Hello Beloved The Table,

A blessed Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day to all of you... a Feast Day to honor the saint and icon, our kindred brother who led and died in a movement for radical inclusion, for justice, for peace.

During The Table's history, this day was honored in community as it led us to consider The Beloved Community that Dr. King envisioned as possible in our nation and world. We marched, we sang, we demonstrated, we acted in love of our neighbor. We are now in a chapter of slumber, rest, and deep pause. We hear the echoes of Rev. Dr. King's dream - for shalom to envelope all God's children. What are you dreaming of?

It can feel like there is a major gap between this dream and where we find ourselves in 2024. We remember the legacy fo Rev. James Reeb, our home-grown hero. A Casper boy who got his start, loving his neighbor with radically inclusive love RIGHT HERE. And so we ask ourselves -

How can we go now to love & serve each other so that those to whom love is a stranger might find in us generous friends?
What is carried in your wake?
How will you spark compassion & empathy among your neighbors?

Resources

A. Take a pilgrimage to the Rev. James Reeb Memorial Mural in person. Go and look. Go and ask. Go and learn.

EAST facing wall, 225 S David St, Casper, WY 82601

If you're not in Casper, consider a "Visio Divina" - prayer that invites you to look with eyes of divine curiosity.

B. Rewatch the Panel Discussion celebrating the reveal of this mural in August of 2019

C. Read "Reframe"... Better Rituals | Better Disciples | Better Communities

This is an online spiritual formation community that I regularly contribute to. This week, the reflections are ones I have written.
Substack or APP
Via the substack, you can read daily reflections Monday - Friday.

• Via the app, you can check in for BRIEF "voicemail" length reflections & questions to prompt your response & prayers...
• ReFrame is an app-based discipleship community built around the call of Micah 6:8 - to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly.
• Life reframed is the daily newsletter version of our ReFrame app.

Invitation -

Here's where YOU come in: would you listen to this episode and drop me a line (call, email, text, share a cup of tea) to share with me how you heard this story?

What are you hearing about this chapter? Is there "more" to The Table's story? Or is it time to say "Thanks Be to God/Love/Universe/Sage Wisdom" and let the night turn into a brand new sunrise of fruit in other places?

Thank you for taking the time to let us know what you're thinking!

Audio podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2233387/14308475

Video podcast: https://youtu.be/sCrdNIqHCCo?si=ik770rLVzN-3LaS4

Podcast page with all audio/video episodes: https://communionwineco.com/podcast/

BONUS POINTS

As an Open & Relational Theologian, I am excited to be a panelist at Center for Open and Relational Theology's "OrtLine24" Conference, February 22-24, 2024.

I'll be responding to Mark Feldmeir's book "Life after God: Finding Faith When You Can't Believe Anymore." My presentation as a panelist will be Thursday February 22nd at 3pm Mountain.

This is an entirely online conference that comes with access to the recordings afterward - so attend at your own pace. Live & by recording later.

Join me if you're curious about a way to believe in God that is reasonable & loving.

Meditation -

But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from “The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma,” 1957

artist Kreg Yingst:
Psalm Prints

From the Studio of Love,
Rev. Libby Tedder Hugus