Slaying Dragons

In her sermon on Sunday, Parisa exhorted spiritual seekers to push beyond the boundaries of the familiar, even if such journeying crosses through dragon-filled lands.

Credit: Sportsosphere

Our call to venture forth is issued by the enfleshed God - the Holy Voice that invites us into personal relationship. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Of course, the rest of which Jesus here speaks need not mean physical sloth, but rather a peace of mind and levity of heart. It is the sense of wholeness we feel when building new friendships that sustain us. And First Parish as a congregation has already embarked on such a trek, cultivating relationships with Morningstar Baptist Church in Mattapan and our mentor congregation in Richmond, Virginia.


Embracing growth is hard enough; actively pursuing it is even more spiritually challenging. Anne McConney writes: "Here the journey begins, and it is long and not for the faint of heart." In her Buddhist practice of meditation, Pema Chodron exhorts practitioners to take their fears seriously. Rather than shrink from the discomfort of fear, we would do well to study our fear - pick it up, turn it around, sit with it. These fears represent our limits, the borders separating who we are now and the person we aspire to be.


Who do we want to be as a church? And what fears are keeping us back? Which dragons must we slay?


Please: continue the conversation.