Forefront Podcast
500 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsThe latest messages, interviews, and updates from Forefront Church based in Brooklyn, NY, but accessible from anywhere. Learn more at www.forefrontnyc.com.
Forefront Church is a fully inclusive, affirming-of-everyone-community based on the deeds of Christ not the religion and bureaucracy that followed. Our vision is to build a just and generous expression of the Christian faith. We are more interested in good questions than good answers.
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Episodes
SEX POSITIVITY: ”Sex Workers”
June 13, 2021 15:00 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBSex Workers and their prominent role in the Bible There is an active movement going on nationally and in New York to decriminalize sex work, and I think as a church we have to participate in this movement due to how purity culture has contributed towards the criminal punishment of sex workers and how our own Scriptures call us to honor sex workers. During this Sermon Series “Sex Positive”. Sarah Ngu explores the role sex workers played in Scripture and how we as a society need to come to gr...
SEX POSITIVITY: ”Marriage and Sex”
June 06, 2021 15:00 - 21 minutes - 30 MBDo you want to know what the Bible really says about marriage and sex? There is no biblical definition of sex and marriage unless you count sleeping with your father in law, marrying your brother, having 700 sex slaves, or becoming a eunuch for the sake of the gospel. So what does healthy sex look like? Here's Jonathan Williams preaching about Marriage and Sex in our "Sex Positivity" Series.
Forefront Conversations with Jo Luehmann
June 03, 2021 16:03 - 1 hour - 118 MBAs a Colombian woman, Jo has experienced firsthand how quickly privileged identities are to demonize marginalized identities, preferring comfort and power to creating safe spaces for people with experiences outside of their own. After alienating the leadership in her church with her all or nothing approach and working through personal deconstruction and decolonization, Jo boldly and unapologetically arrived at a conclusion: "Marginalized identities do not have an obligation to make privileged...
SEX POSITIVITY: ”Erotic poetry in the Bible”
May 30, 2021 15:00 - 27 minutes - 38 MBIn our second Sermon in the series "Sex Positive", Sarah Ngu walks us through the Song of Songs, the book medieval Christians commented on more frequently than any other book in the Bible. The Song of Songs uncomfortably dares us to hold all our human experiences, including our sexual ones, as a mirror by which to see God and ourselves. The relationship between the two lovers in the Song of Songs can be seen as an allegorical metaphor of the relationship between God and God’s people.
SEX POSITIVITY: ”Unlearning Purity Culture”
May 23, 2021 14:30 - 34 minutes - 47.4 MBUnlearning Purity Culture and Shame. How do we move from Sex Toxicity to Sex Positivity? Many outside of Christianity are moving towards a sex positive way of life. Churches can and need to catch up. Watch Makenzie Gomez speak to this important topic as she starts off our new Series: "Sex Positive." Purity Culture and The Purity Movement is an Industry that came about in the 1990s. It's a predatory theology that has distracted us with controlling rules and restrictions to keep women quiet f...
Forefront Conversations with Christine Pae & Lisa Asedillo
May 18, 2021 18:03 - 1 hour - 129 MBIt may seem like the rise in recent anti-Asian hate crime is new, but the choking weeds of anti-Asian bigotry and hypersexualization of AAPI women in America were planted generations ago. The mission of Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry, or PANAAWTM, is to contribute to transnational feminist theological conversations and to constantly challenge the Christian church and the interpretations of scripture that have proliferated division and hatred. PANAAWTM ...
THE GOSPEL OF: ”Community”
May 16, 2021 15:00 - 22 minutes - 31.5 MBGuest speaker, Venida Rodman Jenkins, joins Forefront for the first time and speaks on "The Gospel of Community". The Gospel of Community is about bringing people in rather than excluding them. Here's something to ask yourself: "How can you work with others to be an agent of change?" Venida C. Rodman Jenkins is committed to providing visibility, encouragement, love, and brave spaces to underrepresented groups. She has carried out this work for many years as a minister, educator, and advocate...
