17 Comments
Dec 13, 2020Liked by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Your introductory words saying “you had nothing” offered me something. You put words to how so many of us feel.

And thank you for the rabbi’s words.

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Right in my face today. Man, just what I need to hear, read, hold on to for dear life. Thank you

#tiredhealthcareworker

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I'm a teacher. My prayer is that my stress would not come out onto my students. I pray they all will feel safe at school and still have some fun while learning. I pray to smile more and frown less. I pray this season may still hold mystery and wonder for my young charges (kinder/1st). A very centric prayer, I know. It's my small view on the world right now. I can't deal with the larger picture. Thanks for praying with me.

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I’m a teacher too- kinder and 1st. I know what you are going through and I’m lifting you up in prayer tonight. I hope that you feel a little lighter, a little more clear eyed, and a lot more loved. You are enough, already and always enough.

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I love the idea of being a people of hope. When I need hope I read about the universe and the possibilities blow my mind. For example, going with the MOST conservative scientific estimates, “there are 100 Earth-like planets for every grain of sand in the world.” https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html (a great article!). It’s hard to fathom that. I don’t rule out anything having to do with God, and when I get in touch with the awe I feel at the universe, prayer feels real, and hope and faith seem alike.

We all need to hang on tight and not forget there is so much more than 2020. ❤️🙏🏻

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This advent season is hard. For me, Christmas has always meant being together with my big, loud, joyful, wild family... but that won’t happen this year. All the holiday preparations and “cheer” are just making me sad... to the point that I haven’t been “going” to church (on zoom) because I just don’t think I can handle all the familiar songs and stories and such. Last year was the very first of my 28 years that I wasn’t with my momma and daddy on Christmas morning, and I got through it by reminding myself that I would be back there next year... and now that probably isn’t going to happen. It is so hard to see the hope this advent.

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Scared, we are

Confused, we are

Wandering in swamp of lies, we are

Deeply grieved, we are

In crisis, we are

Broken, we are.

Asking, begging for God, we are

Hopeful, are we.....

Thank you Nadia, for holding me <us> through this dumpster fire.....and for being the thread by which some of us are holding onto. For you, sharing your gifts and struggle, I am grateful.

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God didn’t intend for us to stand alone. We are the body of Christ (I’m not one to quote chapter and verse). You weren’t afraid to admit you had nothing, that the words just weren’t there. You are human, perfect in your imperfection.

When I pray (which isn’t as often as I “should” I pray right away when I tell someone I’ll pray for them. I trust God’s words that whenever two or more of you are gathered...I am the midst.

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So beautiful. As is the point about letting others pray for us sometimes. There was a moment at Evolving Faith this year that gave me some hope to carry when it’s all. Too. Much. Just run my leg of the race and pass the baton to the next runner. This is a relay. We do it together. 🤗

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You know, Nadia, even when you feel you can't summon a prayer, your alternatives are always prayerful and gifts of the Spirit. I love all the images evoked by Rabbi Latz. I want to be a spark, too, for "each of us has the capacity to take our spark of Divine light and illuminate the world with it." Thank you for sharing and caring.

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The light that will remake the world.

Yeah, exactly right. That’s what is needed. And it really helps to remember that it comes from all of us. So if you’re feeling dim right now, it’s okay. There’s light enough for you. Here, have some of mine, some of ours.

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Thank you, Nadia and thank you Rabbi Latz.

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Nadia - To quote one of your vlogs, you let the f'ing plates drop by admitting you had no prayer and by letting the Rabbi speak for you. A wonderful example!!

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"Hope is our superpower." I woke up ready to cry. Sat trying to feel what my body might be remembering ahead of my mind. For 18 months, more tbh, I've been digging through Pandora's box, furiously trying to fill the hole that has emptied out once unlocked; after my trial by fire, pure energy unbound racing through my home, reigniting my PTSD; mourning the loss of my niece and nephew as each tried to fill their holes of mental illness and addiction. My own mind at last pauses, looks upward from my hole to see winter sun slanting across it, and the shards of light glancing off Hope there at the bottom with me.

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"Hope is our superpower." Yes, it is.

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Thank you, Nadia, for making these recordings available to those of us who do not have instagram accounts.

Thank you for talking about the (often) insidious nature of striving and self-improvement/self-perfection.

I want to live with an open-heart while also being able to call “bullshit!” when appropriate. Thank you for demonstrating that it is possible to do both simultaneously.

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I pray for my church. Our priest retired in the middle of the pandemic and now he is starting another church and won’t leave parishioners alone. People are very confused and hurting. I didn’t have prayers until I read this today. 🙏 thank you

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