Yr. B, Wk. 22: How We Believe, Live, Used to Live

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(Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.)

Worship and Gathering
Pete involved all of us in a colloquial prayer service for Ash Wednesday, including the sound of the shofar.

With Lent in mind, Pete asked what in our homes we want to get rid of and can't. Journals going back to 3rd grade... boxes, shelves, and stacks of books... stuff accumulated in special places (man cave, the house under the house, the garage). Kathy's parents, evidently reincarnated as the cardinals that buffet her windows, guard their legacy. She asks if anyone wants some pink limoges china?

Living Faithfully in a Multicultural World, Unit 4, Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine in a Multicultural World:
1st yr: Jessica; 2nd yr: Susan; 3rd yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn, Kathy ; 4th yr, Scott. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings
Our core responses to Diana Butler Bass's essay "Belief" were very positive:

• Liked the history – reason didn’t always mean rationalism.
• Christianity was never intended to be a structure of belief, but a disposition of the heart. Very Christ Like!
• I love the etymologies, meaningful: beloving, and “doctor”ines for healing, not gatekeeping.
• p. 151 – “belief” as trust … “lief” (archaic “happily”) adding joy to this trust / believe / word… Marilyn suggested this acronym for FAITH: “Following And Infinitely Trusting Him"
• Loved praying the Creed, replacing "belief" with more accurate translation, "trust" – it has mystery, tension. Ditto, the creed reimagined for the Massai tribe (which reminded us of Maori imagery in the New Zealand prayer book). The creed is a symbol (icon) of the faith.
• Praying shapes your living.

Kathy identified with Bass's reaction to the sermon at her baccalaureate, that was not my God, but Kathy’s uneasy about the conclusion to the chapter – admitting that she’s bringing 2023 politics to an essay from 2012. We were bothered a little by the emphasis on experience over text/doctrine. We decided it's better to couple experience with “discipline” in the good sense. Bass herself cautions us.

With our unit theme in mind, we asked what Bass says to us about integrating beliefs and behavior? “Moving from being to doing” not what but how? We are always in conversation with God. Even outside of the tradition, people want to do something in the world about what they believe. Parker Palmer: Heart is where we integrate what we know in our minds with what we feel in our core.

We had some laughs, too. Bass says, there are doubters and skeptics and that is their spiritual gift. Bass got a horrified reaction when she lectured about "experience": "You mean we’re all going to be Pentecostals???" Jessica relayed what she was taught at an early age: “Episcopalians hate tacky more than sin.”

[In other news: Choosing the Secret Square, Nuno won a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Beignets included!]

Garage apartment, no bigger than a Buick, Jackson MS 1981

Theological Reflection
Scott gave everyone some time alone to recall a place they'd lived. He suggested sketching the floor plan and listing details. We shared our memories in breakout rooms. Back together, we told why we chose these particular places of all the places we could have shared.

Barracks at VMI - Photos by Pete

We focused on a common element: the space provided what we most needed at the time. That space was cramped or crowded, "organized poverty." There was a lot of comedy in the conditions, but it was a sort of Garden of Eden. Growing pains, sometimes conflict, pushed us to move out. With the pain came growth, and we look back on the experience with amusement and fondness.

From our tradition, we considered the tabernacle that the Hebrews lugged around in the desert 40 years as they learned to be God's people, and even their grand temple in its design looked back to the original tabernacle. The manger was a small, humble beginning; Jesus often sought small, removed spaces. The tomb made us think how these spaces are transformative. The movies that came to mind involved personal growth (Big, The Apartment) and most had to do with breaking free of prison.

We expressed insights and ideas for applications.

• We felt like we had everything, even though we had almost nothing. Trust in God to help us bloom wherever we’re planted. God Himself IS a space for us to live in that provides just what we need: “You are my dwelling place.” Ps 90 “The still small voice…”
• Transformation isn’t spontaneous: it needs a space and time for the transition: connects to caterpillar/ butterfly and to St. James in transition and our earthly life as a time/place to connect to the infinite/Divine…
• As parents and teachers, we intentionally create a space that helps young people to grow, feel loved. When you know love, wherever you are is where you’re meant to be… Love is at home, love is home.

We worked together to compose

Collect for Home
Dear God, Abode of Righteousness, You filled the small tabernacle with your presence, and the great temple: We pray that you transform our hearts with your Holy Spirit so that we may make of our places of worship and work, our homes and ourselves, the safe, nurturing places that someone needs. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

For Next Week
Next Tuesday, Jessica will lead worship and Nuno will bring a source for the TR.

