Yr. D, Wk. 19: Learning to Welcome the Other

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Worship and Gathering
For January 27, a day in honor of St. John Chrysostom, Scott brought a little history of the Bishop of Constantinople who was exiled for preaching against the luxury and callousness of the powerful in his congregation, and we recited his famous prayer. January 27 is also international Holocaust Remembrance Day, and we concluded with a prayer produced cooperatively by Jews and the Church of England.

The gathering question came from the examen of Loyola, a form of evening worship: "When you review this day or this week, what do you recall with gratitude?" The rector eased our worries about the future rector... the courage and love of a mother at the celebration of life for her late son... a work schedule reformed to allow more quality time with the children... the synergy of art teacher and students... and a beautiful sunrise that called to mind When morning gilds the skies / My heart within me cries / May Jesus Christ be praised. (Lanie's photo, below)

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Donfred, Joyce.

Discussion of the Readings
Year One read in Yee's book an essay about the Deuteronomical History (DH), and we addressed a question from the RRG, "How do you respond to the violence towards women in these books?" Lanie observed that violence to men was also a part of the historical record. Daniel agreed that these stories are both "historical" and "rhetorical," using foreign women to "other" the gentiles. The DH was assembled during the ancient Babylonian captivity using texts even more ancient to keep the Jewish identity alive. As we shall see in Year One, these books are in dialogue with prophetic books that open God's plan up to the Gentiles.

That makes a neat segue to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Susan's takeaway from Powell was that Paul is complex. Any hard and fast statement about him and his teachings must deal with these facts: He wrote over 30 years' time, during which his thinking evolved with experience; the authorship of some letters circulated under his name is dubious; he was writing to appeal to different audiences, so he uses different metaphors to explain what faith in Jesus means. Powell provides a list of ten different metaphors from Romans alone. More recent scholarship about Paul sees him not as for faith over works per se, but as against ethnic Jewish privilege over others who didn't practice the works demanded by Jewish law.

Susan offered an interesting perspective from Messianic Jews who were among the students she taught at KSU.

Susan also relayed an affirmation from a professor of classical studies: Paul was definitely a Roman citizen. Romans were very picky about that, and Paul's escorted journey to Rome can be explained only if he had the proper ID.

Jessica was fascinated by the fact that icons and images, forbidden as foreign idols in the early church, became central to worship in the years around 1000 CE.

Theological Reflection
Because we were missing two, and Jessica had to rest early, we put off the TR another week.

We prayed for Joyce, Donfred, and Jessica, too.

For Monday:
Daniel will miss next week, so it's Scott's turn again to bring a TR; Jessica will do worship.

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Yr. D, Wk. 18: Kings, Paul's letters, and Surrendering to the Light

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Worship and Gathering
Lanie integrated her own photos spanning sunset to midnight (mostly on the Mediterranean late last year) with prayers for the close of day.

Her gathering question was about three items on our "bucket lists." Susan's was mundane, yet daunting: cleaning house. Scott's was to finish works left undone: an opera called City on a Hill, a choral concerto based on the Nicene Creed, and a series of murder mysteries for the H.O.A. to solve. Others wanted to travel: Joyce and Lanie want to cruise Alaska, Donfred wants to tour central Africa, Jess wants to travel to Ireland, New Zealand, and Italy. We began to plan an EfM field trip. If Lanie's in charge, it will include a drive to Montana and a tour of Scotland. Jessica had one other item: to establish a pet rescue center.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Sustaining Spirituality : 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Daniel.

Discussion of the Readings
Reading the overview of Paul’s letters, our Y2 readers were interested in the technology of letter-writing back in the day. Donfred told how rough drafts were made on clay that could be smoothed over and re-written; Joyce told how ink was a mixture of dark powders (charcoal, soot) with natural gums such as sap from trees, so it stuck. Susan told how it was expected that disciples of a teacher would sign his name to writings of their own, not to fool anyone, but in a good faith effort to represent what the teacher would write.

