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Before the meeting, Nuno sent us this:
For Worship tonight I thought we might try something different. Below is a simple song I often sing on repeat to lul my kids to sleep. I invite us to each take a turn reading, singing, praying, or expressing these words as we feel called.
Lord, prepare me
To be a sanctuary,
Pure and Holy,
Tried and true.
With Thanksgiving,
I'll be a living
Sanctuary
For you.
Nuno then asked where we find sanctuary outside of church? Outside on the bike trail, the playing field, the wilderness, the back porch (with screens "so I don't have to crush God's little creatures," Susan said), but also inside the home, with some preference for the basement, and anywhere near water.
Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 1 Spiritual Autobiography and Listening: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.
Marilyn led with an observation about the importance between past and present. It's not only the contents of ancient texts, but the ways later communities fit them together, and the ways later communities used/interpreted/fought over those texts. Readings in different years highlighted the choices that translators through the millennia have had to make.
First year may be overwhelming at first, Jessica said, but she remembered how she gained perspective when our friend Kathy said, “My 8-year-old heart broke when I learned that Jesus didn’t invent the golden rule.” The theories about sources were already familiar to some of us from college, though there was some interest in what's been updated since the 70s -- including a critical look at scripture from the perspectives of marginalized people (as in the other text edited by Yee) and cultures that have been colonized. Tom remarked on the new theory that Abraham's story has new meaning if we allow that it might have been written/edited after the Babylonian exile instead of centuries before.
Pete led another thread of conversation as he reflected on this, his fourth year (fourth-and-a-half, actually) in EfM. “It’s finally coming together for me." He recommended the essay in the RRG on being theologically literate (pp. 182-190). That literacy makes a solid background / springboard for theology – something we take with us the rest of our lives. “We’ve got to stay with the times without losing tradition.” Nuno joined in: we 'DO theology,' it's not just a briefcase of information. Literacy gives a sense of belonging, security in yourself and in your beliefs: “I’m amazed how much I’ve learned and how natural the cumulative process has become.”
Given 3-5 minutes each, we shared our stories of desires for relationship with God -- desires we have, or have had. I hope that we all practiced good listening habits that we identified last week: some note-making, eye contact, attention to places where the emotion or energy increased. We certainly had a wide emotional range in our stories. Because these stories are confidential, that's all I'm writing about them here now.
Marilyn will lead worship and bring a gathering question. We're all doing the readings assigned for our years in the RRG, week four. The RRG gives each year some things to focus on, so do take the moment to read what the RRG says. I've asked that we all "respond" to the questions for all years on page 40 regarding movies and books. There's a good reason to do this at this point in the year!
I like the last paragraph on p 40, too: "Listen to the stories around you during the week.... What concerns are expressed? What hopes do you hear? How do you discern truth in what you hear?"
