Journey with God, Wk. 28-29: Cabbage Patch and Cathedral

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Worship and Gathering
Scott brought a worship liturgy based on poetry by Mary Oliver, who was singled out by the author of week 28's essay, Sister Elizabeth Grace. Link to Scott's Mary Oliver liturgy.

The GQ had to do with "spring cleaning." Everyone had a project to begin -- or avoid! Scrubbing the green off the deck... new plants to replace the dead ones that make the house look like the Addams Family ... boxes of books to cull... getting the house ready to show... the car... weeding... yardwork being done NOW!... Ambivalence about all the old kid stuff that will be lost now that the parents have put the childhood home up for sale...

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Jessica. Happy Anniversary!

Respond
Kaye took the 80-question spiritual inventory quiz. She made it sound not so bad.

When we applied to ourselves Sister Elizabeth Grace's idea of "ministry" as "service," we had some pretty intense stories of serving parents with dementia and cancer. A surprising idea was that the time of cancer was actually "the best time" because it drew Mother and Daughter closer then ever. The daughter told the doctors in no uncertain terms, "My Mother is not your Science Project! Put her in hospice and stop experimenting on her!"

In breakout rooms, we heard each other discuss what we read about ecumenism in the 20th century, "Power" dressed up in flags v. "Justice" in an apron. Former Archbishop Rowan Williams answered the difficult question about prayers "unanswered" as when a child does not get better. Williams said that "God does not make choices," but is in us as we channel God's love to those who need it. The "Prophetic Way" of spirituality exemplified by well-known activists includes their habits of contemplation -- which kept them focused, and energized, when others grew bitter and burnt out.

Cologne Cathedral in progress

Reflect
Scott shared his memory of a catered gala atop the Petroleum Club, all planned and financed with sales of homemade cabbage patch dolls by a trio of 7th grade girls who carried their plan to fruition in the spring of 8th grade. That planning -- selfless, considerate, disciplined, flexible, perseverant -- became the focus of our TR.

Exploring When we imagined a time line from the story, our interest was mostly at the start, when the girls conceived their idea, long before they proved it to be workable. The world of the girls' plan was imaginative, with determination, inclusion. Sin would have been losing interest, not being supported by the adults in charge, or other "outside" obstacles (e.g., another flood in Jackson like the one in 1979).

Connections and Insights included medieval cathedrals (planned without blueprints, no credit taken) and Temple reconstruction... The Devil in the White City about Olmstead's vision for the Chicago World's Fair and his advice, "Make no SMALL plans... aim high, hope, work..." Planning ahead is not just for youth but for elders, too. You have to be resilient -- things will get in the way of the plans. There are Oz connections, naturally: the cohort of travelers aim for the Emerald City, and L. Frank Baum's dad was chief carpenter building the "White City" -- which inspired his son to imagine the "Emerald City" where inhabitants were required to wear green-tinted glasses.

Collect Great Architect of our world, we persistently undermine your plans for a Paradise: when we cooperate, inspire us to make "no little plans" but great ones to "stir the blood," and give us resilience and flexibility when our plans go awry, that we may bring beauty, surprise, and joy to the people around us.

For Monday:
Mason brings worship; Rita brings a source for our TR. We engage with materials at the "Week 30" tab.

PLANNING: We are tentatively scheduled to meet at St. James Episcopal Church, Marietta GA, on Tuesday, May 26th, 6pm. Dinner on Marietta's fashionable Church Street to follow.

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Journey with God, Wks. 26 & 27 combined: Community Gathering

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Worship and Gathering
We began with a GQ to acclimate our guests to the group. Worship was the General Thanksgiving.

We also gave the guests a look at the covenant we created back in September.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Guests: Anne, Laila. Absent: Mason. .

Respond

At Susan's suggestion, Scott gave an overview of Theological Reflections. In breakout rooms, participants shared thoughts about Sue Monk Kidd's memoir God's Joyful Surprise. Coming back together, participants took turns telling what they heard their friends say.

Then participants answered questions about the reading material and how people at different years in their journey can still find common threads to discuss. Susan and Kaye expressed appreciation for EfM's success in mapping out the year to highlight themes across all years.