Joyce relayed what Lanie had told her in a breakout session: that 1 and 2 Kings were full of parallel stories; that prophets were organized in schools that served largely as cheerleaders for kings, and how the lone prophets who talked back to the kings stand out: Elijah, Elisha, and Micaiah. Lanie observed that the temple seemed to be a place for sacrifice but not what we would think of as church. She’s right, and that’s why Collins (and Rabbi Heschel whom we’ll read one day) say that it was the DESTRUCTION of the temple at the end of 2 Kings that transformed Judaism from a local nationalistic ritual to a world-wide faith that inhabits a temple “of the imagination.” The scriptures that Y1 is reading were put together during that time after the destruction of the temple – their aim being to preserve the stories on which the faith is built.

After Jessica's disappointment in the church intrigues and crimes of the 12th century last week, she was delighted to read about the light of faith shining forth among saints in holy communities during the same time. Theological debates of today started then. St. Francis was described amusingly as a playboy son of millionaire who lived Jessica’s secret dream to start a pet rescue.

A common statement that Powell quoted provoked some thought: Christianity is the creation of Paul, not Jesus. Joyce and Lanie said that can't be right, because Paul was "an ambassador" for Christ, speaking of Christ always. That's true. It's also true that Paul in his letters shaped the beliefs and practices of churches that he planted, and churches for all time. Beyond collecting twelve apostles to go out into the world, Jesus himself was not involved in organizing people or their beliefs. People who did not share the beliefs of his Jewish disciples but who had faith in him got cured and praise. So Powell, by quoting the common idea about Paul, is not denigrating Jesus, only saying something like "apples and oranges," one embodied the faith, the other organized believers to embody the faith.

With comments on something Jessica said, Donfred found the secret square. He wins 7 volt battery-powered heated socks.

Theological Reflection

After break, we took some time to examine the examen outlined on page 117 of the RRG -- a practice that, in keeping with this unit's theme, can "sustain spirituality."

Scott brought a painting, Conversion on the way to Damascus, imagining the incident that marked Saul the Jewish Pharisee's change to Paul the Christian missionary to the Gentiles, by 17th century artist Caravaggio. Subbing for Daniel at the last moment, Scott chose this because of its tie-in to our year's overarching theme of "the journey."

We found our focus in the open arms of Saul/Paul on his back, welcoming surrender.

Considering some of the theological perspectives, we saw this picture as the Judgment, an "ah-ha" moment in Saul's life when Jesus asked, "Why do you persecute me?" Sin in this world would be Saul's denying the vision, crawling away and pretending it never happened, holding on to his reputation as a respected persecutor of Christians.

Looking at the action source, we wondered whether any of us have also "welcomed surrender?" Jessica spoke about being in contentious sessions with Vestry: "Once the group has made its decision, there's relief to say, I've given it to God." Lanie concurred, with reference to the Search Committee. Susan could relate to surrender in her decision to retire.

Joyce brought up an analog from the culture source, When Harry Met Sally. Digressions followed, relating to diners and "I'll have what she's having."

For Insights, we agreed that the painting of a young man, armored in colorful and shiny garb, eyes closed, arms welcoming, body vulnerable to the horse's hooves, we agreed that the painting "humanizes" Paul, making him young, cocky, and humiliated. Jessica sees that, when you fight for one position over another, you have to trust in the result. We could identify with this question: "You have my attention. What do I do now?" Scott, looking at the sword and helmet discarded on the ground in Caravaggio's painting, wondered, "What are my helmet, sword, and armor that keep me from surrendering to God's will?" All agreed, the need to control is the shield.

Susan countered that surrender is not always the appropriate response.

In chat, Scott asked us about thoughts and prayers regarding "welcoming surrender."

