Because: After the Storm: Reflections on Belonging, Communion, and Hope for Humanity
Because:
To Be and Do: Because
Show Notes
In this reflective episode of To Be and Do, Phil Amerson offers a brief meditation on the importance of togetherness, compassion, and the deeply spiritual act of sharing a meal. Rooted in personal experience and theological insight, the episode invites listeners to consider how everyday moments—especially coming together at the table—can become opportunities for healing, connection, and hope in a fractured world.
The episode opens with a poetic introduction from Ken Medema, setting a gentle, contemplative tone: “Clock strikes 10 coffee time again. While the world is rushing to its judgment day. Judgment day.” 00:01 This reflective spirit carries through as Speaker B shares his thoughts on community, inspired by a recent retreat for pastors (the details of which are teased for a future episode).
As we await that story, Amerson turns our attention to a profound image—an oil painting by Kadir Nelson titled After the Storm, depicting a diverse group of people united in hope after times of hardship 00:58. This image becomes a launching point for exploring how we might move past divisions of race, language, and nationality, envisioning a future where empathy and welcome take precedence 01:46.
Drawing on theological themes, Speaker B encourages listeners to see the table—wherever it might be—as a place for Holy Communion and transformation. From Christ’s meals with those on the margins to the post-resurrection story of recognition in the breaking of bread, the episode urges us to make every shared meal a chance for connection and grace 03:17, 03:47.
Three Takeaways
- The Table as Sacred Space: Amerson emphasizes that ordinary tables, where we share meals, can become powerful places of communion and reconciliation, echoing some of Christianity’s most profound stories 03:06.
- Radical Inclusion Over Division: The episode calls us to imagine a future beyond divisions—racial, linguistic, or national—and to actively combat indifference and othering by welcoming strangers and breaking bread together 01:46.
- Hope After Hardship: Inspired by Kadir Nelson’s After the Storm, Speaker B offers hope that after times of conflict and pain, there is the possibility of unity, healing, and new beginnings when we simply choose to be together 01:26.
May every coffee break or shared meal become an invitation to compassion, connection, and holy presence in your daily life.
Ken Medema [00:00:01]:
Clock strikes 10 coffee time again. While the world is rushing to its judgment day. Judgment day.
Philip Amerson [00:00:14]:
Greetings everyone. This is Philip Amerson with a small meditation. Just because. Just because we're human beings together in this fragile planet. Today I want to share some thoughts about being together with others. I've just returned from a retreat we called the Belonging Retreat. It was with pastors mid career in various congregations. So we were in New Harmony, Indiana.
Philip Amerson [00:00:42]:
Oh wait, I'm not supposed to tell you all about that. It's in the next episode. So you'll have to wait till next week to hear about the Belonging Retreat. So for now I want to talk about maybe some theology behind the Belonging Retreat. If you look in those of you that see this recording, you'll see a portrait there, an oil painting by Kadir Nelson. It's entitled after the Storm and it depicts his the artist's view of humanity gathered after the COVID crisis and after the time of war and violence in our world. It's a portrait of hope of various people, many different races and religions, all looking to the future. I can't help but think that we're going to have a time at some point that will be the post ice age.
Philip Amerson [00:01:46]:
We'll be past the time when we treat people based on their skin color in different ways or we deport and detain people without knowing much more about them than they're different, they speak a different language or have a different skin color. And I was reminded, tragically reminded, when the President of the United States was asked about the situation in Iran. His response was the war is going swimmingly. I mean that is obscene. What war goes swimmingly? Go walk the wards of those military persons who were wounded or attend the funerals of those who died. It's not a swimmingly good thing to have war. We follow, as Pope Leo IX has reminded us, the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ. When I was doing teaching in seminaries, I would often have in my class syllabus an assignment for students to host a meal, welcome others to a table and the cross is an important symbol in Christianity.
Philip Amerson [00:03:06]:
But I have come to believe that the table maybe should be considered, well, if not the most important, right up there near the cross and importance. Think of all the times the table is significant. Going to eat with sinners and those who were marginalized. Think of the Last Supper we call it before Jesus died. The table that's most powerful for me is the one mentioned in the post resurrection time when two people were walking along the road to Emmaus. And they were joined by a stranger. And they go to lunch and sit down at table. And the Scriptures say the two disciples, or two former followers of Jesus recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
Philip Amerson [00:04:02]:
My prayer for you in the days ahead is that you can join in some Holy Communion to be a companion. It really means the Latin. Means companero is Spanish to break bread, to share bread with someone else. So difference. This little podcast today is encouraging you to know that every table can become a Holy Communion table for you. Think about it. Invite someone else to sit with you. Because one day we'll all be together.
Philip Amerson [00:04:45]:
After the storm. Bye bye.
Ken Medema [00:04:48]:
From now till ever after, it's a cup of love and left. So come on, old friend, it's coffee time
