Yr. A, Wk. 19: Friends, Romans...lend Yee your ears

Worship and Check-in Before we began, Pete explained all the wrist bands that we saw enlarged when his forearm brushed close to his laptop's camera. These included an Apple watch, guitar string from Dave Matthews, and bands purchased to aid war buddies who lost limbs in their service.

Marilyn led us in worship, beginning with a recorded prayer from Scotland, and then a reading of several prayers for healing. She was thinking of our absent friends Christine and Nuno, along with a friend of hers recently diagnosed with cancer, and illnesses in Nuno's family. From her sickbed, Christine was able to hear Marilyn's prayer service via cell phone.

Living Faithfully in Your World:
1st yr: Scott 2nd yr: Marilyn, Pete, Nuno; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Christine. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Christine, Nuno.

Discussion of the Readings Pete appreciated reading about Romans from the perspective of history. Having learned to see Paul as a zealot, he has been surprised at the extent to which Paul is inclusive and flexible in his pursuit of many different agendas -- introducing himself to a new church far away, raising money for missions, comforting persecuted Christians, teaching doctrine. We shared appreciations of Paul.

Marilyn picked up on an attitude of gratitude, and she loved the idea that we see by faith, we have faith by seeing. She was amazed that Augustine was converted after reading two lines from Romans.

Scott's reading in Yee concerned books full of violence, some of it sanctioned by the Lord, and a lot of it lawless and gratuitous. The moral element is the teaching that this is what happens when people without a king follow their own desires instead of the Lord. Scott is still dubious about Yee and her collaborators identifying all brutality and domination with masculinity instead of, say, the fact that much of history has been made, and written by, and for, young men under age 30. "Their brains haven't even fully developed yet," observed Pete.

Scott also shared how a modern theologian uses the violence against the Canaanites in a metaphorical way to describe middle age. Established in career and family, you've reached the promised land -- but there are still these inner Canaanites that need to be identified and routed out. "Like Whack-a-Mole," Marilyn quipped.

Susan gave an overview about the Byzantine church and saved the rest for next week.

Lacking a quorum, we put off Christine's theological reflection for next week.

For Next Week [Two Weeks Combined for February 8] Due to illnesses in our families, we missed a week. We're doing the readings for weeks 20 and 21 in the RRG. Pete will lead worship. We will work with the TR Christine provided (Scott will share it on-screen).

Yr. A, Wk. 18: False Prophets? Pseudo Letters? Connecting Opposites?

Worship and Check-in Christine led worship. Christine's check-in question was, "How's your garden doing? (whatever your garden is)." We had some answers about actual gardens: one garden utterly neglected because "I don't do gardening," a grandfather's orchards cared for by the whole family, orchids nurtured in pots, and moss that stays green even in this cold, gray week. Our figurative gardeners have been tending old blog posts or marveling at their grown children.

Living Faithfully in Your World:
1st yr: Scott 2nd yr: Marilyn, Pete, Nuno; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Christine. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings Year 2 had a lot to say about Paul from reading two chapters in Powell:

Paul talks about Heaven, but he emphasizes that it’s here
• Paul and the Jews first, then to the Gentiles… a choice that gave him a chance to prepare himself for the arguments
• Paul believes we ARE the body of Christ, Christ’s way to fulfill his mission
• Paul had to battle preachers who preached for self-gain, and Paul said even they are okay so long as it’s the Word
• Paul is such an “Avenger” – is this all really him? Has it been embellished? [We read such an excerpt from Corinthians during Christine's worship]
• Once Jesus struck him, he was all out – travel, prison [“I myself don’t have that kind of passion” – so he’s inspiring]
• Paul’s life before the conversion, and then how he took that word and spread it (also like sowing seeds, a garden)
• Seems odd that Powell didn't make much of the name change
• Connection to MLK too: Letter from Birmingham Jail so relevant to today – re: wealth, denominations that all claim one truth -
• Paul’s plan so smart – choosing centers that will be launching for the word, and how he delegated

Books I and II Kings pick up this theme of prophets who deliver conflicting messages: How do you know what to believe? The only practical answer was to wait and see. MLK came up here, too: A law is not law that diminishes human dignity. Authenticity – how do we judge it? Consistency, life-supporting, selflessness. Kindness to each other is part of the language that God speaks.

