Fermata Jan 7, 2022: 2022 in Light of Eternity

Fermata is the weekly newsletter describing some of the past week’s highlights from Notes of Rest, which is my spiritual retreat ministry that interweaves text, music, and questions for the sake of cultivating stillness, introspection, and creativity in communities so that all may rest. I'd love to host a Notes of Rest for your church, seminary, or affinity group. Feel free to reply to this email to start the conversation!

Recap: Notes of Rest for Holy Covenant, Rest Assured Devotional Series

Happy New Year! On the first Sunday of this new year I hosted a session at Holy Covenant UMC in Chicago. To ring in 2022, we sat with Ephesians' 1:11-14 awesome vision of God's salvation of creation. The passage reminds us that we live out this cosmic hope, for Christ's work is a good news that leads us to a lifestyle of praise. I asked them what was the good news they were hearing in this season, and somebody responded about the good news of God preserving this church in community despite the restrictions imposed back on us due to the city's omicron surge. Being that this was the first virtual-only service in a while for this church, I was thankful to witness the congregation's good spirits and desire to patiently wait for this storm to pass. The session carried on it a fragrance of resilience, the kind fueled by hope that the death-dealing nature of our present reality is not the final word.

In other news, the 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus Devotional entry of the Rest Assured Devotional Series is now posted! This devotional series is a spiritual companion to the album Rest Assured. Read them all here.

May our hopes for this year live inside the one eternal.

abundantly,
Julian