Yr. C, Wk. 28: The Cross and the Lynching Tree, first part

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Worship and Gathering
We opened, later than usual, with the Collect for Social Justice (#27, p. 823 BCP). The late time allowed some of us to attend Holy Eucharist for St. Joseph.

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Interlude: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Marilyn.

Discussion of the Readings

In place of a gathering question, we met in two breakout rooms to share what we personally bring to James H. Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

When all met together, Cone's discussion of "the Blues" generated a lot of energy. Scott had a new understanding of the word: more than just a sad mood, "blues" refers to the misfortune and humiliation that the white world imposes. Tom remembered a blues incident in college: when he thanked a blues band for their great show at a frat party, one of the musicians said, "You liked it? We just complained about white people for two hours." Joyce always thought her mother's blues recordings were sad, "but now I get it." Pete phrased it well: blues "lifts you beyond" whatever's getting you down. Susan quoted Cornel West, who called blues "tragicomedy." Another great image was from Richard Wright, how singing the blues is like fingering a sore, partly to relieve the pain.

Pete said that most of the reading made him cringe, especially when he thinks, "I was an outsider to all of it." Jessica was struck by the connection between the lynching culture and the Romans' crucifixion: "Crucifixion was addressed to an audience." Nuno picked up on that, the sense that African Americans have lived under constant threat throughout our history. George Floyd is emblematic but only one of a dozen recent examples that displayed that threat to white Americans. Pete admitted that he "cannot 'walk in those shoes,'" but can only imagine from such readings as this.

For Next Week
We continue our reading for next time, April 2. We will start our TR from what emerges from our discussion.

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Yr. C, Wk. 27: Authority, Poetry, and the Voice Inside Your Head

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Worship and Gathering
Since Y1 read Psalms this week, Scott brought worship consisting entirely of verses from Psalms that praised God, confessed sin, taught us a lesson, and pronounced assurance of God's love and forgiveness.

Isn't modern technology wonderful? Marilyn joined us from a car inching through snow somewhere in the West. Tom sent a note that an HOA emergency had erupted, so we thought of him as we prayed. (That helped, he told me later.)

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, Scott asked about what kind of luck we've had recently. There was the lucky discovery of a button on the dishwasher marked DRAIN before the serviceman had been called... lucky discovery of a pool slide that keeps the kids fascinated endlessly... a vaccination that was painful but protective... lucky appearance of a parking space just in time... good news from a doctor.

Image for Song of Songs

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Pete, Tom.

Discussion of the Readings
The first theme to emerge was authority of the texts. Jessica was kind of delighted to discover that Paul probably was not the author of Hebrews. Does that weaken the authority of the letter? She felt the letter stands on its own, so well-written, so well-reasoned. Answer to Jessica's question about Greek influence on Hebrews: the author of Hebrews alludes to Platonic ideals when he refers to the high priest and temple as mere copies or "shadows" of Christ the True High Priest in his True Temple.

Susan reported how Protestants, accepting the authority of Scripture alone, opened themselves up to sectarian conflict. The religious groups that landed in New England and the Middle Colonies splintered into competing colonies over disagreements of interpretation. (Ironic: none of them acknowledged that they interpreted anything; they felt they were just reading the text plainly.)

Nuno shared an apposite insight from Sedgwick: Splintering happens when people tell others what the relationship should be instead of inviting them into it. We express brokenness and expect healing… Sedgwick would subsume arguments over doctrine in the practices of faith, unity in character of prayer, a conversation more than solo contemplation.

Y1 responded to the readings in and about Psalms and the Song of Songs (a.k.a. Song of Solomon). Donfred cited Psalm 23 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… you are with me.” When out in the world, he felt so glad to get home safe. Donfred wondered about Psalm 8, "love is as strong as death." Nuno helped by observing that there's no sense in old Testament times that death could be overcome… so love of God cannot be overcome. Scott wondered what others thought of the fact that God is not mentioned even once in the Song of Songs. Consensus was that God is in the beauty and delight of creation and relationship that the SOS presents so wonderfully.