Reflect
For closing worship, Scott brought back a collect from a TR we did last year.

Looking ahead

• This is week 26 & 27, combined. We won’t meet April 06, Easter Monday.
• When we do meet again April 13, we’ll again combine weeks, 28 & 29. That’ll mean that everyone reads a six page essay for week 28 along with their usual materials for week 29. Scott will bring worship, a question, and kindling for a TR.
• We’ll be on track to finish lesson 35 on the fourth Monday of May!

We have a tentative plan to meet for worship and dinner in the last week of May. Our friends from afar think they might have a good excuse to come out this way, and Lanie offered her home for travelers.

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Journey with God, Wk. 25: Truth, Wonder, and Competition

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Worship and Gathering
Joyce apportioned lines of the General Thanksgiving to give us a very positive worship. Her GQ was about plans for Easter. Singing hours and hours... avoiding the incense... Introducing Liam to the Easter bunny... Holy Week services out of town... spontaneous travel (don't know where or when)... grown up Egg Hunt in the mountains... family get-together. Scott suspects he'll be chained to the church's copier making service bulletins.

We also prayed Michael's collect for last week's TR.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Rita.

Respond
One of the questions that Susan chose was about the promise that "the Truth will set you free." But, how? What does that mean to you, especially in light of your materials this week? Michael said that the harsh truths of Hosea and Amos hurt but ultimately saved God's people. Since Ba'al and Ashterah and such gods as those aren't present in our culture, we might wonder, do those prophets have anything we need to hear? Michael said we make gods out of money and self-promotion.

Kaye said it's not the Truth if we have settled the answers: the sense of wonder must be present. She described a video that EfM offered, showing her the life of a bear, just being a bear -- and the wonder that engendered. Wondering, asking: you never get the final answers. Later, in our TR, we talked about Paul's image of a race -- where you always run towards "the upward call" of Jesus -- the Truth is a moving target, because it grows and deepens as we grow and deepen!

Jessica jumped on those ideas. She and the rest of us spent some time discussing the wonder of impressionist paintings, in which artists tried to capture a present moment (where previous artists tried to represent the sweep of a whole story with an implied judgment). Fun fact from Susan: Did you know that painting in full light outside a studio was made possible by paint tubes?

Susan was disheartened by how easily and completely that Christians and their leaders joined in with the Nazis.

Joyce told us about Swiss theologian Karl Barth who, after philosopher Kierkegaard, said there are limits to what reason or our cultural products can do: faith is a leap beyond that gap. We wondered, is that something like Kaye's "wonder?" Kaye said, "Faith requires openness."

Lanie was thinking about honesty and the truth-telling of Paul in his letters. She appreciated Paul's particular affection for the Philippians. Mason jumped in with Hosea's attack on the dishonesty of the merchants who used weighted scales to charge more.

Write a sermon was the other question, with emphasis on experience that opens up the scriptures to a listener.

Our sermon titles included "Spiritual Communities: Not Kum-ba-ya but Unions" "Finding God's Presence in Care for an Infant" "Hosea's Openness to Forgiving his Faithless Wife".

Joyce actually preached a sermonette: Liturgy has taken this little group of ours from such different backgrounds to unite us in common pursuit. Look at the Prayer for Unity of the Church. The world sees a church on every corner in American towns. Why? Can we unify more?

Reflect
Mason brought us a song by the group Amble (album cover copied above). Our first impressions were on-target: cheerful mandolin and yet melancholy theme and harmony. A repeating phrase "we don't belong" is countered by another phrase, "we all belong to the same road" only we'll get there our own ways. The title "Tonnta," a Gaelic word for "waves" gave us the sense of push and pull, build up and crash, leading to the push and pull of competition. We focused on an element of competition in the words: "Only one will win."

We explored the idea that "only one will win." The storm that threatens also unites all in the struggle.

Sinking below the waves, failing to get back-up, purposefully hurting the competition -- these introduce sin into the world we're exploring.

Redemption: When the vision shifts from one experience to that of all, the picture of competition changes: Even if you don't come in first, the competition itself builds and joins -- so even the losers win.

