An Introduction and How to Guide

Living the Question

“Words and images are not prayers themselves. Not really. They are excavation tools with which to get to the ever-present, ongoing interior conversation we are already having with the divine when we hear someone speak a prayer or read scripture or sing a song that makes us say “yes, amen” or even just “hmm.” What we are experiencing is the excavation tool of the words, exhuming the deep prayer already within us. Words and images point to the deeper conversation that often gets lost in the noise and fear and ego of human life.”

— Justin McRoberts & Scott Ericson

Every community is shaped by its imagination.

Before we decide how to act, before we choose what to build, before we determine what is possible or impossible, something quieter has already taken place. We have imagined the world in a certain way. We have formed a picture of what life is like, what people are worth, and what kind of future is available to us.

Those pictures are powerful. They guide our instincts. They shape the questions we ask. They influence what we notice and what we ignore.

Over time, imagination becomes vision — and vision becomes the world we help create.

This guide begins with a simple conviction: if we want to see communities restored, we must begin by restoring imagination.

Many of the struggles we encounter — and especially in the experience of poverty — are not only material struggles. They are struggles of imagination. People are told stories about who they are and what their future holds: that scarcity is permanent, that dignity must be earned, that belonging is fragile, and that survival is the highest hope available.

The world offers many images that promise satisfaction, but most of them are thin. They are the spiritual equivalent of cheap carbohydrates: they fill us for a moment but do not sustain us. They leave us tired, hungry, and unsure whether anything more nourishing is possible.

But the story of God offers a different imagination.

Scripture consistently portrays a God whose life overflows — whose generosity is not cautious or calculated, but abundant. The psalmist captures this in Psalm 23:

23:1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

This psalm describes a God who provides rest before demanding performance, who restores the soul before sending us on the journey. Even in the valley, God does not withdraw:

23:4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.

The picture reaches its fullest expression at the table:

23:5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.

This is not a God of scarcity. This is a God of effulgent generosity — a God whose love and joy overflow so freely that it becomes something we cannot help but share.

The practice of generous hospitality grows from this vision.

At Everett Gospel Mission, we have learned that the work of restoration rarely begins with a quick effort to fix what appears to be wrong. It’s not what’s wrong. It’s what’s happening. So instead of judgment, we move toward curiosity, and we carry a single question into the room: What’s happening?

This question changes the posture of the heart. It replaces judgment with curiosity. It invites us to look more closely at the stories people carry, the wounds they bear, and the courage that has helped them survive.

Generous hospitality is not simply offering services. It is the slow work of creating a community where people can be seen, where dignity can breathe again, and where imagination can begin to heal.

Over time, we have learned that communities are transformed not only through programs or policies but through the culture of how people are received. When someone enters a space where they are treated with patience and respect, something subtle begins to change. They begin to imagine that another way of living might be possible.

This guide is meant to nurture that imagination.

Each week offers a reflection shaped by Scripture and by one of the ancient practices of attentive seeing. Sometimes we will look at a piece of sacred art. Sometimes we will sit with an image from nature or a photograph of everyday life. Occasionally we will listen to a song that carries the language of prayer.

These practices are sometimes called Visio Divina or Audio Divina — ways of prayerfully seeing and listening that let the heart notice what God may already be revealing. The words and images are not, in themselves, the prayer. They are tools that help uncover a conversation with God already underway within us — the quiet inner assent we feel when something rings true. The goal is not analysis or expertise. It is attentiveness.

As we learn to see more clearly, we begin to recognize the traces of God’s generosity around us. And when that vision grows stronger, something else begins to happen: we find that we have more to give.

Generous hospitality flows from this place. It grows out of a community that believes God’s love is not scarce, that mercy is not limited, and that even in the midst of hardship there is still a table being prepared.

This guide is also an invitation into the EGM Way. At EGM, we try to live this imagination through three commitments:

• People-Forward — seeing the person before the problem.
• Christ-Forward — trusting that Christ is already present in every encounter.
• Systems-Forward — building environments where dignity can flourish.

These commitments are not rules to enforce. They are practices we are learning together — ways of shaping a community where generous hospitality can take root.

If you are joining the EGM team, these reflections are meant to accompany your first months among us. If you are a partner, investor, or volunteer, they offer a window into how we try to embody God’s love in everyday life. Each reflection is simply an invitation to pause, to notice, and to imagine.

Because when imagination is nourished by the generosity of God, something remarkable begins to happen. The stories that once defined us lose their grip. Fear loosens. Hope grows. And communities slowly begin to resemble the hospitality they have received.

The psalm ends with a promise that captures the heart of this journey:

23:6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

This is the vision we are learning to live. And from that vision, generous hospitality flows — as we become, together, Room Makers.

How to Use This Guide

This is a guide to be taken slowly. One reflection a week, read the way you would read a letter meant only for you — unhurried, in a quiet moment, and alone. Fifteen minutes is enough; longer is welcome. There is no need to finish, master, or get it right.

The practice of attentive seeing and listening

Each week draws on an old way of praying called Lectio Devina. In Lectio Divina, we read Scripture slowly and let a word or phrase catch us. In Visio Divina, we do the same with an image — a piece of sacred art, a photograph, a scene from the natural world. In Audio Divina, we listen to a song the way we would listen to a prayer.

These practices rest on a simple idea, one the epigraph to this guide names better than we can: the words, the images, and the songs are not the prayer itself. They are tools that help uncover a conversation with God already underway in us — the sense of recognition that surfaces when something quietly rings true. We are not producing an experience. We are noticing one that is already there.

How to sit with a week

1. ARRIVE. Settle your body. A few slow breaths. Let the hurry fall away.
2. RECEIVE. Read the Scripture slowly. Then look at the image — or listen to the song — without rushing to interpret it. Let it work on you before you work on it.
3. NOTICE. What draws your attention? What stirs, resists, comforts, or convicts? Stay there. That is usually where the prayer is.
4. RESPOND. Pray honestly out of whatever surfaced. Then carry the week’s small practice into your ordinary days.

There is no right outcome. You are not performing or analyzing — you are paying attention, and trusting that God is already at work.

So glad to be a part of the EGM Team.