IN A VIOLENT & CHAOTIC WORLD
BEING PEACEMAKERS
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
If you have ears, hear!”
Matthew 13:4-9
INHALE
Through this land.
EXHALE
Your spirit flows.
Seeds in Hostile Ground
Shadia Qubti
Questions
For easy reference a summary of the talk can be found here.
1. Consider your position in regards to the lands you live on. Are you indigenous/a migrant/a refugee or asylum seeker/a sojourner/descended from settlers/etc?
2. How does your positionality with regard to these lands shape your relationship to/with them?
3. Read through the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:4-9) using the approach outlined in the message. What do you notice in the text when applying this lens? What questions does it raise?
4. Thinking again of your own place: What relationships exist? What plants? What animals?
5. What contributes to or cultivates the flourishing of “all your relations”? What poses a threat to this flourishing?
Observe your place and the relationships with and within it.
1. Identify one practical step you can take to contribute to the flourishing of your place and all its relations.
2. Identify one practical step you can take to divest yourself from that which threatens this flourishing.
John 15:1-2
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.
