Covenant: Our House Rules

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Our reading of the catechism on "covenant" led us to imagine a graduate leaving the family home to begin a new life, having been shaped by the rules of the household. We brainstormed what those rules might be. Here's what might be taped to the refrigerator in this house that we call our EfM seminar:

Our EfM home is constructed from time -- time for study, worship, and fellowship -- to nurture our personal growth and understanding, so that we may graduate with a sense of our personal vocation.

To these ends, we agree:

• We come to family gatherings prepared to participate because we respect and invest in the process. If we're going to be late or absent, we'll send a heads-up.
• We have household responsibilities and chores, like contributing to discussions, listening, and taking turns for leading worship and TRs.
• We pray for the needs of one another; we also honor each other's privacy. What our brothers and sisters say stays in this house!
• We walk in love when we go out -- and when we come back in, too. We may not necessarily walk in lock step but we are going for the same goals of growth, understanding, and vocation to the world.
• We will respect differences.
  We will listen to understand, not to undermine.
  We will not indulge in partisan comments or sarcasm.
  When things go sideways and we see things differently, we will acknowledge the difference, forgive, and work to recover positive relationship.
• We don't expect Daddy to know everything, even if he acts like he does. We look to him for management of our time and encouragement of individuals' growth, not doctrine, not counseling.
• We will take care of our pets. This may mean muting your microphone when their sounds are intrusive.

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Following Jesus, Wk. 1: Introductions to Us and the Bishop's Chickens

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Worship and Gathering
We were all on time. Michael connected by phone. Scott read the collect for the day, Holy Cross. We used mutual invitation to learn what everyone prefers to be called and what drew everyone to EfM this year: to finish what I started... exploring vocation... "to continue the journey"... I enjoy it... to stay in touch with this group during a time of change . We also trained our cameras on "something in the room that tells us about you."

Following Jesus, 1st yr: Rob, Tiffany; 2nd yr: Michael, Mason; 3rd yr: Lanie 4th yr, Joyce, Susan; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Phyllis. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Respond
We shared our very positive takeaways from Bishop Deon Johnson's video interview. That God is aligned with OUR stories, not just watching from afar... those chickens! ... dedication to the people he photographs in his "ussies"... his genuine warmth... how his grandmother taught him prayer and hymns... that he is open about being gay but that isn't what defines him... his prayer podcast (Rob knew it well before this)... that he would like to rip the back cover off the Bible to signify that God's story with us goes on.

We paused to consider each activity we'd done so far was related to at least one of the core practices of EfM: living in community, worship, Christian tradition, vocational discernment, and theological reflection.

For ten minutes before the break, we paired our new friends with veterans to explore resources on the website, specifically for preparation of worship.

Reflect
Rob and Tiffany read aloud from the Prayer Book's catechism, the part about "the New Covenant." We took some minutes to Identify a focus of interest to us all. In the catechism, "covenant" seems to be an all-encompassing love itself, a relationship that encourages growth and living the fullness of life, modeled by Jesus. Because that still seems abstract, we sharpened the focus by imagination: it looked to us like all the stuff wrapped in a graduate's farewell to parents and the home in which the child grew from crib to college.

Note: In the essay that we're reading for next week, Bishop Johnson explores what "Identify" means in our lives, mirroring the use of "Identify" as the first step in a theological reflection (TR). In later essays, he'll deal with other movements in a TR, going next to "Explore."

Scott's sketch of the graduate's good-bye was hopeful, but things changed when he ripped the paper. In EfM, wholeness and brokenness represent Creation and Sin. When we "explore" an image, drawing it can draw out unexpected details and feelings. That's the point!

We really got into it when we moved to Explore the world of that image. Feelings came up of the passing of time, hope, dread, regrets, and "the mystery of how parents can stay so optimistic"; thoughts included questions about the child's future. We readily saw how this relationship was created to be, but we also saw the potential for brokenness (a.k.a. sin). So we naturally wondered, when parent-child relationship breaks down, what could redemption look like?

We looked for answers in other sources. Popular culture has not forgotten Harry Chapin's song "Cat's in the Cradle." We saw The Prodigal Son in our scenario, but also the flip side: the kid who has escaped a toxic family -- Joseph and his murderous brothers, for example.

So, now that we've looked at "covenant," how it goes well, how it can go sour, how it can be redeemed -- how can we Apply what we've thought and felt to a set of norms and practices for our seminar? We used chat to write our answers. These will be posted and elaborated by yours truly in a separate blog post later this week!

[See Our House Rules]

We concluded almost on time with the collect for those who work or watch or weep this night.

For Monday:

• On Pathwright's schedule of weeks, open "Week 2" and engage with the essay there, "Identify" by Bishop Johnson.
• Come prepared to tell us about a "stepping stone" in your life, a time when you gained insight into Jesus.
• Rob and Mason will prepare Worship and a gathering question for us. In the weeks following them, we'll have worship from Lanie & Phyllis, then worship in wk 4 from Joyce & Tiffany.

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Link to Overview of EfM and the year '26-'27

← Our last meeting of the year was our first meeting in-person! Follow the arrow back to read all about it.

Our friends at Sewanee have shared this link to an online overview of EfM, with book lists. EfM 2026-2027

← Our last meeting of the year was our first meeting in-person! Follow the arrow back to read all about it.

Journey with God, Weeks 35-36 combined: EfM 2025-26 is History

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Worship and Gathering
We'll be meeting in person Tuesday for worship at St. James Church in Marietta, GA, so Scott began Monday's session with the collect for Pentecost. The gathering question was about what we'd like to remember from our Memorial Day weekend. The cool and affecting exhibit of portraits by Amy Sherald at the High Museum... The sound of the GA Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra doing The Planets and the roar of approval at Symphony Hall... quiet time at home with rain... the infant granddaughter smiled with recognition. Scott made a musical theatre detour to talk about a mother's plea, "Stop, Time!" (from the musical Big) when she thinks back on all the stages in her 13-year-old son's growth so far.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent Monday: Mason was moving his parents.

Respond
Questions for discussion, given in advance:

Some say the church’s history can be viewed as a third Testament. From the perspective of your reading, watching, and listening this year, what is your response to this idea? There's so much disagreement and backsliding and unfaithfulness in Church history that it would go very well with the history of God's people in both the Old and New Testaments. All agreed that different denominations would be unbending in negotiations for what history would go in and how it would be told -- which is pretty much what happened when councils fought over what books would be included in the Hebrew and Christian canons. Joyce agreed with Susan: "We already have too many things to fight about!"

Kaye said "History is the key to the whole picture that we don't get at church." Lanie said, "Let's just make everyone take EfM!"

Susan recommended a new book that focuses on church history to answer the title question, Why Study the Past? Scott liked a third testament updating church history would counteract the commonly held belief that God has had nothing new to say to us since the first century.

What might God be saying to you through your EfM study this week or year? Revelation used to be really scary, but now it's comforting. What we learn in Scripture now must become a habit for each of us. It is our mission to go out in the world we have and be the person we are here to become. The God who keeps welcoming the Israelites back is a comfort to those of us prone to wander. (An allusion to "Come Thou Font of Ev'ry Blessing"). Especially this year, with the monastic essays, we've had an emphasis on quiet and listening. Also growth and joy: Kaye recommended the three videos of "Joyful, Joyful" in different styles.

Joyce heard a strong message through the story of Martin Luther who stood up for his beliefs. (He came up in a couple of sermons recently for enduring attacks from all sides by repeating "I have been baptized!")