Theological Reflection
Donfred brought a poem by a personal friend about faith. While we all found lines of interest to us, the discussion really took off when Donfred made the surprising comment that "this poem is like my mother." He focused on the line about what's "unspoken," he explained, because "I felt Mother in my head when I left Haiti." We could all buy in as he explained how her voice still speaks to him, though she passed away over 20 years ago.

While there's comfort in the way Mother's voice carries with us, we did think of ways that the mother's voice could be a sign or even a cause of brokenness, as when the mother is controlling the child's life, not letting the child grow. We immediately saw a parellel to the way God deals with his creation, from Genesis to the present.

Connecting, Joyce spoke of a photo that symbolizes her relationship with her mother and Joyce's assertive sister. When we wondered whether "father" is the same, Nuno told about this weekend when he kept the three children while Mom was away. He had been fun and exciting, but since Mom came home, there’s the peace that wasn’t there with Dad. Donfred spoke about Caribbean culture, mother has to take care of her baby, even when you’re grown up. He said that it's not easy for the mother to let it go.

From all these, positives and negatives, we collected these insights: Even when the mother gives up control, you feel the love.... The good mother makes opportunities for growth... God at creation gave something up when he allowed us to be free.(Diogenes Allen, theologian). Pain is wrapped up both in motherhood and GODHOOD... In general, we must respect boundaries. We cannot think we have the right/wisdom to make their decisions for them. Bad mother is example of bad behavior in all of us.

While we usually work towards a general prayer, we started this time from a prayer/poem. A few stanzas will be our collect.

Lord, at times we come to you, our faith is not as strong.
But in your loving arms we fall; you show us that we belong.

You carry us when we think we can't go any longer.
The love you have can only grow stronger and stronger.

You are my strength, my deliverer, the rock that makes me unbroken.
You lead me to be righteous with things I feel are all unspoken.

For the next few weeks
Meeting time changed to 7:45 Tuesday the 19th to allow participation in a worship service for the Feast of St. Joseph. We will discuss The Cross and the Lynching Tree to the end of chapter two. No TR this week.

No meeting Tuesday the 26th during Holy week.

When we return to routine on April 2, our discussion will become our TR.

April 9 is our first and only chance to see Marilyn in person! If all are willing, we will meet at St. James for worship and discussion of the reading. Then we'll walk to dinner on the Marietta Square. Details will be worked out together during class.

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Yr. C, Wk. 26: From Nehemiah to Neruda

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Worship and Gathering
For worship, Susan brought the text of a song, "Even Here," as in, "Can God's hand reach me, even here?" The question was, "What question would you wish me to ask?" Are you doing Lent meditations? (Yes, three! Also, yes, Forward Day by Day) Are you fasting? (Yes -- until 3pm).Read any good poems lately? (Yes, in Kwame Alexander's collection of contemporary Black poets celebrating joy.) What are you looking forward to? (Glass class, fish tacos.) Are you feeling better? (Yes, thank you.) When is Mommy getting home from her trip? (Implied answer: I can't wait, either.)

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings
Jessica started us off: I still don’t love Paul but he’s growing on me. His pastoral letters are so different from today’s world, BUT – interesting how Powell brings to light the theme of Paul opposing “false teachers” who taught what people wanted to hear, and led special classes on secret knowledge: SCIENTOLOGY SAME THING!

Paul, Ezra, and Nehemiah are all leaders seeking to spread justice, defined by Sedgwick as "the realization of love" at the scale of community. Marilyn: justice is giving up self for others – “covenant needs to move from economy of exchange to one of mutual benefit” Tom – “Binding social capital” – (paying it forward, what goes around comes around, karma) In some European countries its customary to buy two coffees and give one away. Tom saw Nehemiah as a good model for leadership: He saw things as they were. He saw competing interests, enemies, bad things on his own side, and he made decisions, and he led his people with weapons in hand… And he pays artisans… and the singers!

How do you connect Love and Justice? Pete said, HOSPITALITY is the root covenant for both LOVE and Justice. Justice includes law, reconciliation, caring for the poor, sacrifice. Sedgwick defines HOSPITALITY as putting yourself on an equal footing with the other. Nuno – “distributive justice” decide what is good, what should be done, and deciding WHO should decide! Nuno says, a lot of good in theory, but in real world, other problems come up and you need another answer.

