Yr. D, Wk. 34+35: Revelations through a glass darkly

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Worship and Gathering
Susan led us in worship from the Nurthumbrian community. Then we shared our plans for the summer. Daniel has three weddings to attend, none of them his, plus a mission trip to Mexico. Scott's riding his bike virtually to India, now virtually in the middle of the Indian Ocean with 800 miles to ride on the local Silver Comet Trail to reach his goal. Donfred (whose son just graduated and will be heading to KSU for education and history) lit up at a reference to NYC. "I always do," he smiled. He's going to see family in Maryland. Lanie goes to England, Wales, and Ireland with the GSO chorus. Joyce is getting a new car!

Appropos of Scott, Daniel related his Silver Comet Trail story. It involving his brother, a hike, a very large beer, and an elder from their strait-laced church riding a bicycle.

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

Discussion of the Readings
We had a lot to say!

Daniel re-read the final chapter of Collins, along with all the peeved notes he wrote in the margins at the start of EfM. "My biggest take-away" he said, "is that I'm okay with a fish story, even if I now know the facts aren't straight." Lanie said, "What he said."

Scott distinguished the meanings of "factual" and "true."

Joyce enjoyed Powell's summary of Revelation more than she has ever enjoyed Revelation in all its confusing imagery. Powell highlights all the color and noise in Revelation that we rarely get in other scriptures. Susan quoted Powell's analogy -- Revelation is a kaleidoscope of repeated images rather than a linear story. "God has the last word." Donfred's takeaway is the vision of "a new heaven and a new earth." Daniel added the line about "the place of God is with us," as emphasized so memorably in the Vision Quest book. Lanie and Scott both had trouble when they've had to recite or sing the lines, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes," because it makes them tear up.

Scott compared the strange and inconsistent imagery of Revelation to political cartoons. If the opposing party is pictured as a dragon eating up the people, that's not meant to be taken literally. "A good story!" Daniel added. Scott concluded that our use of figurative language and metaphors during TRs is similar, a way to explore the truth through imagination and to intensify an abstract thought. Lanie was reminded how "we see through a glass darkly," but will eventually see clearly "face to face."

Theological Reflection
Jessica, on the road following Memorial Day visits to family, sent us two Rembrandt paintings of the same story, what happened at the inn in Emmaus. We gradually narrowed the focus to the Jesus in silhouette, and, more, on his body language. We detected a bit of aloofness, plus a bit of amusement at the cluelessness of his companion.

We explored that aspect of the image with theological perspective questions about creation, sin, redemption.

• The world is chaotic – that’s what’s so HUMAN! We exasperate each other … we’ve all been on this side of the picture, but we’ve also been the person in the chair…. We’re all in the dark on some things. We all have incomplete picture Multiple points of view --
• Sin : When the other person stubbornly remains “in the dark” When someone doesn’t get outside of their point of view. Sometimes we’re so deep into what we’re doing that we can’t see past it… For whatever reason, the travelers have been prevented from seeing.
• Redemption: Family / Jesus / friend accept you – with amusement, with eyes rolling, and they are ready to break bread with us…. Simply sharing an experience helps them to see each other's perspective…

We connected these ideas to tradition and culture. A kind of blindness to the obvious: Pharaoh hardened heart; or antithesis of that with SAUL / PAUL eyes opened… Jesus mud cures blindness… “Their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked” (Adam and Eve). Sherlock Holmes: “You see, Watson, but you do not observe!”

Insights

• There are ways that we keep ourselves from seeing.
• Let’s notice that Sherlock Holmes never abandons Watson… and Jesus doesn’t abandon his fellow travelers… When we’re in the know, we must not forget to bring the others along! Imagine political discourse if our leaders knew this… acted like this!
• Jesus also does not let them see his eye rolling…. He’s more gracious than we would be!
• This reminds us of the last supper, and also the unity as we share together as one… Even though we’re all in the dark on some things. We all have incomplete picture Multiple points of view --
• Donfred and Scott: this is the way our world is now: “When are you guys going to get it??” We see through a glass darkly… (Lanie got this before the TR!!!)

We meet next Tuesday 6:30p at St. James, 161 Church Street, Marietta GA 30060. Scott will prepare worship, and then we'll walk to dinner at a nearby restaurant.

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Pray Like Wolves

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When we do a Theological Reflection (TR), we're doing what any good preacher would do when preparing a sermon. Whatever the starting point, we're going to be relating scripture to experience, to our culture, and to the teachings we've grown up with. As we put these all in dialogue with each other, we're looking for insights and practices.