Yr. B, Wk. 21: Micah, Galatians, Russia & Dramatic Art

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Worship and Gathering
Kathy's worship included the Magnificat. We shared concerns for loved ones of Nuno and Kathy. Marilyn also prayed the collect she wrote from last week's TR.

For a gathering "ice breaker," she asked us to name our favorite breakfast cereal. For the record: Cheerios with yogurt... Cinnamon Toast Crunch...Special K...oatmeal with dried cranberries...Cap'n Crunch with lots of milk.

Living Faithfully in a Multicultural World, Unit 3, Developing a Sustaining Spirituality:
1st yr: Jessica; 2nd yr: Susan; 3rd yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn, Kathy ; 4th yr, Scott. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Nuno.

Discussion of the Readings
Some of what we read struck us as funny. Susan said Powell's commentary holds the Galatians up as "the buffoons" of the early churches, making Paul so mad he couldn't stand it. Marilyn told us about Russian Orthodox tradition of the "Holy Fool," a conduit for Divine wisdom that goes beyond rationality. Kathy was amused to learn that Russians neglected to reform their calendar (when everyone else did) because they were worried so much about the End Time. Pete was amused that the Czar's campaign to grow potatoes didn't gain traction until the farmers learned how to make good vodka.

But we were also inspired. Russians reached out from the harshness of their lives, described by MacCulloch as a "longing of the ordinary for the divine." They were interested less in developing their theology than in enhancing spirituality by meditation and the deep involvement in their traditions. They felt closer to God and to their parish churches than to the government, despite the Czar's efforts to co-opt worship. "Their could exercise freedom and personal choices only in their religious practices," Pete said.

Jessica remarked that her classmates' excitement about the book for the third year is making her eager to get there.

She drew all of us into a conversation centered on Isaiah's beautiful prophecy that begins, "For unto us a child is born." In context, that's pretty clearly about a son born to the king of that day; Christians see that prophecy in the context of the Messiah's birth centuries later. Kathy remembered her disappointment learning that Jesus was not born in December, but she concluded it's what people have done with that tradition that gives it meaning. Whichever way we read Isaiah doesn't change what Jesus means to us.

Jessica also conveyed her takeaway from Micah: it's not about the ritual sacrifices but about how you live with justice, mercy, and humility. Scott's takeaway from McIntosh's chapter 7 was the metaphor that we are all actors collaborating with the divine Author/Director on our roles. The power Jesus gives us to become "children of God" is less about going to heaven after death and more about the roles we play today. (For more, see Scott's article Drama of the Cosmos on his personal blog.)

Theological Reflection
Kathy shared one of the best-loved paintings by one of America's best-loved artists. Even those of us who've seen it many times were struck by new features in it. We chose to focus where the woman in the painting seems to be focused, across the distances.

We put the painting aside to explore what it's like to cross vast distances. We shared experiences of longing and regret for what's left behind, but also possibilities in freedom from the usual chores and schedules. Sin in this situation would be not going ahead or turning back. Redemption brought to mind examples of what we take on such journeys: reminders of home and gifts.

In our tradition, we thought naturally of the Hebrews in the wilderness missing home and fearful of going forward, and the parallel story of Joseph and Mary after Bethlehem escaping to Egypt. In our culture, Pete thought of Dorothy's red slippers, always with her on the road, also took her back home. Marilyn remembered the song "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow."

As our own end time drew near, we gathered these insights, positions, and applications:

• Separation is an illusion – love is shared no matter when or where – and extends
• Life is hard – take something with you that will inspire you –
• I carry the Morning Prayer liturgy in my head and recite it when I’m far away from home… (and when my mind is going into bad places)
• Take advantage of the rest stops when you see them. Go to Buc-E’s -- or the Mobil Station. [We've had TRs on BOTH!]
• Journey long, destination worth it
• When you travel, take a gift with you for your host.
• After research on Wyeth, Pete was struck that Wyeth's neighbor refused to use the wheelchair that we saw in the distance. Wyeth was inspired by the woman in "Christine's World."