This Particular Group is now History
We gathered at St. James for worship "in early evening" (BCP 139), selecting prayers from our booklet of original collects of the year. Then we walked in rain to 7 Tequilas for dinner. When Joyce couldn't join us, we sent her a photo from the restaurant. Baby Liam had a great time! (Inset: Joyce!)

For the Future:
Please do let me know if you plan to enroll for next year. I've heard that the process will be simpler. We can only hope.

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Journey with God, Wk. 34: "Leviathan...for the Sport of It"

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Worship and Gathering
Michael assembled prayers from an variety of sources that somehow came together to be a fitting prayer for the group.

For a Gathering Question, we told of something our parents taught us to love: reading (3 votes)... family (2)... outdoors and camping (2)... records and music... trivia (Mason still has his Presidents' placemat).

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Jessica.

Respond

Before we responded to questions from the web site, we had a chance to share anything from the reading that struck us. Rita sees that Year Four is channeling EfM graduates to "go into all the world... They will know us by our love for one another." She also reacted to a video about endangered species that children of the future may never know. Joyce saw herself in a video of little black girls going off to church with gloves and purses and a quarter for the offering plate. Mason was interested in the way Greek philosophers influenced the wisdom literature from the second temple period. Mason brought up Sirach's disdain for women; Scott cited a chapter in Sirach about various artisans and tradesmen whose worship is in their work, no less important than students in Sirach's school who have the luxury to do religious things. (This resonated later with the idea of everyone's being a "holy mystery.") Michael saw The Wisdom of Solomon as a challenge to leaders, still relevant.

That got us to politics, a topic Susan chose, with questions that Archibishop Rowan Williams raised: The “Christian disciple is not seeking to make the state into a church, but is proposing to the state and to the culture in general a style of direction and common life.” What are some examples of religion integrated with politics in your studies this year? How do you integrate your faith? What are the consequences of that integration? Where does that lead you?

Susan sees an evolution from "top down" politics among Christian rulers in early church history to something more like the Archbishop's idea. Lanie says if we follow the letters of the N.T. and treat every individual as a "holy mystery" then our commitment to human rights would transcend law and petty policy. We connected that to "self-evident" truth in the sacred text of our "Civic Religion."

The other questions was about liberation. “To be a person of faith, to be a body of faith, is to be about the business of liberation,” writes Henry Louis Gates in The Black Church. How does your assignment connect with the concept of “the business of liberation?” How does this compare with your understanding of liberation? What do you see as the relationship between liberation and faith? What are some examples?

From "Let my people go" to Paul's preaching about Christ's freeing us from sin, we saw liberation on lots of levels. Joyce pointed out that life up north during the "Great Migration" was "same old same old" of the South "until churches got involved." She was reminded of her own mother's work bringing liberation to families through her work with children.

Scott wondered about the many readings we've all shared about the "rule of life" in monasteries and convents. Is that a model of strict rules also somehow "liberation?" Lanie could see that. "I've come to appreciate the quiet" as she understood it from Sue Monk Kidd's book.

Reflect
Lanie's son Scott Baxter kept a shark's jaws up in his bedroom, and he cried when his parents gifted him with a tooth from a Megaladon. Our focus shifted to a quotation that Lanie presented with her story, "There is that Leviathan that You created for the sport of it!" (By coincidence, that's the Psalm that St. James choir chanted on the following Sunday.)

Far from horrifying, the "created world" of Leviathan struck us as beautiful, joyful. Was Leviathan created for us? For its own sake? For the heck of it? Mason brought an alternative translation that suggested Leviathan was itself "sporting" with the ships.

When we thought of brokenness or sin in this world, we took for granted that the huge creature would destroy a ship or kill a human. Redemption then seemed limited to hunting, killing, maybe exploding, maybe eating, Leviathan. Was there any other kind of redemption? We had a notion that saving Leviathan from revenge would be a kind of redemption, maybe.

Connecting, we thought of the big fish, instrument of God, in Jonah. Before we were created, the world was "good," with Leviathan in it. We thought of Jaws. We invoked Ahab's obsession with the white whale that bit off his leg. We thought of 17th century philosopher Hobbes whose ideal government would be a "Leviathan" -- an autocrat that controls the chaos of existence.

A question about why Lanie's son would keep the jaws of a fearsome creature brought up memories for many of us, how we would be fascinated of the things that scared us (spiders and snakes, for instance) and would read about them, gingerly handling pages with photos so as not to touch the dreaded creatures. We speculated that our childhood selves were participating in the power of our "enemies" -- making part human, part beast. We thus lessened its power over us. When we wear a crucifix, image of violent death, we strip death itself of its power.

Michael closed the evening with a great piece that we wanted to see again.

For Monday:
Questions for discussion:

Some say the church’s history can be viewed as a third Testament. From the perspective of your reading, watching, and listening this year, what is your response to this idea?

What might God be saying to you through your EfM study this week or year?

For Tuesday: Set your GPS to 161 Church Street Marietta GA 30060. Ring the doorbell at the glass door under the portico; Scott will open it for you! We will walk a block up Church Street to 7 Tequilas Restaurant after a worship service at St. James. Scott's cell number is 678-521-2135 if there's a problem.

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Journey with God, Wk. 33: Yellow and White

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Worship and Gathering
Rita brought worship from Enriching Our Worship, edited to fit our group. I saw an emphasis on Wisdom, personified as "she." We were concerned for our missing friends.

Rita asked for our favorite snack. Pretzels got three votes, at least. Apple with peanut butter, peanuts (in the shell, shared with Brandy the dog), popcorn, vegetable chips and rice cakes, chips and salsa, and "anything salty."

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Kaye and Joyce.

Respond
Kaye wasn't feeling well, but she sent us our questions in advance.

First, we brainstormed associations with the color yellow. It's the color of cowardice, caution, some great foods and flowers, and some disease. It's gender-neutral. "I feel sorry for yellow." Lanie was dressed in yellow!

It was a great exercise of imagination to associate yellow with our materials of the week. Daniel's friends danced in yellow-hot fire. Daniel also stands for truth against yellow-bellied liars. Peter and Jude give CAUTION signals about false teachers. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. made Black Gospel music central to his history of a Black culture all its own, not dependent on, nor a problem to be solved by, whites -- and Scott associated this with a memory of African-American women singing gospel in matching yellow dresses.

Another question had us consider a diagram that related modes of prayer circling "written liturgy." Lanie saw that the modes of prayer, read clockwise, corresponded to the Lord's Prayer. Mason connected prayer with the song of the three young men in our liturgy. Michael gave us a concise version of the Apocryphal story of Bel -- a funny tale of how Daniel caught the Babylonians faking their own "miracle" for their "god." The story was written in Roman times, but must have seemed to Roman officers to be just old folk tales.

Rita, near the end of four years with EfM, took the long view. It's time to take faith out into the world. She was especially moved by the hopeful thought that "we may still be the early church." She took comfort from the improvisational nature of so much in our tradition. We don't have to know the answers or to solve all the world's problems. She agreed, she is not a "doomer," to use a neologism that cropped up on NPR this week.

Reflect
Susan brought a poem by Richard Wilbur, "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World." It sounds pretty rarified, but the subject was laundry. We focused on a prayer that emerges around the middle: "Let there be nothing on earth but laundry."

Clean, fresh, extra-crispy, simple, uncomplicated: even our youngest friends had strong recollections of laundry on a line. What can "break" that world? The stiffness of the towels, a rain, a high wind, smoke, or bird poop (second week in a row for that to enter our discussion).

We connected this to our tradition through Linen Guild, Mary and Martha (laundry surely was a point of contention for them), the blessing of new choir robes at St. James, and the idea of the saints in their white robes, "washed in the blood of the Lamb." We thought of Lazarus and Jesus in their burial sheets.

