Claiming Hope and Wholeness -- Epiphany Bible Study with J. Sierra Reyes
In this episode, we are joined by J. Sierra Reyes. Natalie first met Sierra when they were both members of the Crossing, an Episcopal faith Community in Boston. The Rev. Canon J. Sierra Reyes serves as the Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of California, acting as chief of staff and assisting the Bishop in supporting clergy and congregations throughout the Bay Area. Previously, she served as Canon for Ministry in the Diocese of Chicago, where she oversaw pastoral transitions and supported clergy. Sierra is also on the Board of the Episcopal Divinity School.
Key moments in our conversation include:
00:40 Hebrews 11: Current Prayer Practices of Sierra
02:41 Healing Stories and Abelism
08:05 Proclaiming Jesus Today
10:10 The Hidden Wholeness, Parker Palmer
Things we talked about in this episode:
00:00:00 Natalie Thomas
Hello and welcome to Bedtime Chapel's weekly Scripture study. I am Natalie Thomas.
00:00:05 James Thomas
And I am James Thomas. We are deacons in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
00:00:10 Natalie Thomas
Bedtime Chapel grew out of our shared desire to support families who want to know, love and follow Jesus in a post Christian world.
00:00:18 James Thomas
We offer a nightly prayer service that includes a short Gospel reading. In this episode we will be covering the readings for Fourth Epiphany. And before we dive into the weekly readings, we are back joined by Canon Sierra and we thought we would ask you just as a warm up question for our the Conclusion, our fourth and final week together.
00:00:40 James Thomas
What are the current scriptures, prayers, practices that are drawing you nearer to God?
00:00:46 J. Sierra Reyes
The scripture that's been on my heart recently has been Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1. Most translations read it as the faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. And I had a friend recently, I was talking to her about something that I was really worrying about and I was very easily, I could very easily say what was wrong with the situation.
00:01:13 J. Sierra Reyes
And she asked me, so what do you want? What are you hoping for? And I realized that that was harder to identify because I naturally go to what things don't look right. And so one of the practices or exercises I've been trying to do more journaling around is around that what's the substance of things hoped for?
00:01:35 J. Sierra Reyes
What am I hoping for? If everything goes right, what does that look like? And to really name it and to really identify it. And I find that that brings me delight as opposed to the emotions around if everything goes wrong, what does that look like, you know, which I can easily do. That's just how my mind is wired.
00:01:56 J. Sierra Reyes
But I've been really reflecting on that passage from Hebrews faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
00:02:04 Natalie Thomas
That's great. Thank you. I think I'm going to start bringing that into my parenting too, as opposed to asking our kids, you know, what's not right here to say what you know, what could be better about this situation? And.
00:02:19 James Thomas
And you do love Hebrews.
00:02:21 Natalie Thomas
I do love Hebrews.
00:02:22 James Thomas
It is so you can use Hebrews to justify the practice, which is great.
00:02:26 Natalie Thomas
I love Hebrews and I love the idea of appreciative inquiry versus which connects to what we talked about at the end of last week's conversation around abundance too.
00:02:38 James Thomas
So yeah.
00:02:41 Natalie Thomas
Well, this next question comes We've been reading through Mark and there are quite a bit of physical healing stories. There are people who are able to made able to walk, made Able to see. And these physical healing stories really, if not read critically, can run the risk of furthering the idea of ableism, which for folks who aren't as familiar with that term is this idea that neurotypical or able bodied ideals are at the heart of all that's strong and worthy, which we know from Jesus is not the way that he oriented towards the world.
00:03:16 Natalie Thomas
That said, you know, we, we really do want to be able to hold onto the power of Jesus's healing without promoting ableism. And so we're curious about what your thoughts are on that relationship between the healing stories and the idea of promoting able. Ableism. How to embrace one without the other. And just acknowledging that this is a particularly tender topic for parents who are raising kids with disabilities or neurodivergence in our context.
00:03:48 J. Sierra Reyes
Thank you for the question. This question is at the heart of our parenting with my husband and I. My husband is a professor who teaches at a seminary and his field is social ethics and in particular neurodivergence. And how we as people of faith talk about neuro differences in ways that are humane, life giving and really value the differences that God has given us.
00:04:21 J. Sierra Reyes
I've learned so much from him. I grew up with a very, I would say, restrictive understanding of how to move through the world that there was clearly one way. And it required getting straight A's in school, it required being well spoken, it required having perfect spelling and writing and this sort of really limiting way.
00:04:50 J. Sierra Reyes
And I really got from my husband that first, folks come into the world their own being. And to be a person of faith is to embrace where people are and not stress about trying to get them where you think they need to be. And that has really informed our parenting. And I feel like we are a great balance because in some ways, like my husband is all about the freedom of expression and I'm all about the understanding of social norms.