When Jessica shared an experience with us(see blogpost), I thought it would be easy to illustrate how a TR is like a good sermon. Then I struggled to find a form for my "sermon." I hope I found the right order and mix.

Right now, in time zones around the world, there are Episcopalians with prayer books open to morning prayer, or services for noonday and evening. They're in church, or they may be in small groups, or they may be at home alone, perhaps with a dog at their feet.

Some Christian traditions don't value prayers from a book. They believe prayer should be spontaneous.

But I'm comforted, even awed, by the thought that fellow Episcopalians in all their circumstances, pray the same words, silently or aloud. At communion, I sometimes think how my kneeling, my holding up of my hands, and my sipping the wine, join me to churches across the country, across the sea, and even across centuries.

Can prayer be spontaneous and come from within? We know that it can. Can such prayers meander and become a kind of personal performance? We know that it can. Our church give us carefully prepared prayers with room for spontaneity.

For me, our ritual prayers call to mind, not a flock of sheep and a shepherd (root meanings of congregation and episcopal), but wolves.

In the Bible, wolves are vicious and fearsome, except for that wolf in Isaiah that lies down with the lamb. Jesus warns his disciples that they go into the world as sheep among wolves, and he says to beware false prophets who are "wolves in sheep's clothing."

Our culture has a different outlook on wolves. Because we hunted wolves almost to extinction, they have official protection. Except where they prey on domesticated animals, wolves have our sympathy, too. They've become symbols of strength, self-reliance, and pack solidarity. We've made wolves into team mascots and namesakes for super-heroes.

Wolves' baying at night may sound mournful to us, but no study has conclusive answers to why they do it. The wolves may be expressing belonging or psyching themselves up for the hunt. Maybe they're expressing hunger. Whatever they express, they're like my little terrier mix when she barks with the neighbor's Pomeranian at twilight, having a great time.

Another remarkable feature is that wolves match each other's pitch and rhythm, whether they're with the pack or far away, alone. Regardless, they're on the same page.

The nightly ritual of the wolves came to mind during a theological reflection in my Education for Ministry seminar (EfM). A beloved member of a close-knit summer camp cohort had committed suicide during the past year. The young woman relating the story told us that the old friends gathered in silence, finding no words for their feelings. It just felt right, she said, to hike to the camp's waterfall, as they had done many times before. Arriving at the place, they still said nothing. Then, spontaneously, they re-enacted a ritual familiar to Episcopalians from Holy Week: They washed each other's feet.

Like the wolves, they were each in their own place, inside their own thoughts and feelings, and yet together in this ritual.

The young woman, looking back, says there was mournfulness in this, and loss, but also a shared knowledge that they were serving each other in a way that goes back 2000 years. This shared action, though wordless, was instructive, and transformative.

Church should be more than a place to learn lessons, a place to meet like-minded people, or even a place to ensure our own salvation. Whatever the wolves are doing, raising their voices as one from their distant places, we also are doing as we kneel, hold hands up in supplication, confess together, and pray together on the same page.

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Yr. D, Wk. 33: Daniel, John, and Protestant Prophets

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Worship and Gathering
Jessica brought prayers selected from the Evening Prayer service. Her gathering question was a different sort than we're used to, a speculation: If the apostle Paul were alive today, would he use social media?" We had a range of answers showing different sides to his personality. We do know him, almost as a friend or colleague.

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

Discussion of the Readings
Joyce was surprised to find the idea that "God is Love" only in the letters attributed to John; we'd thought it permeated the Bible. We do read of God's steadfast love or lovingkindness in Psalms and other places, but John is unique. We had a follow up discussion, "What does that mean?"

Jessica picked up on John's warning against false prophets, as her chapter covered many men in America who set themselves up as prophets and created offshoots of protestant denominations, including the 7th Day Adventists. She also told us how slavery was a dividing line in Protestantism as in politics.

Scott spoke for Y1 about the split nature of the book of Daniel: half consists of stories set centuries before they were written about young men living in the Babylonian exile. The other half is an early example of the genre called apocrypha. Amusing that the number of days remaining to earth keeps being revised throughout those chapters, as each deadline passed. This is also what happened to Seventh Day Adventists when Joseph Miller's original date for the Second Coming came and went without incident.

Theological Reflection
We had too few people for a TR to be a true group effort.

For Monday:
Skip to the last readings of the year. Y1 read Collins, chapter 29. Y2 read Revelation (portions) and Powell's chapter on Revelation. Y3, skip to "Culture Wars." Susan will lead worship, and Jessica will inspire a TR!

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Yr. D, Wk. 32: "Only a mile and a half more!"

