Yr. A, Wk. 25: "We shall not cease from exploration..." and some Geese

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erika, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: Gene.

Opening worship and "check in" question: Taking the RRG's suggestion that we regard the catechism (BCP 845), Scott led a recitation of the first two sections, questions and answers about the nature of God and of Humanity.  The question for "check in" was, "What question did this past week answer for you?"  

Bill and Lynne brought a satisfying meal of fixings for chicken Caesar salad.

The theme of the evening turned out to be T. S. Eliot's famous lines, "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." This was quoted in a sermon that some of us heard at Evensong down at the Cathedral a couple days before; its truth was reflected in our discussion of the readings, and even more in our experience of theological reflection on a poem by Wendell Berry.

Tom started discussion with his observation (after Collins) that the harsh cruelty practiced by Nehemiah continues today under the Taliban.  Erika saw harshness in Thessalonians, the dictum "He that will not work shall not eat."  Mariel called Nehemiah the "stick" to Ezra's "carrot," and she was struck both by the political opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and by the preservation of that opposition in Scripture. Scharme had lots to say on such political opposition as she described the counter-reformation, but she brought out the generous spirituality and discipline of mystics John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, and Ignatius Loyola.  Their experience of God, bordering on erotic, brought us to the chapter on "Incarnate Love" that Bill and Lynne read.

Susan brought a short poem of Wendell Berry's, referenced in that sermon at

the Cathedral alongside Eliot's.  After we read "What We Need is Here" three times, we offered observations, questions, and some uneasiness. We questioned Berry on many points, and found we had different ways of reading the title, repeated twice in the poem.   We did all agree that we could buy into the experience he describes when geese fly overhead, what Eliot called in another poem a "timeless moment."  We did not cease from exploring that image itself for nearly an hour, arriving where we started, only to recognize for the first time just what Berry had in mind.

Tom asked, "Have we just ended up where we started?"  That's when Scharme had her epiphany, that our experience of this TR was in fact the purpose for doing TRs: to explore a truth we may already know in such a way that we come to own it. Scott said,"We've earned the understanding of the poem."  All agreed, we took it apart in order to put it back together.

Collect for Theological Reflections
Creator God:  incarnate, You often retreated to quiet places to experience timeless moments: Help us to find the self-discipline to abandon the busy-ness of life at times, to be quiet in heart and clear in eye; so that, reflecting with patience and creative insight on our lives in You, we may discern Your lovingkindness both in the wonders of creation and in the path through sin and judgement to redemption.  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.


Next Week:  

• Reading:   Those listed for Week 26..  
  
• Food:  .Gene.
• TR:  Bill.
• Worship:  Erika

T. S. Eliot's "Little Gidding": Visit my reflection on this poem.

Visit Scott's blog page devoted to the novels and stories of Wendell Berry. 

Yr. A, Wks. 23+24: Prophets, Paul, and Practical Piety

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erica, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: Tom.

Scott brought Chinese dishes.  Phoenix and Dragon was best. Erica wondered if anyone else had given up dragon for Lent.

Lynne brought us worship from a Lenten devotion book, with the reading of Jesus separating the goats from the sheep, to whom he said, "I was poor .. naked... in prison... and you helped me...."  The reflection had to do with becoming "holy," not so intimidating as it sounds when we think of it as meaning "becoming more like Him."  We shared how we have felt ourselves becoming more "holy" this year.

Our discussion of two weeks' readings criss-crossed some common ground.  Mariel observed that Ezekiel's prophecy built in a coherent, literary way to a detailed vision of a utopia centered on temple worship.  Erica said that's echoed in the "realized theology" suggested by assurances in Ephesians and Colossians that the kingdom of God is now, not in the far future.  Scharme reported on the communities formed around "confessions" as the Lutheran Reformation, mixed with politics, spread among more radical community leaders.  Lynne and Bill reported on Timothy Sedgwick's deriving a vision of Christian ethics in the Anglican church, grounded from early times in the "practical piety" associated with the parish church. 

When Bill and Lynne spoke of "practical piety" in contrast to piety based on strict adherence to laws or dogma, they harked back to the discussion of "holiness" in our opening worship.  Students of other years picked up on the same theme.  Mariel observed that the prophets, preaching the holiness code, were nonetheless aiming for a change of heart -- Susan remembered the prophet's line "Rend your hearts, not your clothing."

Gene started a discussion of history with a  question about individual salvation compared to the more communal focus we were seeing in tonight's reading.  When Scharme had spoken to us of "humanism" in this week's reading about Erasmus and Luther, she was referring to the time in European history when the concept of the individual first developed -- through critical readings ancient authors that took individual perspectives into account. Susan traced that development through the Enlightenment.  Scott referred to Petrarca, who addressed a "letter" to ancient orator Cicero "from the banks of a river you knew, 14 centuries after the birth of a savior you never knew."

That image of looking across water to someone on a distant shore turned up again in our TR.  Scharme laid out artifacts from her family's life on  a purple Lenten cloth beside a cross.  As a group, we were most struck by a photo from 1912 of two choir boys at St. Phillips, labeled "Bill" and "Dad."  Aware of the distance between us and them, aware that World Wars, Depressions, families, old age and death lay ahead of the boys, Erika suggested the metaphor of travelers on the deck of a ship watching people on the shore as the distance between ship and shore increases.


Collect for the Journey:
Heavenly Father, as we see both past and more distant past when we look at the stars, we know that You see us both as we were in the womb, and as we will be:  let us never forget, as we sail onward, the great cloud of witnesses on the shore behind us, and our responsibilities to those whose lives lie on a distant shore ahead of us. Amen.

Next Week:  

• Reading: See RRG week 25.  
  