00:05:30 J. Sierra Reyes
And I feel like we meet in the middle and try to, you know, really raise a child that is both who they are and who God has created them to be. And also with the understanding of how that is interpreted by the world and how it shows up and what barriers they, they will likely have to overcome or be or at least acknowledge in order to live within this world.
00:05:55 J. Sierra Reyes
So around like the healing narratives, I think for my husband and I, we really, when we pray and when we ask for God's intervention in whatever circumstances of our family, we really try to get out of the business of the end result. And what I mean by that is having this clear understanding of if God answers our prayer.
00:06:22 J. Sierra Reyes
It looks like this in the context of the scripture, you know, the healing narratives, it is very tempting to feel like healing is the absence of illness, but I feel like in our lived experience, experience in our reality, having to let go of mandating what the end result of what healing looks like, because that is not in our jurisdiction of what that looks like.
00:06:56 J. Sierra Reyes
That's really of God. And so what we're trying to do just as a family, is to be faithful in prayer, but to be faithful in God's intervention and to be open to what that may look like. And it may look differently than what we. But that's why, you know, we pray thy will be done, not our will, but God's will.
00:07:18 J. Sierra Reyes
And to be open to that.
00:07:20 James Thomas
Yeah. Thank you for that. I have to say, I've mentioned on the podcast before that on my mother's side of the family, my mother is closer to the immigrant experience in America, and three of her four grandparents born outside of the United States and in two of those three cases did not emigrate until well into their adulthood, middle age, really.
00:07:41 James Thomas
And so that that idea of maintaining social decorum to move through the world, quote, unquote, appropriately and to, I think, as a. As a matter of assimilation, was something that was close to us as well in our growing up and something that we are trying to bring a more Christian mindset to in our own child rearing.
00:08:03 J. Sierra Reyes
Amen.
00:08:05 James Thomas
So in Mark, chapter eight, this is often seen as a turning point in the Gospel where Jesus turns to his disciple disciples and says, who do you say that I am? It happens to be the case that we've had occasion to end with each of our previous guests with the same question. It just sort of worked out that way in the lectionary.
00:08:25 James Thomas
And we're so glad to get the opportunity to ask you the question that we have asked of both Gary Commons and Aaron and Elizabeth Ross. So we will ask you. The identity of Jesus has been central to this podcast since we launched. And how would you answer that question if Jesus asked you, who do you.
00:08:45 J. Sierra Reyes
Say that I am, the source of life and love? I would say Jesus is the foundation of my understanding of what it means to be loved and to love. He's a reminder that life is not going to be easy. But yet even in the difficulty, there is still opportunity for joy and laughter and belonging, but there's not an absence of suffering.
00:09:25 J. Sierra Reyes
And so I feel like for me, Jesus is the reminder, the reminder of love and to be grounded and to remember when things are going well, because there will be a time that things will not be going well, and it's not because of anything you did wrong, but it's just how the story is.
00:09:47 J. Sierra Reyes
But the story doesn't end in the suffering. That's not the end of the story. And so for me, God read, Jesus is a comma, it's a continuation. There's always more, even in the darkest hour. And that more is God's love.
00:10:10 Natalie Thomas
That's so powerful. And it connects so much to what you just said about your understanding of the healing stories as an intervention. Right. That Jesus is this intervention of love. And it's not so much to see Jesus as a solution or an end that we perceive, but an intervention of love to help us see the wholeness.
00:10:40 Natalie Thomas
I'm thinking, is it Wendell Berry, the hidden wholeness? Is that who. Who wrote that poem? Yeah, yeah. Just, you know, that there is a hidden wholeness in the world. It's always right here. And it's the love of Jesus that intervenes to enable us to be present to it in the world. Very beautiful.
00:10:59 J. Sierra Reyes
Parker. Yeah. Parker Palmer.
00:11:02 Natalie Thomas
Parker Palmer. Thank you. Thanks for the. Yeah, so we. I appreciate that. And we will link that in the show notes.
00:11:11 James Thomas
Well, thank you so much to the Reverend Canon Sierra for joining us today and thank you for your.
00:11:18 J. Sierra Reyes
Hey, guys. This is my first podcast. I've never done a podcast before.
00:11:23 Natalie Thomas
Really?
00:11:23 James Thomas
Well, there you go. We're so glad that. So glad that you're. You're on the roster of our inaugural guests. It was such a beautiful four weeks with you and so much depth here on these first nine chapters of Mark and our Mark and journey and our epiphany tied together. And what a beautiful time of year to pray through these scriptures together.
00:11:46 James Thomas
So thank you very much to you and thank you, of course, to my beloved wife Natalie. And thank you to the wider community of people praying with us. Everyone out there joining us at the Bedtime Chapel. We want to stay in touch with you. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram. Bedtime Chapel, that's our handle everywhere.
00:12:07 James Thomas
Please follow us, let us know what's working, what's not working for you. You can always email us bedtimechapelmail.com and you can find all of that on our website. And until next time, we will be praying with you.
