Yr. D, Wk. 22: Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
Joyce brought us prayers chosen for us with care. Scott noticed a preponderance of references to heat, warmth, and sunlight -- but that may have been his wishful thinking, as he was feeling cold.

To Joyce's gathering question about favorite time of day, we heard anytime I can go home... bedtime...the hour between work and dinner...sunset ("I just love sunsets!")...the first hour of the day when everything is routine and I don't have to choose anything.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 4 Integrating Belief, Behavior, and Doctrine: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings
First, we simply shared what struck us in the chapter. Pierre Chardin de Tielhard, his correlation of science and theology, and the moral discussion of scientific advances such as stem cell transplants -- something that Lanie has experienced. Susan brought up the moral discussion about the status of the android Data on Star Trek TNG. Donfred differentiates believing in Christianity and just "having a religion."

Daniel enjoyed the coherence section, and he enjoys the process of conversation. Scott related to that with the section of the essay that warns that argument is not the same thing as conversation and does not necessarily lead to wisdom. Jessica enjoyed the way that asking questions is the way recommended for approaching coherence. This tied in with Donfred's question about "heresy," as our essayist laid out questions under the surface of strict opposition to the ordination of women back in the 1970s. In any case, Donfred pointed to reconciliation as a goal for conversation.

Then we followed instructions for the "Response" in the RRG, exploring the doctrine of the Trinity, looking for coherence among the quadrants in a chart marked Research, Experience, Beliefs, and Behavior:

Theological Reflection
After the break, we read a poem by Marie Howe, "Singularity." Howe was doing what we talked about earlier, finding a kind of spiritual reality in the scientific theory of the Big Bang. (Note: Scott has learned that the Big Bang is Old Hat, and that Stephen Hawking himself revised the whole notion of "singularity." Who knew?)

Our discussion was wide-ranging. We reached these insights, some of which contradicted each other:

• It is our knowledge and intentions that take us out of being present in the moment and to thinking of other things as “distractions” from our intention.
• “Living in the moment” is over-rated! We would give up a lot of good if we were like our pets.
• Having no conflict, having no worry is also having no life or no joy? Yes, Donfred says.
• Peacefulness is still appealing. If you don’t know what you’re missing, then you don’t know it’s peace. Ignorance is bliss.
• We are close to Buddhism, here: hold pain and joy to be equal. Don’t cling to either one.

We worked to create a prayer:

To God of the Big Bang, Singularity… you brought us out of a single speck like dust to become infinite space, energy, matter, and variety:
“God is in the details” wrote Emerson, in the joy, the chaos, the quiet, you are in it with us – and you have a plan… contrast to the “unity” when all the material that became stars and atoms was just one infinitely small infinitely massive point.
Help us to accept (and appreciate?) our discreetness that we are temporal I, you, me, us… … that we may find our Unity in You
Relates this to the Trinity… discussion!

While we tried to find a collect among these themes, Jessica composed this prayer in the "chat" space:

Almighty God, You are the source of all peace and unity.
We seek to draw near to You, to merge our hearts with Yours,
That we may walk in harmony with Your will,
And live in the light of Your eternal presence.
Grant us the grace to surrender ourselves fully to You,
To find our strength in Your love and our purpose in Your truth.
May we know the deep communion of being one with You,
And through this oneness, may we reflect Your goodness to the world.
In Your sacred name, we pray. Amen.

For Monday:
Susan brings worship; Joyce inspires our TR with a source!

← | latest | →

Yr. D, Wk. 21: Sarcasm in Scripture, Redemption in Russia

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
Donfred wasn't here to see how the prayers he chose for us brought us into a proper mindset for the discussion ahead. His gathering question about "your favorite place in the world" had us laughing and comparing experiences: Israel, where I prayed at the Wailing Wall... Greece, where I felt totally at home, not just because of the old ruins but because of natural beauty... Italy... Key Biscane, Nantahala River where we rafted as children... Aunt and Uncle's mansion open to any who came to their Monday night dinners.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 1 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Susan, Daniel, Donfred.

Russian architecture in Red Square, photographed by Scott in 1977, revisited on Scott's virtual world tour, 2024. See Bike in the USSR

Discussion of the Readings
Jessica led with the tsar who earned the name Ivan the Terrible, and moved on to tell us about Russia's development from a spiritual standpoint – how people in far-flung towns relied on each other to survive in very cold, dark year – lived in solitude – developed spirituality in the village churches.

Joyce was amused by Paul's frustration, first with Corinth, then Galatia -- church communities led astray by "the latest thing." She especially enjoyed Paul's side comment that circumcision is not big deal, provided the knife doesn’t slip. Paul says you have to trust in Jesus to grow – Joyce says you need Jesus to get through the day… (Scott related how he was comforted by Paul's outburst “I wish these people would mutilate themselves” when a sect briefly made him fear that he wasn't doing enough to be saved. So, Joyce, the latest thing keeps happening.)