• Food:  Bill and Lynne.  (The week after: Gene)
• TR:  Susan.
• Worship:  Scott.

Yr. A, Wk. 22: Theology and the Art of Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erica, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: None.

It was a brown-bag week. 

Susan led us in a "lectio divina" considering the folk-styled tale of Elisha's following Elijah to his appointment with chariots of fire.

We discussed the common reading.  At the end of the discussion, we performed the exercise recommended at the reading's end, filling three squares of a piece of folded paper with (1) what belief or tradition we think of when we think of God's presence, (2) what cultural /  artistic examples bring us close to God's presence, (3) a deed or behavior that does the same; we went back to add into each square the feelings connected to each of those; and, in square (4), we concluded how we know God, how God reaches us.  These we saved for sharing at another time.

After the break, we considered Erica's story of an acclaimed artist in her family, Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton, who discovered late in life both love and the power of art to overcome her depression.  From samples of Layton's art, we each chose one that struck us.  After a wide-angle exploration that brought to mind images of phoenix and butterfly, and Bible stories of Abraham, Sarah, and Ezekiel , we put together a kind of word salad of hopes and insights that our reflection had raised:  Transformation ... made whole by God's call... completing... Ezekiel, desire driving us... persistence (following through)... that we may hear and heed Your call, awakened passion / desire... develop new skills, relationships, discipline, transform healing service... outward manifestation late in life, unintended.

Collect for a Change in Life
Almighty Father and Creator, You called Abraham and Sarah in their old age to start a new family, and called the priest Ezekiel to a second career as prophet: open our minds to the possibility of transformation even late in life, and grant us persistence, courage and discipline that we might develop new skills and relationships necessary to fulfill Your vision for us.  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Next week: We'll discuss the readings for Weeks 23 and 24.  Dinner Scott; Worship Lynne; TR Scharme.

Yr. A, Wk. 21: It's so hard to say "I'm Sorry!"

Members:  Thomas, Gene, Mariel, first year;  Erika, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: Gene, Scharme.

Opening worship and "check in" question:  I was at musical rehearsal until late and missed this part.

Readings:  I arrived mid-way in the discussion of Jeremiah, Lamentation, Galatians, and "Drama of the Cosmos."

Esau embraces Jacob:  Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (d. 1872)

Collect for Atonement
Judge eternal, just and merciful: As you led Jacob back to make amends with Esau, show us our secret faults, that we, too, may repent and seek forgiveness from those we've harmed, and that we may embrace those who have trespassed against us. Amen.

Next Week:  

• Reading:  Combine readings for week 22 and 23. The common reading is listed as "week 22" in our RRG book.  
  
• Food: brown bag: Some may wish to partake of pancakes.
• TR: Erika
• Worship: Susan.

Yr. A, Wk. 20: Isaiah, Corinthians, Salvation, and an African Drinking Bowl

Members:  Thomas, Eugene, Mariel, first year;  Erica, second year; Scharme, third year; Bill and Lynne Lovelace, fourth year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: Scharme.

Worship: Erica led us in prayer and paired us up for an exercise of listening, as we each explained the other's reaction to the day's reading from Hebrews.  

First year students opened the conversation.  Tom is getting used to the idea that passages of Isaiah sung in THE MESSIAH as prophecies of Christ were probably intended as more local oracles anticipating the restoration of the earthly king of Israel.   Mariel turned that around, to say that the passages are so beautiful that their imagery naturally inspires music.  Gene was impressed by the image of hot coals in the mouth of Isaiah, and the seraphs' six wings.   

Erica explained that she found humor and sarcasm in I and II Corinthians, as he dealt with numerous misconceptions and rivals.  "Corinth," she said, "was very Jerry Springer."  

Bill and Lynne highlighted McIntosh's analogy  of the selfish guest who comes to the party but scarfs down food alone in a corner, withholding himself from the host and the other guests:  that's what it's like when we, with our distorted senses of identity withhold ourselves from God's offer of life.  Lynne grows more and more aware of the importance of Trinity in her understanding of the Gospel.   Jesus was not just an example, nor, according to McIntosh, was he punished for our sins.  The crucifixion was not retribution, but God allowed it, to be fully human, and then to transform death and our human lives in the resurrection. "Did Jesus have to die?" Lynne asked.  She and Bill liked McIntosh's point about how the resurrection changed the disciples, who left Jerusalem feeling like Jesus had been wrong, had failed. 

 Mariel observed that we see in the prophets where God is, and we get a sense of the Spirit, but the Son?  She saw God's gamble in sending prophets and His son to us.

A passage from this week's lectionary reading relates to the second year reading in Hebrews and the fourth year reading in McIntosh:

...[T]hrough death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.... Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people.  For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. - Hebrews 2:14ff.

TR
After the break, Tom presented us with an object saved from his late father's cabin after a tornado. From Africa, it's a water scoop hand-carved from a single piece of wood, a thirsty giraffe's body forming the handle.  When Tom found it in the wreckage, it was half full of storm water, where we still see the watermark.  

Our discussion went to objects in our own lives that acquired meaning far beyond themselves. We reached through to the insight that "things have memories."  We thought of cultural examples in movies, objects that hold spirits in Sixth Sense; veneration of objects can be very different in denominations of Christianity.  Our positions included the statement that it's never really just about the object, but our associations with and treatment of the object.

Collect for Collectors of Treasured Objects
Lord, You transformed the crucifix of shame into the cross of redemption:  By Your Spirit, help us to recognize Your transformative power at work when ordinary objects become sacred to us or to others, that we may honor You in the encouragement and inspiration we draw from objects of personal significance. Amen.

Next Week:  

• Reading: Week 21.   
• Food: Erica.
• TR: Lynne.
• Worship: Bill.