• For the members of our church to lean into the call of being the hands and feet of Christ. Getting more people to be more active – not standard 20% of people doing 80% of the work.
• A part of surrendering is learning to be content and trusting where we are, knowing that even in those times the Lord is moving on our behalf.
• prayers for peace
• Lord, i'm hearing messages that I don't like about things I need to give up for my health -- help me to relax my grip on my sword and shield

Joyce volunteered to collect all these threads into one prayer:

Collect for SurrenderYes, Lord! We all have had or will have a Damascus moment in our life. My prayer for us all is that we will be like Paul, putting up our hands in total surrender to You. Giving You all our cares (1 Peter 5:7) and taking up our cross (Luke 9:23) to follow You in perfect peace and contentment wherever we are in life. In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!!

For Monday:
We do the readings in the RRG for week 19. We try the examen on p. 117. Scott will bring worship; Daniel will bring the TR.

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Yr. D, Wk. 17: Saints and Sinners Defying Gravity

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Worship and Gathering
Daniel put together a worship service with prayers well-matched to what we read and who we are, with a prayer from the Y1 readings in Samuel, a prayer for leisure for the retired professor, and an excerpt from Psalms. He concluded with an Epiphany blessing.

For a gathering question, he asked about something we did Friday morning that we don't usually do. (Heavy snowfall began around 6am Friday in Marietta.) We variously flipped off the alarm, slept late, recuperated in bed from a medical procedure, and walked in the snowy tracks of some neighborhood Big Foot whose strides were 20-to-30 inches wider than Scott's.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Donfred missed the first 45 minutes.

Discussion of the Readings
An overall theme emerged after Jessica expressed outrage over the venality and hypocrisy of leaders in the medieval church. Forget the spiritual excuse for clerical celibacy: it was just a way to keep sons from inheriting church lands. The church monetized sin -- and still does, Jessica said, telling of a Catholic friend who paid to be re-admitted to the church after a divorce. Jessica was appalled by the violence and hatred of so-called Christians slaughtering Muslims during the Crusades.

But Jessica acknowledged that beautiful things were happening in the church within that same time frame, including the glorious expressions of faith and light in Gothic architecture, and the life of her church's name sake, St. Teresa.

So the theme that emerged was something about two tracks, one up, one down: yes, there was ego, self-interest, violence and what Lanie politely called "hanky-panky," but also glorious advances in what our unit is about, "developing a sustaining spirituality."

Daniel allowed David and the apostles grace to grow as they go. "David's misdeeds do not separate him from God's love." Listening to Susan talking about the apostles, he thought, "they may be rag-tag" and dense, but they figure it out as they go along, and grow.

Figuring out as you go along is the theme of this year in EfM!

Joyce was especially taken by the story of Roman soldier Cornelius, and how he and Peter, cultural enemies, were drawn together by God.

Lanie won the prize this week, a $99.99 chili kit delivered to her door. She can invite to dinner her skeptical friend who thinks that Episcopalians sacrifice cats.

Theological Reflection
Scott, considering how often The Wizard of Oz pops up in our TRs, brought a song from the musical Wicked, the backstory to the movie. In the song "Defying Gravity," Elphaba the green-skinned witch invites her friend Glinda to join her against the fake wizard. Though Glinda respectfully declines to go against the popular ruler, Elphaba "puts herself out there" to oppose the oppression of animals in Oz.

So here's a totally secular song from a secular show that's a huge Broadway hit and even more successful in movie theatres. How does this song in this show "go" with our tradition and our theology?

We quickly focused on Elphaba's sense of purpose that motivated her risk to show leadership (Donfred's term) in opposition to oppression.

We explored some theological categories, seeing the Creation in this musical as a world of consequences, a world where most people prefer to live within existing boundaries, where change has to be, as Daniel said, "incremental." (We thought of reactions to small changes in liturgy. Scott reminded us that MLK faced opposition from Black pastors who thought that change should be "incremental" -- like the Pharisees, they wanted to separate themselves from the oppressive culture of the Romans -- not on option for Jesus, wrote Thurman.)

We felt that judgment is the moment of recognition that you have to step out, put yourself forward, to oppose sin.

Redemption, if it is to come, will be when others follow you. Whether or not they do, you're involved.

