Intentionally Pausing

A Holy Week Experiment in Creating Space

Reimagining Family

Written by Carl Amouzou

In the Gospels, Jesus asks a provocative question, “Who is my family?” Jesus reimagines family as those traveling in the same spiritual direction. One of Jesus’ disciples, following Jesus in that spiritual direction, later wrote in 1 John 4:20-21, “For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And [Jesus] has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” John makes the connection between loving God and loving others intrinsic and dependent on each other. To love God is to love the family of God. 

A Prayer of Duke Ellington 

L
GOD
V
E

Amen. 

Creating Space for Family

Family is complex and challenging for many of us. For others, the mere mention of family conjures up warm feelings of gratitude and love. However family shows up for you, we can choose to intentionally create space for family, be it biological, spiritual, or something else. So what is one thing you can do to show someone in your family that they are loved?