Yr. D, Wk. 17: Samuel, Paul, Gregory, and Exiles

Abraham et. al. leave Haran

All were present. We brown-bagged the meal. Worship was the order for personal devotions in the evening. We came on board with stories of the recent holiday.

When we shared our assignments, Scott noted topics on the board. By the end, we'd seen a lot of overlap in the readings, concerning themes including the conflicts between religious authority and state authority.

The TR took off from the days' assigned Scripture, Hebrews 11.13-22, concerning the faith that led the Hebrew patriarchs away from their own land to sojourn as "exiles" in the land promised them.   (BTW:  On my personal blog, I use this in reflection on our discussions of November 15.  See The Power of Liturgy: I've Heard it all Before.)

Next Week: Susan brings food; Bill leads worship; Lynn will bring something to spark theological reflection.

Collect for Exiles (responding to Hebrews 11.13-22)
O God, You challenged Abraham and Sarah to leave their comfortable home to live as exiles in a strange land, while Your promise was yet to be fulfilled; be with us as we walk a road that, like theirs, requires us to strive, fall, and rise again, that we may ultimately see the heavenly country, and dwell in the city You have prepared for us. Amen.

Yr. D, Wk. 16: Dust in the Tides

We all met on a foggy night at the home of Bill and Lynne for our festive meal. At Lynne's table, we lit three Advent candles while we recited a liturgy for those candles, emphasis on joy -- echoing Fr. Roger's sermon last Sunday.

Our discussion of the reading brought out these thoughts:

• dust, tides, and roads: too many metaphors muddy the ideas
• Hughes's gender-balanced language for the Trinity struck us as interesting, not necessary.  "Fount" for "Father"; "Sophia" for "Word" ; "she" with "Spirit".
• In any case, we agreed that our experience of the Trinity is more important and more palpable than the metaphors
• While Scott appreciated the author's contrast of how ancients (right up to the last century) saw a universe in stasis, God up and Hell down with how we see the cosmos in constant flux today, Erica questioned whether this new science would itself be replaced by another view in another decade or two, because that seems to happen a lot.
• We discussed the way communion puts us in touch with previous generations and distant Christians
• We noted cycles again, from wholeness to brokenness to judgement and new wholeness - creation / sin / judgment / redemption of the TRs.  We considered how cycles in our theology compare to the cycles presented in Buddhism.  
• The author's recommendations of centering prayer and the Jesus prayer brought discussion of how the cycles built into our liturgy can affect us: Scharme recommended centering prayer; Scott spoke of singing the Jesus prayer 

Our next meeting will be January 3.  We'll "brown bag" the meal; Scharme will bring worship; the mentors will bring something to start a Theological Reflection. 

Yr. D, Wk. 15: Atonement and White Lies

Scharme provided our meal; Susan brought Advent prayers from Derek Olsen's Augustine's Prayer Book; Erica brought a TR.  All were present.

Crysdale's Transformed Lives evoked a lot of reaction.  "We liked arguing with her," we agreed.  While some of us felt that she lost focus in these last chapters, others felt that she finally made sense in this second part.  We all found common ground around pp. 120-130.

Jacob (with Mom) fools Isaac

Our TR took off from a story about a white lie.   We followed the "dilemma" method of TR. We found many lies in our tradition and culture; our exploration of beliefs included the observation that kind lies are counterparts to malicious truths. 

Collect for the Honest Faithful
God of truth and justice, You worked grace through Abraham, Jacob, and Peter, despite the lies they told; Prevent us from telling self-serving lies and malicious truths, so that we may live in authentic relationships and be credible witnesses for You; in Jesus' s name.  Amen. 

Next week:  Meet at 5664 Harbormist for dinner and discussion of the reading in the RRG, Wk. 16.
 

Yr. D, Wk. 14: Transformed Lives by Cynthia Crysdale

Everyone was present.  Scott brought Chinese food; for our first meeting in Advent, Bill brought prayers and a meditation about waiting.  Coming on board, we thought about how what we'd been waiting for during the last week.

Lynne opened our discussion of Crysdale's book by admitting that she's never thought of the "substitutionary punishment" theory of atonement as a problem.  Others agreed.  We reviewed Crysdale's history of that idea, and her inventory of Scriptural metaphors for the effect of Jesus's death.  We noted how the emphasis on Jesus's death does discount His life and resurrection, too. We look forward to finishing the book for next week.

The late Luis, age 13, left, and Mia, age two, near Rock Mart

Susan brought the provocative word "to bind" for the TR. Our exploration of the word brought us eventually to the personal image of walking a dog on a leash, and to the Biblical story of a Jonah, a prophet who slipped his leash.

We wrote this:

Collect for a Closer Walk with God
God, You guide us on the secure path: We, like Jonah, have run from Your charge and our obligations; Bring us gently to heel, that we might be reconciled to You and each other, bound in mutual love.  

