Yr. A, Wk. 28: "The Dream of God" by Verna J. Dozier, Part One

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erika, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: None

This was a "brown bag" dinner night. Scharme led us in a reading of Compline and posed the question, "What is your spirit animal?"  We turned out to be a menagerie: Bengal tiger, turtle, orb spider, 17-year-cicada, fox, and dog.   

We responded to Verna Dozier's Dream of God. Many of us were taken by the ideas of God's vulnerability in loving us and leaving us free not to love Him.  The author does us all a favor by making a sort of Cliff's Notes for the Bible, and we found her matter-of-fact interpolations to famous stories to be enlightening, such as the detail that Moses must have heard stories of His people from his Mother.  Gene wished he had read this book before launching study of the Old Testament, although he wondered if he'd have understood this book so well before he'd already done the Old Testament?

Mariel observed that the "three falls" correspond to ages of human development: toddlers' rebelling against parents' "no," adolescents clamoring to be like everyone else, and finally, the adult surrendering freedom to a world of institutions.

Tom defended the institution of the church from attacks on "institutionalism" by the author.  Lynne suggested that rise of institution was also a loss of community.  Others saw that, at each step towards institutionalism, we Christians abdicated some freedom.  Scott asked about the author's saying that the opposite of faith is fear; that love is justice in action.

Susan related all this to "St. Patrick's Breastplate," and conversation fell apart in joking about how she hates the difficulty in singing that hymn.

For the TR, Lynn brought the image "Woman Who Broke the Alabaster Box" by artist Kim Young Gil.

Our initial responses fixed on the form as often as on the content of the picture.  In the end, we identified the flow of energy from bent head of lily to bent head of Jesus to bent body of the woman, and back -- three figures each focused on another -- a circuit of caring.

We drafted a collect for the thoughts and feelings conjured by the image.

Collect for our Church Family

Creator, Redeember, and Sustainer, Your love flows eternally through the persons of the Tinity: may we members of the church bend with humility and attentiveness to each other, valuing differences, that we may generate love in the flow through worship, mutual care, and service.  Amen.  

Next meeting will follow Holy Week, Tue. April 3

• Reading:  Finish Dozier; read "Vocation" (RRG pp. 153, ff.) .  
  


• Food:  Susan.


• TR:  Mariel


• Worship:  Scott.

Yr. A, Wk. 27: Psalms, Hebrews, Protestant "Awakenings," and The Call of God

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erica, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: Scott arrived mid-way through the TR.

Opening worship and "check in" question:  Mariel brought a service from the New Zealand  prayer book. 

Susan took notes on the discussion of readings.  Our discussion of the TR made many references back to that discussion.  She underlined a quotation from Psalm 118 about our calling God, and His placing us in a "broad space."

Gene brought an anecdote from his life for the TR.  After a lot of buy-in from others, we arrived at a universal metaphor for what we think and feel at such a time:  The Call in the Middle of the Night.  Creation was sleep: peaceful, restorative.  Sin was the call, and the many reasons for not answering.  Judgement is the perseverance of the caller on the other end, making us recognize that it isn't an accident or a robo-call.  Redemption is being called out to act within the community -- family, friends, neighborhood.  We found many traditional connections, especially Samuel hearing the call in the night from God, but also the Good Samaritan.

Collect for the Call

God Who roused Samuel from sleep to service: when we get the call in the night or see the stranger in need, let it take us out of selfishness and into the broad space of community.. Amen.

Next Week:  

• Reading: Week 28 -- in the book by Dozier, pp. 1-64   .  
  
• Food:  .Brown Bag.
• TR:  Lynne.
• Worship:  .Scharme

Yr. A, Wk. 26: A Dilemma

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erica, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: None. Scott came at the break.

Opening worship and "check in" question:   Erica brought a prayer / poem relating to a topic in her reading, slavery.  

Discussion of the reading (from notes by Susan): Erica struggled with I Timothy  - slavery, silent women, etc.  Lots of social convention, disharmony about authorship of letters.  Contrast with the number of women in Luke and Acts.  Difficiculty when people take literally, hard to see Scripture used to oppress others.

Mariel, commenting on Chronicles, quoted Gabriel Garcia-Marques, "the heart's memory highlights good, forgets the bad." So we have a very selective history, in which Levites are great.  Was it written by a Levite?  Why do the "high places," supposedly "destroyed," pop up again and again?  Mariel's theory is that they never went away; they just put on a show for each new king.  

Tom thought Collins' book helped make sense of Chronicles.  Gene agreed, that it's more about the Jerusalem cult, rather than the people, as writer inflates numbers (60 to 600).  

Bill talked the role of the rabbi.  

General discussion of difficulty of reading scripture.  

Year Four: Poverty, contingency of existence then, is proper context for Jesus's preaching of care fore the poor.  Not like a contract as in old testament; act because you love your neighbor.  Micah 6.8

"What is good;  what is to be done; who decides?"  

Year Three: Scharme said that the Spanish did not love their neighbors, did a lot of taking.  African slavery answered the problem of sickly Native Americans.  Chronicler's geneology has same function as Spanish geneology to throw out Jews, show purity.

TR: Bill brought us the story of a dilemma he experienced in high school.  Mariel wrote the collect:

Collect

O God, Eternal Source of justice and mercy,strengthen our resolve to see beyond our present circumstances, desires and fears, that we might choose action over abstraction, and become holy instruments of Your righteousness and peace, fulfilling Your will and establishing Your kingdom on earth. Amen.

Next Week:  

• Reading:   Week 27 - Psalms and Song of Songs; Hebrews; Protestant Awakenings; Sedgwick 5 & 6.  
  
• Food:  Tom.
• TR:  Gene.
• Worship: Mariel .