THE GOSPEL OF: ”Heaven”
May 09, 2021 15:15 - 19 minutes - 26.9 MBWhat if heaven isn't an escape chute? Heaven isn't a place we're whisked to after we die; it's God's order of justice and mercy coming towards us. In this, we know that God cares about community, God cares about suffering, and God is actively pursuing our good. In this 5th sermon in our EasterTide series, Guest Speaker Shay O'Reilly discusses the coronavirus pandemic, its uneven impacts, and the pressure to move on. Shay is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary with a concentration in Ch...
THE GOSPEL OF: ”Gratitude”
May 02, 2021 14:30 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBDo you believe in 'tithing' or giving a percentage of your income to church? Do you believe it's even worth giving to the church? In this 4th sermon in our EasterTide series, Sarah Ngu explains how technically, tithing -- giving a percentage of your income to the church -- is an outdated concept rooted in a time when Israel was a sovereign nation where people had to give taxes, or tithes, to their priests. We don't live in such a context- so why give? When we give, we remember that our lives...
THE GOSPEL OF: ”Heaven”
April 25, 2021 15:00 - 27 minutes - 37.1 MBThe Gospel of Heaven: Is Jesus the only way? At some point in your life you were told that Jesus was the only way to heaven or told someone else that Jesus was the only way to heaven. We justify this by using John:6. It says, "Jesus answered, I'm the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to God but through me." This is a terrible interpretation of scripture! In this 3rd sermon in our EasterTide series, watch Jonathan Williams remind us how Jesus excluded no one from his promise of Heave...
Forefront Conversations with Candice Czubernat
April 22, 2021 20:39 - 59 minutes - 108 MBCandice's story of love and discovery sounds a lot like the story many of us have either heard or lived before: a teenage crush, a nervous first kiss, and a new sense of a world of possibilities opening up before her. Unfortunately, her story of love and discovery also contains a few other elements that sound a lot like those that many of us have either heard or lived before: confusion about her lesbian feelings, church leaders commanding her to change her identity, and entering into a hetero...
Forefront Conversations with Candice Czubernat
April 21, 2021 20:33 - 59 minutes - 108 MBCandice's story of love and discovery sounds a lot like the story many of us have either heard or lived before: a teenage crush, a nervous first kiss, and a new sense of a world of possibilities opening up before her. Unfortunately, her story of love and discovery also contains a few other elements that sound a lot like those that many of us have either heard or lived before: confusion about her lesbian feelings, church leaders commanding her to change her identity, and entering into a hetero...
THE GOSPEL OF: ”Generosity”
April 18, 2021 15:00 - 34 minutes - 47.4 MBWe Christians never believe that we're holy enough. We have to believe a certain way. Read scripture a certain way. Attend Church often. Believe that some people are holy and others are not. Believe an atonement theory that says God is holy and separate from us because we are not holy. With Jesus it seems like we have a really clear picture of what God sees as holy. God sees refugees as holy. Jesus was one. God sees the politically oppressed as holy. Jesus was politically oppressed. God se...
THE GOSPEL OF: ”Inclusion”
April 11, 2021 15:00 - 35 minutes - 48.5 MBMira Sawlani-Joyner, guest preacher and former Community Director at Forefront Brooklyn, shares her personal experiences as an Asian woman. Inspired by the story of Rahab, Mira shows us how Asian women have divine purpose in this world, partnering with and co-laboring with God to bring God's kin-dom to fruition. Unfortunately, Asian women are hyper sexualized by the media and popular culture, and are relegated to tropes and stereotypes that render them as submissive and docile. These stereot...
EASTER SUNDAY 2021 | ”New Birth”
April 04, 2021 15:00 - 23 minutes - 32.5 MBThe resurrection story is not a neat and tidy formula to get us into heaven. It is a wild and imaginative story that asks us to take big risks for others and to work with God to bring about new creation. Jonathan Williams shares that If what we see in Jesus is God's own self, revealed, then we are dealing with a God who is ridiculously indiscriminate about choosing friends, who would rather die than have a neat and tidy sin management system complete with a scorecard, who would not lift a fi...
THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Hope”
March 28, 2021 15:00 - 26 minutes - 37 MBMost often, our hope is naïve and optimistic, and we’re wishing for a successful outcome. On this Palm Sunday, Jonathan Williams shares that’s not really what hope is -- it’s what comes when all else fails. The hope that comes when all else feels hopeless -- apocalyptic hope -- shows that the apocalypse isn't an ending, it's a revelation. What can feel like failure or pain can actually be the beginning of hope. This is the sixth and final sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.
THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Fear”
March 21, 2021 15:30 - 27 minutes - 37.3 MBThe opposite of fear is saying yes to living fully. The future is unknown. That scares the crap out of us. What do we do in the face of the unknown? Jonathan Williams shares that the way forward is not fear, it’s faith. Faith is a choice to take action and move forward even when there is nothing guaranteed. To make the conscious choice to believe just for today that the great I AM is at work in our fears and in our unknowns. The opposite of fear is saying yes to being made in the image of ...
THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Lonely”
March 14, 2021 15:30 - 21 minutes - 28.9 MBLonely in the wilderness. The pandemic of loneliness existed long before COVID-19, and being lonely can make us feel like we’re lost in the wilderness. In this Sunday’s message, guest preacher and former Forefront Brooklyn associate pastor Jennifer Fisher of Launchpad Partners tells us that the wilderness can be the place where we come to know God the strongest, and can actually be a place of hope for us to grow deeper in relationship with God, each other, and creation. This is the fourth ...
THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Mental Illness”
March 07, 2021 15:00 - 22 minutes - 30.6 MBErasing the stigma of mental illness Covid has highlighted an unspoken struggle for millions of us. We're not doing well and don't know how to find healing. We suffer silently and are afraid to talk about mental illness in the church. We believe that we're not holy enough, godly enough. That's a lie! In this sermon, Jonathan Williams explains how our struggles with mental challenges can actually shape the kin-dom of god. This is the third sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” se...
Forefront Conversations with Char Adams
March 01, 2021 22:36 - 40 minutes - 74.3 MB"Make no mistake about it: evangelicalism is white supremacy disguised as religion." That quote comes from Renita J. Weems, just one of the three Black women biblical scholars whose work Char Adams digs into for her thesis, "If It Wasn’t for the Women: An Exploration of Works by Renita Weems, Wil Gafney, & Kelly Brown Douglas." These three women are disparate but prominent Womanist voices whose work analyzing and interpreting the Bible have informed the experience of Black women in history wi...
THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”Anger”
February 28, 2021 15:00 - 24 minutes - 33 MBHow anger is a gift and a gateway to positive change. We’ve been taught that the Christian response to anger is to minimize it, but it’s actually *not* Biblical to deny our feelings of anger. In this sermon, Jonathan Williams shows us that our anger is not a spiritual weakness or failure, but rather something we can employ to help create positive change. This is the second sermon in our “This Feeling's Got Me Like...” series.
THIS FEELING’S GOT ME LIKE | ”The Practice of Receiving”
February 21, 2021 15:00 - 27 minutes - 37.4 MBThese days we're all about optimization, self-hacking, and efficiency. We feel enslaved to our to-do lists. How do we resist some of these values? In this sermon, Sarah Ngu examines the value of productivity in our workaholic society. It all began with industrial capitalism, which led to the “machinization” of the human body. But the Christian tradition starts from a very different place. Our faith begins from the premise that human beings are not machines created for labor, but that we are...
BE | Comparison is Conformity
February 14, 2021 15:00 - 16 minutes - 22.5 MBWhat will you do with what God has entrusted you? Jonathan Williams looks at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells his audience that they do not have to compare themselves to others because they are already righteous, they’re already loved, and they’re already children of God. What are you planning to do with what God has entrusted to you as God’s unique, adopted, and favored child? This is the sixth and final sermon in our “BE” series.
