Worship and Check-in
For worship, Scott adapted prayers for All Soul's Day from the church in New Zealand. For a check in, Scott once again forgot to follow-up with Pete's question about spiritual heroes.
We'll try again in Wk.11!
Discussion of the Readings
We worked with the challenge from the RRG to reflect our readings through a single word or theme. Susan chose "family feud" as it describes the intense rivalry among Jews, Christians, and Moslems who all trace their faiths back to Abraham. Christine chose Ford's words "intensification" and "journey," as his chapter surveys the different ways that the Church has journeyed through the centuries using a range of metaphors to "intensify" our understanding of salvation. Pete chose Powell's word "invitation" because it reminds Pete that, whatever questions the Gospel of Matthew may raise about sources and historical accuracy, the book invites the reader to believe and follow. "I'm in deeper than before," Pete said, "understanding Jesus as a person." After reading the gospel all the way through, Nuno appreciated the "structure" in a new way, seeing levels of instruction that Jesus brought his disciples through.
Nuno put in a special plug for Powell's graph of features distinctive to Matthew.
Living Faithfully in Your World:
1st yr: Scott
2nd yr: Marilyn, Pete, Nuno; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Christine. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Marilyn came late; Susan disappeared when a system update hijacked her laptop.
Theological Reflection
Our TR came from the RRG, the encounter with the burning bush that draws Moses into his life's work. We focused on the moment when Moses removed his sandals to stand on holy ground. We imagined some of the sensation of warm sand between the toes. We recalled moments of intimacy in the Gospel when the woman anointed Jesus's feet and when Jesus washed his disciples' feet. We came to see the removal of shoes as a sign of receptivity. We composed this collect, polished later by Scott:
Collect for Encountering the Holy
Holy and omnipresent God, our Lord said to stand aside in a private place to pray, and Moses took his sandals off to stand before the burning bush: remind us as we walk our daily rounds to set our shoes aside and make ourselves present to you so that your spirit can enter and make us burn with the light of the father’s love, through the grace of your son our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
For Next Week
Christine will bring a source for the TR.
Scott will do worship AND Pete's check-in question about our spiritual heroes.
We are praying for each other, remembering especially Christine's sister, Nuno's father-in-law and daughter.
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