Joyce got mixed signals on hospitality with the exiles returning, finding Jews left behind and immigrants, and saying NO WE DON’T WANT YOU – WE ARE THE PURE ONES! Tension between Jewish community and everyone else in the land! Susan – distressed – counter-reformation spreads beyond Europe to the world in “age of exploration” She calls “age of exploitation” – to Americas and Asia. Land grab, carving up the peoples who already live there. Church didn’t have sovereignty over lands, but acted as he did. Colonizing lands, people, exterminating… Bartoleme de las Casas – priest feels bad for indigenous peoples’ forced labor: his solution is tragic -- to bring hardier Africans to the Americas.

Tom won a trip to Albany (NY, not GA) to see the NCAA Women's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight over the Easter Weekend.

Theological Reflection
After Nuno read an evocative love poem by Pablo Neruda, both in English and in Spanish, we focused on such closeness that the poet confuses the lover's hand on his chest with his own. We realized that this intimacy could also be parent-child. We also explored the idea that it could be Creator - Creation. (Funny, we didn't think of the Virgin Mary with infant Jesus).

We offered this collection of prayers or promises inspired by the poem, our discussion, and the memories that both had stirred up:

I pray to continue love God the way he loves me
We pray to bring our hearts and minds to the knowledge and love of God so that in turn we may draw those who cross our path to the knowledge and love of God through the Good News
I pray for guidance and candid introspection for myself, and for the health and wellbeing for my loved ones.
I thank You for the gift of writing, as I feel You most intensely when I struggle to describe You.
I pray for a world where less is more...that maybe in the silence, love can be shared and experienced in a real way...where we will see ourselves and others as children of God...loveable and beautiful...no boundaries.
What I cannot speak of, remain silent. Language has its limits.
I pray to be that love that never leaves in my children’s lives, even when I’m not there.
I promise to trust Him. Not to attepmt to try and figures things out on my own, but to wait for His guidance to what is His best.
I pray for a closer connection with You, Your love, and Your will for me.

For Next Week
Scott does worship; Donfred brings the TR.

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Yr. C, Wk. 25: From 2D to 4D

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Worship and Gathering
Pete's worship was a collection of opening prayers. He started with Howard Thurman's plea to God to "open unto me" in several ways. Pete's gathering question was, "How do you set aside time for prayer and reflection?" We agreed that it has to be intentional. Scott and Pete agreed on Forward Day by Day. Nuno opened up another angle when he said that his children give him reminders to pray all day long, and watching them play can be his quiet time of reflection and gratitude. They give "little tugs" to do spiritual reading, too. "It all feeds me."

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Joyce, Donfred. Technical issues kept Tom out around 40 minutes.

Discussion of the Readings
The intertwining of faith with politics is an old story. Susan saw it in the counter-reformation as the Hapsburgs built power on taking sides in religious conflict. Pete observed that Hapsburgs and other royal houses going back millennia have derived their authority from God or gods. For Jessica, there’s a parallel between the RC response to Lutheranism and Paul’s sensitivity to Thessalonians' fear, stoked by teachers, that the Second Coming had already happened.

Love came up a lot, too. Paul loved the Thessalonians so much that he set up a shop to live among them awhile – and his fondness shows in his writing. (Jessica thought 2nd Thess was like Paul's "cover" of his love song in 1st.) Marilyn’s takeaways from Sedgwick’s chapter on Incarnate Love turned out to influence our conclusions to the TR she brought: Looking out towards the other – neighbors, giving – mutual recognition – to be seen and valued as the other in best possible way – mutuality – “embrace” --

Nuno – responding to Marilyn, brought out some more from Sedgwick: the world sees love as a means to status, or property, or self-fulfillment. But it's looking out for the other person’s benefit. Nuno related this to the Counter-reformation: What are the real motives of the Church – power, self-legitimacy, or this other kind of love?