We could connect this to our experiences in sports and games, camaraderie and learning how to lose gracefully. Our culture is more insistent on just one competitor winning -- examples of NFL, NBA, a nephew's championship ring, and the relentless preparations for dance competitions that took the fun out of dance. In Scripture, we connected to Paul's race for an "incorruptible" prize in a race that seems to have no finish line, but an "upward call" of Jesus.

Insights? The finish line is like a beginning... as you get deeper in faith, the temptation to out-Christian other people should be resisted; instead, help others along, to find your own road... We found we had come back to Mason's song! We returned to the song, wondering at its sparseness and melancholy: it's saying something positive but is tinged with regret -- at the way this world has to be.

For closing prayer, Joyce brought the oldest Benediction in the Bible - "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace, and be gracious unto you." (Smoot's quoting from memory: his mentor Frank Boggs closed every choral concert with that benediction.)

For Monday:
Scott will bring worship and some GQs designed to make any visitors feel at home. Joyce is thinking of a farewell blessing for the visitors when the session is over. After any guests leave, we'll debrief and take Holy Week off! (No TR). Bring your answer(s) to one or two of your favorite questions from these options:

Identify one sentence from the book that speaks most to your heart that you would like to share with the group. Bring that sentence to the seminar next week.

What does feeling like a “stranger before God” mean to you? When have you experienced being a “stranger before God?” What was that experience like for you? What gave you solace?

What is your idea of a God-centered life? In what ways do you live into a God-centered life? Who has helped you on your journey? How might community play a role in living a God-centered life?

Henri Nouwen says, “in solitude we meet God.” What significance have solitude and spiritual retreats held in your faith journey? How do such practices enrich your understanding of God’s plans for you?

What do you envision it would entail if you haven’t experienced this practice?

Kidd writes, “To refuse to answer honest questions of ourselves ultimately means shutting ourselves off from revelation.” What does asking honest questions about ourselves involve for you? What do you believe is the relationship between honesty and revelation? What else is needed for you to be open to God's revelation in your life?

Kidd writes, “December was a door through which I embarked upon something holy.” When have you had a December moment in your life? What did it portend for you? What do you need to be more aware of December moments going foward?

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Journey with God, Wk. 24: Reorientation, Hope, and Joy

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Worship and Gathering
Jessica brought worship organized around St. Patrick. We reacted to the weather, which has veered from 75 and sunny to sleeting in just 24 hours. After we'd longed for moderate sunny warmth, Joyce said, "Everyone [here] knows what I like." (Brrr!)

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Respond

Michael's Choices to Respond:

Where did you see reorientation or restoration in your Engage assignment this week? What is your experience with reorientation or restoration? What did that look like in your life or in your Engage assignment? We discussed this in breakout rooms and then shared. Answers showed up again in the TR -- especially when we were thinking of a collect.

Author Stephen Charleston wrote that making memories is one of our spiritual duties, along with being a light to others, and laughing! Scott mentioned a young father at last week's EFM mentor training who said that faith is "weird" to his kids' peers, so he's telling the stories of our faith and creating memories of our rites without demanding any doctrinal beliefs. We digressed a bit to remember childhoods: did the adults in our lives use stories and memories to teach us faith, or was it outright doctrinal instruction?

In the world of your assignment this week, what does hope look like? On what do you think that hope depends? How do you think hope might subvert despair? We found hope in Ezekiel, not just for Israel, but the whole world in a vision of a new temple in a new Eden. Even in Lamentations, we read that God will not cast us away forever.

Rita, expecting to miss all or most of our meeting, sent these thoughts ahead of time:

• This chapter of Sheldrake reminded me of Year 3 EfM. It's a chronology of developing ways of practical action through several centuries.
• I was really drawn to the info on the Wesley brothers and the development of "Methodism." AND how John had "a high view of the Eucharist ... and encouraging frequent communion." (I never heard that in the little Methodist church I grew up attending.)
• The videos were superb. i.e., St. Ignatius (with more on him at the close of the Sheldrake chapter) "Go forth and set the world on fire" and Dorothy Day who apparently tried to do exactly that!

