Yr. B, Wk. 19: Blurred Boundaries and Cocoons

Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors.  Absent: Christine.


Tom brought us Mediterranean chicken kebobs and salad. Gene led worship from the Canadian BCP service for evening. We shared what we had done with the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.


Discussion of Readings
Christine, absent, sent us her thoughts about her reading this week:

Briefly my reading from Yee was a chapter written by Vanessa Lovelace, "Intersections of Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality, and Nation.”
The chapter discusses/illustrates the way masculinity and femininity are portrayed in the Israelite culture, the portrayal of Nations and boundaries, geographical and social in the writings of the Deuteronomistic History (DH), the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.
“....intersection of gender and nation in the particular formation of an Israelite identity..” Erin Runion, feminist Biblical scholar critiques interpretations of the covenental relationship between YHWY and Israel as relying on dominant gender binary constructions.
These intersections in the DH are demonstrated in a number of ways, “to include the portrayal of sexual relations with foreign women as a threat to Israel’s identity, the feminization of foreign men, and violence against women as a means for constructing the ideal Israelite masculinity.”
I am hopeful to send forward more details of the reading as it is enlightening and disheartening all at the same time. The abundant violence against women is much to contend with and to add to that the metaphorical consideration of Nations considered as “women who have been violated” and the boundaries of the Nations being determined by violence against women (the rape and killing of non Israelite women when overtaking other nations).

Gene questioned Paul's admonishment to the Romans that they respect the laws of the Roman government, as it was ordained by God. We discussed why Paul would be confident in that. Martin Luther King, Jr. came up in that discussion, as he advocated openly defying the "laws" of Hitler's regime and the Jim Crow South, because, in the words of Augustine, "an unjust law is no law at all." Mariel wanted more from Powell's chapter about the background to the Romans' civic and religious life, but was overall delighted by the layout of the chapter, making so clear the through - argument of Paul's treatise.
Erica was disoriented as MacCullough's history backtracked to the oriental orthodoxy of "the new Rome" in Constantinople. She shared with us some related experiences about her Baptist mother's falling in love with iconography, and Erica's own visit to the glorious Hagia Sophia. She longed for pictures: the content of the chapter was better looked at than read.

Susan and Scott talked about the power of liturgy to "discipline" us, to transform us over the long haul. In liturgy, argues McIntosh, we participate in Jesus's resurrection. (See Scott's blogpost about McIntosh and the paragraph by Smith that follows: "How Episcopalians Believe")

We all responded to the reading by James K. A. Smith at the end of the Wk. 19 chapter of our Reading and Reflection Guide. Mariel saw Smith as a snob; Susan drew attention to the footnote where Smith makes clear that it's the intentionality of liturgy that he's advocating, not elimination of guitar music or spontaneity. Susan also testified that the liturgy and music, strange at first, drew her into the church. Tom looks for a balance between worship and performance, and told us how Fr. Daron responded to Tom's admission that the repetition of morning prayer sometimes is "boring": it's a formative discipline, and the fact that you persist even while your mind wanders, is exactly the point of it. Gene and Erica agreed that the church could do a better job of explaining to visitors what we do and why. (That might be a ministry for EfM graduates?) For an example of how different worshipers come to the same material in different ways, Erica shared an eye - opening experience with a book that she had found uplifting and inspirational: others in her church group were profoundly disturbed by the same text, perhaps because they had not the backgrounding of EfM to break them into other ways to read Scripture.

TR
For our theological reflection, Mariel brought a short essay by the man who penned the screenplay for Ron Howard's 1980s movie COCOON. Younger than 40 years old then, he wrote about characters in their 80s; now 80, he makes some observations about emerging from "cocoons." What emerged from our discussion, however, was the continuity between what went into the cocoon and what comes out. We started, then from a position statement: "Becoming the person God wants you to be, you will still be yourself."

Our thoughts on theological implications reminded us of Scripture: how Paul was just as driven and militant as pre - Damascus Saul; how Jesus emerged from the tomb changed, yet still bearing the wounds of the crucifixion; and the parable of the prodigious plant that grows from a tiny mustard seed. In our culture, 12 step programs build on the knowledge that we will never wake up changed; change comes through daily discipline, and it's never final.