Jessica and Marilyn will "tag team" to create a collect for us. Here it is:

Dear Heavenly Father, Your Divine Dwelling Place inspires us to go the distance. To see beyond the discomfort of our Earthly challenges which test our faith. We pray for strength and patience as we travel along our Human Path, allowing us to reach the understanding that time here is brief, that separation is a mere sensation. That connections of the heart live for always, that Love is The Gift we take with us and the one we leave behind. That love is the true miracle. That love provides rest for the weary, strength for all who trust in it, and is with us no matter where we go. Grant that we may know it, see it, share it, and be it, so that we may grow ever closer to you as we travel along in the dirt until we reach Our Ultimate Destination. In your name we pray. Amen.

For Next Week
We all read the (long) essay by Diana Butler Bass in the RRG. Pete will lead worship and ask a gathering question. Scott will bring a source for a TR.

Yr. B, Wk. 20: Metaphors, Layers, and Prophecy

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Worship and Gathering
We had updates on Kathy's husband, Marilyn's dogs, and C. S. Lewis, the other young addition to Nuno's family.

Susan led worship. She volunteered the first answer to the gathering question, "If you were to use the metaphor of driving (uphill, without brakes, etc.), what has the driving been like in the past week?" She was "swerving all over the lanes." Others were stuck as in the ice storm a few years ago... circling a roundabout unable to get off... experiencing a series of near-misses. Nuno told us a story of a literal family drive, with popped tire, that became a pretty good image of what their lives are like these days.

Living Faithfully in a Multicultural World, Unit 3, Developing a Sustaining Spirituality:
1st yr: Jessica; 2nd yr: Susan; 3rd yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn, Kathy ; 4th yr, Scott. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.

Hagia Sophia (center), lower layer (left) and lower lower layer (right)

Discussion of the Readings

Jessica started discussion with her delight in Amos, Hosea, and the observation by Collins of their struggle to find words to relate God and history. Each prophet relied on metaphor to do it.

One thread of the discussion built on Marilyn's interest in how archaeologists have discovered layers of worship spaces under present-day worship spaces. Some have been to such sites or gave other examples from current events. (The weekend's earthquake in Turkey and Syria was on our minds.)

Layers are visible in Scripture, too. Jessica confessed to being a bit overwhelmed by the slaughter of animals in Hebrew Scriptures up to Amos and Hosea, who urge their people to move beyond the bloody sacrifices to offer themselves for justice and faithfulness. Scott's reading in McIntosh likewise highlights a progression in the New Testament away from the metaphor of Christ's death as punishment of him because of our individual misdeeds towards a more global salvation that goes with our Baptismal vows to renounce and battle evil in the world because, by the resurrection, we need not fear death.

Scott also brought to our attention a paragraph in our RRG, p. 129, an author's opinion that liturgy may be a stronger motivation in human life than economics, rationality, or religion itself. The definition of "liturgy" here must be pretty broad. Susan has observed that writers who've had some intense personal experience will sometimes universalize that.

Theological Reflection
What we had discussed fit well with the source that Jessica brought for us, Luke 2.22-40. In those verses, Simeon and Anna at the ends of their lives converge with the Holy Family at the temple to see the baby boy who fulfilled ancient prophecy.

After some general discussion, energy increased when we wondered how Joseph and Mary could be so amazed to hear at the temple what they'd already heard from angels, shepherds, and Magi? Susan pointed out that a lot of time had passed since those things happened, a lot of changing diapers and sleepless nights.

Kathy focused us more on the parents, telling how a parent keeps their eye on the small picture and may be unaware of the big picture, developments in the child's inner life that others may recognize before the parents ever do. We had buy-in from parents and teachers in the group. We found cultural connections to Harry Potter, Back to the Future, Jonathan and Martha Kent's adopted boy Clark, and John Connor (J.C.) in The Terminator: life as a miracle child was not easy.

Our insights and applications included the rewards and pains of parenting in general...the phrase "Against all odds," about the unlikeliness of the convergence of prophecy and people at the temple... and the question what leading parishioners can do to make sure that our places of worship be places where such convergences of people, tradition, and world-changing action are expected to take place (in contrast to buildings where you learn stuff, attend a performance by clergy, and socialize).

Marilyn volunteered to write a collect. We concluded with the prayer for cities (BCP 825).

Here's the collect:

Dear God, our ever-loving and forever-helping Father, You guide us daily in our quest for greater faith and deeper understanding. We pray as your children, that our combined unity - our community - and our shared traditions, of and through worship, will bridge the distances between us and you, and each other so that we may continue to grow in love, while keeping our eyes on heaven. Becoming more like Christ, hoping to know true joy and peace. In your name we pray. Amen.

For Next Week
Kathy provides worship and a TR for us. We're reading in week 21 of the RRG.