In our culture, there's a shady aspect to white linen. Criminals "launder" money, and scandals are called "dirty linen." Unpleasant truths "will all come out in the wash." Immigrants have made their living laundering dirty clothes. Some of us are old enough to remember early washing machines with wringers attached: clean cloth would be "run through the wringer" by hand crank to squeeze out every drop of water.

We don't always have a lot of connections to the "Position" source, but this time? Cleanliness is next to Godliness, we were taught, though John the Baptist sounds not very clean. A hymn tells us that we are spirits "robed in flesh." We are Body AND Soul, Lanie said. We had a side discussion about the camaraderie that one finds in a laundromat.

Insights and applications? If your soul is pure, you'll be in those white robes. Like the laundry, you didn't start clean. You must be "wrung through" the "wringer," go through a process -- and it's not something you do for yourself.

At this point, we often write a collect, but Wilbur got there first. He ends his poem with a prayer for those who need to be forgiven, for those at the start of life's journy, for those who balance "body" and "spirit":

Let there be clean linen for the backs of thieves;
Let lovers go fresh and sweet to be undone,
And the heaviest nuns walk in a pure floating
Of dark habits,
 keeping their difficult balance.

For Monday:
Michael brings worship; Susan chooses questions; Lanie brings kindling for the TR.

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Journey with God, Wk. 32: X-ray, X-clusion, and X-pression of Love

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Worship and Gathering
Lanie led opening prayers from the New Zealand BCP. It felt wonderfully new and yet somehow familiar. It was the Lord's Prayer re-imagined through NZ Maori culture!

Lanie asked us about memorable Mother's Day gifts. That eventually played into the theme of our TR! We shared about earrings delivered by infant son and new dog...being a mother to cats... Father's plan to have the family bond in raft rides down the Chattahoochee (and it worked!)... a handmade card, and cards each year bearing three brothers' (growing) handprints... a lovely gift from the husband to his wife on Father's Day, the year he became a father... the first Mother's Day as a mother... a dachsund rescued and given by Jessica and Jeremy... and, after years of trying to have a child, the adoption (on Mother's Day) of a daughter.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None. We were all on time!

Respond
One of Rita's chosen questions was to imagine an "X-ray" of the material we engaged with this week. We took a moment to X-amine the X-ray of a hand to think of what it shows: underlying structure, a clear look at what's hidden, a transparent ghost of surrounding soft tissue, the connections.

We spoke generally. Michael connected the book of Tobit to "hidden," as it is one of the "Apocryphal" ("hidden") books from those gap centuries between Malachi and the time of Jesus. Mason X-rayed the sophisticated structure of the story, its foreshadowing and parallelisms. Noting that the story was written close to Jesus's time, Scott X-rayed this tale of a kind Jew struggling under cruel Assyrian masters to be an expression of encouragement for Jews under the Romans.

Lanie wondered about the "hidden" fate of Peter, crucified upside-down (so as not to be equated with Jesus). (I was mistaken: It was Andrew, not his brother Peter, who was crucified on an X-shaped cross.)

Kaye had read Rowan Williams who connected properties of our minds (understanding of the present, memory of the past, anticipation of the future) to spiritual qualities, love, faith, and hope. Love is not just doing good things, but a deep abiding respect for the world. Scott remembered being taught in an evangelical Bible study to hate the world. This Bishop's teaching is so different!

Joyce and Susan had read Year 3, about the rise of the evangelical right in late 20th century America. We got into a side-discussion of how Clinton, Bushes I and II, and Obama all developed close friendships that were evident at Bush I's funeral, and that remain to this day. For details from a book called The Presidents' Club, see Scott's blogpost from August 2012, Partners Across Party Lines. (Also, Scott pointed out that he's practically W's cousin, as Scott's dad named him for Scott Pierce, W's uncle and Tom Smoot's fraternity brother. You can see Scott in biking gear visiting cousin W's birthplace Cycling Virtually Across America: Midland TX)

When we wondered about Rita's second question, about exclusion, Tobit again came up. Mason said, "The story gives voice to four women!" When did that ever happen before? Scott was delighted that a friendly faithful dog follows Tobit's son Tobias throughout the story - the only friendly dog that Scott has found in all of Scripture.

Lanie connected exclusion to both James and Peter, both excluded from the Jewish communities that they had been faithful members of, and also excluded as foreigners by the Roman Empire. Kaye cited a statement by Bishop Desmond Tutu that shocked some people, "God is not a Christian!" (For one thing, He was God long before there were Jews or Jesus on earth.) Jessica had read about the marginalized homeless people of our society, and how their presence affects the spirituality of Christians as we all respond in different ways to homelessness.

From this discussion, Scott posed this question: We know parts of Scripture that call for exclusion and even extermination of groups (every man, woman, child, and animal) while other parts of Scripture call for love and service to "the alien" and tell us that God's plan is for ALL nations to be drawn to Him. "After a year in EfM, how do you deal with these contradictions?"

We had very thoughtful answers. Mason started, "You try to contextualize why certain scriptures were written certain ways." Our recent reading by Sue Monk Kidd gave a good answer, that we should approach the Bible as "more of a person than a book." It develops, it goes through phases, it reaches maturity, it relates to us.

Reflect
Jessica brought us a four-leaf clover that her father picked on the grounds of her beloved summer camp on her wedding day. She explained that she had always liked four-leaf clovers. We saw it, pressed in a frame, along with a photo of her father (described as a "softie") on the day, holding the clover up to the camera. He had searched the field for it, dressed in his tux. We focused on the blessing that he gave by his effort.

The blessing, if put in words, would be something like, "I'm giving you away, but you will always be my baby." We had done a good job of exploring the created nature of the world of this blessing. But what would be sin (or brokenness, or separation) in this world? Landscapers mow the ground, poison the clover that they would call "weeds." Father could've given up on the search too soon. He could've taken himself too seriously to crouch in his tux -- so undignified! Redemption is in the connection that this humble gift created that has lasted all these years.

Connecting to our Tradition, we thought of many parents' blessings to children - Isaac to Jacob (by Jacob's malfeasance!), Eli as foster father to Samuel. We could've mentioned Naomi blessing her daughter-in-law Ruth. Jacob forced the angel to bless him and he got a new name with his new life -- as a daughter gets a new name in marriage, perhaps. Where is the element of the token, such as the clover? Kaye wondered about the oil pressed on our foreheads in Baptism -- passed down from generation to generation, "like sourdough starter," to leaven our lives and all the Church through the centuries.

From experience and culture, we thought of Mason's Mother's Day card blessed by handprints of three sons, and "Luke, I am your father." Scott told the anecdote from psychologist Carl Jung who handed his patient a scarab beetle that had just entered the window -- the very object of a dream she had been struggling to explain. Joyce told us about bringing her daughter on a long road trip to Atlanta where her grandfather was able to find her the toy she wanted most for her fifth birthday, Thomas the Train. The blessing was not only in the toy, but in the grandfather, so touched by her joy.

Insights and applications: in a hypothetical sermon on this subject, how would you answer listeners' unspoken question, "What does this have to do with us?" We can give people things much more valuable than they seem to be... Small gestures can mean so much, especially when they connect past to present, one to another... Value goes way beyond cost... Time and patience are gifts in themselves -- "Gifts we all need more of!" ...You have to get out of yourself to know people well enough to understand what will be precious to them.