Forefront Conversations with Singled Out Co-Leaders
February 11, 2021 16:02 - 42 minutes - 77.5 MBValentine's Day is just a few days away and many people won't have a partner with whom to celebrate it. And you know what? That's okay! In fact, that's more than okay. Despite what society and even the Church may imply, being single does not and should not mean that you're on the path to finding someone to complete you. This is one of the many points that Brittany Kahn and Kim Owens, the co-leaders of the Singled Out small group, hope to convey to the people who sign up and attend. This inter...
Forefront Conversations with Jana Bennett
February 08, 2021 15:22 - 52 minutes - 96.2 MB1 Corinthians 7:34 says "An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit." For many people -- women, especially -- Paul's words on the virtue of his own singleness may be the only answer they're given to the question of "what value is there in being single?" For far too long, the American church has perpetuated the idea that being single is only noteworthy because it means that one is on the path to being married...
BE | ”Intentional Life”
February 07, 2021 15:00 - 40 minutes - 54.9 MB“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Sarah Ngu, Makenzie Gomez, and Jonathan Williams discuss how to interpret this passage for today. The "narrow road" that Jesus talks about is not about orthodoxy -- believing and doing the right things. Instead, it's about living with intentionality and purpose, and embracing the process and not just the destination. This is the fifth sermon in our “BE” series.
BE | ”Courageous Compassion”
January 31, 2021 15:00 - 27 minutes - 37.4 MB"Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" is one of the most misinterpreted and damaging scriptures in our bible. How do we redeem the idea of perfection? Jonathan Williams explores how striving for perfection has been incorporated into Christianity and reminds us that the real measure of worthiness is not perfection, it’s courage to be compassionate and justice minded towards others. God’s perfection is the simple practice of being courageous, compassionate, and creating connection. ...
BE | ”Restorative Judgment”
January 24, 2021 15:00 - 28 minutes - 39.5 MBJonathan Williams asks the question - is judgment always bad? Jonathan examines Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the context in which Jesus judges others. He reminds us that God’s judgment is restorative justice in action. God’s judgment always believes the best in others. And so we believe the best in others because that’s how God sees the other. This is the third sermon in our “Be” series.
BE | ”Integrity Matters”
January 17, 2021 15:00 - 20 minutes - 28.5 MBIntegrity starts with being grounded in yourself. Sarah Ngu reminds us that Jesus sees us as more than the worst decisions we’ve made or things we’ve said. In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he tells us that words matter and that truth matters. Integrity means not just saying what we really mean, but also realizing when we don’t really mean what we are about to say. This starts with being grounded in ourselves and recognizing when we are not in the right mind to speak honestly. This is the ...
BE | ”Attitudes”
January 10, 2021 15:00 - 21 minutes - 29.5 MBGod is on your side. Jonathan Williams tells us that when Jesus delivered the Beatitudes during his Sermon the Mount, Jesus was saying that God is on your side -- even when you're in the midst of a crappy year and it doesn't feel that way. God doesn't need you to believe in certain principles, policies, or social agendas -- God just needs you to believe that God is on your side. This is the first sermon in our “BE” series.
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Radical Equity”
January 03, 2021 15:00 - 33 minutes - 45.4 MBSaying yes to new experiences brings about radical equity | Sermon 1/3/21 Jonathan Williams unveils the final of Forefront Brooklyn's new core values: Radical Equity. Same is safe, different is dangerous -- or so the saying goes. We're afraid of new experiences because they take away our control and power, but God's kin-dom only comes when we're able to say "yes" to that which feels different. Our faith should always evolve and feel a bit dangerous, and we can only bring about radical equit...
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Worship Reimagined”
December 20, 2020 14:00 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MBBelieving we're worthy reimagines worship. Jonathan Williams unveils another one of Forefront Brooklyn's new core values: Worship Reimagined. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the first preacher of the New Testament, and by believing she was favored by God, she reimagined worship. Just like Mary, when we truly believe we're already favored by God, we can reimagine worship as well.
