Weekly Outlook - A free Advent candle liturgy

Dear readers, This week has required a lot of me — personally and professionally — as I navigate a hospitalized parent, a best friend’s wedding, Advent devotionals (out today!) and all the other hurdles of life in 2025. I imagine your own days have their particular mix of pressures, deadlines and emotional weight, too. With that in mind, I’m offering you a bouquet of delights that have found me in the midst of everything else. May they bring you a smile, a breath, maybe even a little wonder. A squirrel’s hippocampus grows by 15% this time of year so it can remember where it buried its nuts. A video of a blind cat discovering it can warm its paws over its owner’s steaming thermos. Pure joy. “Good work is our joy and salvation.” — Wendell Berry Tomato plants under attack release a chemical that summons predatory wasps, who lay their eggs in the offending caterpillars. (Nature is metal. Also: sentient tomatoes? Churchgoers, let’s discuss.) “The way to heaven is heaven.” — St. Catherine of Siena Love. And the tenderness of trying to put words to that gift as I write a homily for my friend’s wedding. Mushrooms playing musical instruments from their own electrical activity. (Equal parts delight and The Last of Us–style terror — still worth a Google.) “Good work is what it’s all about … realizing who your people are, and [that] your purpose is living in service of them.” — Nick Offerman, reflecting on Berry The simple satisfaction of cutting through an overgrown lawn. In the face of desperate needs for justice, these wonders may seem small — even showgirl-ish. But, like Andrew Taylor-Troutman, I believe specificity may just save us. Attention doesn’t deny the weight we carry; it sanctifies it, if we let it. Thank you for reading, for caring, for being here — in all the fullness of your own week. With hope and delight, Rose Schrott Taylor Digital Content Editor Presbyterian Outlook

Encountering the holy at a haunted house by Karie Charlton Does God answer the prayers of a showgirl? by Hannah Lovaglio  Chicago pastors confront escalating violence at ICE detention facility by Harriet Riley Viewing God as disabled by Lisa Powell Jürgen Moltmann: Theologian of hope and transformation by Steffen Lösel What happens when ministry becomes a security risk? by Harriet Riley In case you missed it... After clergy arrests, religious pushback to ICE expands in Chicago More than 210 mostly Chicago-area clergy, representing a range of liberal and conservative traditions, have signed a letter criticizing ICE titled ‘Jesus is Being Tear Gassed at Broadview.’ Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza Munther Isaac draws upon Martin Luther’s theology of the cross to find Christ in the rubble, in solidarity with those who suffer. Robert A. Cathey offers a review. Migrant God: A Christian Vision for Immigrant Justice Isaac Samuel Villegas’s “Migrant God” frames agape as solidarity and portrays God as a migrant, writes Amy Pagliarella. Trans Biblical: New Approaches to Interpretation and Embodiment in Scripture In "Trans Biblical," editors Joseph Marchal, Melissa Sellew and Katy Valentine invite readers to see familiar biblical figures – like Jael, Jacob and Mordecai – in new and life-giving ways. Jo Wiersema offers a review. Theology is for the birds … and for me Andrew Taylor-Troutman explores a “living theology” shaped by attention — to creation, to one another, and to the holy particularities that make us who we are. Creating neuro-affirming worship: Welcoming neurodiverse children and families Equip your church to welcome neurodiverse children and families. Join us for a webinar with Big Faith Resources on November 5.

Out today!  Each Advent, we are invited to slow down and pay attention — not just to Christmas on the horizon, but to Christ’s presence with us here and now. Draw Near, written by Outlook Editor/Publisher Teri McDowell Ott, is a daily devotional that helps you do just that.