Buddhist Light

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Throughout the Season After the Epiphany the church basks in the light of Christ revealed to us. Yet simultaneously we live in a world divided by religious difference. To our surprise, the light of God shines upon us from the other, as God is made manifest through a diversity of mediums. 

This sermon series situates us as attentive listeners to other religious traditions. After declaring the light of God upon all people and laying a theological framework for particularity amidst plurality, we will train our attention on three particular sacred stories—Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism. Each sacred story will be expressed by a religious leader who will speak to us out of their own tradition while making connections to values we at Pearl hold dear—gratitude, inclusion, integration, peace, renewal, and transformation. Our hope for this series is to encourage understanding, empathy, appreciation, and connection to our religious neighbors who, alongside us, seek out the light of the Divine. 

This week’s guest speaker is Thomas McConkie. Thomas McConkie is the founder of Lower Lights School of Wisdom and has a passion for the world's Wisdom traditions. Raised LDS, at 18 years old he discovered Buddhism, which remains a wellspring of inspiration over 20 years later.

He is trained as a developmental researcher, facilitator, and mindfulness teacher. He hosts the Lower Lights Sangha in Salt Lake City, Utah with the intention of creating a generative environment where seekers of diverse faith orientations can discover new depths and heights in their evolving personhood.

Particularity and Partnership

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Throughout the Season After the Epiphany the church basks in the light of Christ revealed to us. Yet simultaneously we live in a world divided by religious difference. To our surprise, the light of God shines upon us from the other, as God is made manifest through a diversity of mediums. 

This sermon series situates us as attentive listeners to other religious traditions. After declaring the light of God upon all people and laying a theological framework for particularity amidst plurality, we will train our attention on three particular sacred stories—Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism. Each sacred story will be expressed by a religious leader who will speak to us out of their own tradition while making connections to values we at Pearl hold dear—gratitude, inclusion, integration, peace, renewal, and transformation. Our hope for this series is to encourage understanding, empathy, appreciation, and connection to our religious neighbors who, alongside us, seek out the light of the Divine. 

The Epiphany Gap

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Throughout the Season After the Epiphany the church basks in the light of Christ revealed to us. Yet simultaneously we live in a world divided by religious difference. To our surprise, the light of God shines upon us from the other, as God is made manifest through a diversity of mediums. 

This sermon series situates us as attentive listeners to other religious traditions. After declaring the light of God upon all people and laying a theological framework for particularity amidst plurality, we will train our attention on three particular sacred stories—Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism. Each sacred story will be expressed by a religious leader who will speak to us out of their own tradition while making connections to values we at Pearl hold dear—gratitude, inclusion, integration, peace, renewal, and transformation. Our hope for this series is to encourage understanding, empathy, appreciation, and connection to our religious neighbors who, alongside us, seek out the light of the Divine. 


Mother Mary

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The language we use to describe God shapes our perception of God. God as shepherd, God as king, God as warrior—all are metaphors that rouse images in our mind’s eye. Of course, no single word or image captures the totality of Divine essence, and some language can inhibit our imagination. Therefore, it’s important for us to reflect upon our God-language. 

Throughout the centuries, the primary metaphors used to describe the Divine have been masculine. However, throughout church history and earlier, in Jewish history, there have always been feminine images used for God. If these feminine expressions are rarely used, then we risk picturing God through solely masculine metaphors. God as mother, mother bear, mother eagle, and mother hen; God as nursing mother, woman in labor, and woman searching for a coin—these expressions give fuller shape to our perception of God. 

During the four weeks of Advent, this sermon series will pay special attention to feminine notions of God that elevate aspects of longing and hope for light, in the midst of darkness. We will cast an elevated vision for the Divine who is neither male nor female, but who may be more fully appreciated through language that is explicitly feminine.