Collect relating to blessings Father of us all, You who know us in the depths of our being, before we were in our mother's womb (Jeremiah). You know what we need before even we know.... thank you for providing it. Thank You for loving us in a way more than we could ever deserve. We know that you express your love for us through the actions of those around us. Thank you for the shared experiences that hold us together, those precious things we value that come from you. Grant us loving hearts and perceptive minds to know and serve one another; help us to love like you love, with deep contemplative regard for others, for the world, for you. In the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

For Monday:
We engage with materials for Week 33. Rita leads worship, Kaye selects the questions, and Susan will provide kindling for the TR.

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Journey with God, Wk. 31: Transforming Broken Fragments; Repurposing a Warship

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Worship and Gathering
For worship, Kaye used a striking poem by John O'Donohue about any given day being a "eucharist of the ordinary," "transforming our broken fragments" of time into a "continuity." Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the whole thing. The General Thanksgiving summed up our feelings. She concluded with "O Gracious Light."

Keeping with the theme of "an ordinary day," Kaye asked what our favorite days are. Monday, after a successful EFM meeting, or Tuesday after teaching yoga class... Good things in my life have often happened on Tuesdays... Any day Liam sees Grandma, and Saturdays at home with the family... Friday when no alarm clock's necessary and when the same friends have met for Mexican dinner for 30 years... Saturday mornings at the Farmers Market... TGIF... and just being home.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Respond
Jessica sent questions out to the group by email. One concerned the "Welcome" sign outside most Episcopal Churches and a number of questions about "welcome" in the materials we engaged with. The other question concerned what it means to lead a Godly life. Years 1 and 2 met together in a breakout room (with Susan, too) for discussion of intra- and inter- mural conflict revealed in the minor prophets and the letter to the Hebrews -- the opposite of "welcome," it seems. Years 3 and 4 met in another breakout room where focus was very much on how to lead a Godly life, including the part played by singing hymns together. Hymn writer Carl Daw extolled the 1982 hymnal for "welcoming" new sources in a collection that retains traditional music and poetry over 1000 years old.

Lanie spoke from experience about the hymns in our collection that come from other traditions. She's grateful that we sing ALL the verses of the hymns, because they typically tell a story or build a complete thought that you miss if you skip to the end.

We heard that retired Archbishop Rowan Williams wrote that the essence of discipleship is not about going out to conquer, but just "following" Jesus. Scott wondered aloud what it means to "follow" Jesus when all we have of him is books and peoples' testimonies and theories. Everyone's readings came together to answer that question: Look for Jesus in others, as we promise in our baptismal covenant; find him where he always hung out, i.e. with the poor and the outcasts; being committed to growth over a lifetime. Of course, participate in worship and prayer with the rest of his body, the Church. Kaye tied this to welcome when she told of her visit to St. Philips in Texas, whose website asked any visitor, "What can we do for you to make you a better disciple?"

photos by Michael

Reflect
Michael brought us a nail from the USS Constitution, oldest continuously active ship in our national fleet. Is the nail authentic, or just an authentic copy? We focused on something Michael said early on, that the only original wood in the ship is below the keel where you can't see it; all above that has been painstakingly redone with newer materials.

We decided to imagine ourselves to be crew on a ship that's half and half original and restored. We imagined the creaking sounds, the smell of the Georgia pine, the flapping sails, and confidence in the construction: we're safe.

Where is sin in the world of this ship? It was created to kill. Its maintenance is expensive, its cannon annoying to the surrounding communities (especially when the crew shot off a barrage in a spiteful celebration of a lawsuit's failure to silence the ship).

"Redemption" this time turned out to be central to everything that followed. Yes, the ship was built to kill, but it has been repurposed to be a moving monument and a place where visitors feel connected to our past and inspired by our ideals. Susan pointed out that we automatically personify the ship, so this is a "personal" redemption.

We connected variously to boats and sailing, and could imagine this world easily. When we connected to Tradition, we hit a lode of valuable insights. Mason reminded us that the Church itself has long been compared to a ship, so that we call our central worship space the "nave" (same root as "navy"). Like the USS Constitution, our Episcopal Church has maintained the old design even while replacing so much of its old prejudices and violence. Paul himself started as a killing machine, and he retained a lot of his gung-ho personality when he shifted towards community-building. His analogy to the "body" could be applied to the crew of a ship; and becoming a Christian is also like the ship, as what people may see only looks like the same old person you were. The Cross itself was an instrument of torture, now a symbol of new life and hope.

For Monday:
Lanie leads worship. Jessica will bring "kindling" to start a TR. And Rita has already sent out the questions for week 32:

Happy Tuesday everyone!
I've chosen the first two questions from the Respond section for our discussion next week:

• If you were to take an X-ray of the world of your Engage assignment this week, what perspectives, contexts, beliefs, and behaviors would be illuminated?
• How have you experienced the inclusion or exclusion of people in your Engage assignment this year? In your journey with God? How does this impact your call to service?

Here's the poem that Kaye used for our worship:

The Inner History of a Day

No one knew the name of this day;
Born quietly from deepest night,
It hid its face in light,
Demanded nothing for itself,
Opened out to offer each of us
A field of brightness that traveled ahead,
Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps
And the light of thought to show the way.

Born quietly from deepest night,
It hid its face in light,
Demanded nothing for itself,
Opened out to offer each of us
A field of brightness that traveled ahead,
Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps
And the light of thought to show the way.

The mind of the day draws no attention;
It dwells within the silence with elegance
To create a space for all our words,
Drawing us to listen inward and outward.

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place
Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides
That is more gracious than the smallness
That fuels us with fear and force,
A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.

So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.

John O’Donohue (1954-2008) To Bless The Space Between Us, A Book of Blessings

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Journey with God, Wk. 30: It's Not Enough to Know

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Looking back over the whole evening, I find the theme that knowing is not enough. Knowing the facts is only part of the truth: meaning is something beyond facts.

Worship and Gathering
Mason turned words from 1 Peter into a liturgy of praise. For a GQ, he asked if the past week had been more busy or more restful? Busy - with an 8th grader preparing for high school, with a five-month-old, with a graduating college student preparing to intern at a theatre. Busy avoiding what you're supposed to do; slowing down after illness.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Rita sent word that she would have to miss.

Respond
We started just sharing whatever we'd wanted to ask or tell about the week's materials, and we used mutual invitation to move the discussion along.

The questions that Scott sent out before we met both had to do with holding onto positions. One was about adapting; the other was about our sense of how "facts" relate to "truth." This continued the response last week to a quotation, "I take Scripture too seriously to take it literally."

We discussed a lot, but the TR brought out a delightful illustration of how something can be "true" whether it's factual or not. For several minutes, we discussed the parable of the Prodigal Son as if it were factual, before we had to recognize that it's a made up story that involves us personally in truth that 's stronger -- more affecting, more layered with meaning, and more revealing of God's nature -- than fact.

Reflect
Rita couldn't join us, but she sent these lines to be our "kindling" for this TR:

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway,
or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

We responded solely to the image that the words evoked in us. (We might have responded differently had we revealed that this is from a poem by the Irish firebrand William Butler Yeats.) We sidestepped poetry analysis and entered the world created by the words: it's an internal sound, a memory. Feelings are of longing, peace, melancholy, wistfulness. "Sin" or "brokenness" would be tourists on jet skis, an alligator rising from the water, the sight of pollution, the buzzing of a cellphone -- any distraction to break the spell. What could then redeem or "restore" the world when it's broken? Get distance: you may not recapture, but in reflection, you may discover a new feeling. This was a surprising and promising thought.

We connected to this set of thoughts and feelings. Susan, Mason, and Scott have all been to Brushy Mountain Tunnel on the Silver Comet Trail where the slightest sound carries hundreds of yards in a vast echo chamber. The sound of waves in a conch shell still can conjure a treasured memory, Mason said. We could identify with a happy memory that we have to remind ourselves of.

