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Jessica brought us worship adapted from Evensong. One interesting feature was to present "Our Father" in two versions, back-to-back. We would later compare "lead us not into temptation" with "save us from the time of trial."
Jessica's question was both fun and thought-provoking: If you could start a charity or non-profit, what would it be? Marilyn imagines a hospice, "Ushering Angels," to ensure that no one dies alone. Jessica imagines something like that for pets, a non-profit that would help pay the expense of in-home euthanasia for the pets of families that can't afford such service. Jessica shared with us a book that a friend sent her, Dog Heaven. Nuno imagines a place for kids to do art -- and actually sees an opportunity to make that happen; Susan wants to sponsor arts classes after school for kids who can't afford them, and Scott imagines a workshop where teens and adults can be guided through writing plays and getting them in front of an audience. Pete wants to get his hands involved in making meals for a soup kitchen.
Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 5 Vocation: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Tom, Joyce.
Because we were missing Joyce, missing Tom (who emailed us from Ukraine), and getting only an hour with Pete (Zooming in from Maryland), Marilyn (in California), and Jessica, we decided to discuss the reading and to save the TR for next week. But the discussion was very lively.
Marilyn started us off with an echo of last week's "blanket" metaphor in a story from My Neighbor's Faith. Pete shared the story of a young Anglo woman who spent hours on a darkening road in India with women who sat with her to keep her safe, unable to communicate, but joining with her in sewing.
Susan's reading about the Church's failures in "a time of trial," the rise of Fascism, resonated for Jessica's with Jude's adversaries -- a mysterious bunch who somehow perverted the gospel -- that Jessica associated with a documentary about elders of a polygamous sect who perverted Gospel to justify their sexual predations.
From an undisclosed location, Tom emailed comments that we'd all read. Scott seconded Tom's enthusiasm for the passage of the reading that contains the line "for the souls of the righteous are with God."
There was a lot of energy in responses to a portion of Ben Sirach that Scott quoted with disapproval: "He who loves his son will whip him often." Scott said, that’s someone who’s into ego and control (and he regrets bad times when that was true of him in the classroom); it's a lie to say you're doing it for the sake of the children. But Pete could understand Sirach's point of view; Susan cautioned against being the kind of parent who wants to just be friends with the children. Donfred could identify: likes “tough love” in the Wisdom literature, something his mother showed, but his mother was also looking for the best for him… Donfred tries to be the same way with his son… "We can talk as friends, but I have to be serious sometimes."
Scott disagreed with Collins on a chapter of Sirach about artisans whose handiwork leaves no time to study scripture or think all day. Collins sees sarcasm; Scott sees a warning to the boys in the school: "Don't think you're special because you work with your mind; these men build 'the fabric of the world' and the work of their hands is their worship." Donfred joined in with admiration for the guys who work on roofs.
With Jessica reciting a prayer for those who work or watch or weep this night, we closed. By the way, Jessica chose the secret square in the discussion, and she won a catered Cinco de Mayo party with tiny pinatas for every guest and a tequila donkey.
Donfred will bring worship; Scott will offer his source for a TR. The week following that, we'll take off. We plan to meet at St. James Marietta on May 21, 6:30pm, for worship and then a stroll to the Square for dinner.
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