After we reflected, we learned the artist Ellen Langford of Mississippi titled this "Connected to You 1"

Reflect
Kaye led our TR. The "kindling" was a 30-second look at this painting. Immediate reactions were about joy, playfulness, color, and movement. We looked again and wondered if we were seeing a stream? a home on stilts? laundry or clouds or both? Our focus became "colors create the moment."

What goes wrong in such a world? Color blindness, for sure. Also the kind of blindness that wants photographic realism.

Redemption is possible even in black and white because the shapes and the "leaning" quality give the viewer a feeling of playfulness and movement, regardless of colors.

Easter is associated with many of the colors; our tradition uses Liturgical colors to enhance moods. Jesus "painted pictures" with parables that were colorful, drawn in bold strokes, pared down to the essentials, usually a little unpredictable.

We had an insight: this is the painting of a moment, but it's also eternal: it lives for us when we see it, though the moment has long passed, and moments like it will live again -- like any mythic story, it's true because it keeps happening. This opened our reflection up to the Resurrection as an eternal moment. We agreed that our Spiritual Autobiographies often gave us moments that looked backwards and forwards at the same time: i.e., eternal.

For Monday:
Joyce leads worship, Mason brings something to kindle a TR, and Susan has chosen these two questions for our discussion:

• It is said that “God loves truth” and “the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). How has this aspect of the Christian faith played out in your assignment? In what ways might truth set you free? In what ways has truth been defined or redefined in your Engage assignment? In what ways is truthfulness part of your spirituality?
• Suppose you were asked to write a sermon about your Engage assignment this week. What do the people you are preaching to need to hear about your reading, watching, and listening? What personal examples come to mind that connect what you are learning with the present moment?

In addition, Michael has pulled our notes together to fashion a collect:

Eternal Father, we acknowledge that, through you, all things came into being and that there is beauty in all of your creation. You restored sight to the blind; we pray that we will never be blind to your creation. Please grant us mindfulness and recognition to see your handiwork in everything. Thank you for the beauty in the people and places around us and for your divine providence.

In Week 26, we may have some visitors for our discussion of Sue Monk Kidd. See questions in our Week 24 blog post.

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Journey with God, Wk. 23: STORMS SWEEP SOUTH, CREATIVITY CARRIES ON

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Worship and Gathering
Lanie brought us prayers and scriptures about light: very appropriate! Her gathering questions were about Daylight Savings Time -- our reactions, and those of our animal companions. There were challenges of technology resetting clocks and bad attitudes.

In real time, thunderstorms and tornadoes swept from Kaye's neighborhood in Mississippi to Rita's in Alabama on to the Atlanta area.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Respond

"Respond" Question #2: Imagine you are a reporter assigned to write an article about your Engage assignment this week. What would your headline be? What would be the lead? Whose profile would you include as a feature story?

• VISITORS REPORT INTENSE LIGHT FROM MYSTIC SERAPHIM.
• EVOLUTIONIST DARWIN SHAKING YOUR BELIEF?
• LOCAL CRAZY MAN PREDICTS DOOM, GOES TO JAIL. Jeremiah reversed centuries of prophecy and said to surrender to Babylonian army.
• PAUL OF TARSUS LAYS GROUND RULES FOR NEW FAITH.
• "I SEE BONES" SAYS NATURALIST DARWIN.
• "THEY'VE DONE IT NOW!" PROPHET PREDICTS DISASTER FOR BREAKING OF COVENANT. Exclusive interview with sidekick Baruch.
• DOES THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER PROMOTE MYSTICISM? Russian Mystic Gregory raises questions.
• SAFE SPACE NECESSARY SAYS ANGLICAN NUN.

We also discussed "safe spaces" in the materials and in our lives. We heard of "safe space" as a top goal for children's Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Reclusive mystic provided safe space for visitors. Jeremiah says there's no "safe place" from Yahweh's rule... except maybe Jeremiah found appreciation in Babylon? ...Paul's prison stay must've been comfortable because it allowed him visitors and opportunity to compose his longest most thought-out letter...... Julian of Norwich found safety and love in spite of illness and difficulties in her world.