What have we been taught about this kind of melancholy reminiscence? "Snap out of it!" was one response. But we were also reminded of guided meditations. Susan related that to an Episcopal tradition, the Labyrinth (though she was immune to its charms, distracted by holes in her socks.)

We found several examples in Scripture of people who look back with longing: Adam and Eve, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Psalmist who couldn't bear to sing the songs of Zion by the waters of Babylon, and the Hebrews remembering the good old days in Egypt.

When we looked for insights, we had a couple of surprises. We might look back and say, "If I only knew then what I knew now," but our Scriptures tell us that KNOWING is not enough: the Prodigal Son must have known that his stash of cash couldn't last long away from the bounty of his father's land, and the Israelites were warned by the prophets before the Exile, and even after the return to Jerusalem, Joel had to remind God's people to behave: "Rend your hearts and not your garments."

The theme that emerged from our talk, "It's not enough to know something," arose also in Mason's choice for a closing prayer. "Knowing" is only one small part of a process, according to Saint Augustine:

All shall be Amen and Alleluia.
We shall rest and we shall see.
We shall see and we shall know.
We shall know and we shall love.
We shall love and we shall praise.
Behold our end, which is no end.

Let that be our collect!

Mason had more for us, from Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (author of the beloved Father Brown mystery series). The swiftest things are the softest things. A bird is active, because a bird is soft. A stone is helpless, because a stone is hard. The stone must by its own nature go downwards, because hardness is weakness. The bird can of its nature go upwards, because fragility is force. In perfect force there is a kind of frivolity, an airiness that can maintain itself in the air.... A characteristic of the great saints is their power of levity. Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.

Mason left us with this question, to apply what we'd heard and thought: "As this day closes, what burdens can we lay down?"

For Monday:
Kaye will bring worship and a gathering question. Jessica will choose two questions from the choices given by EfM in the "response" tab. Michael brings "kindling" for a TR.

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Journey with God, Wk. 28-29: Cabbage Patch and Cathedral

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Worship and Gathering
Scott brought a worship liturgy based on poetry by Mary Oliver, who was singled out by the author of week 28's essay, Sister Elizabeth Grace. Link to Scott's Mary Oliver liturgy.

The GQ had to do with "spring cleaning." Everyone had a project to begin -- or avoid! Scrubbing the green off the deck... new plants to replace the dead ones that make the house look like the Addams Family ... boxes of books to cull... getting the house ready to show... the car... weeding... yardwork being done NOW!... Ambivalence about all the old kid stuff that will be lost now that the parents have put the childhood home up for sale...

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Jessica. Happy Anniversary!

Respond
Kaye took the 80-question spiritual inventory quiz. She made it sound not so bad.

When we applied to ourselves Sister Elizabeth Grace's idea of "ministry" as "service," we had some pretty intense stories of serving parents with dementia and cancer. A surprising idea was that the time of cancer was actually "the best time" because it drew Mother and Daughter closer then ever. The daughter told the doctors in no uncertain terms, "My Mother is not your Science Project! Put her in hospice and stop experimenting on her!"

In breakout rooms, we heard each other discuss what we read about ecumenism in the 20th century, "Power" dressed up in flags v. "Justice" in an apron. Former Archbishop Rowan Williams answered the difficult question about prayers "unanswered" as when a child does not get better. Williams said that "God does not make choices," but is in us as we channel God's love to those who need it. The "Prophetic Way" of spirituality exemplified by well-known activists includes their habits of contemplation -- which kept them focused, and energized, when others grew bitter and burnt out.

Cologne Cathedral in progress

Reflect
Scott shared his memory of a catered gala atop the Petroleum Club, all planned and financed with sales of homemade cabbage patch dolls by a trio of 7th grade girls who carried their plan to fruition in the spring of 8th grade. That planning -- selfless, considerate, disciplined, flexible, perseverant -- became the focus of our TR.

Exploring When we imagined a time line from the story, our interest was mostly at the start, when the girls conceived their idea, long before they proved it to be workable. The world of the girls' plan was imaginative, with determination, inclusion. Sin would have been losing interest, not being supported by the adults in charge, or other "outside" obstacles (e.g., another flood in Jackson like the one in 1979).

Connections and Insights included medieval cathedrals (planned without blueprints, no credit taken) and Temple reconstruction... The Devil in the White City about Olmstead's vision for the Chicago World's Fair and his advice, "Make no SMALL plans... aim high, hope, work..." Planning ahead is not just for youth but for elders, too. You have to be resilient -- things will get in the way of the plans. There are Oz connections, naturally: the cohort of travelers aim for the Emerald City, and L. Frank Baum's dad was chief carpenter building the "White City" -- which inspired his son to imagine the "Emerald City" where inhabitants were required to wear green-tinted glasses.

Collect Great Architect of our world, we persistently undermine your plans for a Paradise: when we cooperate, inspire us to make "no little plans" but great ones to "stir the blood," and give us resilience and flexibility when our plans go awry, that we may bring beauty, surprise, and joy to the people around us.

For Monday:
Mason brings worship; Rita brings a source for our TR. We engage with materials at the "Week 30" tab.

PLANNING: We are tentatively scheduled to meet at St. James Episcopal Church, Marietta GA, on Tuesday, May 26th, 6pm. Dinner on Marietta's fashionable Church Street to follow.

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Journey with God, Wks. 26 & 27 combined: Community Gathering

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Worship and Gathering
We began with a GQ to acclimate our guests to the group. Worship was the General Thanksgiving.

We also gave the guests a look at the covenant we created back in September.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Guests: Anne, Laila. Absent: Mason. .

Respond

At Susan's suggestion, Scott gave an overview of Theological Reflections. In breakout rooms, participants shared thoughts about Sue Monk Kidd's memoir God's Joyful Surprise. Coming back together, participants took turns telling what they heard their friends say.

Then participants answered questions about the reading material and how people at different years in their journey can still find common threads to discuss. Susan and Kaye expressed appreciation for EfM's success in mapping out the year to highlight themes across all years.

Reflect
For closing worship, Scott brought back a collect from a TR we did last year.

Looking ahead

• This is week 26 & 27, combined. We won’t meet April 06, Easter Monday.
• When we do meet again April 13, we’ll again combine weeks, 28 & 29. That’ll mean that everyone reads a six page essay for week 28 along with their usual materials for week 29. Scott will bring worship, a question, and kindling for a TR.
• We’ll be on track to finish lesson 35 on the fourth Monday of May!

We have a tentative plan to meet for worship and dinner in the last week of May. Our friends from afar think they might have a good excuse to come out this way, and Lanie offered her home for travelers.

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Journey with God, Wk. 25: Truth, Wonder, and Competition

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Worship and Gathering
Joyce apportioned lines of the General Thanksgiving to give us a very positive worship. Her GQ was about plans for Easter. Singing hours and hours... avoiding the incense... Introducing Liam to the Easter bunny... Holy Week services out of town... spontaneous travel (don't know where or when)... grown up Egg Hunt in the mountains... family get-together. Scott suspects he'll be chained to the church's copier making service bulletins.

We also prayed Michael's collect for last week's TR.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Rita.

Respond
One of the questions that Susan chose was about the promise that "the Truth will set you free." But, how? What does that mean to you, especially in light of your materials this week? Michael said that the harsh truths of Hosea and Amos hurt but ultimately saved God's people. Since Ba'al and Ashterah and such gods as those aren't present in our culture, we might wonder, do those prophets have anything we need to hear? Michael said we make gods out of money and self-promotion.

