Yr. C, Wk. 14: Beyond a Binary God, part one

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Worship and Gathering
Nuno led us in worship from a book that he recommended to us all, St. Augustine's Prayer Book. We began with an examination of conscience, and moved through praise and petitions. (I personally thought the prayers for people who work at night were especially rich -- naming fire fighters, sailors, and "those engaged on the stage.")

Nuno asked us for ways that prayer "feeds" us. Answers included songs in church that are also prayers, emotions reinforced and deepened by the music... the BCP... praying the scriptures, esp. Psalms, "every emotion is there"... morning meditation and closing devotion each day... writing prayers each day... silence.

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, First Interlude Beyond a Binary God: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Donfred, Marilyn, Tom. (Tom logged on in the same minute that the rest of us logged off early!)

Discussion of the Readings
Jessica generally enjoyed book, especially appreciating HOW the author Tara Soughers wrote it as a response to her own child’s experience: “Everyone is created in God’s Image” and trying to see this from her child’s experience. Susan appreciated the exploration of the phrase "in God's image, male and female" in its context of other opposites that have in-betweens (dark and light, night and day, seas and dry land -- Soughers asks why male and female should be different?) The author admits that she was confused, and is learning. Pete said it was enlightening that there’s "a substantial group out there that needs to be thought of beyond the boxes we put people in." Joyce appreciated this mom and how she had to fill a void left because no one else has written a theology; Joyce was also moved by the plight of homeless children kicked out by parents and communities.

While Nuno also appreciated the author's intention to open minds that are deadset against trans people, he pointed out the author's misleading use of statistics and her reliance on non-canonical scripture. Others expressed how they were disturbed by the author's use of The DaVinci Code, tainted by its derivation from detestable conspiracy theory of the 19th century, and the author's dubious argument concerning plastic surgery for teens.

Jessica expressed gratitude for Nuno’s reading and openness. Jessica offered a quote from Soughers, “I can only speak from the place of being the mother of a trans child.” There seemed to be a consensus on being open to what the author says about that experience.

Because Marilyn was unable to bring her TR to us, and we were missing three, we logged off early -- in the same minute that Tom logged on!

For Next Week
We'll read the second half of Beyond a Binary God by Kara T. Soughers. The RRG suggests that we look for three recent news reports and articles concerning sexuality and gender and ask ourselves what intercessory prayers the Spirit might be calling us to make, and what thanksgivings? (see p. 83) Marilyn will bring the source for the TR; Susan will lead worship. Nuno will be away at a board meeting.

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Yr. C, Wk. 13: Leadership, Clarity, and Tunnel Vision

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Worship and Gathering
Marilyn brought prayers of gratitude and a rhyming sermon from her ancestor's book. They related to the readings about the Trinity, and to us as individuals (Nuno had a line about bees, for example). For a gathering question, Marilyn asked us to name a location where we feel gratitude. Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan... mountaintop... front seat of the van (where Daddy, too busy to talk, can just listen)... at the antique roll-top desk where I read the Bible surrounded by antique photos of family... the back porch for chilling or painting.

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 2 Theological Reflection as a Life Skill: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Pete, Joyce.

Discussion of the Readings
A lot of the discussion see-sawed on the fulcrum of "leadership," first raised by Donfred. Third and fourth year readings said a lot about saints and delegates to ancient councils: they struggled to put their experience of the spirit into words creeds and rules. This contrasted First Year's readings in which Joshua and some of the judges were models of leaders with "clarity," sure of themselves and victorious through obedience to God. Susan related the whole discussion to last week's TR, where we looked at the danger that the commands you hear may not be coming from the right voice.

Another theme was identity. Collins reports that scholars of the Old Testament see in Joshua and Judges a struggle to bring disparate tribal groups (including, perhaps, Canaanites) to find a new unifying identity. Susan reported on the councils doing the same for the Church, influenced by the political struggles among peoples of different backgrounds -- the renewal brought about by the Celtic church being a prime example.

Comments about the Trinity blurred the sense of clarity. Jessica could agree somewhat with Powell who writes that the synoptic gospels represent the man Jesus, while John represents the spirit of Christ. But, she said, we DO see the “man” in John – as, in the signs section, he's angry in the temple. "Jesus wept" is another example. Nuno observed that in studying the triune nature of God, some of those more “feminine” attributes like patience and kindness are part of a full picture that we’re not seeing in one place.

Two films about Thai soccer players trapped in a cave: a cultural reference for our metaphor.