 Next week:  Read Week Fifteen in RRG. Scharme - food. Susan - Worship.  TR - Erica.

Yr. D, Wk. 13: Judges, Charlemagne, and Potential Energy

Erica brought chili; Susan led us in a litany of Thanksgiving from the back of the Book of Common Prayer; Scharme was away.

Erica told us that she re-read the last chapter of Collins's book to deal with the stories of brutality, revenge, and carnality told in the book of Judges.   "It's like Game of Thrones," she said.  The mistake is to view these stories of human weakness as if they were intended for moral instruction, the way a preacher told astonished campers to regard Jephtha's executing a capricious vow to kill the first person he saw, and his daughter's mournful compliance, as wonderful models of obedience.  Collins gives the perspective that the ancient editor(s) known as the Deuteronomist arranged these stories to show how the people habitually fell into evils that required God to send "judges" to set things right; and therefore, the monarchy was a good, necessary thing.

Lynne and Bill took turns responding to extensive history of the Roman church ca. 900.  We discussed Gregory the Great, missionaries who found a fully established church in the British isles, the contrast between the Irish church's system of "tariffs" to work one's way back to essential goodness and Augustine's doctrine of innate sinfulness;  and the "humility" of Charlemagne in matters of faith and establishing the church in lands he conquered, establishing the Holy Roman Empire. 

For a TR, Bill brought us a photograph of Bernini's "David," from a view somewhat to the left rear of the one pictured here.  We saw in it an image of "potential energy" at a critical moment when all could be won or lost.  Our personal experiences of this coalesced around the image of the silence when the orchestra raises its instruments to await the downbeat.  

Collect in a moment of Potential Energy
Dear Lord, You have placed us, like David and Joshua, in a community of faith.  As you sustained them through their great challenges, sustain us by Your word and sacraments, so that we can realize the potential that You hold in store for us and for our community. Amen.

Next week:  Bill will lead worship; Scott will bring dinner; and Susan will provide the TR.  We read the first half of the book on atonement by Crysdale.  Looking further ahead, we expect a pizza week and then a final meeting for the first semester at the Lovelace's home.  

Yr. D, Wk. 11 & 12: Reading Double, and Learning from Mistakes

Scharme brought worship; food was brown bag.  We doubled up on readings, and yours truly was away at the chorus concert and missed the discussion.

Lynne started the TR with this quotation from George Bernard Shaw: "If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience!"  We all contributed what came to mind, and a position statement emerged. Our discussions ranged through Scripture, Buddhism, and cultural touchstones (including Groundhog Day).  We were led eventually to a consideration of ritual as an agent of change: even just going through the motions can change us.

All of this inspired yours truly to buy a book about the Anglican tradition of the Prayer Book,  intended to change us via ritual repetition and seasonal variation. It's Inwardly Digest by Derek Olsen.

Collect for Transformation
Lord, You struck Paul blind so that he could look inwardly.  Teach us discipline to help us let go of ourselves so that we can accept the grace offered us and reach understanding of Your will and the peace it brings.

Next week:  Erica brings dinner, Susan brings worship, and Bill brings TR.  Scharme will be away.
 

Yr. D, Wk. 10: Leviticus, Luke, and "Cuisine"

Opening worship was a prayer for All Souls Day, brought by Scott, and a question about how the lovely warm weather has affected life in the past week or two.  Lynne and Bill brought food.

Erica reported that even her sons were nonplussed by some of the bloodthirsty violence in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Erica liked the concept of a jubilee year, even if it never was really implemented. The taboos concerning food and cleanliness were odd, but some of ours are odd, too -- and we all contributed examples.  Erica also connected to the Hebrews' complaining, and to the evils of slavery, "because we still have slavery today."

Scharme was interested in the beauty of Luke's narrative, and the ways in which Luke appealed to his contemporaries schooled in the literature of Greece.

Bill and Lynne were both fascinated and overwhelmed by the internecine conflicts of parties promoting different explanations of relationships between the Trinity and us.

Susan brought an issue of Cuisine focused on holiday cooking.  Representing the "culture" source, the issue brought out reflections from the sources we call "tradition," "action," and "belief." We followed the procedure outlined for reflection on a "social concern," p. 262 of the Reading and Reflection Guide.

Collect for Hosts
O God, Who sent manna to the people in the wilderness and angels to be guests of Abraham and Sarah: we all are guests at your sacred table every week; keep us from the sins of self-glorification and pride in our possessions, that we may share, with genuine hospitality, the bounty You share with us.  Amen.

Next time:   We meet Tuesday, November 15.  We double up on readings 11 and 12.  We brown bag it for dinner.  Lynne will bring a picture from a five-year-old for the TR.  Scharme is going to take worship for the next two weeks, eventually leading us through lectio divina.