Kaye said it's not the Truth if we have settled the answers: the sense of wonder must be present. She described a video that EfM offered, showing her the life of a bear, just being a bear -- and the wonder that engendered. Wondering, asking: you never get the final answers. Later, in our TR, we talked about Paul's image of a race -- where you always run towards "the upward call" of Jesus -- the Truth is a moving target, because it grows and deepens as we grow and deepen!

Jessica jumped on those ideas. She and the rest of us spent some time discussing the wonder of impressionist paintings, in which artists tried to capture a present moment (where previous artists tried to represent the sweep of a whole story with an implied judgment). Fun fact from Susan: Did you know that painting in full light outside a studio was made possible by paint tubes?

Susan was disheartened by how easily and completely that Christians and their leaders joined in with the Nazis.

Joyce told us about Swiss theologian Karl Barth who, after philosopher Kierkegaard, said there are limits to what reason or our cultural products can do: faith is a leap beyond that gap. We wondered, is that something like Kaye's "wonder?" Kaye said, "Faith requires openness."

Lanie was thinking about honesty and the truth-telling of Paul in his letters. She appreciated Paul's particular affection for the Philippians. Mason jumped in with Hosea's attack on the dishonesty of the merchants who used weighted scales to charge more.

Write a sermon was the other question, with emphasis on experience that opens up the scriptures to a listener.

Our sermon titles included "Spiritual Communities: Not Kum-ba-ya but Unions" "Finding God's Presence in Care for an Infant" "Hosea's Openness to Forgiving his Faithless Wife".

Joyce actually preached a sermonette: Liturgy has taken this little group of ours from such different backgrounds to unite us in common pursuit. Look at the Prayer for Unity of the Church. The world sees a church on every corner in American towns. Why? Can we unify more?

Reflect
Mason brought us a song by the group Amble (album cover copied above). Our first impressions were on-target: cheerful mandolin and yet melancholy theme and harmony. A repeating phrase "we don't belong" is countered by another phrase, "we all belong to the same road" only we'll get there our own ways. The title "Tonnta," a Gaelic word for "waves" gave us the sense of push and pull, build up and crash, leading to the push and pull of competition. We focused on an element of competition in the words: "Only one will win."

We explored the idea that "only one will win." The storm that threatens also unites all in the struggle.

Sinking below the waves, failing to get back-up, purposefully hurting the competition -- these introduce sin into the world we're exploring.

Redemption: When the vision shifts from one experience to that of all, the picture of competition changes: Even if you don't come in first, the competition itself builds and joins -- so even the losers win.

We could connect this to our experiences in sports and games, camaraderie and learning how to lose gracefully. Our culture is more insistent on just one competitor winning -- examples of NFL, NBA, a nephew's championship ring, and the relentless preparations for dance competitions that took the fun out of dance. In Scripture, we connected to Paul's race for an "incorruptible" prize in a race that seems to have no finish line, but an "upward call" of Jesus.

Insights? The finish line is like a beginning... as you get deeper in faith, the temptation to out-Christian other people should be resisted; instead, help others along, to find your own road... We found we had come back to Mason's song! We returned to the song, wondering at its sparseness and melancholy: it's saying something positive but is tinged with regret -- at the way this world has to be.

For closing prayer, Joyce brought the oldest Benediction in the Bible - "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace, and be gracious unto you." (Smoot's quoting from memory: his mentor Frank Boggs closed every choral concert with that benediction.)

For Monday:
Scott will bring worship and some GQs designed to make any visitors feel at home. Joyce is thinking of a farewell blessing for the visitors when the session is over. After any guests leave, we'll debrief and take Holy Week off! (No TR). Bring your answer(s) to one or two of your favorite questions from these options:

Identify one sentence from the book that speaks most to your heart that you would like to share with the group. Bring that sentence to the seminar next week.

What does feeling like a “stranger before God” mean to you? When have you experienced being a “stranger before God?” What was that experience like for you? What gave you solace?

What is your idea of a God-centered life? In what ways do you live into a God-centered life? Who has helped you on your journey? How might community play a role in living a God-centered life?

Henri Nouwen says, “in solitude we meet God.” What significance have solitude and spiritual retreats held in your faith journey? How do such practices enrich your understanding of God’s plans for you?

What do you envision it would entail if you haven’t experienced this practice?

Kidd writes, “To refuse to answer honest questions of ourselves ultimately means shutting ourselves off from revelation.” What does asking honest questions about ourselves involve for you? What do you believe is the relationship between honesty and revelation? What else is needed for you to be open to God's revelation in your life?

Kidd writes, “December was a door through which I embarked upon something holy.” When have you had a December moment in your life? What did it portend for you? What do you need to be more aware of December moments going foward?

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Journey with God, Wk. 24: Reorientation, Hope, and Joy

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Worship and Gathering
Jessica brought worship organized around St. Patrick. We reacted to the weather, which has veered from 75 and sunny to sleeting in just 24 hours. After we'd longed for moderate sunny warmth, Joyce said, "Everyone [here] knows what I like." (Brrr!)

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Respond

Michael's Choices to Respond:

Where did you see reorientation or restoration in your Engage assignment this week? What is your experience with reorientation or restoration? What did that look like in your life or in your Engage assignment? We discussed this in breakout rooms and then shared. Answers showed up again in the TR -- especially when we were thinking of a collect.

Author Stephen Charleston wrote that making memories is one of our spiritual duties, along with being a light to others, and laughing! Scott mentioned a young father at last week's EFM mentor training who said that faith is "weird" to his kids' peers, so he's telling the stories of our faith and creating memories of our rites without demanding any doctrinal beliefs. We digressed a bit to remember childhoods: did the adults in our lives use stories and memories to teach us faith, or was it outright doctrinal instruction?

In the world of your assignment this week, what does hope look like? On what do you think that hope depends? How do you think hope might subvert despair? We found hope in Ezekiel, not just for Israel, but the whole world in a vision of a new temple in a new Eden. Even in Lamentations, we read that God will not cast us away forever.

Rita, expecting to miss all or most of our meeting, sent these thoughts ahead of time:

• This chapter of Sheldrake reminded me of Year 3 EfM. It's a chronology of developing ways of practical action through several centuries.
• I was really drawn to the info on the Wesley brothers and the development of "Methodism." AND how John had "a high view of the Eucharist ... and encouraging frequent communion." (I never heard that in the little Methodist church I grew up attending.)
• The videos were superb. i.e., St. Ignatius (with more on him at the close of the Sheldrake chapter) "Go forth and set the world on fire" and Dorothy Day who apparently tried to do exactly that!

After we reflected, we learned the artist Ellen Langford of Mississippi titled this "Connected to You 1"

Reflect
Kaye led our TR. The "kindling" was a 30-second look at this painting. Immediate reactions were about joy, playfulness, color, and movement. We looked again and wondered if we were seeing a stream? a home on stilts? laundry or clouds or both? Our focus became "colors create the moment."

What goes wrong in such a world? Color blindness, for sure. Also the kind of blindness that wants photographic realism.

Redemption is possible even in black and white because the shapes and the "leaning" quality give the viewer a feeling of playfulness and movement, regardless of colors.

Easter is associated with many of the colors; our tradition uses Liturgical colors to enhance moods. Jesus "painted pictures" with parables that were colorful, drawn in bold strokes, pared down to the essentials, usually a little unpredictable.

We had an insight: this is the painting of a moment, but it's also eternal: it lives for us when we see it, though the moment has long passed, and moments like it will live again -- like any mythic story, it's true because it keeps happening. This opened our reflection up to the Resurrection as an eternal moment. We agreed that our Spiritual Autobiographies often gave us moments that looked backwards and forwards at the same time: i.e., eternal.