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Uncommon Kinship”
December 13, 2020 14:00 - 34 minutes - 48 MBBuilding a community through uncommon kinship. Sarah Ngu unveils one of Forefront Brooklyn's new core values: uncommon kinship. Common kinship often focuses on taking care of people who are in the center, but what makes kinship uncommon is taking care of people who aren't in the center of their community, and how it's worth having a community that will take a risk to ensure those who aren't typically centered feel loved, valued, and elevated.
MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE | ”Radical Church”
December 06, 2020 15:00 - 27 minutes - 37.5 MBWhy Forefront Church is as radical as Jesus. In a time when duality and division is at an all time high, Jesus preaches a message about the radical love for all God's children. In the process he pisses everyone off. Perhaps we should do the same? Pastor Jonathan Williams begins our “Make A Joyful Noise” series by sharing how Jesus’s first sermon changed his life and profoundly shaped Forefront.
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”Heaven & Hell”
November 29, 2020 15:00 - 26 minutes - 36.6 MBWhy does the concept of heaven and hell play such a powerful role in Christianity? Our beliefs about heaven and hell originate from our inability to make sense of suffering in our present lives. Heaven and hell used to be ways to help us cope with suffering today. But when Christianity became an empire, they morphed into tools to make people suffer today. Do your beliefs about the afterlife help you or prevent you from living your life presently? Sarah Ngu walks us through an enlightening...
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”The Cross”
November 22, 2020 15:00 - 29 minutes - 40.5 MBThe death of Christ on the cross does not change God's mind about us. In this 5th sermon in our "How We Got Here" series, Jonathan Williams reveals a provocative view on the traditional fear of God. We believe that God is upset with us and needed the blood of Jesus to make things right. The good news of the cross is that God is not angry with us at all. The cross isn't so that God changes God's mind about us. The cross happens so that we change our minds about the goodness of God.
HOW WE GOT HERE: ”The Bible”
November 15, 2020 15:00 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBRethinking the role of the Bible in our faith. In our fourth sermon in the "How We Got Here" series, Sarah Ngu presents an engaging perspective on the Bible and how we've interpreted scripture over the centuries. Biblical interpretation is not something to be afraid of but that is baked into our tradition. Wherever there is divinity, humanity is mingled in with it. We ourselves are living testaments. In fact, we are living Scripture.
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”Communion”
November 08, 2020 15:00 - 25 minutes - 35 MBThe incredible meaning of Communion. Jonathan Williams reminds us of the origins, meaning and importance of communion. Communion is especially relevant today, as we fight to bring all people to the table of peace and prosperity. Communion is the reminder that we've never been separate from God, rather we've always been seen as sacred and holy. Communion is used too often to exclude. It's not a dividing line rather a unifying feast that reminds all of us that we're unequivocally qualified to ...
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”Why God?”
November 01, 2020 15:00 - 26 minutes - 36.8 MBHow we got God and the holy trinity. In the second sermon of our "How We Got Here" series, Jonathan Williams tackles the big question: How we got God. God is largely a construct made up of time, place, and culture. So why are we here? Why church? Why even bother communing with God? Deep down we know that God is something greater. In finding out how God came to be, perhaps we find out that God is actually living in us.
HOW WE GOT HERE | ”Organization”
October 25, 2020 15:00 - 28 minutes - 38.7 MBSarah Ngu starts off our new series: How We Got Here. It begins with a closer historical look at the organizational structures of the church. Sarah touches on the commissioning of deacons in the book of Acts and shares her personal story as a queer person growing up in the conservative church and what it means for them to be appointed as a deacon for the first time as an openly queer person.
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | ”Peace”
October 18, 2020 15:00 - 21 minutes - 29.5 MBWhat does it mean to make peace in divisive times? In this final sermon in our Fruits of the Spirit series, Jonathan Williams speaks about peace. Peacekeeping is the ultimate form of gaslighting. It does nothing to address injustice and does everything to make sure that the status quo remains just that, the status quo.
