Gene led an eclectic worship service cut-and-pasted from different sources. One passage that Gene had selected for worship expressed a thought that came out in our discussion of the readings: "Our thirst compels us to go beyond complaint to conversation."
Yr. D theme: Living into the Journey with God Class: Marilyn, Nuno, first year; Christine, third year; Mariel, Gene, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent:Nuno.
Gene takes no responsibility for the on-boarding question, "If the past week were a food, what dish would it be?" We had rotten tomatoes; fine fish with one sharp bone; hamburger surprise; too much hummus. But with the vaccine received or near to being administered, we felt grateful.
A theme in our comments about the readings (below) emerged even more prominently in our discussion: God works with and through our desires, contrary to what we may have thought earlier in our lives. Gene said we bring our desires ("thirst" in the prayer he chose) to "the table" when we look to God for His plan for us. Mariel had picked up on MacIntosh's description of sacraments as "poignant reminders" of our separation from God, and our longing for God. Marilyn identified with the shifting perspectives that she read about in Mariel's post, "small/big, far/closeup." We were reminded of Psalm 37 - "Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." We also recalled 1 Peter: "Cast all your cares on the Lord."
The world of an elevator is closed off. It's a convenience, a necessity for some, but its smooth operation can be taken too much for granted. The things that make it work are invisible although you can hear them. We cannot see its motion. If it breaks, you have no way to fix it yourself. Even if you can communicate with rescuers, there’waiting, worrying, and doubt. It gets worse: What if you need the restroom? What are you missing while you're stuck there?
We found several analogs in tradition and popular culture. Disciples waited in the upper room, doors locked, afraid of Roman and Temple authorities; Passover, the night before the Exodus. Disciples may be waiting, but they’ve made a choice…. So have the Hebrews: they’ve cast their lots, and they’re waiting for the results. Among movies and literature, we thought of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, the people in Die Hard trapped in a building (where Marilyn used to work!); Anne Frank in the attic. We thought of the fish in an aquarium in Finding Nemo. In all these cases, the salient characteristic is lack of control, and waiting patiently -- or not -- on others.
We brainstormed for a collect, leaving it to Scott to finish. The end result refers to our earlier discussion of desires, and to what Jesus says to anxious Martha in Luke 10.42:
Collect in Suspense Almighty Father: while disciples waited in the upper room, You were there with them: help us to remember that the only necessary thing is You, and You are with us always, that we may with patience endure those trials we cannot control and with diligence effect the changes that we can. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
5 comments:
Galatians largely concerns the "Judaizers" who convinced the churches of Galatia that any man in the church who was not circumcised was a second-class Christian at best, and (in Paul's discussion of an incident at Antioch) those who didn't keep Jewish dietary restriction couldn't have the Lord's Supper at the popular table.
In his chapter about Galatians, Powell tells us that students often wonder how this letter of Paul's is still relevant. He has three answers.
1. Galatians with Romans was central to the Protestant Reformation. I would add from personal experience that this battle still goes on within Protestant denominations, as in college I was for a time bothered by a sect that brandished full-immersion baptism the way those Judaizers had brandished circumcision. Happily, a friend pointed me to Paul's exasperated outburst in Galatians 5 - "I wish those circumcisers would mutilate themselves!"
2. In scolding the Galatians for their exclusionary practices, Paul adapts a quotation from Socrates that continues to challenge us: "There is no longer Jew or Greek... slave or free, male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
3. Paul writes eloquently of a paradox: we are really free when we are free to serve others.
Along the way, Paul argues for his own authority against those who claim that he's a second-tier apostle and not approved by Peter and James. Paul answers that he got the Gospel by revelation straight from Jesus, and that he did indeed win over Peter and James when they agreed that Titus could serve without being circumcised.
Powell's sidebars are interesting as usual. Was Paul's "thorn in the flesh" some kind of eye trouble? There's a statement in Galatians about how his friends there would have given Paul their own eyes to help him in his distress, and he adds a postscript that they'll recognize as his handwriting by the extra-large letters. Then, after being blinded in his encounter with Jesus, "something like scales" fall from his eyes.
Another sidebar traces the threads of three pretty complicated (even convoluted) arguments that Paul makes with analogies (p. 334). For example, Paul uses the O.T. Scripture that says "cursed is he who hangs on a tree" to say that Christ became a curse by hanging on the cross, and eliminated that curse of death by rising.
Reading these letters and Powell's affable overviews, I'm renewing my admiration for Paul's fortitude and ingenuity.