For Monday:
Joyce leads worship, Mason brings something to kindle a TR, and Susan has chosen these two questions for our discussion:

• It is said that “God loves truth” and “the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). How has this aspect of the Christian faith played out in your assignment? In what ways might truth set you free? In what ways has truth been defined or redefined in your Engage assignment? In what ways is truthfulness part of your spirituality?
• Suppose you were asked to write a sermon about your Engage assignment this week. What do the people you are preaching to need to hear about your reading, watching, and listening? What personal examples come to mind that connect what you are learning with the present moment?

In addition, Michael has pulled our notes together to fashion a collect:

Eternal Father, we acknowledge that, through you, all things came into being and that there is beauty in all of your creation. You restored sight to the blind; we pray that we will never be blind to your creation. Please grant us mindfulness and recognition to see your handiwork in everything. Thank you for the beauty in the people and places around us and for your divine providence.

In Week 26, we may have some visitors for our discussion of Sue Monk Kidd. See questions in our Week 24 blog post.

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Journey with God, Wk. 23: STORMS SWEEP SOUTH, CREATIVITY CARRIES ON

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Worship and Gathering
Lanie brought us prayers and scriptures about light: very appropriate! Her gathering questions were about Daylight Savings Time -- our reactions, and those of our animal companions. There were challenges of technology resetting clocks and bad attitudes.

In real time, thunderstorms and tornadoes swept from Kaye's neighborhood in Mississippi to Rita's in Alabama on to the Atlanta area.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Respond

"Respond" Question #2: Imagine you are a reporter assigned to write an article about your Engage assignment this week. What would your headline be? What would be the lead? Whose profile would you include as a feature story?

• VISITORS REPORT INTENSE LIGHT FROM MYSTIC SERAPHIM.
• EVOLUTIONIST DARWIN SHAKING YOUR BELIEF?
• LOCAL CRAZY MAN PREDICTS DOOM, GOES TO JAIL. Jeremiah reversed centuries of prophecy and said to surrender to Babylonian army.
• PAUL OF TARSUS LAYS GROUND RULES FOR NEW FAITH.
• "I SEE BONES" SAYS NATURALIST DARWIN.
• "THEY'VE DONE IT NOW!" PROPHET PREDICTS DISASTER FOR BREAKING OF COVENANT. Exclusive interview with sidekick Baruch.
• DOES THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER PROMOTE MYSTICISM? Russian Mystic Gregory raises questions.
• SAFE SPACE NECESSARY SAYS ANGLICAN NUN.

We also discussed "safe spaces" in the materials and in our lives. We heard of "safe space" as a top goal for children's Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Reclusive mystic provided safe space for visitors. Jeremiah says there's no "safe place" from Yahweh's rule... except maybe Jeremiah found appreciation in Babylon? ...Paul's prison stay must've been comfortable because it allowed him visitors and opportunity to compose his longest most thought-out letter...... Julian of Norwich found safety and love in spite of illness and difficulties in her world.

Our safe places: Singing in choir... home -- visitors there won't be judged... "Safe Space" program at KSU and sticker on the door to be a haven for LGBTQ+ students... "I am safe within myself" ...kneeling at church.

Reflect
A mind-map spread out in several directions from the word "passion." We found energy in a cluster of words stretching from southwest on the map to the northeast: art, color, music, harmony, memories all related to passion.

Looking for a single image, we took a minute to imagine ourselves at the moment just before the first dab of paint, the first note, the first step onstage. That moment in its fullness (Creation) carries with it all the disciplined preparation, proper posture and deep breath, eyes open, excitement, anticipation. What creeps in also (Sin) is getting in your own head, analyzing too much, fear of failure, lack of confidence. You know it (Judgment) when you feel those butterflies in the stomach, when you think, "Wait! Do I know (my first line... the right note... the right place on the canvas)?" Redemption comes in just doing it -- "Sometimes you just have to start" and you can make it right as you go. Besides, there's forgiveness in an eraser, in another sheet of paper, in an audience allowing you to start over (ex. LION KING snafu).

While we did connect this to Scripture (Peter takes a step onto the water) and to Culture (Caesar crosses the Rubicon), our connections to this went sideways to a surprising connection: BAPTISM. There's a hymn for it: "No turning back!" We imagined Baptism as a moment when WE become a fresh new creation. I guess that makes GOD the artist. Like us, he does not know how it will turn out -- the art has a life of its own, we observed.

We used chat for an application of this TR to our lives: "I think... so I will...":

• I think I am on the right path so I will with God's help try to stay on it.
• I won't let fear keep from experiencing something new. So i will trust in the Lord and just do it.
• I think our discussion of baptism is a reminder that through the sacrament of baptism we are all made new, so during this Lenten season I will remember to trust in God's will who makes all things possible.
• I think I've not taken the time to be creative/ explore my own creativity lately... So I will seek a project to EXPRESS my creativity.
• I think I should be more focused on the study of spiritual things. So, I will make time to do so.
• I think our Christian journey is a beautiful, personal process (art), so I will try not to let overthinking, perfectionism, or anxiety guide my faith.
• I know I'm a new creation in Christ, so I will be more intentional about being what God intends me to be.

For Monday:
Jessica will lead worship. Michael will tell us which "respond" questions to think about before we meet. Kaye will bring kindling for a TR and will lead it in a tag team with Scott. Think who else would like to lead a TR? Everyone read for week 24, and remember to do 20 pages in Kidd -- and think whom you might invite to participate in our discussion of Kidd in week 26.

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Journey with God, Mentor Training "Foundations" 2026

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Our cohort bonded immediately as trainer Fr. Christopher Halliday (Zooming in from Manchester, England) led us through a number of gathering questions in a row. Who are you and where are you? Tell us something about your Efm group. How are you feeling about this training session right this minute? What's something about you that people wouldn't know from looking? (We found all kinds of personal connections through geography, surgery experiences, music. Surprise: Ben(nie) Green was the model for GI Joe's Tuskegee Airmen action figure.)

Christopher asked for a volunteer to guide a TR that would lead to a covenant. With no more preparation than that, Bryson read a portion of scripture about making a covenant, asked us what jumped out, and we were off.

For a break, we had another Gathering Question: Show us an object in the room you're in and tell us what's important about it. I zoomed in on souvenirs of the Sondheim Summer at Kennedy Center in 2002, and said it was the place I discovered my tribe. Another surprise: Christopher, Katie, and Ben are all Sondheim fans. Ben was at the Sondheim Summer, too.

Another GQ: our favorite example from the Culture source? By the end of that, we had discovered many shared enthusiasms that turned up again in later discussions -- Frederick Buechner, songs of John Prine, Black Gospel Quartets.

Over the three days, as we shared three angles on our spiritual autobiographies (through different experiences of "otherness") we deepened community. I also stored up vicarious experiences -- Black Baptist church made up of mostly relatives, "coming home" to the Episcopal Church on a whim during a road trip, a potty-mouthed Australian nun leading a Buddhist retreat in Tibet, warm hospitality among Southern bigots, and the young father in a secular community who has concluded what to pass on to his children: the stories of our faith, and a comfort with the idea of ritual, so that they will at least be open to faith in the future (while it's "weird" to their school friends). Also: One of us told of applying improv technique ("Yes! And...?") when a mentally disturbed man singled them out to hear his ramblings. The following day, the man came back to our friend to say, perfectly lucidly, "Remember when you talked to me? I'll always remember that!" (Our words or even listening can have an effect.)