Our safe places: Singing in choir... home -- visitors there won't be judged... "Safe Space" program at KSU and sticker on the door to be a haven for LGBTQ+ students... "I am safe within myself" ...kneeling at church.

Reflect
A mind-map spread out in several directions from the word "passion." We found energy in a cluster of words stretching from southwest on the map to the northeast: art, color, music, harmony, memories all related to passion.

Looking for a single image, we took a minute to imagine ourselves at the moment just before the first dab of paint, the first note, the first step onstage. That moment in its fullness (Creation) carries with it all the disciplined preparation, proper posture and deep breath, eyes open, excitement, anticipation. What creeps in also (Sin) is getting in your own head, analyzing too much, fear of failure, lack of confidence. You know it (Judgment) when you feel those butterflies in the stomach, when you think, "Wait! Do I know (my first line... the right note... the right place on the canvas)?" Redemption comes in just doing it -- "Sometimes you just have to start" and you can make it right as you go. Besides, there's forgiveness in an eraser, in another sheet of paper, in an audience allowing you to start over (ex. LION KING snafu).

While we did connect this to Scripture (Peter takes a step onto the water) and to Culture (Caesar crosses the Rubicon), our connections to this went sideways to a surprising connection: BAPTISM. There's a hymn for it: "No turning back!" We imagined Baptism as a moment when WE become a fresh new creation. I guess that makes GOD the artist. Like us, he does not know how it will turn out -- the art has a life of its own, we observed.

We used chat for an application of this TR to our lives: "I think... so I will...":

• I think I am on the right path so I will with God's help try to stay on it.
• I won't let fear keep from experiencing something new. So i will trust in the Lord and just do it.
• I think our discussion of baptism is a reminder that through the sacrament of baptism we are all made new, so during this Lenten season I will remember to trust in God's will who makes all things possible.
• I think I've not taken the time to be creative/ explore my own creativity lately... So I will seek a project to EXPRESS my creativity.
• I think I should be more focused on the study of spiritual things. So, I will make time to do so.
• I think our Christian journey is a beautiful, personal process (art), so I will try not to let overthinking, perfectionism, or anxiety guide my faith.
• I know I'm a new creation in Christ, so I will be more intentional about being what God intends me to be.

For Monday:
Jessica will lead worship. Michael will tell us which "respond" questions to think about before we meet. Kaye will bring kindling for a TR and will lead it in a tag team with Scott. Think who else would like to lead a TR? Everyone read for week 24, and remember to do 20 pages in Kidd -- and think whom you might invite to participate in our discussion of Kidd in week 26.

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Journey with God, Mentor Training "Foundations" 2026

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Our cohort bonded immediately as trainer Fr. Christopher Halliday (Zooming in from Manchester, England) led us through a number of gathering questions in a row. Who are you and where are you? Tell us something about your Efm group. How are you feeling about this training session right this minute? What's something about you that people wouldn't know from looking? (We found all kinds of personal connections through geography, surgery experiences, music. Surprise: Ben(nie) Green was the model for GI Joe's Tuskegee Airmen action figure.)

Christopher asked for a volunteer to guide a TR that would lead to a covenant. With no more preparation than that, Bryson read a portion of scripture about making a covenant, asked us what jumped out, and we were off.

For a break, we had another Gathering Question: Show us an object in the room you're in and tell us what's important about it. I zoomed in on souvenirs of the Sondheim Summer at Kennedy Center in 2002, and said it was the place I discovered my tribe. Another surprise: Christopher, Katie, and Ben are all Sondheim fans. Ben was at the Sondheim Summer, too.

Another GQ: our favorite example from the Culture source? By the end of that, we had discovered many shared enthusiasms that turned up again in later discussions -- Frederick Buechner, songs of John Prine, Black Gospel Quartets.

