What practices help me feel connected to God? What actions express my connection to God? How can I strengthen my connection to myself? What might indicate a deepening, healthy, loving connection to myself? What already existing and important connections am I beginning to recognize? What new and crucial connections are being formed?

Do you pray? How do you know when you're praying? What makes it "prayer"? What do you expect or anticipate from God when you pray? What do you expect or anticipate from yourself? Who benefits when you pray? What difference does prayer make? Who or what is changed by your prayers? What words do you use when you pray? Do you pray in word-less ways? What is the role of your body in prayer? Are there downsides or limitations to prayer? Have you had negative experiences with prayer? How has prayer been a positive experience for you? Do you want to pray more? Why do you want to pray more, if you do? What would that look like? How would you pray?

41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers…

“But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

What would it mean to “imitate” Jesus, in response to this passage? How has your understanding of someone deepened in a way that enabled you to better love that person? What practices help you grasp things and people in all their fullness and complexity?

Jazmin Miller-Price (she/her/hers) is a chaplain with Brighton Hospice, the presiding clerk at Camas Friends Church, and a member of the SCYMF’s People Care committee. As an Oregon native, she likes walking in both the sunshine and the rain and especially likes when both happen at once. She lives in Washington now with her husband Jerry and their cat, Pearl.