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | ”Self-control”
October 11, 2020 15:00 - 22 minutes - 30.4 MBSelf-control: the meta-fruit empowering all Fruits Sarah Ngu makes the case that self-control is kind of a meta-fruit: it helps you do all the other Fruits well. To be able to ensure that when you are exhibiting the other Fruits of the Spirit you are doing so in a way that is rooted from within and carried out by the power of the Spirit. In Christianity, at the core of self-control is actually surrendering to the Spirit. The gift of self-control: We focus on what we can control especially ...
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | ”Gentleness”
October 04, 2020 15:00 - 27 minutes - 37.2 MBGentleness is power under control. In this 4th sermon in the Fruit of the Spirit series, Jonathan Williams delves in to the superpower of Gentleness. We are a powerful people with potential to harm our enemies or to break down harmful systems with great care. What if being gentle is not a personality but rather a perspective?
Forefront Conversations with Daryl Davis
September 30, 2020 23:02 - 1 hour - 112 MB"How can you hate me if you don't even know me?" That's the question that drives Daryl Davis' life's work and it's the genesis of the question and the pursuit of its answer that is the focus of the documentary, "Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America." To answer this question, Daryl goes straight to the source: the people that hate him. Daryl has dedicated the last few decades of his life to befriending white supremacists and Klan members in an attempt to break through their racist ...
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | ”Love”
September 27, 2020 15:00 - 27 minutes - 38.4 MBSpeaking truth to love. The vitriol and divided discourse is at an all time high. We've lost the art of speaking truth to one another. What if speaking truth means having empathy for the pain and fear of others before anything else? Would it change our country? In this third sermon in our Fruit of the Spirit series, Jonathan Williams talks about love, the greatest fruit of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 13 1: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ...
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | ”Success”
September 20, 2020 15:00 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBWhat does it mean to be successful? In the book of Galatians 5:22-23, Paul writes, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Many of us measure success by the actions and accomplishments in our lives. However, it is what lies behind these, or even lies far away from these things. It is one's character. Success is really about how well you live out the fruit of the Spirit. If yo...
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | WEEK 1 ”Renewal”
September 13, 2020 15:00 - 26 minutes - 36.7 MBThe renewal of all things. What's the first thing you think of when you think of God? Is that word "pleasure?" Yeah, probably not. But what if that's exactly who God is? God is a pleasure hound. God is not angry, wrathful, filled with rage, but rather taking pleasure in the way that we work to bring restoration to all things and to tell stories of renewal. Pastor Jonathan Williams talks of restoration and renewal in this first sermon of our "Fruits of the Spirit" series.
WORK & CAPITALISM | WEEK 4 ”Poverty”
September 06, 2020 15:00 - 30 minutes - 42.3 MBIs poverty inevitable? Sarah Ngu leads our fourth and final sermon in our Work & Capitalism Series. Reflecting on Matthew 25 and 26, Sarah brings theological light to the struggles more and more of us face these days with debt, eviction, homelessness and poverty. Sadly, capitalism enables these injustices to exist. Jesus says the poor are always with you because you have made it so. Why do we insist on spending a billion dollars a year on shelters rather than placing our families in afford...
WORK & CAPITALISM | WEEK 3 ”Work”
August 30, 2020 15:00 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBChrist disrupts everything we know about work, money, and merit. In this third sermon in our Work & Capitalism Series, we welcome guest pastor, Candace Simpson. In her message we are reminded that we do not have to work for pay to be worthy of life. Christ goes out to find the people who need a day’s wage. Because everyone has to eat. Christ disrupts everything we know about work, money, and merit. Minister Candace Simpson is a sister, preacher and educator. She is a graduate of Trinity Col...
WORK & CAPITALISM | WEEK 2 ”OVERDOING”
August 23, 2020 15:00 - 26 minutes - 36.2 MBHumanity wasn't destined to toil SamI Main is an accomplished life coach, media specialist and published author. In this sermon, Sami explains why our fixation on busyness, work and profession can be harmful to our spiritual health and that taking a step back to rest and to reflect on the glory of existence is not only healthy, but, perhaps even, the most important activity we can do.