{"id":25433,"date":"2025-06-26T10:12:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T14:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25433"},"modified":"2025-06-26T10:35:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T14:35:57","slug":"creating-communities-of-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25433","title":{"rendered":"Creating Communities of Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Casting Crowns - Jesus, Friend Of Sinners (with lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rJXIugwiN7Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Collective Impact<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, June 26, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis considers how individual decisions create collective change:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>All of us must face and embrace the urgent need for deep social change\u2014change that begins within, then spreads like ripples on a pond, and finally becomes a tsunami of love-inspired change.<\/strong> No matter your age, race, faith, gender, or sexuality, I hope \u2026 [to] give you a new sense of the power you have to be good and to insist on good; to care for others and insist on being cared for; to stand up for the vulnerable and stand against injustice; to love and be loved.\u2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I know this to be true: The world doesn\u2019t get great unless we\u00a0<em>all\u00a0<\/em>get better.<\/strong> If there is such a thing as salvation, then <strong>we are not saved until everyone is saved; our dignity and liberation are bound together.<\/strong> <strong>We must care for ourselves and the village around us. If we don\u2019t, the village\u2019s problems become our problems<\/strong>, and together our children will continue to hide from bullets in their classrooms. Our elders\u2019 safety nets will be threatened. Our young adults will face mounting debt and earn less than their parents. Fear, xenophobia, racism, bigotry\u2014these problems belong to all of us, and they will get better as we all get better!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard points to the value of faithfulness to the common good:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the great principle of Catholic moral theology?\u00a0<em>The common good.<\/em>\u00a0What is needed for the common good, and not just my private good? <\/strong>That\u2019s a very hard question for Western people to ask. In fact, many of us don\u2019t even know it\u2019s a question anymore.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our postmodern, secular culture, it can feel old-fashioned to be faithful to something. Sometimes people thank me for staying in community and faith, which feels like the best compliment. That doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019ve done it perfectly all these years\u2014I went down my dead ends. <strong>But<em>\u00a0faithfulness<\/em>\u00a0is being faithful to God, faithful to Christ, and faithful to the gospel that is calling all of us beyond ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So be faithful! Go to the edge, find the beloved community, build the alternative, the parallel culture, in small communities. V\u00e1clav Havel, the poet-president of the Czech Republic, is a good example. He was already building an alternative culture before the Berlin Wall fell. Through literature, study, poetry, ritual, and education, he helped create people who had a bigger vision and who thought in another way. When the system fell apart, they were ready to live with positive belief\u2014not only clear about what they were against, but what they were for. [1]\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lewis concludes:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can see a bold new path led by a vision of the sacred goodness of humankind and the abundance of the planet\u2019s resources\u2026.<strong> You and I are the ones we\u2019ve been waiting for to create better lives for ourselves and our communities and to build a better world\u2014together. All we need is the courage to imagine, and <\/strong>t<strong>he will to make it be so<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>______________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Young Jesus Calling<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am all around you, like a cocoon of Light. <strong>My Presence with you is a promise, independent of your awareness of Me. <\/strong>Many things can block this awareness, but the major culprit is worry. My children tend to accept worry as an inescapable fact of life. <strong>However, worry is a form of unbelief; it is anathema <\/strong>(something. that one vehemently dislikes) <strong>to Me.<\/strong><br>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Who is in charge of your life? If it is you, then you have good reason to worry. But if it is I, then worry is both unnecessary and counterproductive. <strong>When you start to feel anxious about something, relinquish the situation to Me. Back off a bit, redirecting your focus to Me<\/strong>. <strong>I will either take care of the problem Myself or show you how to handle it<\/strong>. <strong>In this world you will have problems, but you need not to lose sight of Me.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RELATED BIBLE VERSES:<br><strong>Luke 12:22-31(NLT)<\/strong><br><strong>Teaching about Money and Possessions<\/strong><br><strong><em>22<\/em>&nbsp;Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, \u201cThat is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life\u2014whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear.&nbsp;<em>23<\/em>&nbsp;For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing.&nbsp;<em>24<\/em>&nbsp;Look at the ravens. They don\u2019t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!&nbsp;<em>25<\/em>&nbsp;Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?&nbsp;<em>26<\/em>&nbsp;And if worry can\u2019t accomplish a little thing like that, what\u2019s the use of worrying over bigger things?<\/strong><br><strong><em>27<\/em>&nbsp;\u201cLook at the lilies and how they grow. They don\u2019t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.&nbsp;<em>28<\/em>&nbsp;And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?<\/strong><br><strong><em>29<\/em>&nbsp;\u201cAnd don\u2019t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don\u2019t worry about such things.&nbsp;<em>30<\/em>&nbsp;These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs.&nbsp;<em>31<\/em>&nbsp;Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding Luke 12:22-34: Jesus commands us to not worry. But how can we avoid it? <strong>Only faith can free us from the anxiety caused by greed and covetousness<\/strong>. Working and planning responsibly is good; dwelling on all the ways our planning could go wrong is bad. <strong>Worry is pointless because it can&#8217;t fill any of our needs; worry is foolish because the Creator of the universe loves us and knows what we need. He promises to meet all our real needs but not necessarily all of our desires. <\/strong>Overcoming worry requires: (1) Simple trust in God, our heavenly Father. This trust is expressed by praying to him rather than worrying. (2) Perspective on your problems. This can be gained by developing a strategy for addressing and correcting your problems. (3) A support team to help. Find some believers who will pray for you to find wisdom and strength to deal with your worries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional insight regarding Luke 12:31: Seeking the Kingdom of God above all else means making Jesus the Lord and King of your life. He must control every area &#8211; your work, play, plans, and relationships. Is the Kingdom only one of your many concerns, or is it central to all you do? Are you holding back any areas of your life from God&#8217;s control? As Lord and Creator, he wants to help provide what you need as well as guide how you use what he provides.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>John 16:33 (NLT)<\/strong><br><strong><em>33<\/em>&nbsp;I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding John 16:33: Jesus summed up all he had told them this night, tying together themes from John 14:27-29; John 16:1-4; and John 16:9-11. With these words he told his disciples to take courage. In spite of the inevitable struggles they would face, they would not be alone. Jesus does not abandon us to our struggles either. If we remember that the ultimate victory has already been won, we can claim the peace of Christ in the most troublesome time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Collective Impact Thursday, June 26, 2025 Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis considers how individual decisions create collective change:&nbsp;&nbsp; All of us must face and embrace the urgent need for deep social change\u2014change that begins within, then spreads like ripples on a pond, and finally becomes a tsunami of love-inspired change. No matter your age, race, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25433"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25433"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25437,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25433\/revisions\/25437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}