Over the three days, as we shared three angles on our spiritual autobiographies (through different experiences of "otherness") we deepened community. I also stored up vicarious experiences -- Black Baptist church made up of mostly relatives, "coming home" to the Episcopal Church on a whim during a road trip, a potty-mouthed Australian nun leading a Buddhist retreat in Tibet, warm hospitality among Southern bigots, and the young father in a secular community who has concluded what to pass on to his children: the stories of our faith, and a comfort with the idea of ritual, so that they will at least be open to faith in the future (while it's "weird" to their school friends). Also: One of us told of applying improv technique ("Yes! And...?") when a mentally disturbed man singled them out to hear his ramblings. The following day, the man came back to our friend to say, perfectly lucidly, "Remember when you talked to me? I'll always remember that!" (Our words or even listening can have an effect.)

Ben and I led a TR that went very well, derived from the list of things we'd shown on camera the day before. As a group, we went to "the cozy shirt." While we accumulated many positive aspects of the cozy shirt, an undercurrent of loss emerged (as, for instance, Ben's green cap from the family reunion where he last saw his mother and brother). Redemption was found in giving away the old clothes, or finding new uses for them. (Tom's quilt, visible behind him, seemed to me a ready-made image.)

For her TR, Katie brought a loopy realistic painting that involved a jacked shirtless Gen Z man fording a nun on his back through a river, while she battles vicious pink flamingoes with a violin bow. Katie closed the file and asked our immediate reactions before she opened it again for us to ask questions that arose. From that we found a theme - world inverted -- and came up with an image: a triangle balanced on one point. Another TR kindled by an ICE incident led to the image of "The Shrug." A mind map around the word "Passion" (thanks to Bryson and James) led to the image of lightning. Tom sent us this image to wrap up most of these:

Note to self: When a person finished their autobiography, they invited someone else to speak: that signaled the end of the story. The person who accepts the invitation begins by thanking them and offering a period of silence to let the story sink in. Only at the end of the session did Christopher say the prayer "For what has been..."

Application at the end of a TR can be a single sentence: "I think... so I will...."

TR: Christopher tells his seminar NOT to bring in a religious work of art for a TR: "It's already been done for us."

Prayer of Sir Francis Drake brought to us by our fellow trainee Frances.
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little;
When we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;
To push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.Amen.

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Journey with God, Wk. 22: Silence and the Fear of God

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Worship and Gathering
We prayed for the Kellys and Jessica; Scott divvied up "The General Thanksgiving" for everyone to have a portion. Reciting those words with his dog Brandy beside him is a cherished morning routine. What do others cherish in their mornings? Time taken to make good French press coffee... sitting down with the now-defunct AJC, or settling for the MDJ with coffee... WORDLE... listening to NPR with a cat.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Rita, Jessica. Joyce was stuck on 285 until the TR.

Respond
For a warm-up, we shared what engaged us in the material this past week.

• "Comfort ye my people" in Isaiah was a phrase familiar to Michael from singing, very powerful now in the context of words to people in exile: "You shall soar like eagles..."
• Mason added that Isaiah was "overwhelming" with so much content! It's sometimes called "the 5th gospel" as Isaiah's vision undergirds the gospels with the "Suffering Servant" and the hope of salvation from exile (in Isaiah's time) or from occupation (in the apostles' time).
• Susan read about evangelicalism's development in the 19th century, a response to industrialization and urbanization, with both a social justice branch and a personal salvation branch.
• Lanie was drawn into the story of Paul, Onesimus, and the slaveowner Philemon.
• Kaye shared the theme of "beauty" as a part of spirituality. Example: The Book of Kells, and the lovely text from Isaiah 58:11, "You shall be like a watered garden..."

We took turns responding to questions posted on the website. Consider quiet, said one question. Who was forced to be quiet in what you read, watched, or listened to? What is your comfort level with quietness? Susan observed, "As more social justice issues came into play, the church was giving voice to people who had not been heard before." She added, "Personally, I like to sit in church before the service, listening to choir practice." Michael heard, not "silence" per se, but “gentleness and comfort” in Isaiah, along with celebratory shouts of joy. Lanie observed that Onesimus MUST have spoken to Paul, and must have spoken up for himself to make Paul aware of his wishes, but we don't hear that he spoke up for himself. Mason said "Kings will shut their mouths in "astonishment" as "that which they had not heard" of the Suffering Servant "they will contemplate."

