Fermata Oct 1, 2021: Faith as Memory Work

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!

Isaiah 63:7-14
 
This week’s Fermata comes from Notes of Rest at Marquand Chapel of Yale Divinity School, which happened last week in-person in New Haven. As the school resumes in-person learning, I wanted to create a space for the community to rest as they contended with the joys and difficulties of coming back together amidst the pandemic. We sat with Isaiah 63:7-14, in which the prophet remembers God's partnership with and transcendence over Israel as the community was reestablishing their religious life in Jerusalem after being in exile under Babylonian rule. The passage's chronicling of God's faithfulness to Israel - how God saw them through the Exodus and helped them rest - occasioned us to think about how we remembered God's faithfulness at YDS and how we can narrate instances of God's past faithfulness for the sake of future members of the YDS community. Our faith is always memory work, moving backwards and forwards.

As you move through this pandemic with your faith community, how is The Lord calling you to remember God's faithfulness for the sake of future generations of Christians who will come after you? And how has The Lord helped your ancestors rest?
 
May the Lord of Exodus and Restoration remind you of God's faithfulness to you in this season. To help you remember, here's Mahalia Jackson singing how she got over.

abundantly,
Julian