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Pete brought a variety of prayers with the theme of "strength," tailored to each of us. For example, Pete gave Marilyn a prayer for strength to help a friend in need. For himself, he chose a prayer for mental and physical strength at work:
As I go to work,Naturally, Pete asked about any time in the past week when we'd needed strength. After everyone had responded, we reflected theologically on our answers.
Be with me Lord.
Be the patience when I'm frustrated.
Be the endurance when I am tired.
Be the wisdom when I am uncertain.
Be the inspiration when I'm out of ideas....
Living Faithfully in a Multicultural World:
1st yr: Jessica; 2nd yr: Susan; 3rd yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn, Kathy ; 4th yr, Scott. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Marilyn.
Our discussion covered a wide range of associations beginning from Jessica's confusion shading into delight that a book about the Hebrew scriptures should begin with a survey of ancient Greek and Roman culture. Unfortunately, Scott put the data in the wrong file and then overwrote it.
We also reviewed the class banner, and discussed a couple of additions to our list of cultural do's and tabus: confidentiality and the truth that what we get out of EfM depends on what we put into the work.
After our discussion, Scott shared his five-minute response to the "Self" prompt on page 34 in our RRG. Feel free to use the same prompt when your turn comes, another prompt, or some combination.
Naturally, Scott has posted his essay "Prep Kid in a Factory" on his personal blog The Word Sanctuary.
We stepped back from our experiences of "strength" in our check-in to look for connections to other sources of wisdom.
The first images that came to mind were "empire" and "power" from our culture. Such images are also present in the Psalms and chronicles of our religious tradition, but we found another thread in "Christ Culture" of strength through servanthood -- endurance and service to others as leadership.
Pete shared a position from military culture that strength is endurance, getting the job done, not speaking about any pain you feel; but, Pete said, that's a false strength, as not speaking can be harmful. We did think of St. Paul's toughing it out and his uses of images of athletic strength in his letters. Kathy pointed out that Paul always acknowledges that the strength is not his own, and he "boasts" in his "weakness."
Nuno will lead worship; Susan will share a chapter of her autobiography. We're all reading what's listed for Wk. 4 in our RRG. They all have to do with the early history of Israel and gender.
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