Theological Reflection
Scott brought a story from his own experience, a friend from middle school who developed mental illness and, in adulthood, a hostility towards Scott. We chose to focus on Scott's phoning the young man's father to ask for guidance.

As we looked at the thoughts and feelings, we formulated the image of a dark tunnel, too far from the entrance to turn back, with no apparent way forward. In that tunnel, by its created nature, you find darkness, echoes… you step in puddles and stuff … no bearings… unsteadiness… fear of unseen danger… feel foolish…Lost. Sin (break? Go wrong?) in that world would be Hastiness, you crash into the wall or a stalagtite… Cave bears. If you discover a dead end – way out is blocked. Redemption seems to depend on factors outside of your control (except perhaps the first one): You remember that your phone has a flashlight… you find a light source (switch? Gasoline?) … Somehow the sun (or an angel) breaks through… Echoes …get out like a bat… follow bats? Emergency phone?

Insights came quickly, especially when Scott suggested that what we learned in the "tunnel" metaphor could be retro-fitted to the personal story. Here's what we said:

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• The friend's whole life is in a cave – the dark, endless… his dad’s life was taken over… and the friend sent others into caves... His dad’s life was sacrificed for his son's sake...One person’s suffering can put others in tunnels, too.
• We want others to change and cannot change them.
• Think of the darkness as a learning process – think of it as a transition It’s all a transition in the greater story of your life in God. (Donfred)
• God doesn’t ask us to run marathons: He asks us to stand still, and / or to take the next STEP. (Tom)
• In the end, your friend gave you what you needed in his offer never to make another contact. (Marilyn)
• "Know when to walk away, know when to run." Sometimes it’s hard to know which one! (Susan and Kenny Rogers)
• It’s interesting that we don’t always know how big a role we play in others’ stories.
• “Grace of hiddenness” from the Year 4 reading in the mind of the friend as he perceives God
• We are clueless.

Collect in a Dark Tunnel (by Marilyn)Dear God, You shine light perpetual on our pathways and in our lives. We pray that you will grant us patience and grace during times of darkness, fear, and anxiety, allowing time and faith to help still our minds and calm our hearts, so that we may get a glimpse of the Big Picture, gaining perspective, understanding, and wisdom…knowing that all happens according to your will for the good of all. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

For Next Week
For an interlude in our lessons, we read the first half of Beyond a Binary God by Kara T. Soughers. (Her essay about why EfM assigns books like this is excerpted in the previous posting on this blog.) Marilyn boldly volunteered both to write the collect for our TR (above) and to bring a new source for next week's TR. Nuno will lead worship. Tom will be out of town, caring for his daughter's children while she has surgery -- we'll keep his family in our prayers, and hope he can Zoom in with us.

Scott in 2014 at Brushy Mountain Tunnel, 1000+ yards long. A whispered phrase at one end can be heard clearly at the other end.

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"Why do we read this kind of book in EfM?"

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This next week, we begin to read Beyond a Binary God. The author Tara K. Soughers wrote an article for EfM that I've excerpted below. Soughers also offers a light-hearted video put together with young adults, Trans 101 (about eight minutes long). - Scott

...If our faith has nothing to say about difficult issues, then it really isn’t very important, is it?

...In EfM, we work hard to develop close and trusting communities where we can safely talk about things that are really important to us. That environment should also be one where we can talk about controversial topics, remembering that the point of our discussion is not to change each other’s mind or to win an argument, but to share our understandings in a way that allows each of us to decide the implications of our faith for ourselves. If we can’t talk about controversial topics in EfM, where can we do so? Where else do we have the opportunity to talk with people who may have a different opinion in an environment that provides a level of safety and security for the participants? This is a gift that I think EfM brings to the Church and the wider community....

...Finally, EfM does not attempt to indoctrinate you into believing certain things. This is true of social issues as well as theology; instead, it shares the best scholarship that it can find, and asks the students to engage with that scholarship, in dialogue with the tradition, our culture, our own beliefs, and our experiences...

...[Theological reflection is a resource for dealing with diversity of experience, positions] Our structured process of discussion moves us out of our ordinary responses and asks us to consider things from different points of view: our shared tradition, our culture, our own beliefs, and our own experiences of how God is at work in the world...

[Hear Yee, Hear Yee is my own essay about another "difficult" book from EfM, the feminist theology presented by Gale Yee.]

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Yr. C, Wk. 12: Apples, Ahab, and LUKE:The Musical!