Lanie said she wasn't exactly "delighted" but "enlightened" by three parts of Isaiah. It was interesting to her that some of the stuff prophesied was same in Micah. Scott jumped in with a recitation of Micah's greatest hit: "Does God want thousands of rams, rivers of oil, the blood of my son? No: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God." As Lanie pointed out, Micah seems to have been a nobody of low class, very critical of the upper class. Scott saw sarcasm in Micah's writing, as where the prophet lulls his audience to complacency as he tells how foreign nations deserve punishment for their evil ways, then slaps down the hypocrites in Israel and Judah.

Theological Reflection
With three absentees, we didn't meet the quorum for a TR.

Instead, we closed out this unit 3 by expressing what "spirituality" means to us now that we've spent some time reading and talking about it.

• an awareness of God's presence that colors/shapes how I go through my days
• Several of my friends have told me that I am a 'spiritual' person... I am not sure just what that means.
• Trusting in God
• seeking a deeper understanding and connection with God who is greater than oneself, acknowledging His presence and existence
• often connected to physical actions -- we discussed labyrinth, also kneeling, also rosary, also deep breathing and quiet meditations... I'd add, singing in harmony!!!
• These days, it's also about turning OFF the radio and having just me, the dog, God, and breakfast going on in the kitchen after I do the daily scripture readings
• spirituality is looking for God's hand in everything that has happened and is happening... singing, sunsets, moon...

For Monday:
Joyce will lead worship for us. Susan will be back with her source for a TR. We'll all be reading the essay in the RRG for week 22.

← | latest | →

Yr. D, Wk. 20: Communication by Body and Spirit, Speech and Silence

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
We celebrated better health, a car still chugging along, and something else that we swore not to tell anyone! Light was a theme in prayers and scripture that Jessica gathered for us, including an excerpt from Year 2's reading in 2 Corinthians. For a gathering question, we imagined how we might use an extra hour each day: sleeping... going outside ... fiddling... going on a "sniffathon" with the dog. Joyce guessed that the extra hour would just give someone else the opportunity to find something else for her to help them with.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: None.

Discussion of the Readings
First, we looked at the labyrinth on p. 123 of the RRG and shared experiences of physical actions that we associated with heightened spiritual awareness or feeling. Donfred said that the labyrinth for him was "amazing," involving him with others, too. We heard about the rosary (like the "finger labyrinth" in the RRG), singing during a walk... and, on the other hand, feeling nothing more than annoyance at the pressure to have "an experience."

Jessica connected her Y3 reading to that last idea. With the rise of mysticism, Orthodox leaders tried to weed out the “forced” or faked experiences. Mystics were focusing all their attention on a word or icon.

About Hosea, Lanie was mystified by the point of Hosea’s marrying a prostitute, although she gets his analogy, Israel is like that prostitute. Donfred suggested that the community would see the power of the metaphor as it was lived out in their midst, year after year, child after child, make up after break up. Daniel, anticipating what Yee will probably write, saw again how women are used as the negative (Hosea marries unfaithful woman). "This negative attitude towards women is so ingrained in the writing."

Daniel wonders about “literal” or “metaphorical." Susan observed that the Hebrew scriptures are so physical, not ethereal. Daniel related this to James – don’t get caught up in checking the boxes of ritual and leaving behind the poor and needy. That's a message of Amos and, to a lesser extent, Hosea. It's also a tie-in to Jessica and those mystics, their "ethereal" experiences actually having a strong physical manifestation -- correct me if I'm wrong, Jess!

Donfred commented on Corinthians, Paul's challenges in the lack of understanding among the Corinthians. Paul trying to keep Christian unity. About Paul's strictures about women, Donfred sees Paul's concern about Christians serving as role models within their Roman-dominated communities. Daniel added another angle, from his experience as a teacher, and Susan concurred: you give oral instructions, they misunderstand; you add more instruction based on their earlier mistakes; they still don't get it... Each time, longer, more confused -- like Paul!

Donfred touched on a theme of our discussion, getting the message by hearing. He told the story of his grandfather learning scripture by hearing only, as books were not available.

Theological Reflection
Communication, especially by voice, was a theme that emerged from Daniel's story. Three men drive dozens of hours without speaking, each wrapped in his own thoughts and feelings about what has happened. After much discussion, we settled on the image of the "silent scream" that people around don't hear or respond to.

