by Marcia Mount Shoop
John 1o:11-18
“Unacknowledged harm is harm that keeps on harming. And all of us have been wounded by personal and collective unacknowledged harm–we swim in that harm everyday in a country that has actively denied the truth about our history. And we are living through a withering white lash against the truth of our history–just when we were starting to take a look at the truth, the reaction has been all encompassing–books, education programs, affirmative action, supreme court justices, federal, state, and local laws–it’s all around us. Harm that takes away our shared ability to honor the full humanity of all people.
What we are doing here at GCPC is of deep importance–and by importance, I mean it is impactful and abiding on a deep level. We are teaching our bodies and our collective to tune our nervous systems to a different kind of atmosphere–where we get to practice the things we’ve been denied in the larger world, we get to say the things that have been silenced, we get to feel the things that have been buried. And this is all for the healing of not just ourselves, but of the world.
We are sheep, we are shepherds, we are wolves, and we are hired hands. We are the sheepfold and just part of the flock, we are the door and the field, and the grass that can nourish growth and a sense of provision. We are all these things–because Spirit is creating the conditions for us to be bold in our clarity, our courage, our compassion, our curiosity, and in our community.”
Watch the full GCPC service on 4/21/24 here
(Scripture and sermon begin at 42:50)