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Worship and Gathering
Joyce led worship with Psalms as prayers, and a poem by Quinonez, with a theme of drawing strength from Our Lord.

In answer to Joyce's gathering question, "What are you thankful for?" we had a range of answers. My grandson's 2nd birthday... my daughter is paying her own tuition...family, friends, art teachers, and a cat... the election by the Parish of a full freshman class to the Vestry... food on the table and a roof overhead... a wave of gratitude that you feel driving through the mountains of California (this one seconded)... sunrise over the Publix where my dog takes me from trash to trash for her to smell and me to collect... a family visit out of town, and just family taking care of family.

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 2 Theological Reflection as a Life Skill: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Donfred.

Discussion of the Readings
We paired up for discussions of the readings: Scott with Tom, Joyce with Susan, Pete with Nuno, Jessica with Marilyn. We highlighted bits of our discussions when we came back together:

• Nuno cited Ford’s description of an apple and how we "know" it. After all the different ways of thinking of just an apple, imagine how we can engage with GOD those ways! (But Pete said, "Just give me equations and answers.")
• Joyce sees Rahab as a smart businesswoman who saved herself and her family by choosing to disobey the authorities.
• Marilyn appreciated Ford's distinction between wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom “in the midst of so many overwhelmings” -- like in a TR you draw back to see the big picture
• Jessica took DELIGHT in LUKE – beautiful gospel – how Powell says think of Luke is a MUSICAL!!!
• Tom observed that anthropologists don't criticize the cultures they're studying, but look for how its features function for that society. Scott saw in a Yee's book a criticism of the culture that produced the Hebrew Scriptures, but for hermeneutical purposes focused on us today: how can women and others in the margins of scripture relate those scriptures to the lives they lead in our own time?

Theological Reflection
Jessica brought us Captain Ahab's sermon from Moby Dick. Naturally, he chooses the text about Jonah and the "big fish." Our attention was drawn to a line in the sermon about being in this world and striving to be in God's, and chose to focus on the image of being in two worlds at once.

We explored this image through theological perspective questions. The world is challenging – but bad? We saw “sin” in not being sure whose voice you’re hearing, and in not adhering to your own principles, and in the danger that rejecting this world means rejecting the people in it.

Something unexpected came up when we asked about what might bring redemption or health. You need to be able to forgive yourself too! We looked at striving, and the phrase “no pain, no gain.” But someone offered that, to cease striving could be a good thing – as when a struggling swimmer stops resisting a rip tide and is thus returned to shore.

In insights, Joyce pushed beyond the struggle between being in God's world and being in our world. She found resolution of that tension when she observed that engaging with this world is how we live into Christ’s world.

Over the next couple of days following class, Joyce prepared our collect, "collecting" the threads of our discussion into one whole cloth:

Ever present Lord, you are there wherever we go, whatever world we're in; Without you we cannot choose to be Thine. So fill us with Your Spirit, that we may cease toiling in our own strength, in order to discern your perfect will rather than our own. We pray that the words we read in scripture will bring us your perfect peace, joy, hope and love through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Joyce even related it to the theme of "strength" in her selections for worship!

For Next Week
Marilyn will bring worship and a "gathering" question to get us talking about our weeks. Scott and Susan will find a source for a TR.

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Yr. C, Wk. 11: A Family Shrine

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Worship and Gathering
Donfred led us in prayers of confession and praise. For a gathering question, he asked what Jesus means to us. Answers were surprisingly wide-ranging. He's an historical and literary figure not so close as the Father and Spirit... he's everything, like me, very close... I love all three... the answer is something they fought and died over... different perspectives are showing themselves as we read the gospels one by one... "He is a judge who also served a sentence."

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 2 Theological Reflection as a Life Skill: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings
We met in breakout rooms then came back for discussion. Nuno's comment about hermeneutics -- that we are to consider ourselves as we read a text -- fits right in with my short message about Yee in the previous blogpost. I'm in a hurry to get to the Parish Meeting, so I'll leave it at that.