Susan related this to William James, "The Will to Believe." Performing the action makes the belief into truth, James said.

Looking for experiences in the "Action" source, we heard from Joyce about leading others around a Post Office truck blocking the right lane; and we heard her story about a shy employee (Joyce) who met her rude boss's abuse with kindness, and won the boss's apology.

We easily connected this to Scripture. We did not think of the most obvious New Testament story about Satan tempting Jesus to defy gravity from the highest point of the temple. But Donfred thought of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt; we thought of Martin Luther King, Jr., taking a risk to his life every day, confronting injustice while others dithered about "going too far... going too fast." Scott pointed out that Thurman discussed how Jesus did this in his time, as MLK did in our time.

We voiced many insights as we tried to put together a prayer. Joyce was "voluntold" to complete the prayer for us. Here it is:

Dear God our Heavenly Father, You encourage us to go out into the world, to be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless) as doves; To love our neighbors as ourselves; and to know that in You we live, and move, and have our being. So, everyday enable us to grow in our trust, help us to become more and more familiar with Your voice because You can only use us to the degree that we trust and to what our faith expects. Grow us Lord; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
References from Matthew 10:6, Mark 12:30, and Acts 17:28

For Monday:
We do the readings assigned for Week 18. Please do examine the "examen" in the "Response" section on p. 117. Try it at least one evening this week: this is one of the respected practices of our church that helps to "sustain" us in our journeys! Joyce is working on a collect from Wk 17; Daniel will bring us a TR from one of the four source (tradition, action, culture, position). Worship will be provided by Lanie.

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Yr. D, Wk. 16: Spirituality in metaphors of Dust, Tides, and Journey

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Worship and Gathering
We arranged to meet at 7:30. That allowed Daniel, Lanie, and Scott to attend St. James's evening service for the start of Epiphany. Scott and Lanie brought their laptops to Zoom in from the church, but Daniel somehow got home and logged on in time.

Susan brought worship from the Northumbrian community. She asked us about any New Year's resolutions. We were unanimous: none.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Jessica, Donfred.

Discussion of the Readings
We all read an essay built on some excerpts from Beloved Dust: Tides of the Spirit in Christian Life by retired Rev. Dr. Robert Davis Hughes III, co-founder of EfM, whose final classes as EfM mentor trainees included Susan and Scott.

Daniel remarked on the first part of the essay. The author draws on modern physics, sociology, and psychology to show how our understanding of the universe, our world, and ourselves has outgrown the simpler up-and-down heaven-and-hell cosmology that we see in the Bible. While Daniel acknowledges the differences in understanding, he was struck by continuity between old ways and new ways. Susan added that the short synopses of ancient thought didn't do justice to the variety of ancient cosmologies, and the short synopses of Hughes probably didn't do justice to his work, either.

Scott appreciated the tides metaphor because it helps to envision how we can experience both advance and what Hughes calls "slack" at the same time. Lanie had utilized that metaphor memorably in a chapter of her spiritual autobiography.

While Lanie and Joyce both told us that the reading was difficult, each brought out something that interested them. For Lanie, it was her surprise to learn that the word for the Holy Spirit is feminine, which could support a gender-fluid view of God in the Trinity. Or not: gendered nouns aren't all that significant, as, for instance, everyone's hands in French are masculine, while everyone's heads are feminine.

Joyce saw a connection between "centering prayer," which she practices, and the Jesus prayer listed with habits that can help us to sustain spirituality. These will be covered at the ends of RRG chapters during this unit, where the RRG asks us all to "respond."

Theological Reflection
None this week.

For Monday:
Daniel leads worship. Scott will bring a source for a TR. We're all reading what's assigned to our years in the RRG for wk. 17. Notes in the RRG about Samuel and about Acts are particularly helpful this week, and so are the readings by Collins and Powell. It looks like Jessica will have fun discovering that certain traditions of Roman Catholics -- Purgatory, marriage, priestly celibacy, and the Pope -- were actually late developments, not bedrock.

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