Gordon for this young shepherd in Hindu Kush; to Ewok Jorduman for the soft sheep; and to Kyle Steed for such beautiful caligraphy seen here and here.
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On that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will take you…and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts. + Haggai 2;1-9, 20-23
Once upon a time, sovereigns and nobles would wear signet rings on their little fingers. The rings themselves were symbols of power and identity, as were the impressions they made. After writing a letter or document, the noble would drip hot wax on the closed document and then press the signet into it. The impression left behind in the wax proved that the document really was from the one whom it claimed to be from: “The King was here.”
The promise in today’s reading was actually for Zerubbabel, a governor of Judah. But I think it’s not too much of a stretch to claim that in Jesus Christ, God makes the same promise to us. In our participation in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus through worship and service and learning, we too are being molded to fit God’s hand. We too are wrapping ourselves around God’s little finger. We too are becoming signs through which God tells the world, “I am here.”
Imagine: you, an ornament to the almighty hand.
Imagine: you, the sign and symbol of God’s power.
Imagine: you, the way that God is planning to make an impression on the world.
Imaging praying: Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Wear me on your hand, and make me into a sign for all the world that you are real, and alive, and here, and in love with us. Amen.
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A big thank you to Rev. Quinn Caldwell, pastor extraordinaire and regular contributor to the Stillspeaking Daily Devotional where this devotional was originally published. To sign up for this inspirational resource, click here. Also, thanks to KayVee in Sydney, Australia for this sweet seal of peace.
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The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. + Isaiah 11:6
The Day of Silence, a day set aside for students across the country to hold silence in order to call attention to the silencing effect bullying and harassment has on the LGBT community, is almost here. On Friday, April 20th, 2012, thousands of young people across the country will make their communities safer by saying, without words, that bullying is wrong, period. Hating, rejecting, mocking, or ostracizing someone because of their sexuality is wrong, period.
I wonder if churches might have something to learn from these students... I wonder if Christians across the country might also hold silence for our history of bullying, rejection, and discrimination... I wonder if we might take some time to hold silence, on Friday and/or on Sunday, to repent on behalf of our brothers and sisters within the Christian faith who are actively trying to “cure” or encourage people to “journey out” of their sexuality...
I wonder what might happen if we let these students lead us? I wonder if it’s time for church people across the nation to stand up and say, with and without words, that all people are created in the image of God, period. If we learned anything on Good Friday, it ought to be this: hating, rejecting, mocking, or ostracizing someone for any reason is wrong, period.
What you think? Does the National Day of Silence has something important to say to the church, to your church? Tell us...
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Thanks to Brent Matthews Lillard for supporting the National Day of Silence.
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What does Easter mean?
Easter means that God vindicates love.
Easter means that God vindicates nonviolence in the face of violence, defiant forgiveness in the face of hostility, courage in the face of despair.
Easter means that there is no need for anyone to “pay the price” of sin or guilt or shame; there is no outstanding balance on our account. God has paid the price, cancelled the debt, wiped the slate clean. As Jesus puts it: “Go in peace, and sin no more.”
Easter means that God has turned one of the worst things in the world – the Roman imperial cross, an instrument of torture, shame, death, and intimidation – into a beautiful sign of salvation, peace, forgiveness, and love. And if such a dreadful thing is turned into such a beautiful thing, think of what else this God will do.
Easter means God is just getting started. Easter is the dove returning to Noah’s ark with a fresh olive leaf. Though water is all we can see for miles around, the leaf is decisive evidence that the flood is over, that the tides have turned.
Easter means joy. Easter means Yes. Easter means the first crocus, fragile and indomitable, has just broken through.
So, that's what Easter means to us!
Happy Easter,
SALT
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Thanks to the AMAZING Holly Wolsey for this sweet shot!
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What does Easter mean?
Easter means that mourning and crying and pain do not and will not have the final word.
Easter means that the powers of death and domination, of mockery and might, of the endless cycle of intimidation, torture, scapegoats, and victims – are on the wrong side of history. They will not prevail, no matter how much it looks like they already have.
Easter means that even when we reach the very end of our rope, the very limits of what is possible, we still have cause for hope, and resistance, and graceful poise.
Easter means that no matter what we have done, we can trust in God’s mercy. Forgiveness is real, and God calls us home to new life.
Easter means that though the world is full of crosses and cruelty, though it seems that humanity has given up on God – God has not and will not give up on us.
Easter means the mystery of resurrection, of renaissance – which does not mean resuscitation. As the Easter stories make clear, Jesus’ risen body is a mystery. He appears – and disappears. He has breakfast. He says, “do not hold on to me.” He says, “Touch me.”
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Join us on Friday for our final installment of "What does Easter Mean?" And, thanks to Phyllis for capturing the dew on these daffodils!
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What does Easter mean?
It doesn’t mean one thing, first of all, any more than a Mozart concerto means one thing, or an Emily Dickinson poem means one thing, or a perfectly hot cup of soup means one thing. It means many things. And it means more than we can ever say, though that certainly shouldn’t stop us from trying.
There are the lilies and the trumpets, of course. But even they aren’t so simple. If the lilies remind you not only of Easters past but also of funerals, of spring but also of death, that’s about right. Easter is a day of life, but also of death. It’s a day for church, but also and especially a day for the tomb. The empty tomb, of course, but still: the tomb. He is risen, but still: he is wounded. The triumph comes complete with the marks of ruin, the marks of death, the marks of cruelty all around us even now.
And if the trumpets sound heavenly and celebratory, that’s good. They are. But they also echo the trumpet of judgment, of last things, and as such, they should call us to take stock again of our lives, to ask again and afresh if we are living in the light of Easter morning.
In other words, Easter is a start, not a finish. It is a triumphant day – a triumphant fifty days, actually, Easter morning to Pentecost – but only in the sense that in Easter we can catch a glimpse of God’s greater triumph to come. It is a foretaste, a promise, an encouraging word, a sign of what’s ahead. Jesus rising means: he is not dead, he is with us still, and he has triumphed and will triumph with us and in us and for us in the end. His rising is the “first fruits,” the decisive but still only the inaugural sign of the great transformation now underway.
Easter points beyond itself to the end, precisely to provide us strength and hope along the way.
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Join us on Wednesday for our second installment of "What does Easter Mean?" And, thanks to Jag for this beautiful angel heralding God's good news!
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