Pledge Card for Currency of Place We have been exploring the currency of place, both internal and external, in the last few weeks. These activities were like making an inventory of the assets that you have, not just the physical properties, but also the blessings and wellness that these places provide. This week, you are invited to explore how you can further offer these places for ministries which will continue the flow of blessings in specific ways and then commit to making it happen by making a pledge. Answer the following questions and then fill out the pledge card. Name... Continue reading

Learning the Truth about Un-Wellness in the Neighborhood Following up on the tour of your neighborhood two weeks ago, I invite you to describe at least 3 places that you noticed that are showing signs of un-wellness in your neighborhood. Select one of these places and do some research this week to discover the truth of why this place and people are not doing well. You can begin with looking through social media. Demographic data and statistics are useful, but don’t be afraid to go out to listen to the powerless in your neighborhood who know the truth from their... Continue reading

Finding Partners for Wellness Last week we asked you to take a group of people to tour your neighborhood in order to discover the places of wellness and un-wellness. This week, we will build on that the learning beginning with wellness. Select 3 places in your neighborhood community that show signs of wellness. Name the wellness (social, physical, economic, spiritual and/or ecological) that this place provides. Do some research on who is involved in fostering this wellness? How do they do it? You can do this research by searching the internet. Don’t stop there; go and visit the place. Listen... Continue reading

What makes a sustainable community? Is your neighborhood sustainable? What are the signs of wellness? What are the signs of un-wellness? Gather a group of people and take a tour of your neighborhood, walking or driving. Take your Drawing on Holy Currencies book and take notes on what you see as signs of physical, social, economic, spiritual and ecological wellness and un-wellness. your group to do the neighborhood work. Before you go, invite the group to look at the comic for this week and have a discussion on what makes a sustainable community. At the end of the tour, invite... Continue reading

Currency of Place: Church We continue our exploration of the currency of time and place this week with your church. Get together with at least 3 people from your church and move through your church from space to space. At each space, spent some quiet time to draw and write down: who spends time in each space how much time spent per week what blessings were received. Make sure you cover the many different spaces: the parking lot, the courtyard, various rooms and halls and, of course, the sanctuary. Having done this exercise, decide how you would share your learning... Continue reading

Currency of Place: Home This week we are exploring the currency of time and place starting with our home. We invite you to draw the floor plan of your home and move from room to room to reflect on how much time you spend per week in each space and what blessing exchanges take place there. As I did this exercise, I realized that I spent a lot of time in my bedroom which also functions as my office during the day. I also did a lot of teaching via Zoom in my bedroom. It is also the place where... Continue reading

Wind of Doctrine We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way . . . Ephesians 4:14 This text seems particularly relevant in 2019 in the United States. Almost daily, the “wind” changed or there are added “winds” to further overwhelm and confuse us. How do we discern to truth in such high “wind” situations? My answer is community, community, community. Together in community we can withstand the winds... Continue reading

Circle and Square II Two weeks ago, I said that if we let the bullies define the truth, we will have a dysfunctional society. This week, we are looking at truth again. But this time, we are proposing a constructive way of dealing with bullies. By coming together as a community, we can find our voice to speak the truth to counter the lies that the bullies seek to propagate. Have fun coloring the comic. Listen to the song The Beatitudes on Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UImjMlFS7XM If you want, you can bring together the powerless at a dialogue event, preparation for... Continue reading

Get to Know Someone Who’s Different For those of us living in a very divided country, our instinct is to avoid encountering people who are different. The differences can be political affiliation, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, class, etc. We might be fearful of getting into an argument that goes nowhere but to damage what little connection we might have left. If we continue to avoid meeting the differing other, we will become further isolated and the likelihood of discerning the truth is diminished. With the skills that you have been learning and practicing in developing your currency. relationship,... Continue reading

Circle and Square As you color the comic, listen to Eric H. F. Law’s version of The Beatitudes on Youtube: You can also find it on Spotify, Amazon, Google Play Music, or iTunes; just search for “The Beatitudes Eric H. F. Law”. Discerning truth becomes more difficult when you have powerful people who insist their idea of truth is THE TRUTH, often at the expense of the powerless. We don’t have a whole truth unless we listen to the powerless first. This week is about experimenting with listening to the truth on an issue beginning with the powerless. It can... Continue reading

Week 30 of Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

Way, Truth and Life The Hebrew word that is translated as truth, emet, is composed of the three letters, א alef, מ mem, and ת tav—the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The composition of the word may signify that in order to discern the truth, one must know the beginning, the middle, and the end of the event. There is no half-truth in the Hebrew emet. We cannot take one moment, one feeling, or one perspective and call that the truth. For this reason, we do not select one verse from the Bible and use it... Continue reading

Imagine … It is that very spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16-17 NRSV Imagine a millionaire and a homeless person are brothers; what would they be talking about? Imagine a policeman and the young men in the neighborhood are brothers; what would they be doing in the neighborhood? Imagine Republicans and Democrats are sisters and brothers; how would they behave in Congress? Imagine... Continue reading

Love Your Enemies and Dialogue This week, I will let the drawing and songs do the talking. You can watch me teaching a group to sing, “Love Your Enemies” at a Music that Makes Community Conference on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9AtwVDQshU. Listen to the song as you color the first page. Remember to take a photo of your creation and post with #holycurrencies. You can listen to me singing “The Dialogue Song” on Youtube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dST6YClSgrc Continue reading

Here is a letter from Pamela who shared how her congregation has been positively impacted by Holy Currencies. If you want to receive Holy Currencies training and/coaching go to our Holy Currencies website and learn more about utilizing this cycle of blessing model for stewardship ministry and incubation of new ministries. ************************************************ Dear Eric, I hope this finds you well. Last summer I had the pleasure of being part of the team that signed on to your series of webinars about Holy Currencies. This was after we had had Jake come lead us through a daylong workshop and several of... Continue reading

Week 26 of Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

Week 25 Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

Week 24 Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

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Week 22 of Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

Week 21 of Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

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Week 19 of Drawing on Holy Currencies Continue reading

TimeBank I came across the concept of TimeBank when I was designing a Building Bridges Now dialogue session on Disaster Preparedness. I found a video about how Christ Church, New Zealand, recovered from a disaster with resiliency and effectiveness. People moved immediately to take care of those in need, knowing exactly where, who, and what resources to connect them with. The key to this community’s ability to recover was TimeBank, which they had implemented effectively for a number of years. TimeBank is a model for sharing our currency of time and leadership(talent). There is no money exchange at all. Instead... Continue reading

Week 17 Continue reading