Scott, the last thing I wrote in my notes for this week’s reading was this:
Presbyopia - farsightedness (cannot see things clearly that are close up)
Myopia - nearsightedness (cannot see things clearly that are far away)
Perhaps this week we are being challenged to refocus, or reframe, our attention in ways we haven’t considered. I’m struck by how some people take Paul’s metaphors literally to erect barriers to the inclusive message he was proclaiming.
In the final chapter of McIntosh’s book, “The Drama of the Cosmos: Mystery of Communion,” he uses the metaphor of theater to describe how we learn to play our role (persona) within the Christian community, that we are actors in the “play of eternal giving that is God’s life.” He suggests that when we have discovered our true identity in playing the right role, we’ll experience a deep joy and peacefulness, even when our soul is troubled. But when we lose touch with our true role, we suffer a “grievous loneliness.”
McIntosh sees the world as one of “deprivation, fear, and the violent urge to seize existence for ourselves,” and individuals as “a broken-down band of third-rate actors, rehearsing over and over again…each acting out his or her own little drama but never connecting.” He sees the church as a place for healing, where people can reconnect with God through community. He implies that when we are restored to wholeness in the body of Christ, this affects the entire universe: “the Word whose relationship with the Father undergirds the very existence of every creature, is reenacted in the midst of chaos we have created.”
In the final section of the chapter, “Making Eucharist of the World,” McIntosh summarizes his vision of the church embodying the communion of God, humanity, and the cosmos: “in Jesus the self-giving return of the whole creation to God has definitively begun, and now by the power of the Spirit, Christ offers more and more of the world to the Father through his Body the church.” He calls this a transfiguration of all creation, in which “the church, now acting as the ‘personalized’ face of creation, bears creation itself up into the self-offering of Christ, restoring the whole cosmos to a state of communion with God…allowing the Spirit to transform our lives and world from possession to gift.” Yet McIntosh warns against making sacraments into idols: “Sacraments are poignant reminders of our separation from God…” and we must remember the church is “only the sign of God’s coming kingdom and not the kingdom itself.”
RRG question: What role has the church played in your God journey?
My answer: The only information I received about God, Jesus, and the gospel was through various Christian churches. Religion wasn’t respected in my family of origin, but common decency and traditional standards of morality were very important. For me it’s like having multifocal vision, with one eye focused on near things and the other on things far away.
McIntosh, Chap. Seven - The Drama of the Cosmos
McIntosh begins this chapter by asking “Why is God Creating you?” The answer seems to be that the “goal of created life is participation in God's life, a life of eternal, giving love of which the church is the sign on our world.” As Mariel points out, we are actors or participants in the divine dialog between the Father and the Son. Christ is the ideal of human existence being drawn into the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son, and we are called to bring this love and ideal of human existence to the world.
McIntosh makes a distinction between who we think we are and who we really are - the person, freed from hurts and fears of this world is set free to become the person who God intends, and cites Christ’s own struggles with finding his own voice through the Holy Spirit. McIntosh makes clear that this journey into becoming our authentic selves is best done with others.
McIntosh looks at how Jesus, over time, draws out the disciples and shows them his mission and they learn where they fit in using their own talents. This is difficult as the world always seeks to draw us back into its conflicts, drama and desires. But by living in a community of believers (the church) we are able to get back on the right track
One thing that struck me was that McIntosh wrote was that Jesus “seems to have been more interested in unlocking our desire… and setting it ablaze with God’s own desire” rather than seeing faith as nothing more than a suppression of our own desires. He also talks about our new identities of giving as showing when we become available for volunteer work, which I found refreshing as all we seem to talk about is sacraments and fasting.
Another thing I liked was that while McIntosh does talk about becoming new people, he doesn’t mean forgetting our past but bringing all of our experiences to the table to share.
What does Micah 6:6-8 say about spiritual practice in a maturing relationship to God?
That the way to follow in God's example is - to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
Familiar and often-quoted passages from Micah and Isaiah are:
But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord. The Lord will be my Light. He will be our peace.
Learn to do right, seek justice, defend the opposed.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.
Surely God is my salvation.
Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things.
Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you and praise your name.
A spirit of justice.
A source of strength.
EfM brings a sense of peace and belonging...sharing time and space with others who are eager to examine God's presents and gifts within d daily life and through revelations from Scripture, and other sources. I view those who are sharing EfM with me, as a family, related by faith, friendship, commitment, and prayer.
P.S. The collect from last week was beautiful. 🙏🏻
Post a Comment