February 2020 - Breathe In. Breathe Out. Remember Us.

Blessings!

This was anotehr awesome service. Sangodare preached What If God Is Memory. Alexis debut her latest book Dub: Finding Ceremony for the Oracle and signed copies after service. Our welcome song was amazing - we sung La La La La La La, La La La La La in rounds inspired by the Smurfs to get into with our child selves. We had guests from New Orleans, Wendi and Mandisa Moore O’Neal along with Wendi’s father’s widow.

The notes we got were as follows:

Interests

*interested in collaborating on languag + Spanish workshops + language exchanges

Affirmations & Gratitude

“My first time here ~ I believe I have found the community I’ve been wanting! Thank you! Beautiful!!”

“Thank you These services mean so much to me. <3 “

Referrals

And some one pointed us to an Albert Einstein quote. Which I love… and love Einstein. They wrote:
“Just something that came to mind a quote…” I found the original quote** and letter Albert Einstein wrote. See it pictured below and the translation below that.

“A human being is a spatially and temporally limited piece of the whole, what we call the “Universe.” He experiences himself and his feelings as separate from the rest, an optical illusion of his consciousness. The quest for liberation from this bondage is the only object of true religion. Not nurturing the illusion but only overcoming it gives us the attainable measure of inner peace.”

** https://www.thymindoman.com/einsteins-misquote-on-the-illusion-of-feeling-separate-from-the-whole/

January 2020 - Indigo (2020) Vision

Hey Congregation!

We got 3 notes this week. They ranged from a sort of reflection of the service and an affirmation to an inquiry. The theme of the service was Indigo (2020) Vision. I preached a sermon called Write the Vision which deeply engaged vision & sight (from a spiritual/metaphysical perspective), the 3rd eye energy center and the many things we can learn from birds flying in flock. Sista Docta Alexis brought us sacred texts from Ntozake Shange’s book Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo and an Oracle Reading from her forthcoming book titled Dub: Finding Ceremony.

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Affirmations included:

“This is the first church experience I’ve been to in maybe 10 yrs that leaves me feeling more open (rather than closed)

Thank you <3 “

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Reflections included:

“Dance, Creativity, tvt, love understanding of self, awakening, perception and poetry, humility, gratitude, Grace”

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“Dear Sangodare,

I was so moved by your sermon this Sunday that I wanted to write you a thank you message. Thank you for doing exactly what you preach and providing all that air and wind that lift a whole community up. The sincere and powerful way you speak of truth resonated with everything that I have been acquiring in my heart. It allowed me to reconnect with a perspective on life that I -and believe so many of us- search for and gather the pieces of. Your words move those pieces into cohesion and that was so powerful to see/feel/witness in those few hours on Sunday. I felt grateful for the journey that brought me here all the way from Turkey so to catch glimpses of familiar truths here in Durham. I am very grateful for the gift you decided to share with us and I truly hope that you will find all the love, support, courage and sustenance you need to grown in that beautiful direction. Let me know if I can be of help.

Best regards,”

Questions included:

“How do I show up deeply for myself in hard moments of parenting alone?”

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Gratitude for Maafa Commemoration by Solanke

Alexis and I were so grateful to be invited by Solanke Omimuyegun to contribute to this event Maafa Commemoration: An Offering to the Throughline. I am particularly grateful to have met so much of Solanke’s spiritual family. I even met the first priest that has the same name as I do, my elder. I am of course grateful for the healing to our ancestors.

There was an overwhelmingly moving altar of 300 bowls with candles and offerings inside, a circle of glow, a circle of light. A celebration of life! For this service I created a ritual form inspired by my own Black Baptist church experience, Ifa-Orisha spiritual practice and testimonies about the ring shout tradition.