By coincidence ("God's puns," said Chesterton), readings assigned in the Prayer Book since Tuesday have related directly to our TR. In Mark 4.31-32, Jesus says The Kingdom of God "is like a grain of mustard seed... smallest of all... yet ...becomes the greatest of shrubs... so that birds of the air can make nests in its shade." Friday's readings all related to Saul becoming Paul. Also, writing in Ephesians 4.24, Paul admonishes Christians to "put on the new nature," to put aside "bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander" and to be "kind..., tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (4.31-32).

Collect for Those in Cocoons
Eternal, unchanging God, gracious and merciful: Your Son, resurrected, still bore the scars of His Crucifixion, and your servant Paul fought for Jesus as zealously he'd once opposed him; as we seek to realize the potential in ourselves planted from the beginning, let us not resist pain of necessary pruning and discipline, but let us trust that we will be more fully ourselves as we become the people You want us to be.Amen.

Next Week: Brown bag dinner. We do readings for Wk 20; notice the paragraph "For All" in this week's RRG. Scott will bring a TR (probably from Wednesday's reading in Mark 4.21-34 about the woman who touches the hem of Jesus' garment); Susan will lead worship.

Yr. B, Wk. 18: Kings, Romans, Mystics

Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors.  Absent: Tom, Gene.

Mariel prepared worship with the theme of "thanks and praise for God's bounty," including Psalm 145.14-19 ("You satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing"). While we ate sub sandwiches, chips, and hummus that Scott brought, we answered Mariel's question about anything in the past week that was a new experience for us.


Christine opened our sharing about our different readings by saying how good it feels for the pieces of Scripture she's known to come together in this cover - to - cover reading of I and II Kings. The reading concerned Solomon and the division of the kingdom. The more she heard from others, the more connections she found between this ancient history and later elements of our tradition.


Mariel was struck by Paul's use of the metaphor of "slavery" to Christ in a letter addressed to Romans, whose militaristic culture thrived on, and despised, slaves. She noted that this included exploitative sexual relationships, too. Christine brought in issues of forced labor under Solomon that led eventually to rebellion; and also to Solomon's exploitation of a harem full of women to make diplomatic agreements with other kings.


Erica enjoyed MacCulloch's focus in chapter 12 on ideas rather than politics. She especially enjoyed reading about women empowered by their mystical visions, wisdom, and artistry to be venerated. Listening to Erica's discussion, Christine was reminded how the idea of the Temple evolved between the time of Solomon and the time of the writing of Kings to become, not just the place where the national god resided, but a place of prayer where worshippers connected to God.


The fourth year chapters were all about connecting to God. What is "revelation?" McIntosh's bottom line is that God still speaks to us -- through our relationships with God (cultivated in habits of worship and prayer) and with others, and through our experiences (viewed through the lens of Scripture). Christine related this to the professional prophets, advisors and critics to kings, who tried to discern God's purposes. Mariel shared a quotation from Paul about God's "unsearchable judgements and inscrutable ways."


TR
Erica brought an evocative poem that we read in English and heard in the original Spanish: "I am not I" ("Yo no soy yo") by Juan Ramon Jimenez, translated by Robert Bly. After we all found ways to buy into the experience of feeling divided in ourselves in ways suggested to us by the poem, Susan had us explore that image of division -- Erica provided us the Jungian terms for a "persona" or public self, and a "shadow" side.  [Image: "The Road to Emmaus" by Daniel Bonnell.  Our discussion of walking alone, not recognizing God with us, brought this image to mind.]


Collect for Discernment and Self-Knowledge
God of unsearchable judgements and inscrutable ways: You speak within us and walk beside us, while we, like disciples on the road to Emmaus, perceive ourselves to be alone. Keep us mindful of verities unseen beyond our ability to express, that we may be comforted and rejoice in our interconnectedness to You and all our fellow creatures.

Next Week: Tom brings dinner, Gene leads worship, and Mariel brings the TR.

Yr. B, Wk. 17: Paul, and a Detour

Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors.  Absent: Christine.

We had dinner from our brown bags. Erica led worship. At her prompting, we shared blessings of the past week or so.

Reflecting on readings for the second year group, Gene brought up "levels of authenticity" in the letters supposed to be Paul's, especially the story of the false "3 Corinthians." Tom observed that judgement of the letters comes from whether they are "congruent" with what we already know of Paul. Mariel was struck by the lengths of these letters, so much longer than those by contemporary Romans, such as Cicero. She also cited Powell's description of how physically hard it was to produce such a letter. Rough drafts would have been on clay tablets.

Mariel repeated the observation that Paul changed the message of Jesus to the message about Jesus. She relates this to the story of Paul's change on the road to Damascus, and the transformation of the church in Acts.

