Yr. C, Wk. 1: Our Works, Our Names

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Worship and Gathering
Scott led worship through Evening Prayer, edited so that everyone spoke in turn.

The worship leader will typically ask a "gathering" question to give us all a chance to share what's in our lives each week. This week's question covered a broader swath of life: When we pray that "our works may find favor in [God's] sight," what "works" are you thinking of? Several of us shared photos (see collage).

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 1 Listening and Spiritual Autobiography:
1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn, Kathy. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Kathy.

Discussion of the Readings
We looked at the opening materials, especially pp. 8-10. In discussion, we noted that EfM goes beyond a knowledge base to teach us habits of applying theology to our experience and to involve us in community; that the mentors are not expected to be experts, but guides or facilitators.

We then anticipated next week's reading by listening to each other in small groups. While each of us told about our name -- its origin and its influence in our lives -- others listened intently so that they could relate the story to the whole group.

Theological Reflection
After a break, we heard those name stories and then reflected on the experience.

• What thoughts or feelings did you have as you heard the stories? Confusion, a theme of kinship, discovery that two very different names (Nuñez and Jagusch) derive from the same Biblical hero, Joshua, son of Nun.
• What do we read about names in our Bible and tradition? Lots of re-namings to show re-orientations towards God, geneologies that show the passing on of tradition and that validate a person's authority, God's going unnamed, and the question "Who do you say that I am?"
• What did we learn about listening? Lots of smiles: delighted to learn; we were attuned to emotions while we listened to facts; we felt the responsibility to get the story right; it was funny to hear what others picked up in our own stories.

When Scott read aloud some guidance for listening from p. 272 in the Reading and Reflection Guide, our own ideas were affirmed. One was added: don't be thinking about what you want to say next while the other person is speaking.

For Next Week
Pete volunteered to lead worship and to bring a gathering question for us.

All are reading chapter 2 in the Reading and Reflection Guide (RRG). We now have two links for that material:

• Opening chapters
• The entire book for download. Hard copies have already been shipped to us.

In week 3, we will begin the sharing of our spiritual autobiographies according to the RRG's alternative plan, each sharing about 3-5 minutes each week:

• Desire for God: Share a story about a desire you have or have had for your relationship with God.
• Person or Event: Share a story about how a person or event contributed to your maturing in faith.
• Questions: Share a story about questions that have had an impact on your maturing in faith.
• An Imperative: Share a story about an imperative you have experienced as you work toward maturing in your relationship with God.
• Image for your journey: Email a picture of a work of art that represents your journey of maturing faith. We will share on Zoom. Notice and give thanks for the rich variety of individual journeys in your group.

The guide suggests that we associate each chapter with a color. "Any color(s) can be assigned to any question. Your association of color and experience is what is important. In each case you may wish to share the color you assigned to the story and reason(s) for doing so."

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