Spiritual Sounding Board – This is your place to gather and share in an open format.
by Kathi
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Mark 7: 1-23
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.”
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
And he said this to them, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother; ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.'”
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are yous so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean?’ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)
He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean,’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'”
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May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness: protect you from the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.
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Feel free to join the discussion.
You can share your church struggles and concerns.
Let’s also use it as a time to encourage one another spiritually.
What have you found spiritually encouraging lately?
Do you have any special Bible verses to share, any YouTube songs that you have found uplifting?
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photo credit: Kathi – statue in Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy
Spiritual Sounding Board 
The Ava Maria video was very lovely, it soften my heart just enough to hear the tenderness of the Holy Spirit. I have been so disgusted, disturbed and I have been posting bitchy tweets. With many others, I am appalled at Doug Wilson’s treatment of Natalie. I wish he would shut his trap. How on earth am I supposed to love him?
In my mind he is the enemy of every abuse victim out there. I pray for his downfall, maybe that is a form of loving him?
I know what happened to me when I lost my f****** fundamentalist mindset, I found you, my fellow weary travelers, and the Jesus who met me on my knees when I was 28 years old in my living room.
I am at peace with being a done. I love that I have finally come to the place of peace inside of myself about not going to church. Yay, no more guilt on that count. Going to see my Grands today, they maketh my cup overflow.
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Williams Brothers (Mississippi) singing “Search Me Lord”.
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Jackson Southernaires (Mississippi) “God Is On My Side”
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Thanks again Kathi for another awesome Sunday Gathering. Every Saturday, I look forward to Sunday morning and checking out what you have posted for us! Many thanks!!
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Gail,
Thanks for your spot on posts. Tweets too when I see you on Twitter. Thank goodness for all of us who have been through these trials, are weary, and come alongside each other!
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I’m not good at sharing a lot of personal stuff, but this week has been hard – and it’s only Wednesday!
I have been actively looking for a social work job for almost two years now. I’ve sent out countless resumes and have had many interviews. The result has either been no response or we’ve hired someone with more experience. While I have the confidence that I can do these jobs, I admit that the numerous rejections have led to a lot of self-doubt and at times regret about life decisions. While I seriously do not regret staying home, raising kids and homeschooling, regret creeps in my mind as I am now trying to reenter the work force and cannot compete with people who have more experience. I am currently doing two volunteer jobs that have given me updated training and experience, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.
On Monday I interviewed for a school social worker job. I was really nervous about it because this is a relatively new position for the state of Oregon. I thought maybe my nervousness was a good thing because other jobs that I was sure I would fit well have not worked out. When I sat down for the interview and saw the questions, my heart sank and my mind kept asking, “Why would they hire me?” That’s all I could think of during the interview and I knew it would go no where. I wanted to stop the interview and tell them that I couldn’t finish it because I knew it would go no where. After I left I spent all afternoon crying it out and went to my “living the dream” retail job that night.
As I was talking to my husband about it I told him that I didn’t want to hear, “It will be alright. Something’s out there.” It’s been two years for goodness sake and apparently I will never have “enough experience.” And, I got an email yesterday saying that I did not get that job. No surprise there for me.
On Tuesday my son texted me saying that there was a school shooting threat. The sheriff’s office deemed it lacked credibility. The school was not on lock down so I felt like my son was safe, but he was nervous and wanted to come home. When I arrived there were a lot of parents picking up kids. Fortunately, no school officials tried to talk parents out of taking their kids out. Sadly, this is a reality that our kids have to live with today – the possibility that school is not a safe place.
So, I’ve been in a bit of a funk over the last few days. Thanks, Julie Anne, for letting this be a place where I can pour my heart out like this. And, thanks to all who will “listen.” You’re the best!
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Kathi,
I read your post a few weeks back, and didn’t have a chance to respond then. I’m sorry about that. I just wanted to say I’ve been thinking about you.
You’d think that SAHMs, and especially homeschooling SAHMs, would have some very valuable skills to bring to the workplace. We’ve learned how to multitask out the wazoo.
Hope a door opens soon.
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Thanks BTDT, I appreciate the thoughts. I keep plugging away and am thinking about taking a Spanish class to see if I can get the language down well enough to do a bilingual job. That will certainly help open up some opportunities. I wish more interviews could be conversational instead of straight answer the questions. I often wonder if employers are able to get a good sense of people when it’s only one way Q & A. And, they shouldn’t knock retail jobs. I’ve dealt with some pretty shady people over the years.
I hope all is well with you on your end!
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