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Worship and Gathering
For worship this time, we used chat to answer four questions about our praises and concerns. Here are the results:

What are our praises and thanksgivings?
Sister’s graduation, upcoming weddings to attend... I give praise and thanksgiving for this wonderful baby growing inside me. I also give thanks for my amazing husband who is currently painting the nursery... The red cardinals, the wrens, the goldfinches and woodpeckers taking turns at my feeder... family, friends, animals-- Nora and Brandy... I praise for my Son who will be graduating next week in high school. I give the glory to God. I praise for the gift of life and the family He provide to me .... My praises and thanksgivings: that I get to live my life with the Lord, healing from gallbladder surgery, probate is closed, and that I have my daughter and family, my church family... Thankful for my Montana children, BFF, Heather; thankful PET scan is over; thankful for friends who care.

What are our prayers for the church - worldwide, and local?
Continued success in Mo Mariclair’s transition into being our new rector... [seconded]... I pray for our local churches that we may be the lights of Christ in our communities who offer a safe haven for those who are seeking a deeper understanding of faith and relationship with God. I pray for the church world wide that we recognize each other as Christians and work to heal brokenness and divisiveness in the world... Thankful for our new priest; for our music ministry; for new Pope... Continuation of Pope Leo's modesty and open-heartedness. [Joyce added: I usually use the prayers in the Book of Common Prayer for the churches listed in the Forward Day by day at the end of the lesson. we pray every Tuesday and Thursday during morning prayer for St. Teresa's.]

What are our prayers for those in authority in the nations and in our local community?
Wisdom, discretion and civility... attention to justice... I pray that the leaders work for justice, freedom, and peace; that they ask for God's guidance and wisdom... Guide us with wisdom and charity to help the homeless to find what they need... Praise God for the great things He has done for us; may He guide us and to paths of righteousness.

What do we pray for our own needs and for those whose lives are closely linked with ours? A joyful end to the school year and safe travels over the next month (3 out of town weddings)... for my sister and brother-in-law... that we all continue to grow in faith, especially when doubt seems to overwhelm us. I pray for all those about to go on summer vacations and that they have restful and relaxing times... My niece's wedding this weekend, a life of love and commitment; continued good health for me and my close friends and family... I pray for wisdom and calm as I manage a transition for Mom from the kind of care she has had for many years to a different kind of nursing home... I pray for God to continue give courage and strength to face all the challenges that will come in font of them... I praise the Lord for everyone that He has allowed me to have a connection with because I am so very grateful. I pray for His will in their lives, peace, joy, hope, and the strength to trust Him with everything and in everything!! He will never leave or forsake us. Praise the Lord!! and right now just about everyday I'm thanking Him for Jessica's special blessing!!

After the prayer, we shared our experiences from Mother's Day. Donfred's mother never let anyone do anything for her, so the holiday was one time they could give back. Joyce loved the quiet. Jessica rejoiced in all the "aunties" at her church who have shared her good news. "It was a wonderful day."

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings
Jessica started us off by tying the week's ascension of Leo XIV to his predecessor Leo XIII. As one decried the excesses and inhumanity in the spread of the industrial revolution, the other is cautioning the world about the A.I. revolution.

Daniel responded to a question in the RRG by relating the stories of Ruth and Esther to the saying, "God will provide." All years jumped on these stories. Joyce takes Ruth for a model of the right way to treat a mother-in-law, a contrast to Joyce's own mother and grandmother. Donfred related the courage of Esther in her confrontation with the king to the courage demanded of Timothy in the New Testament. Lanie had always heard Ruth's saying "Your people will be my people" as a kind of marriage vow, but she understands it more fully now.

We paused to reflect on the massacre at the end of Esther. Daniel sees that horrible things happen, and that the authors of some scriptures such as this, and apocalyptic literature, and many psalms, are endorsing actions that we today would be ashamed of. (Scott called these "revenge fantasies," written to encourage oppressed people in the times of exile and the dominations by Greeks and Romans. From personal experience of imagining revenge during his commute, Scott attests that a revenge fantasy is very effective in boosting one's heart rate and adrenaline; terrible for calm reasoning, and dangerous for driving!)

Some of us were uneasy about Ruth's following Naomi's urging to "lie at the feet of Boaz," a euphemism for offering herself to him. He "covers her" with his cloak. In a time when powerful men had children with many wives and their maids, this action was not a big deal.

Scott wonders: When the Hebrew scriptures attack sexual immorality, isn't that because children out of wedlock muddy a man's "legitimate" lineage? That's why we call it adultery: sex outside of marriage adulterates the pure bloodline.

