adventures in kindling the radical hope that God's commonwealth of love and justice is breaking-in.
rebecca joy sumner
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I triple dog dare you...the DARE of Saint Francis

4/21/2015

5 Comments

 
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We all know that iconic scene. Two boys challenging each other to touch their tongue to the frozen flag pole in A Christmas Story - hoping maybe the recess bell will ring before they get to the dreaded and impassable "triple dog dare." There's an order and a protocol to these things. There are steps you take before you jump from dare to double dare to double dog dare and triple dare and finally to triple dog dare. Protocol was ignored. And so Flick ends up with his tongue coldly fused to the flag pole. A triple dog dare is powerful. 

And today, I'm skipping all protocol and issuing a wide-spread and highly dangerous triple dog dare. If you are reading this, I am daring you.

At the Inhabit Conference this last weekend, I facilitated some friends in re-imagining the prayer of Saint Francis not in lofty words with no clear way to hit the ground but with the gritty reality, street names, history, names, and faces of their neighborhoods. As I was talking with Tim Soerens, he said that in essence, this process turns the prayer to a dare.

So, friends: I triple dog dare you. Translate the prayer of Saint Francis for your neighborhood...and then live out your local Dare of Saint Francis...and let us know what happens! (Seriously, if you'd be so generous as to post your own dares in the comments, it may inspire others with their local dares.
Here is a downloadable worksheet that is a dare issued from my parish at Everett Christian Church to yours as we all collaborate locally for the global coming of love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and joy!
prayer_of_saint_francis_worksheet_(2_pages).pdf
File Size: 277 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Below that is the prayer we read together for three neighborhoods: Donna Mathwig writes a dare for Siskiyou County, CA. Andy Wade writes a dare for Hood River, OR.  Jeff Richards write a dare for Midtown Sacramento, CA.

If Flick had the courage with little to gain to stick his tongue to the pole in the dead of winter, I believe we all have the courage with everything to gain to stick our faith to the streets in the coming of the Kingdom! I (and Saint Francis) triple dog dare you!
5 Comments
Lisa Alteio
4/21/2015 09:07:08 am

Thank you for sharing this Rebecca, I was deeply blessed by your liturgy reimagined at Inhabit. Would you maybe share your Psalm 139 reimagined as well? I would love to be able to share it with my daughters. Blessings to you, Lisa

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Rebecca
4/21/2015 10:19:29 am

Yes! In the next day or two. Working on getting it ready.

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Lisa Alteio
4/22/2015 09:40:02 am

Thanks Rebecca!

Linda Young
5/5/2015 09:53:38 pm

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Arnold Greg link
12/23/2020 04:13:37 am

Great post thanks for sharing it

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    Lead pastor at Our Common Table: A Christian Community of Welcome and Justice in North Everett

    Rebecca Joy Sumner

    i am a christian. pastor. liturgist. abolitionist. wife. neighbor. church planter. writer (ish). theologian (ish). artist (ish). and basically just someone who playfully clings to this radical thing called hope. specifically, hope that God's commonwealth of love and justice to come more and more with every new day.

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