Theological Reflection
Nuno brought us his photo of a home shrine where his children have added objects sacred to them. We focused on our recognition that a family is a kind of shrine or altar. Here are comments from our "exploration" of that idea, as we looked for the nature of CREATION, BROKENNESS, and RESTORATION:

• Family – so many opposites reconciled
• Spirit is over all of it from the past -- Memories
• What Nuno CREATED has become an invitation to broken things to show up (family placing broken things on the altar) If it’s there, it’s important
• Beauty in the brokenness --redemption from sin (or brokenness)
• What’s ordinary is lifted to sacredness
• Disjointed, with unity at the same time -- CREATION so much variety yet with unity

At the end of our discussion, Scott asked everyone to contribute something they plan to think or do differently in the light of our discussion:

I pray that I may be of assistance to help repair any brokenness in my family, and restore it to a special place within our hopes and dreams.
I will think of the mess that someone makes in the house to be sacred, a sign of their presence, and not something to be cleaned up...at least for a few minutes.
I will be more aware of acknowledging the thin places throughout my home that bring peace, understanding, and heal brokenness just by their existence.
My mother in her dementia needs to be told what all the keepsakes in her room are, but the effect is healing every time. I like thinking of that as a kind of altar.
Once upon a time I thought a lot of objects as dust collectors. Now all my things are connected to my memories. [I'll try to]set down the little broken things and my concerns over them, trusting the Father.
Remember that the pain of divorce and single parenting was in the past but affects us still to this day. And continue to work towards a closer, more connected relationship with my boys. Praying for a greater sense of peace.

For Next Week
Joyce will lead worship and bring a "gathering question" that will let us all tell some aspect of how we've been in the past several days. Jessica will bring a source for a TR.

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Hear Yee, Hear Yee: Note from Scott

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"Ruth and Naomi" by He Qi, from the cover of Yee's book

EfM invites us to look for ourselves in the scriptures, and also to reflect on our own reactions to what we read. Remember how we responded to the story of Na'aman the Leper from our own perspectives? A soldier among us saw the consequence of disobedience; a soft-spoken woman saw how the action was precipitated by a modest serving girl. A retired drama teacher saw how the prophet staged the comeuppance of an arrogant officer as a comedy for an audience of foreign soldiers and Hebrew servants.

A young woman reading the first five books of Hebrew scripture could be forgiven if she thought that there's nothing in them for her. In Year One's reading for this week, "Character, Conflict, and Convenant in Israel's Original Traditions" (in Yee's book), the author Carolyn J. Sharp points out that men wrote the books and compiled them for instruction in male-only schools. I know from experience that 13-year-old boys resist reading about females except as objects of fun or danger.

So a young woman would see herself only rarely in the first five books. When women are mentioned, from Eve onward, they are presented as tempters, problems, or property whose value depends on childbearing. In stories and in laws, women are set apart as unclean, and a father or husband decides her fate.

Carolyn Sharp is writing for that young woman who looks for herself in scripture, telling her what other theologians have found between the lines. So, when Sharp writes about the portrayal of God as "Him," she tells us that theologians have long noted the feminine word for the "spirit" over the waters before Creation, and what theologians have sometimes seen in the phrase about God creating humankind in his own image, "male and female."

And so on through each of the first five books, Sharp points to clues in the text that the God of the Hebrew Bible can be seen as valuing women. For that hypothetical young woman reader, Sharp writes again and again what a feminist might see. Opening at random to pages 56-57, I see that Sharp tells us what a text offers, how we are invited to see a different perspective, how we may find a model for "resilience" and liberation in the story of Moses, what backstory we might reconstruct from the few references to Miriam as a leader.

While Sharp is at it, she also finds angles for others disturbed by what they find or can't find in Scripture. Disturbed by the slaughter of animals, and even more by the slaughter of whole families by Moses and the Levites at God's command? Unable to square the vengeful warrior God with our image of Jesus as a good shepherd? Not heterosexual male and seeing nothing about yourself except for two lines that condemn you? Sharp offers comfort, though it's sometimes just the balance from other scriptures "in dialogue" with the ones that bother you.

So let's read Sharp and the rest of Yee's book in the spirit that it's written. It offers ways for all of us to see ourselves in Scripture, and to see our neighbors in scripture, too.

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Yr. C, Wk. 10: Legacy - Writing Ourselves in the Story

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Worship and Gathering
Scott led worship for Halloween, including a dramatization of Saul's visit to the Witch of Endor (see picture). The gathering question was about experiences we've had of ghosts, witches, or monsters. Scott as a child was fascinated by the Endor picture in his family's Bible; others told of reading ghost stories and Harry Potter; a presence felt during sleep paralysis; a school field trip to "The Devil's Stomping Ground"; elders' stories and darkness in Haiti. Tom regaled us with a true ghost story from his family's time in Japan -- the creaking of floorboards where no one was walking, and the approach of the ghost as he was alone in the house packing to leave. We were spooked!