We had a lot of reactions to the idea of "pseudopigrapha." Whether or not it’s by the person named, it’s something that someone experienced of God [and it resonated with our church community -- many such texts were rejected - Scott]. The idea of needing scientific certainty and definitions comes in around 17th century, and misses the beauty and the nuance of living selves and Jesus. Paul’s writings have weight whether or not he actually wrote the lines in his own hand. About Paul’s letters – ties into letters of the alphabet, Jesus not one jot will go away. Marilyn connected to the alphabet, too: "We are all a letter in the alphabet of God’s words, animals, too, all part of the living aspect of Jesus, Trinity, Holy Spirit."

Theological Reflection For our reflection, Marilyn brought images of piano keys juxtaposed with this poem:

Light and Dark…
Thin and Wide…
Tall and Short…
Sharp and Flat…
Quiet and Peaceful…
Loud and Frenetic…
Neighbors…
Individuals…
Individuals Together…
Expressive Creation…
Creative Expression…
Harmony and Discord…
A Unified Collective…
A Collection of Units…
Forever Related and Forever Apart…
Forever Connected and Forever a Part…

Then Marilyn shared a clip from A Star is Born, Sam Elliott's character explaining, “Music is essentially 12 notes between any octave. Twelve notes and the octave repeats. It’s the same story told over and over. All the artist can offer the world is how they see those 12 notes.”

The story behind the movie made us think of inspiration and addiction. We picked up on the theme of extreme opposites that go together only when we draw back to see "the big picture." Nuno figured out that the poem was Marilyn's own creation! Comments coalesced around the discovery that opposites' touching or connecting is an image for creativity.

We explored that image. Michaelangelo's Adam nearly touches fingers with his Creator. In an application of Xeno's paradox, we could imagine that no objects every really touch. Physicists have found more and more ways that all objects are interconnected, touching or not. In a world where creation requires connection of opposites, sin would be distance or avoidance, or just being static or fixed, like a carved idol. Redemption comes when things are shared, when the drabness of sin comes up against the brilliance of creativity.

Early in the discussion, Pete shared his personal experience of sharing in creativity through his wife's imaginative outlook.

We looked to our tradition for examples of creative near-connection and the sin of disconnection. God is separated from Adam and Eve when they hide... Saul is recreated as his opposite, Paul ... The Trinity --> John baptizes Jesus into connection with Heaven, earth with heaven... Jesus heals a man born blind....

Asked for insights and applications, we heard: In our picture of St. Paul, his "for me or against me" attitude is in the foreground, but in the background he's generously inclusive... When we do feel disconnected, the fact is different from the feeling... Doctors say, because addiction isolates you, the opposite of addiction is not sobriety but community -- and community is getting out of your own skin, both reaching out and being reached... How do you perceive that you belong?

Nuno had an idea that came too fast for me to capture. It started with that quote from the movie about 12 notes, "but there are patterns," he said, in us, and in time. He told a joyful anecdote of his little daughter's somehow connecting the dots of a printed song with the keys on the family piano. Whatever Nuno said next, someone else said, "You just tied everything together!" Since that's the main criterion for a good collect, we volunteered Nuno to write this:

Collect for HarmonyDear Heavenly Father, Composer of all Creation, in your mercy when our own lives are stuck on one note, help us to harmonize with others, drawing us out of ourselves and into the loving song of God’s people, your church. Amen

Nuno adds: As my mother-in-law is known to say: “There’s a place for everyone in the choir, but only some(He) know(s) how to play the piano”

For Next Week While we remember each other in our prayers, we especially lift up Marilyn and Christine this week. Marilyn will lead worship and provide a question for check-in. Christine will bring a source for our theological reflection.

Yr. A, Wk. 17: Samuel, Acts, Yoke & Cloak

Worship and Check-in Susan led us in the Northumbrian Community's evening prayer service. She took her question from a line in that service, was there a time in the past week when we had seen an example of "the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living?" Answers included a fortuitous decision not to attend in-person classes, a long lunch with art project, being witness to a greater acceptance and generosity of a community of homeless people, "clarity and focus and a state of calmness" from practicing morning devotions, and seeing beauty framed by one's window.

