78 Comments

Thank you so much for this sermon today. It came at the perfect time. I couldn’t even tune into my church’s online service because I’m currently sitting in an exam room, mask on, waiting for them to call me back for a chest X-ray. They just swabbed me with one of the few precious tests they have. I am trying hard not to freak out, but you’ve reminded me that God’s healing is there, if I just relax into it and trust. Thank you, Nadia.

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I’ve just been to church! Thank you Nadia. I hope it’s ok to put this here....

Blessing of the Well by Jan Richardson

If you stand

At the edge

Of this blessing

and call down

Into it,

You will hear

Your words

Return to you.

If you lean in

And listen close,

You will hear

This blessing

Give the story

Of your life

Back to you.

Quiet your voice.

Quiet your judgement.

Quiet the way

You always tell

Your story

To yourself.

Quiet all these

And you will hear

The whole of it:

The spaces

In the telling,

The gaps

Where you hesitate

To go.

Sit at the rim

Of this blessing.

Press your ear

To its lip,

It’s sides,

It’s curves

That were carved out

Long ago

By those whose thirst

Drove them deep,

Those who dug

Into the layers

With only their hands

And hope.

Rest yourself

Beside this blessing

And you will

Begin to hear

The sound of water

Entering the gaps.

Still yourself

And you will feel it

Rising up within you,

Filling every emptiness,

Springing forth

Anew.

Amen 🙏

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"You have heard it said that water finds it’s lowest point – living water finds your lowest point." Thanks be to God, literally, for that! And thank you for this beautiful sermon.

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Mar 15, 2020Liked by Nadia Bolz-Weber

I remember this sermon well and have quoted from it many times this week as we’ve sat in this story. ♥️

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Seriously, please do a book (or some kind of collection) of your sermons for the Lectionary years.

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Yes, yes on the part about relaxing! For years I was so uncomfortable at the conservative church I attended -- I would come home nearly in tears but still I went back. Then I went to a church where grace is the message (it happens to be ELCA) and haven't looked back. I'm still the same person, still a sinner, but now I receive palpable grace instead of shame at church.

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Relaxing in God's presence and love -- what a WORD. This was the perfect sermon to read while quarantined at home. Thank you.

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Epiphany: my upbringing & childhood were pretty great. So I’ve never had a shit-ton of baggage. What I HAVE done, however, is pick up a shit-ton of empty jars, so I can collect all the joy. Those suckers are cumbersome & can put a serious drag on what coulda been some amazing, spontaneous dance parties...

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"Faith is relaxing" that is brilliant and palpable. I can finally relate to the experience of having faith in a way that is repeatable. Thank you James Allison and Nadia for being the channel...

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Thank you so much for the most beautiful and comforting sermons on woundedness and shame, I've ever read. I carry a lot of dirt and 'dead weight' around which only the Living Water can dissolve and wash away. And it does - gradually, slowly, gently, unearned and always at totally unexpected hours.

Bless you, Nadia. 🙏🧡💚

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wow, this just blew me away and I had to subscribe, thank you. "True. But not the whole truth. I mean that’s the dirty secret of people who are self-revealing"

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It was a amazing day for me when I told my vilest sins to my counselor. A man who loved and knew Jesus in a way I never had. I am so grateful for him. For the way he accepted me where I was at. He was the safest person in my life. And amazing psychologist. I went into psychology because of him.

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This sermon was very special and had deep meaning for me

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Nadia, I'm so grateful for your take on this story... It was a profound reminder to me that extraordinary changes can result when we engage in honest, open conversation with the divine... I just love it that the Christ initiated this amazing interaction with someone who is emblematic of every soul who has ever been considered different, odd, "unclean" in our culture or any culture(ie: Gay, Black, Hispanic, immigrant, Jew, Muslim, HIV infected, Corona virus infected, etc., etc.). The Christ's interaction with the Samaritan women reminded me of Moses engagement with divine at Mount Sinai when he stood before the burning bush... When you stand in the presence of God, things changed in the most unpredictable of ways... Brother Moses was physically & spiritually altered by that encounter, image the changes we can all experience if we just got out of the "fracking" way of the Spirit of God who surrounds us continuously.....

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This was awesome. Tears of relaxation. Thanks

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So so good. I needed this. Thank you.

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