Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.
For worship, Susan brought the text of a song, "Even Here," as in, "Can God's hand reach me, even here?" The question was, "What question would you wish me to ask?" Are you doing Lent meditations? (Yes, three! Also, yes, Forward Day by Day) Are you fasting? (Yes -- until 3pm).Read any good poems lately? (Yes, in Kwame Alexander's collection of contemporary Black poets celebrating joy.) What are you looking forward to? (Glass class, fish tacos.) Are you feeling better? (Yes, thank you.) When is Mommy getting home from her trip? (Implied answer: I can't wait, either.)
Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.
Jessica started us off: I still don’t love Paul but he’s growing on me. His pastoral letters are so different from today’s world, BUT – interesting how Powell brings to light the theme of Paul opposing “false teachers” who taught what people wanted to hear, and led special classes on secret knowledge: SCIENTOLOGY SAME THING!
Paul, Ezra, and Nehemiah are all leaders seeking to spread justice, defined by Sedgwick as "the realization of love" at the scale of community. Marilyn: justice is giving up self for others – “covenant needs to move from economy of exchange to one of mutual benefit” Tom – “Binding social capital” – (paying it forward, what goes around comes around, karma) In some European countries its customary to buy two coffees and give one away. Tom saw Nehemiah as a good model for leadership: He saw things as they were. He saw competing interests, enemies, bad things on his own side, and he made decisions, and he led his people with weapons in hand… And he pays artisans… and the singers!
How do you connect Love and Justice? Pete said, HOSPITALITY is the root covenant for both LOVE and Justice. Justice includes law, reconciliation, caring for the poor, sacrifice. Sedgwick defines HOSPITALITY as putting yourself on an equal footing with the other. Nuno – “distributive justice” decide what is good, what should be done, and deciding WHO should decide! Nuno says, a lot of good in theory, but in real world, other problems come up and you need another answer.
Joyce got mixed signals on hospitality with the exiles returning, finding Jews left behind and immigrants, and saying NO WE DON’T WANT YOU – WE ARE THE PURE ONES! Tension between Jewish community and everyone else in the land! Susan – distressed – counter-reformation spreads beyond Europe to the world in “age of exploration” She calls “age of exploitation” – to Americas and Asia. Land grab, carving up the peoples who already live there. Church didn’t have sovereignty over lands, but acted as he did. Colonizing lands, people, exterminating… Bartoleme de las Casas – priest feels bad for indigenous peoples’ forced labor: his solution is tragic -- to bring hardier Africans to the Americas.
Tom won a trip to Albany (NY, not GA) to see the NCAA Women's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight over the Easter Weekend.
After Nuno read an evocative love poem by Pablo Neruda, both in English and in Spanish, we focused on such closeness that the poet confuses the lover's hand on his chest with his own. We realized that this intimacy could also be parent-child. We also explored the idea that it could be Creator - Creation. (Funny, we didn't think of the Virgin Mary with infant Jesus).
We offered this collection of prayers or promises inspired by the poem, our discussion, and the memories that both had stirred up:
I pray to continue love God the way he loves me
We pray to bring our hearts and minds to the knowledge and love of God so that in turn we may draw those who cross our path to the knowledge and love of God through the Good News
I pray for guidance and candid introspection for myself, and for the health and wellbeing for my loved ones.
I thank You for the gift of writing, as I feel You most intensely when I struggle to describe You.
I pray for a world where less is more...that maybe in the silence, love can be shared and experienced in a real way...where we will see ourselves and others as children of God...loveable and beautiful...no boundaries.
What I cannot speak of, remain silent. Language has its limits.
I pray to be that love that never leaves in my children’s lives, even when I’m not there.
I promise to trust Him. Not to attepmt to try and figures things out on my own, but to wait for His guidance to what is His best.
I pray for a closer connection with You, Your love, and Your will for me.
Scott does worship; Donfred brings the TR.
No comments:
Post a Comment