Theological Reflection
Daniel told us the story of a Boy Scout hike gone wrong. His younger brother misguided the troop of older boys to a "shortcut" that added miles to their journey. "It's only a mile and a half more," he kept saying.

Photo: KERA news

We imagined what the boy must've been thinking: I may be lost...I've screwed up... I can't let them know... There's no way to go back and fix this; we have to keep going. His feelings: I have to prove myself to the older guys...I think I can, I think I can... Lonely... scared, confidence dwindling... mustn't show that I'm scared. [Scott wondered later: What if we'd focused on the older brother's thoughts and feelings? The TR might reveal a whole new set of ideas!]

Theological perspective questions opened up the world of the story to us in new ways. It's a Creation with map, blazes on the trail, friends, and all the stuff you need to thrive. So the Sin is thinking you can short cut the path that has been blazed for you. You wake up to Judgement when you have to admit you've gone five miles beyond the "mile and a half" you promised. What does Redemption look like? "Guys, I'm sorry. Can we work together to figure this out?" [Now Scott wonders, couldn't any Scout have said, "Look, we all agreed to take a shortcut that didn't work, it's no one person's fault, and now we've got to find our way back."]

We found scriptures galore about this situation. Moses is feeling like the young Scout when the people are grumbling. Then he strikes the rock, taking a "short cut" to water. Aaron takes a "short cut" to salvation by fashioning a crowd-pleasing golden idol. Abraham doesn't have an heir, so he turns to his wife's maid Hagar to produce one. Esther is feeling a lot of the insecurities that the boy feels. Peter took the shortcut ("I don't know him at all") but went on to a long faithful world-shaping ministry.

When we put the tradition in dialogue with the culture, something else emerged. Of course, it's in The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy had to experience her long circuitous journey to understand that "home" is more than a place. "No risk, no reward" -- the young Scout is a kind of hero.

Our theme for the year is about "the journey." I wonder what this TR means when we think of our spiritual journeys?

We were getting sleepy, but not before we put together a prayer to collect our thoughts and feelings:

Collect for Misguided WanderersO Good Shepherd who led Israel through the wilderness like a flock: when we like sheep have gone astray, be patient and persistent in calling us back to Your intended destination; and help us to feel empathy with others who are lost beside us and open our hearts to what we learn on our wanderings. Through Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

For Monday:
We do the readings assigned in the RRG for week 33 - the Book of Daniel in the Bible and in Collins, and at least a sampling of Maccabees; the letters of John and essay on them in Powell; "To Make the World Protestant." We won't have a TR this week -- we'll have a couple of absences. Jessica will do the worship, and she has volunteered to do the TR for week 34, the last one! We agreed to meet at St. James for worship followed by dinner on TUESDAY June 3.

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Yr. D, Wk. 31: Wisdom

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Special Announcement
Before we got started, Jessica introduced to us to a new, very small, participant in our group. She held up a sonogram of him, obviously much handled. Due date is November 13, one day after Lanie's birthday.

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

We discussed some of the changes to the curriculum for next year. For one thing, Year 3 will not be reading the heavy tome that Jessica has been reading. Here's a link to a story about the changes from the Episcopal News Service

Discussion of the Readings
We put off worship for later, hoping that Daniel, Donfred, and Joyce would show up during our discussion. Scott observed that all three of our years were reading about wisdom or its synonym, "enlightenment." Scott read thoughts on the Y1 readings that Daniel had emailed: "wisdom is a moving target," and those who think they have it often don't. Daniel enjoy a lot of Proverbs, especially the chapter about Wisdom personified as a female.

Susan opened the discussion of "faith v. works," explaining why Powell believes that James was responding to a mis-reading of Paul. James and Paul use the words "Faith" and "works" to mean different things.

Jessica was struck by the fact that music had not been an important part of worship before the Reformation, and worshipers demanded it in the Enlightenment: who knew?

Worship and Gathering
Lanie's worship took off from the readings, with a moving recital from Ecclesiastes, "There is a time..." She had carefully chosen prayers with the theme of time.

The gathering question was a toughie: if you had to lose three senses, which two would you choose to keep? Our answers were clues to what we prize. "Hearing and sight are how I consume the world," Jessica said. Susan tended to agree, but she would really miss taste. Lanie must have sunsets and music! Scott alone dissented: he'd be okay with sound and touch -- what he needs to interact with his friends and his dog.

Theological Reflection

Our missing friends had not shown up after the break, so we put off the TR for next week.

For Monday:
Scott is up on the Wheel of Worship. We're doing the readings for week 32 as listed in the RRG.

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