Ben and I led a TR that went very well, derived from the list of things we'd shown on camera the day before. As a group, we went to "the cozy shirt." While we accumulated many positive aspects of the cozy shirt, an undercurrent of loss emerged (as, for instance, Ben's green cap from the family reunion where he last saw his mother and brother). Redemption was found in giving away the old clothes, or finding new uses for them. (Tom's quilt, visible behind him, seemed to me a ready-made image.)

For her TR, Katie brought a loopy realistic painting that involved a jacked shirtless Gen Z man fording a nun on his back through a river, while she battles vicious pink flamingoes with a violin bow. Katie closed the file and asked our immediate reactions before she opened it again for us to ask questions that arose. From that we found a theme - world inverted -- and came up with an image: a triangle balanced on one point. Another TR kindled by an ICE incident led to the image of "The Shrug." A mind map around the word "Passion" (thanks to Bryson and James) led to the image of lightning. Tom sent us this image to wrap up most of these:

Note to self: When a person finished their autobiography, they invited someone else to speak: that signaled the end of the story. The person who accepts the invitation begins by thanking them and offering a period of silence to let the story sink in. Only at the end of the session did Christopher say the prayer "For what has been..."

Application at the end of a TR can be a single sentence: "I think... so I will...."

TR: Christopher tells his seminar NOT to bring in a religious work of art for a TR: "It's already been done for us."

Prayer of Sir Francis Drake brought to us by our fellow trainee Frances.
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little;
When we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;
To push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.Amen.

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Journey with God, Wk. 22: Silence and the Fear of God

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Worship and Gathering
We prayed for the Kellys and Jessica; Scott divvied up "The General Thanksgiving" for everyone to have a portion. Reciting those words with his dog Brandy beside him is a cherished morning routine. What do others cherish in their mornings? Time taken to make good French press coffee... sitting down with the now-defunct AJC, or settling for the MDJ with coffee... WORDLE... listening to NPR with a cat.

Yr. D, 1st yr: Michael, Mason; 2nd yr: Lanie; 3rd yr: Joyce, Susan; 4th yr, Jessica, Rita; 5th yr "Wide Angle," Kaye. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Rita, Jessica. Joyce was stuck on 285 until the TR.

Respond
For a warm-up, we shared what engaged us in the material this past week.

• "Comfort ye my people" in Isaiah was a phrase familiar to Michael from singing, very powerful now in the context of words to people in exile: "You shall soar like eagles..."
• Mason added that Isaiah was "overwhelming" with so much content! It's sometimes called "the 5th gospel" as Isaiah's vision undergirds the gospels with the "Suffering Servant" and the hope of salvation from exile (in Isaiah's time) or from occupation (in the apostles' time).
• Susan read about evangelicalism's development in the 19th century, a response to industrialization and urbanization, with both a social justice branch and a personal salvation branch.
• Lanie was drawn into the story of Paul, Onesimus, and the slaveowner Philemon.
• Kaye shared the theme of "beauty" as a part of spirituality. Example: The Book of Kells, and the lovely text from Isaiah 58:11, "You shall be like a watered garden..."

We took turns responding to questions posted on the website. Consider quiet, said one question. Who was forced to be quiet in what you read, watched, or listened to? What is your comfort level with quietness? Susan observed, "As more social justice issues came into play, the church was giving voice to people who had not been heard before." She added, "Personally, I like to sit in church before the service, listening to choir practice." Michael heard, not "silence" per se, but “gentleness and comfort” in Isaiah, along with celebratory shouts of joy. Lanie observed that Onesimus MUST have spoken to Paul, and must have spoken up for himself to make Paul aware of his wishes, but we don't hear that he spoke up for himself. Mason said "Kings will shut their mouths in "astonishment" as "that which they had not heard" of the Suffering Servant "they will contemplate."

This idea of humility confronting power came up in our TR, too. It's why the opening lines of CATS have been playing in my head all day: "Would you look at a king? / Would you sit on his throne?" (because cats would, naturally).

Humility came up in the next questions about SERVANTHOOD, HUMILITY, and SELF-SACRIFICE. Where do you find examples of servanthood, humility, and self-sacrifice in what you studied this week? What do the words servanthood, humility, and self-sacrifice mean to you? What are their similarities and differences? What connections to these words are you making with your life and relationships?

Michael cited Isaiah 53 v. 4, "he took up our pain and our suffering, [was] pierced for our transgressions." That sounds like Jesus to us, but Mason said that people in exile would have heard this as a profound description of themselves, a community often personified in Psalms and in the Prophets as "Jacob" or "Israel." Lanie's Baptist upbringing emphasized stories of missionaries overseas serving others. Scott remembered the Episcopalian kid upset to learn that Jesus preached becoming a servant and turning the other cheek. Mason brought up the Ash Wednesday sermon from Mother Mariclair about how the imposition of ashes undercuts three delusions: that we’re the center of the universe, that we’ll last forever, that our story is the main story.

A question about worship gave Kaye a chance to share more of her readings for the week. How did worship or prayer include silence, nature, or images in your study? Kaye read more of that passage from Isaiah -- "The Lord will satisfy your need in parched places, you will be like a watered garden." She and Scott both brought up Thomas Merton, whose late book No Man Is an Island was titled after an essay by John Donne, who came up again later. Kaye pointed out where Sue Monk Kidd also quoted Merton. Finally, Kaye told us about the Year 5 exploration of the Book of Kells, Bible texts which monks illuminated with art, working “underground” in a time of harsh conditions and barbarian invaders.

(Scott and Susan were reminded about a monk who wrote a poem about copying scripture beside his cat Pangur Ban. Read about the poem in a post on this blog from 20 [!!!] years ago. See Reading, Writing, and Pet Ownership ca. AD 800)

Reflect
For "kindling" of our TR, Michael brought a poem by John Donne familiar from a musical setting in our hymnbook. We found the most energy in the third stanza, where the guilt-ridden voice seems to demand of God, "But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son / Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore" so that the speaker may "fear no more." This struck us as perhaps "arrogant" of him, pushy, disrespectful. But we also saw that he was distraught, fearful, anxious.

We jumped ahead to connect this to many examples in Scripture of a little person confronting the LORD. Jacob's wrestling a supernatural being to a standstill and demanding a blessing; Job's angry challenge to God; Jonah's whining; the Canaanite woman who flips what Jesus says about her people being like dogs; the lady who nags a judge into giving her justice. Susan found a similar moment in our favorite movie when Dorothy tells the all-powerful Oz that he's nothing but a humbug.

So, what can we say about a world where you can talk back to God? It's a comfortable world, with an underlying sense of justice, and also an assurance of compassion. "You know you will be listened to." Brokenness in this world would be to assume a smug equality with God, to treat God as your personal Genie.

We saw faith, not rudeness, in the way these people face God. "The Lord appreciates your courage," Joyce (I think) said. "He knows what we've been through."

We looked for experience like this. Joyce compared this relationship to God to other relationships, especially marriage. "If you're mad, you've got to speak up."

Insights? This theme in our Scriptures seems to be worked into our nation's founding documents, as we spoke up to the King (and John Adams as ambassador didn't kow-tow). It's not always wise to speak up when the leader isn't so compassionate or decent.

We improvised a collect:

Lord, we come to you with anything, even disappointment and resentment; when we feel forgotten or forsaken, let us stay in the conversation even when it's difficult, and let us nurture humility, so that we can grow into peace with ourselves, with our acquaintances, and with You.

For Monday:
We engage with matierals laid out for Week 23, and we continue to read Sue Monk Kidd, 20 pages per week. Scott will surely find kindling for a TR during his 20 hours of training this weekend. Lanie will bring worship and a Gathering Question.

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