Erica admitted that the chapter in MacCulloch was "a slog." She was stuck most by learning that marriage was not a sacrament, original. She enjoyed the amusing story of aggressive monks who would destroy villages to produce more wildernesss. Originally, she reports, parishes were to be three miles apart.

Erica said that Paul's personality shows in his letters. Susan pointed to his persistence. Mariel observed that "Paul OWNS his contradictions." Tom observe that Paul takes his own prejudices and puts a "God stamp" on them. Tom got some push back on this. Erica said, "Every prophet, every preacher does that."

Susan and Scott reported from fourth year about MacIntosh's book. Read Scott's blogpost about it.

We did not read the RRG's section on "Spirituality and Theology," but it speaks an important idea: we believe in order to understand, not the other way around.

Gene's TR was from a memoir and movie about a dying church's infusion of new life through the arrival of immigrants from far away. Our metaphor imagined a wrong turn that takes us to a holy place.

Collect for Life's Journey
Almighty God, who makes all things new: Like Paul on the road to Damascus, our expectations may blind us to Your vision for our world and you purposes for us; Open our hearts so that, whatever path we take, our eyes will behold the wonder and mystery of your ways: they are not our ways! Amen.

[Photo: Caravaggio's "Conversion of St. Paul"]

Next week: Tom will bring Mediterranean food; Mariel will lead worship; Erica will bring a TR. We do the readings for Week 18.

Erica's Gift

At our final meeting of 2018, Erica gave us each a gift.   Mine has become part of a healthy breakfast!  Thank you, Erica. - Scott

Yr. B, Wk. 16: OMG, Spirituality in the Digital Age

Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors.  Absent: Christine.

Mariel led us through Compline. While Scott served Pasta Puttanesca, we shared answers to Mariel's question for the week, "With whom do you ever share spiritual matters?" Some of us were drawn to EfM in the first place just because it's a forum for exploring spiritual matters in a mutually open and respectful way (with "undefended hearts" as Bishop Neil Alexander says).

Sharing led to discussion of what evangelism means in our society today, and the model we arrived at was a kind of constructive, hospitable, engagement with non - believers in a way that would make them interested in having what faith offers. Mariel offered St. Francis, "Preach the Gospel; use words, if necessary." Tom recalled Fr. Roger's story of a saint (Augustine?) working alongside villagers to repair their town, and leaving without preaching, telling a skeptical monk, "If we didn't demonstrate the Gospel in our work with them, nothing will."

We had an interesting detour into "Prosperity Gospel," and just what that means. Scott cited John Winthrop's preaching at the founding of New England Colony, to the effect that good people prosper, and failure is a sign of God's disfavor. There have long been preachers who promised riches to followers who will give their money to the preacher.

We discussed this week's essay, "OMG, Spirituality in the Digital Age" by Bishop Charleston of Alaska. The Bishop is an "extreme introvert" reluctant to use social media, who simply shared thoughts from his morning prayer time. His page "blew up" and became a self - selecting community of believers and non - believers alike, just a few bad actors who left quickly, and enough who wanted a tangible printed collection of these commentaries to make a successful book. He made some observations about the experience.

Our group was not so excited. Gene visited the website, and felt that it was a "fake" community; Mariel asked, "'Fake,' or just 'different?'" Susan observed from experience that conversation on line, even when it's synchronous, misses cues of body language and tone that we read when we're together in a room, and it comes down to people at their own screens writing past each other. Erica wondered if, being of a later generation than Charleston, she's less awed by the technology than the Bishop, seeing social media as nothing more than one other tool for communication. Was discussion and community - formation via books and pamphlets any different?

Tom was bothered by the Bishop's observation that this on - line community formed in a way opposite to most groups:

A religious community is often formed by identifying the parameters which circumscribe it: the borders of faith, the articulation of creeds, the rules and rituals that become the container for a culture. Once people either self - select or are recruited into this paradigm, they become a community. In the experience of our Facebook congregation, just the reverse process has taken place; over time people have entered in without any sense of structure; we have no litmus test for belonging, not even the need to believe in a higher power. Instead, an unspoken consensus of hospitality has developed.

It occurs to me as I type this that Bishop Charleston here describes precisely what we talked about in our earlier discussion of evangelism, setting an example of caring and hospitality without defining who's "in" and "out." 


Instead of a TR and collect, we collected around a lovely Linzer tart from Douceur de France, a gift from Susan.

