Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.
We dove into discussion of Charleston's book even before we'd all arrived. Lanie brought a Choctaw necklace and Seminole doll for show and tell, prized objects. Susan's worship was a prayer by Charleston, and her closing was Charleston's admission that he frequently laughs when he prays. (see the end of this posting)
Susan asked what made us laugh this past week? Well, we had squishy mammogram anecdote, two dogs clowning around, and a specialty shop in NYC that was floor-to-ceiling sardines (canned, of course).
Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Daniel, Donfred.
This week, we found in Charleston much more that we could buy into. Jessica liked thinking of John the Baptist as a "clown," sort of the bad cop to Jesus's good cop. Joyce agreed, and she told us of a TV series that comported well with Charleston's descriptions, including a clown figure who, as Charleston said, goes opposite to what's expected. (On the TV show, he rides a horse backwards.)
Lanie raised up the story of the Hopi Indians and how they stood to their principles no matter what. Their discovery of the interconnectedness of all things, and their conviction that they themselves were responsible for preserving that interconnectedness, were worth suffering and dying for. Scott and Susan each shared about rituals of the Aztecs and the Mayans, who believed that one misstep in the ritual dance could jeopardize the balance of the world.
Jessica and Scott both felt that the book came together for them in the part that Charleston called "The Garden" (i.e., Gethsemane) where "The Native Messiah," abandoned by his sleepy apostles, accepts that it's "a good day to die." This relates to those Hopis, and to the "Sun Dance." (Joyce saw that, too, on that TV series. She had to look away.) Scott appreciated Charleston's spin on one of the ways that Christians have explained the Cross -- as God's punishment of Jesus for the sins of Adam and Eve's descendants (a view long challenged by theologians -- see Charleston, p. 137). For Charleston, the "Native Messiah" died, not for a punishment, but for a blessing. Jesus at Gethsemane lamented the violence we did (and do), yet accepted death and came back to us, still loving: that's "good medicine" for the world.
We acknowledged the injustices inflicted upon Native Nations. We had not realized how the carvings on Mt. Rushmore insult tribes for whom the Black Hills are sacred. Scott recalled a document that he used to teach the Trail of Tears to middle school students. In an official report, an army officer tries to believe that he is doing a good thing as he describes the suffering of the people he forcibly marched hundreds of miles away from their homes. He justifies the action by saying "everyone knows" how hateful and violent the natives are, but then he admits that he saw little hatred from them. All the violence and hatred he observes is from the whites who attack the line.
How do we relate what we see in Charleston's descriptions of Native American faith to our own? Joyce: Their faith is what kept them going, same as us. Lanie: Those so-called Christians who attacked the Native American communities didn't have a grasp of what Jesus went through. Susan: Charleston's reinterpretation of Christianity through Native American eyes makes the message of Christianity universal in a way that Europeans' traditional expressions do not.
Another theme that we discussed was the importance of community to the Native American nations. The vision quest idea is about individuality within the context of community, very different from "individualism" in the tradition of Andrew Jackson.
No TR this week -- with Jessica leaving early to rest up for a demanding early morning event, we didn't have a quorum. But we did have this from Steven Charleston, thanks to Susan:
Sometimes I laugh when I pray. I hope you do too.So often prayer is such a serious business
With so many deep needs and heartfelt petitions
But there are those moments, those rare and happy times
When the thanksgivings start to flow
Like a mountain stream rushing over rocks
Life running through sunlight.And I cannot help but smile
Smile at the beauty of it all, smile at grace so abundant.
May the Spirit give you reason to laugh today.
May your prayers turn to delight.
May your thanks be said with a smile.
May your life run through sunlight
Prayer and laughter the same.
Joyce read this with evident delight!
We get April 14 off for Holy Monday services. Stay tuned: we may also take off April 21, as Scott is involved with another movie, lah-di-dah.
When we do return, we will be discussing RRG p. 166ff., "Discerning Vocation." One of its intriguing ideas is that "beauty" is a "call" as much as the voice of angels.
Daniel is up next on the "wheel of worship." Scott will save his TR for then.
No comments:
Post a Comment