Living Faithfully in Your World:
1st yr: Scott 2nd yr: Marilyn, Pete, Nuno; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Christine. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings

• Amazed – how different people get different things from the same words a la Pentecost and Lectio Divina, depending on whether the context is purely personal or shared within the community of believers ... the rich emotions as Samuel grieves following his stern rejection of King Saul... the power of St. Stephen's martyrdom to affect Saul of Tarsus / Paul, whose subsequent importance is amazing, considering that he did not interact with Jesus prior to the Resurrection
• Bothered - that the notion of supercessionism has been used to instigate anti-Semitism ... Powell’s questioning how “realistic” Acts is
• Delighted - Acts 2's “recipe for joy," i.e., devotion to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, bread, prayer, awe, holy spirit a promise from God that allows us to see and hear ... Paul’s sermon about the Unknown God... Examples of conversation among centuries inside of the Samuel books... Trinity – working in us, and we are “word – bearers” to each other – like Moses and Paul... "Living words" related to the present season of Epiphany

Theological Reflection (TR) We used the "wide-angle lens" method of Theological Reflection (RRG 291), looking for an image or theme that emerged when we all shared thoughts and feelings from the week during our individual practice of lectio divina on Mt 11.28-30. We all related to the image of a heavy cloak that came to Pete when he meditated on the "yoke." We explored the image for physical sensations of warmth, but also heaviness and restriction; and for emotional responses of feeling protected. We thought of the placing of a cloak as a sign of love, perhaps a gift before a journey. Our tradition offers cloaks and coats given as sign of favor (Joseph) and of responsibility: Elisha initially is uneasy wearing the mantle of Elijah. In our culture, we thought of Red Riding Hood, Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility, and the ancient idea that our flesh is a garment that our soul wears.

We concluded with these insights: “A haven that goes with you” ... Prayer is like that coat that goes with you during the day ... Apostle’s creed is declarative of what you believe, like a cloak ... Putting something warm, protective over the elderly, the frail. Taking care of the widows, hungry, prisoners, the children… When it’s draped over a chair, it’s just a fabric; when you put it over someone’s shoulder it’s meaningful -- even at end of life, prep for a journey... Like Elijah or royals, a cloak sets you apart.

Pete accepted the mantle of collect-writer this week!

Oh heavenly Father, our Creator and Sustainer: we implore your assistance to cloak ourselves with the fabric of your good will, intention and direction so that we may, in turn, assist in guiding others toward your holy path. In the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.

For Next WeekChristine will lead worship; Marilyn will provide a source for a TR. We keep each other in our prayers, with special concern this week for Christine.

Yr. A, Wk. 16: Developing a Sustaining Spirituality

Worship and Check-in Pete led us in an Epiphany service, complete with the lighting of a candle. We shared how we'd spent the holidays just past, and COVID came up in every answer. Christine had planned to be there, but was unable. We keep each other in our prayers, especially remembering Nuno and his family, Christine and her family.

Living Faithfully in Your World:
1st yr: Scott 2nd yr: Marilyn, Pete, Nuno; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Christine. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Christine.

Discussion of the Readings We discussed the essay by Urban T. Holmes focused on spirituality and prayer. We were struck by the idea of prayer as a "meeting" where "our freedom meets God's vision" (94). We discussed the continuum from a wish list of petitions to the kind of wordless prayer that is more a receptive emptiness; "there's bad empty and good empty," we decided. We discussed the Jesus prayer, and aspired to reach a point where words become unimportant.

Theological Reflection Scott brought Christian Wiman's "I Don't Want to be a Spice Store," which begins with a snarky description of pretentious merchandise in an exclusive store in a town where shops don't open before noon and "even the bookstore is brined in charm." The poet writes that he wants to be open and available all the time (we thought of Buc-ee's and 7-11) and carry just the necessities:

Something to get a fire going
and something to put one out.
A place where things stay frozen
and a place where they are sweet.
I want to hold within myself the possibility
of plugging one’s ears and easing one’s eyes;
superglue for ruptures that are,
one would have thought, irreparable,
a whole bevy of nontoxic solutions
for everyday disasters.
  - Wiman, "I Don't Want to be a Spice Store"
  from Survival is a Style (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2020)

The poem ends with the store empty but "humming" at 4 a.m., door unlocked, waiting patiently. Several of us highlighted different parts of the poem before Nuno observed that Wiman had given us an analogy for prayer. From the list of necessities, to the intercessions for the mending of others' brokenness, to the patience that waits for God to enter in, it touches on all the points we made during our discussion of the essay.

We found other ways to relate to the image. In some communities, a store like this is not a chain store but a family business, center of the community. We thought of the parable of the maidens who keep their lights lit all night. We thought of Bible stories that take place at wells, which were like convenience stores in the day. We also thought of Paul, "love is patient" -- like the store in Wiman's poem.

We didn't write a collect, judging that Wiman had done the job of pulling together everything we'd discussed into a neat, memorable package.

For Next Week Worship: Susan. For next week’s TR: See page 102 in our RRG. All of us on our own will practice lectio divina with the passage marked "c." Be ready to share what emerged from the practice, including your thoughts and feelings during the practice. Our TR will emerge from our experiences.