Elders & Youth: Relationships Replace Violence

This week, we’ve got three Great Ideas that play off of one another: Part I includes resources to help us process the anger and violence 0f these traumatic days. Part II supports shifting local culture through multi-generational community activism – for the stability of the political world and the well-being of our souls. Part III empower community transformation on behalf of the planet.

Ground community transformation in relationships, role modeling, and emotional healing: process the anger and violence 0f these traumatic days across generations.

ANGER & VIOLENCE

‘Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.’ – Ephesians 4:26-27

Notice the culture of hate, anger, and violence and develop tools to process grief, anger, and fear – individually and collectively.

 

  • Adults & Youth: Establish context.
    • Excerpts from Sabrina Tavernise’s New York Times interview with Sean Westwood, ‘a scholar who tracks acts of political violence and how Americans react to them’ offer political and historical context.
    • We Are All So Angry (Piloting Faith; Rev. Cameron Trimble) shares insights into the multitudes of griefs turning us into ‘a nation boiling over – not just with outrage, but with unprocessed sorrow.’ But, she notes, ‘we are not grieving the same things. And so we do not grieve together.’
      • Discuss her Reflection Questions intergenerationally.
      • Covenant to share the Spiritual Practice – daily – for one week.
      • Share the Prayer in worship and/or other gatherings.
  • Adults & Youth: Process personal and communal feelings of anger.
    • Reflecting on the Correspondent’s Dinner events of last week, Rev. Cameron Trimble, wrote This Didn’t Come from Nowhere (04.28.26):
      • ‘When violence erupts, we cannot only ask who acted. We have to ask what kind of moral environment made that action feel possible… When people stop seeing each other as human and deserving of respect, violence becomes easier to imagine… Anger can be a faithful response to injustice. It shows that something is wrong and harm is happening… But… Anger that is not formed becomes destructive… Over time, it tempts us to believe that harm is justified if it serves our side.’
      • Discuss her Reflection Questions intergenerationally.
      • Covenant to share the Spiritual Practice – daily – for one week.
      • Share the Prayer in worship and/or other gatherings.
  • Children: Sometimes I Am Hot Lava (Beaming) offers a child-friendly primer for all ages, inviting us all to:
    • notice and name anger as it arises;
    • develop breathing practices to help us navigate anger in healthier ways.

SHIFT THE CULTURE

‘Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ –  Romans 12:2

Develop tools to de-escalate violence and shift the ‘moral environment’ we are collectively creating.

LOVE FOSTERS RESILIENCE & IMAGINATION

‘I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to the One who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to that One be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. AMEN’ – Ephesians 3:18-21

Cultivate resilience, imagination, and love among all ages.

    • Adults: Elaine Pagel’s Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus (Vintage) explores ‘how a poor young Jewish man inspired a religion that shaped the world’.
      • Notice: followers of Jesus have been transforming their communities – and the whole planet – for 2000 years!!
    • Adults & Youth: In A Different Kind of Leadership (04.29.26), Rev. Cameron Timble writes, ‘Leaders who dominate the emotional atmosphere… [distort] us over time. This is especially true for younger generations… They inherit a diminished moral imagination about what public life can be… An elder knows how to handle power without letting it take over. They …understand that leadership is not just about expressing themselves. It’s about taking care of others.’
      • Discuss her Reflection Questions intergenerationally – particularly elders and youth.
      • Share her Prayer in a Sunday or Wednesday worship time.
      • Share her Spiritual Practice with youth and adults.
        • Invite the whole congregation to engage the practice daily.
    • Adults & Youth: In What Remains of the Voting Rights Act? (04.30.26), Trimble cites Amos and Isaiah to remind us that, ‘The prophets spoke out… against systems that gave power to a few while leaving others at risk.’ She urges us to, ‘acknowledge the spiritual danger of this moment… [i.e.,] Authoritarian movements depend on… people becoming tired enough to disengage.’ But, she reminds us, ‘Howard Thurman wrote that our task is to stay human… We need to resist not just unjust systems, but also the slow fading of our own moral imagination.’
      • Discuss her Reflection Questions intergenerationally – particularly elders and youth.
      • Share the Spiritual Practice with all ages as an engagement exercise.
    • Children & All Ages: Wonder together about what else is possible!
      • I Wonder (Four Elephants) invites us all to say, ‘I don’t know’ and recognize that there are ‘mysteries for everyone int he world to wonder about together’. The Author’s Note is insightful. Annaka Harris writes:
        • ‘When children are embarrassed or afraid of not knowing they are preoccupied with escaping their discomfort, rather than being motivated to learn. This robs them [and all of us] of the joy of curiosity.’
        • ‘[T]he feeling of not knowing is the first step in learning. It’s the foundation from which we begin our investigation of the world: asking questions, taking …time to understand the answers, and searching for new answers when the ones we have in hand don’t seem to work. The feeling of not knowing is also the source of wonder and awe.’
        • Read the full Author’s Notes here.
      • Beautiful Oops (Hachette) invites us to experiment with humor, turning mistakes into new creations.

Most importantly: TALK ABOUT FEELINGS!

Talking through the horribleness means we all offer support to one another in our loss, fear, and despair. This lightens the load and prevents grief from atrophying into violence.

It also deepens our sense of belonging, which is a balm to every soul.