Questioning Together + Compline

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2024

Christian Identity in Secular Cities and Institutions

with Dr. Sarah Elwood

Longtime Saint Mark's parishioner and professor of geography at the University of Washington Sarah Elwood will lead a discussion about holding and embracing Christian identity within largely secular spaces. Seattle is one of the least religiously affiliated major cities in the country; how does this influence our identities as practicing Christians? We will discuss how Christian values can be embodied in irreligious institutions such as school and work. At 9:15, there is an option to head over to Compline together. Questions? Email Adrienne at adriennehub@gmail.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 12

Accompanying Others in Suffering and Pain

with the Rev. Canon Rich Weyls

What does it mean to accompany others through spiritual suffering and pain? What is our call as Christians to show up in care for others while also tending to our own souls in the discomfort of entering the suffering of others? Join us for Questioning Together as we host the Rev. Canon Rich Weyls, who has had a long career as a hospital chaplain. At 9:15, there is an option to head over to Compline together. Questions? Email Hilary or 20s30s@saintmarks.org

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Susan Abalhawa, Mornings in Jenin (2010)
Naim Ateek, Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation (1990)
Naim Ateek. A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation (2009)
Tareq Baconi, Hamas Contained (Stanford 2018)
Omar Barghout, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: A Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights (2011)
Phyllis Bennis, Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (2002)
Mark Braverman, Fatal Embrace (2010)
Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid (2006)
Elias Chacour, Blood Brothers (1987)
Noura Erekat, Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine (2019)
Jean-Pierre Filiu, Gaza: A History (2014)
Jeff Halper, An Israeli in Palestine (2008)
Jeff Halper, Decolonizing Palestine, Liberating Israel (2021)
Fida Jiryis, Stranger in my Own Land (2022)
Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years War on Palestine (2021)
Jonatan Kutttab: Beyond the Two State Solution
Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
Ilan Pappe, The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories (2017)
Ilan Pappe Lobbying for Zionism (2024)
Miko Peled, The General's Son
Edward Said, The Quesdtion of Palestine (1992)
Raja Shehada, What Does Israel Fear from Palestine? (2024)
Elzabeth F. Thompson, How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs (2020)
Sandy Tolan, The Lemon Tree
Sandy Tolan, Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land
Don Wagner, Glory to God in the Lowest: Journeys to an Unholy Land (2022)

To reach out to Doug Thrope for further involvement and resources, please email him at: dthorpe@spu.edu

Revenge

A Poem by Taha Muhammad Ali

At times … I wish
I could meet in a duel
the man who killed my father
and razed our home,
expelling me
into
a narrow country.
And if he killed me,
I’d rest at last,
and if I were ready—
I would take my revenge!

But if it came to light,
when my rival appeared,
that he had a mother
waiting for him,
or a father who’d put
his right hand over
the heart’s place in his chest

whenever his son was late
even by just a quarter-hour
for a meeting they’d set—
then I would not kill him,
even if I could.

*

Likewise … I
would not murder him
if it were soon made clear
that he had a brother or sisters
who loved him and constantly longed to see him.
Or if he had a wife to greet him
and children who
couldn’t bear his absence
and whom his gifts would thrill.
Or if he had
friends or companions,
neighbors he knew
or allies from prison
or a hospital room,
or classmates from his school …
asking about him
and sending him regards.

*

But if he turned
out to be on his own—
cut off like a branch from a tree—
without a mother or father,
with neither a brother nor sister,
wifeless, without a child,
and without kin or neighbors or friends,
colleagues or companions,
then I’d add not a thing to his pain
within that aloneness—
not the torment of death,
and not the sorrow of passing away.
Instead I’d be content
to ignore him when I passed him by
on the street—as I
convinced myself
that paying him no attention
in itself was a kind of revenge.

Nazareth
April 15, 2006

From the Collection Hymns & Qualms: New and Selected Poems and Translations by Peter Cole
December 14, 2023 By Peter Cole

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2023

How Much is Enough?

Facilitator: The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason

Join in for discussion on the relationship between money and Christian life. Living in a world that spans a spectrum of extreme need and great excess, this gathering is a time to ponder "how much is enough" in our own lives. This session will seek to offer insight and discussion on money in our context, and explore how we can improve the stewardship of our resources in our lives, church, and community. At 9:15, there is an option to head over to Compline together. Questions? Email Fraser Reach: fraserreach@gmail.com

Resources & Recommendations from Dean Thomason

SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2024

Exploring the Mystics

Facilitator: The Rev. Canon Jennifer King Daugherty

This discussion will focus on the roots of Mysticism, Celtic Spirituality, and how the Mystics practiced a spirituality rooted in discovering the indwelling Divine in all creation. Please join this lively discussion to dive deeper into the lives of the Mystics and discuss how exploring Mysticism may enhance our inner spiritual lives and our spiritual community.

Resource Recommendations Shared at January 14 Questioning Together
Reading List from Celtic Pilgrimage (2022)
Reading List for Ireland Pilgrimage (2024)
Celtic Wisdom and Prayers

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2023

Gratitude and the Saints

Facilitator: The Rev. Danae Ashley

In the weeks approaching All Saints' Day and a season of reflection and gratitude, join in for a conversation about the significance of the saints in the Episcopal tradition and how our relationship with the saints fosters gratitude. How can the values of these venerated saints inform our attitude about gratitude in contemporary life? The Rev. Danae Ashley, a priest in the Diocese of Olympia and licensed marriage and family therapist, will facilitate this spirited discussion.

About the Rev. Danae Ashley

A native of Spokane, Washington, the Rev. Danae Ashley is an Episcopal priest and marriage and family therapist who has ministered with parishes in North Carolina, New York, Minnesota, and Washington State and is a marriage and family therapist at Soul Spa Seattle, LLC. Danae uses the Arts in counseling, spiritual direction, and creation of ritual. She also joined the Episcopal Church’s CREDO Faculty in 2022, living into another aspect of her call of supporting clergy across the Church. Danae has written for Working Preacher, Luther Seminary’s Faith+Lead, Episcopal Café, and Sermons that Work, as well as being a contributor to podcasts, books, and producing a play about fertility struggle. She writes and does the audio narration for Sermons That Work, a global ministry of the Episcopal Church. Her favorite past times include reading, traveling with her husband, making sure their rescue dog, Cooper, is living his best life, dancing with wild abandon to Celtic music, and serious karaoke.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

Faith Outside the Church

Facilitators: The Rev. Paul Benz and The Rev. Michael Cox,

What does it look like to deconstruct the meaning of “church” and apply it to a context that exists outside a physical building? Join us for a conversation about the power of connection when our faith is brought outside the church walls and onto the streets. We will be welcoming The Rev. Paul Benz, who was ordained in the ELCA church and The Rev. Michael Cox, who was ordained in the Assemblies of God and transferring to the Disciples of Christ. Both individuals work as Street Ministers with Operation Nightwatch, a Christian nonprofit working to bring the power of chaplaincy and presence to those living and sleeping on the streets of Seattle. We will explore the idea of “church” as an expansive meaning of sharing Christ in the most human moments of connection in the world and what it looks like to live out the understanding of Christian ministry in the context of accompaniment and kinship with those on the margins. Dessert provided. At 9:15, we'll head over to Compline together. Questions? Email Molly (molly.bosch@outlook.com).

Upcoming Topics & Facilitators

Christian Identity in Secular Cities and Institutions

Accompanying Others in Suffering and Pain

Past Discussion Topics