This idea of humility confronting power came up in our TR, too. It's why the opening lines of CATS have been playing in my head all day: "Would you look at a king? / Would you sit on his throne?" (because cats would, naturally).

Humility came up in the next questions about SERVANTHOOD, HUMILITY, and SELF-SACRIFICE. Where do you find examples of servanthood, humility, and self-sacrifice in what you studied this week? What do the words servanthood, humility, and self-sacrifice mean to you? What are their similarities and differences? What connections to these words are you making with your life and relationships?

Michael cited Isaiah 53 v. 4, "he took up our pain and our suffering, [was] pierced for our transgressions." That sounds like Jesus to us, but Mason said that people in exile would have heard this as a profound description of themselves, a community often personified in Psalms and in the Prophets as "Jacob" or "Israel." Lanie's Baptist upbringing emphasized stories of missionaries overseas serving others. Scott remembered the Episcopalian kid upset to learn that Jesus preached becoming a servant and turning the other cheek. Mason brought up the Ash Wednesday sermon from Mother Mariclair about how the imposition of ashes undercuts three delusions: that we’re the center of the universe, that we’ll last forever, that our story is the main story.

A question about worship gave Kaye a chance to share more of her readings for the week. How did worship or prayer include silence, nature, or images in your study? Kaye read more of that passage from Isaiah -- "The Lord will satisfy your need in parched places, you will be like a watered garden." She and Scott both brought up Thomas Merton, whose late book No Man Is an Island was titled after an essay by John Donne, who came up again later. Kaye pointed out where Sue Monk Kidd also quoted Merton. Finally, Kaye told us about the Year 5 exploration of the Book of Kells, Bible texts which monks illuminated with art, working “underground” in a time of harsh conditions and barbarian invaders.

(Scott and Susan were reminded about a monk who wrote a poem about copying scripture beside his cat Pangur Ban. Read about the poem in a post on this blog from 20 [!!!] years ago. See Reading, Writing, and Pet Ownership ca. AD 800)

Reflect
For "kindling" of our TR, Michael brought a poem by John Donne familiar from a musical setting in our hymnbook. We found the most energy in the third stanza, where the guilt-ridden voice seems to demand of God, "But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son / Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore" so that the speaker may "fear no more." This struck us as perhaps "arrogant" of him, pushy, disrespectful. But we also saw that he was distraught, fearful, anxious.

We jumped ahead to connect this to many examples in Scripture of a little person confronting the LORD. Jacob's wrestling a supernatural being to a standstill and demanding a blessing; Job's angry challenge to God; Jonah's whining; the Canaanite woman who flips what Jesus says about her people being like dogs; the lady who nags a judge into giving her justice. Susan found a similar moment in our favorite movie when Dorothy tells the all-powerful Oz that he's nothing but a humbug.

So, what can we say about a world where you can talk back to God? It's a comfortable world, with an underlying sense of justice, and also an assurance of compassion. "You know you will be listened to." Brokenness in this world would be to assume a smug equality with God, to treat God as your personal Genie.

We saw faith, not rudeness, in the way these people face God. "The Lord appreciates your courage," Joyce (I think) said. "He knows what we've been through."

We looked for experience like this. Joyce compared this relationship to God to other relationships, especially marriage. "If you're mad, you've got to speak up."

Insights? This theme in our Scriptures seems to be worked into our nation's founding documents, as we spoke up to the King (and John Adams as ambassador didn't kow-tow). It's not always wise to speak up when the leader isn't so compassionate or decent.

We improvised a collect:

Lord, we come to you with anything, even disappointment and resentment; when we feel forgotten or forsaken, let us stay in the conversation even when it's difficult, and let us nurture humility, so that we can grow into peace with ourselves, with our acquaintances, and with You.

For Monday:
We engage with matierals laid out for Week 23, and we continue to read Sue Monk Kidd, 20 pages per week. Scott will surely find kindling for a TR during his 20 hours of training this weekend. Lanie will bring worship and a Gathering Question.

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