Scott asked all 4 years to say what they think of "prophecy" now that they've had EfM? Are prophets like fortune-tellers? Preachers? Political cartoonists? We had a range of answers that agreed on some points:

• Speaking what God wants you to speak – Tom – rarely about seeing the future.
• Pete – other traditions see speaking in tongues and snake-handling as a kind of prophecy
• Jessica – prophet is a messenger. Tom, agrees. Jeremiah for example: “I put my words in your mouth.”
• Susan – old testament sense of prophets is that they give messages that people don’t want to hear.
• Pete – "prophet" is an antiquated term for what Martin Luther King Jr was… We call them leaders, or activists. I have a dream sounds like old-fashioned prophecy. (King's mentor Howard Thurman, with whom Pete began tonight's worship, is described in Scott's personal blog as a prophet. See Howard Thurman: Real Prophecy.)
• Scott grateful for an insight from Yee's book, which scours the Bible for lives of those whom the male authors despised, took for granted, or did not see. Prophets, among them Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Joel, privileged as educated men, lost everything in the exile. Beaten down, despised, disconnected from the sources of their identities, they introduced a broader perspective – Empathy – to the set of writings that became Scripture. Though their metaphors and parables can be dismissive or violent towards women, there is an aesthetic way to read the prophets for the effects they intended. (Empathy, too, came up in the TR)

Nuno didn't choose the secret square, but everyone felt that his insight deserved to win. So he's getting a professional ballet troupe to visit his home and give a private show for his family and friends. Congratulations!

Theological Reflection
We imaginatively "enter the world" of an image or metaphor every time, but this is the first time that the world we entered was this one that we live in, a world where human beings can look at an image and be sucked into it, the barriers of space and years dissolving away. From 2D to 4D: How wonderful is that?

Marilyn started with the image above, a photo long displayed in her aunt's home. Like "Mary Poppins," Marilyn as a child would "jump into" that picture and explore the place imaginatively. Marilyn paired that with a photo of very young sisters, her mother Mary being one, her aunt the other -- both now gone. We could all buy in to the notion of photographs that take us back to another time. Marilyn was also thinking of all the life and some suffering ahead of those little girls smiling in the photo.

We examined our 2D→4D idea with theological categories:

• Creation: In this world, the one we live in, we can go through into 2d image and experience 4d reality. We are created with imagination, and that’s powerful. WE are also participating in the experience, not just receptors (docile).
• Sin or brokenness: Trying to find answers where there may not be answers, getting too far into that other world or that side of yourself, or trying to use the other side for a purpose it wasn’t intended – ex. Abusing an image that was intended for joy to be used as an idol or a magical object – making it transactional. ALSO: Loss of imagination! Denial of imagination!
• Restore wholeness: Christ culture v world culture – restores wholeness – but very different from world culture… not transactional… Jesus called the disciples to throw down their allegiances to themselves, prioritizing the other… LOVE DANGEROUSLY --

We connected this experience/idea to our tradition and culture. In Orthodox Christianity, icons bring you to places you’ve NOT been before, deeper truths, inspiration; lift us out of ourselves; help us to access ourselves (truer, deeper); and expand our perspective. Such effects aren't limited to visual images: poetry and stories and the parables of Jesus all do these things. NOT movies or TV, Tom said: Power lost when the makers over-determine what we see with their CGI effects.

Insights: A picture can move us away from our own selves to have empathy for the ones in the picture. Imagination to see more deeply into others – deeper than “before you judge a man, walk a mile in their shoes." Marilyn said this isn't about the picture, but the "stretch" in us as we are drawn into it. Biblical flat earthers have a 2D perspective on a 4D world! 2D faith looks at the world without seeing other dimensions, others’ points of view, other nuances… Great humility comes from knowing that we cannot see all the dimensions.

Pete stepped up to work on the collect:

For understanding of art, life and all of the treasures we can unveil
O heavenly and omniscient Father, who aids us in the understanding of life, art, and human nature: We beseech thee to guide and help us to use our humility, our experience, and most importantly, our imagination so that we may be brought to places that we have not been before. We seek to do this in such a manner as to find deeper truths and inspiration for living in an appropriate way to honor you and your selfless Son, Jesus. We pray this in your name O Father, reigning with our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

For Next Week
Susan leads worship; Nuno brings a source for another TR.

Extra: Inspired by Marilyn, we have some baby pictures.

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