Next time: We meet January 8. We'll read the assignment for Week 17. Dinner will be brown bag; Erica will bring worship; Gene will initiate a TR.

Yr. B, Wk. 15: Dismantling Racism, Part II, and "The Cossacks"

Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors.  Absent: Erica, Tom.

We brought brown - bag dinners tonight. Christine led us in psalm and prayer thoughtfully chosen to relate to tonight's reading. Our question was a little fanciful: What kind of plant have you been in the past week? We had a cactus dry and sucking up moisture; grass, just holding on; and others.

Our discussion of the second half of the book by Catherine Meeks. Our greatest interest was in exploring our Bishop's chapter about the South as America's "Holy Land." The history of conflict, the physical / familial closeness of the adversaries (black and white), and the intentional courage of the Civil Rights fighters all contribute to that feeling that this place is a site for struggles spiritual as well as physical.

We also compared notes on sensitivity trainings we've experienced, "white guilt," and also "white privilege" -- how these phrases are fraught and liable to provoke people we know.

We also discussed a couple of sources not in the book. Bishop Neil Alexander writes in the latest publication from Sewanee about how education should lead to listening with an "undefended heart." Erica sent us a link to a rich article from a blog HeritageMom by a homeschooling mother about starting a black homeschool group alongside the one she already had joined. Is she "reverse racist" for wanting a space where black children are free of white judgement, white unease with physicality and loud voices? Here's the link.   Scott has posted a reflection on the book on his personal blog, here.

TR
Susan brought us Linda Pastan's poem "The Cossacks." The poet is amused and even admiring of another person's "denial mixed with acceptance," like her mother who had chatted of polite things when she was dying of cancer. We picked up on that last element of the poem, and related it to the famous image of the musicians who played "Nearer My God to Thee" on the tilting deck of the Titanic.During the days following class, Mariel composed this collect from our notes:

Collect for Carrying On
O Lord, Eternal Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life,
Just as by the breath of your Spirit you brought forth the abundance of Earth from the depths of the abyss, so breathe into our spirits the grace and strength to finish the work you’ve given us to do, so that we - like Stephen submitting to his tormentors, and Paul facing prison and certain death - may unto the end be ever blessed by being a blessing to others, and that our life’s work may endure as a testimony to the life-giving truth and beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Next week We all read Week Sixteen's essay by Steven Charleston, Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta (p. 94 ff in the RRG). Scott and Susan will provide food; for our final meeting before holidays, the TR will be mixed in with the discussion. See p. 106.

Yr. B, Wk. 14: Dismantling Racism, Part One

Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors.  Absent: Mariel.

Gene drew together a thoughtful selection of prayers and quotations from Scripture relating to this week's reading, including these:

• Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you. Ephesians 4.32
• Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Exodus 22.21
• There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3.28

Christine brought us a chicken tortilla salad from Chilis. We shared reflections on the week past.

Tom led off our discussion of Dr. Meeks's book Dismantling Racism by admitting that he had not expected to like it, but had appreciated the emphasis on individuals' spiritual practices, having felt the difference that morning prayer has made in his own life.  We shared answers to some of the study questions at the back of the book, beginning with the question, "How did you first become aware of racial difference?"



TR
Tom presented a clock that his employer gave him as a reward some years ago.  We were struck by its being a smaller, cheaper, battery - operated replica of a 19th century object. We focused our reflection on the effort to maintain old tradition in a new time.  Our discussion eventually encompassed everything we had spoken about all night.  Tired, we left the collect to be formed later, from notes on the board (see photo below).

Collect in a Time of Social Change
Eternal Father, Your servant Moses prodded the Hebrews towards the Promised Land when they looked back with nostalgia to the comforts of Egypt; Your Son Jesus exposed the inhumanity of the Pharisees' strict application of traditional taboos: help us to discern the familiar practices we keep for the sake of our own comfort, from traditions that promote the values of truth and justice for all; so that we may embrace necessary change with confidence and hasten the coming of Your kingdom. Amen.


Gene led closing worship with the prayer for the human family, #3.

Next week: We finish the Meeks book.  Brown bag dinner; Christine leads worship; Susan brings the TR.


FYI - You can see the words of that Advent cantata from Scott's TR a few weeks ago.  The piece reflects what he learned during his first four years with EfM.

For his blog The Word Sanctuary, Scott wrote a reflection on the myriad ways that he is privileged by his family background in ways that his friends of color cannot be. See The Privilege is Mine.