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians, Unit 2 Theological Reflection as a Life Skill: 1st yr: Tom, Joyce, Donfred, Scott; 2nd yr: Jessica; 3rd yr, Susan; 4th yr, Pete, Nuno, Marilyn. Mentors: Susan and Scott. Absent: Jessica, Marilyn.

Discussion of the Readings

Y1s responded to the RRG’s question, “How do Leviticus and Numbers demonstrate the maturing of God’s People?” Joyce said that sacrifices that had once been thought of as a way to feed the gods or to appease Yahweh’s anger grew into being an expression of gratitude. Tom pointed up two conflicting strains in these books – exclusion of foreigners, and concern for both foreigners and the poor, including the fact that Moses himself married a Midianite woman. Donfred pointed out the command for the landowners to leave whatever drops during harvest for the poor to “glean.” Tom saw the Hebrews becoming more obedient and faithful from one generation to the next. Scott laughed at how scared the Israelite spies were when they saw “men of great stature” in the Promised Land; Tom added a personal anecdote about 12 Spies Winery.

Another thread of the discussion concerned a question that bothered Nuno when he was younger, who’s saved and who’s not? It used to be as simple as checking the right boxes on a questionnaire, he said, but no more. Pete found a process of maturing in Church history, as the Church has thought about salvation in multiple different ways over the centuries, each way being what Ford calls an “intensification” (a personalization, an imaginative way to express an abstraction in a way that affects the emotions and the will). Susan said that Bishops’ debates at the Council of Chalcedon were more than “fussing over theological details” but finding solutions that effectively expanded salvation and re-connected to Judaism.

Scott highlighted what Collins discussed in his chapter regarding the nature of the Deuteronomic editor/writer. The book Deuteronomy (second giving of the law) is itself is a more mature, developed, centralized interpretation of the law given in Exodus. For example, the Deuteronomic Author softens the "holiness code's" harsh purity with concern for ethics. Donfred wondered about those dietary laws, and so do scholars. Collins gives several theories for the reasons behind different restrictions, but concludes that no theory explains them all.

Theological Reflection
Pete brought us images from a Bible passed down in his family from the 1870s, the ornate engraved wood cover, the gold lining the pages, etchings of Bible scenes, numerous extras described in an advertisement early in the book, and page after page where generations of parents and children can record their births, marriages, and deaths. We had a wide range of reactions before we chose to focus on a couple of ideas from Donfred and Nuno: Legacy -- writing ourselves into the story.

We explored the "world of the book" through some Old Testament categories: Creation, Sin, Judgment, Redemption. Beautiful at its printing, it has become cracked and smudged from usage -- and that's a good thing, we decided. Its pages are a repository of keepsakes (petals, peacock plume, death certificate).

We connected variously through sources of Tradition, Culture, Action, and Position. What's more depressing than an estate sale or antique shop, we wondered, where all those precious photos are suddenly lumped together as trash, and other heirlooms are commercialized? The geneologies in the Bible and the mania for online geneology today -- why? "Let us now praise" with the famous those whose names are not remembered, says Ecclesiasticus: their contributions are still felt. Example of the niece in her 30s who has asked her family to make their Christmas gifts everyday objects that connect to their collective past.

We listed these insights:

• The book is a metaphor for this strong feeling, urge to preserve and continue forward the legacies of those before us.
• Seeking to maintain or rediscover the connection…
• Objects that belonged to someone are somehow connected to them… breaking or losing the objects is like losing them again
• Immortality / salvation? The names in the book – could be tracing the family separate from the rest of the community, but if we go further back, we see historical association and connection. Adding the names to the front of the book makes them part of this story… living in this story.

We used "chat" to collect lines of gratititude or petition for God, which made a prayer. Seeing these, Tom improvised a collect to "collect" all these thoughts:

PrayerThanking God my name was added, resolving that more be added, my prayer is to make more effort to make our children, nieces and nephews part of the continuing narrative, and that I may follow Jesus and his teachings, in the same manner of dignity and faith as my ancestors did before me.

Collect Almighty and everliving God, you are the source of all lasting connections, so connect us to you that we may also be connected to one another and those who have gone before and will come after, You who are eternally connected to Your Son our savior and to your Holy Spirit. Amen.

For Next Week
We're reading the assignments for Wk. 11 in the RRG. Donfred brings worship and a question to gather us at the start; Nuno will bring a source for the TR.

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