The joy of life before the event is what Donfred saw when we wondered, "What is the created nature of the world of the silent scream?" Sin , brokenness – you want to scream, but afraid of starting something, afraid to spread the emotion, or afraid that they won’t feel the same thing and you’ll feel even more isolated! Bridging, redemption might be found in sharing memories? It feels good to get it out… finding someone who can hear it… Or someone looks at you and says, "you look like you need help … to scream… to let it out."

Looking in our Tradition, we found these: Job – so much suffering and the comforters don’t really hear him or see him, only they’re lecturing him… Joyce says Job says “you’re not hearing me.” Psalm 46.10 - be still and know that I am God -- seems like God’s response to this silent scream situation. Lot’s wife looks back longingly, is not allowed to "look back" at what she's losing, but does, and turns into pillar of salt (has no feelings, no sound). Jeremiah, threatened if he speaks the truth, says I can’t keep quiet, it’s a fire in my bones.

Position: Some of us were taught not to speak out… don’t make a spectacle of yourself. But there’s also reality shows where spilling guts is expected and probably performative.

Culture: Munch's popular the painting the Scream, so often reproduced and parodied. Susan brought up a Vincent Price vehicle directed by schlock shocker William Castle, The Tingler (1959) about an invasive creature that can be expelled only by its victim's screaming. If you don't scream, you die. The experience in a movie theatre was one of communal screaming.

Insights and applications:

• Our culture trivializes expression of feelings by overdoing it.
• When you’re afraid to scream, it can be good to just take a breath… pause --- God can respond in the silence.
• "There are two kinds of silence: one when nothing is said, one where a torrent of words is being used to cover up what you’re feeling." – Harold Pinter, playwright. We need to hear the silence under the torrent of words.
• I would hope to be the person who notices that someone needs to scream. (teachers…)
• Ministry – responding to a cry for help is such an opportunity to do good for someone, but also danger of getting it wrong. Taking time and training to get that response right is important…
• Recognize the difference between sincerity and spectacle. (Scott got advice from his first Middle School principal: When a girl cries, there's nothing more for you to do or say; you have to accept it.

Prayer for the Silent Scream Dear God…When we are afraid to scream and ask for help, help us to pause and take a breath; help us to be still and know that you are God and can respond, even in our silence. Show us how to comfort and be comforted.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 HCSB)

We pray this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

For Monday:
We're reading for week 21. Year 1, notice that we don't have to read more than six chapters of "First Isaiah." Year 2 gets Galatians, coinciding with our lectionary! Year 3 is doing Russia -- look for the silver linings -- they're there to lighten a dark, dark story.

Lanie accepted the challenge to collect our thoughts from the TR into a prayer; Donfred will lead worhip --remember, Daniel will be away-- and Susan will bring a source for a TR.

← | latest | →

Yr. D, Wk. 19: Learning to Welcome the Other

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
For January 27, a day in honor of St. John Chrysostom, Scott brought a little history of the Bishop of Constantinople who was exiled for preaching against the luxury and callousness of the powerful in his congregation, and we recited his famous prayer. January 27 is also international Holocaust Remembrance Day, and we concluded with a prayer produced cooperatively by Jews and the Church of England.

The gathering question came from the examen of Loyola, a form of evening worship: "When you review this day or this week, what do you recall with gratitude?" The rector eased our worries about the future rector... the courage and love of a mother at the celebration of life for her late son... a work schedule reformed to allow more quality time with the children... the synergy of art teacher and students... and a beautiful sunrise that called to mind When morning gilds the skies / My heart within me cries / May Jesus Christ be praised. (Lanie's photo, below)

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Donfred, Joyce.

Discussion of the Readings
Year One read in Yee's book an essay about the Deuteronomical History (DH), and we addressed a question from the RRG, "How do you respond to the violence towards women in these books?" Lanie observed that violence to men was also a part of the historical record. Daniel agreed that these stories are both "historical" and "rhetorical," using foreign women to "other" the gentiles. The DH was assembled during the ancient Babylonian captivity using texts even more ancient to keep the Jewish identity alive. As we shall see in Year One, these books are in dialogue with prophetic books that open God's plan up to the Gentiles.

That makes a neat segue to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Susan's takeaway from Powell was that Paul is complex. Any hard and fast statement about him and his teachings must deal with these facts: He wrote over 30 years' time, during which his thinking evolved with experience; the authorship of some letters circulated under his name is dubious; he was writing to appeal to different audiences, so he uses different metaphors to explain what faith in Jesus means. Powell provides a list of ten different metaphors from Romans alone. More recent scholarship about Paul sees him not as for faith over works per se, but as against ethnic Jewish privilege over others who didn't practice the works demanded by Jewish law.

Susan offered an interesting perspective from Messianic Jews who were among the students she taught at KSU.

Susan also relayed an affirmation from a professor of classical studies: Paul was definitely a Roman citizen. