Peace Out(doors)/Interconnect — current program
This is the most recent program from our Peace Out(doors) or Interconnect gathering.
Learn more about Peace Out(doors)
Learn more about Interconnect
Welcome — our time to join together
Greeting
First reading
Today’s first reading is by Jason Whitehead.
Come alive; reclaim the ordinary goodness of life; become the beauty this world needs.
Looking around, I see some people gasping for air while others seek to take more than their fair share. The winds came from all corners of the world to spark life in every unmoving meat suit in that valley.
When we breathe in the Spirit of life, we all breathe the same air from the same wind through the same source. That which makes us come alive comes from the exhales of the world and one another as well.
This is mindfulness; the recognition that we are all connected, that went one suffers we all suffer and we cannot rejoice until all can rejoice.
Recognition of worship space (font, mandala, prayer journal)
Centering
The Word — a time for sacred readings
Recognition of scripture context
Proverbs is one of the Bible’s books of wisdom. These poetic writings are attributed to King Solomon, but they were more likely sourced from different times and places and compiled into the collection we read today. Much of Proverbs consists of specific bits of advice, but today’s passage focuses on the shortcomings of not listening to the voice of Wisdom.
Scripture reading
Today’s scripture passage is Proverbs 1:20–33.
Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.
At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
when panic strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.
For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease without dread of disaster.”
Special Reading
Today’s special reading is from Wayne Muller.
Whatever we place at the center of our lives will get the bulk of our care and attention. This is not esoteric teaching, but simple physics. If we love our children more than anything, they will get the best of our attention. If we love success, our career will get the majority of our time. If we love money, we will spend the greater portion of our care and worry on the accumulation of wealth.
Recognizing this law, most spiritual traditions counsel us to be mindful of what we possess. In Christianity there is a precept called the vow of poverty. This vow is almost universally misinterpreted as declaring that all material possessions are bad or evil. Owning things or having wealth will, the popular thinking goes, inevitably taint our soul, and poison our spiritual purity.
Yet both King David and King Solomon were fabulously rich, and it didn’t seem to bother God at all. The problem is not material possessions in themselves as much as the way we live our lives once we have them. The more possessions and riches we have, the more time we must provide for their care, maintenance, inventory, insurance, and protection — and the less time we will have for prayer, for God and neighbor, for friendship, kindness, peace, and rest. Riches may enable us to buy things that may bring happiness for a short while until we realize we are spending all our time taking care of all our things, and hardly any time actually enjoying our children, lovers, friends, or nature. Things are not the problem; the time it takes to buy things, have things, and take care of things is the problem. This is the fundamental wisdom of the vow of poverty.
Everything we invite into our lives requires a certain measure of time and attention-usually more than we think when we acquire it. So our days, especially our time “off,” our evenings and weekends, end up being dedicated to keeping all our possessions in working order. The invitation to poverty is not an invitation to suffer deprivation, but rather to consider whether the things we have acquired are really serving us — or are we serving them?
The Hebrew practice of Sabbath included honoring the Sabbath year, when people refrained from planting, sowing seed, or harvesting crops. During this fallow time — an entire year of rest — the community relied upon whatever grew in the fields of its own.
This served as a dramatic reminder that it was not their work alone, but rather God and the earth who fed them. Further, every seventh Sabbath year — every forty-ninth year, the Year of Jubilee — all lands that were sold or confiscated were returned to their original owners, all debts canceled, and all prisoners set free. The Sabbath teaching was clear: Nothing really belongs to us. It is all — lands, wealth, loved ones, life itself — on loan from God.
Whatever we hold as our own, however briefly, we consecrate with our very life. This alone should give us pause before we invite anything or anyone new into our already crowded and hurried lives. During Sabbath we consecrate our lives, our friends and family, our community, and the earth itself with our prayers, our mindfulness, even our delight. How much can we hold, how much can we take in, and still have room to bestow our full-hearted blessing?
Response — our time to join in prayer and fellowship
Prayers
Fellowship
Sending — our time to focus from our immediate to our greater community
Centering
Unison Sending
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our siblings throughout the world.
Give them today, through our hands, their daily bread.
Through our understanding, give them love.
Give peace and joy. Amen.
Works Referenced
Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives. New York: Bantam Books, 1999. Kindle Edition, 203–204.
Whitehead, Jason. “Come Alive.” Daily Ripple. March 13, 2025. https://dailyripple.substack.com/p/come-alive
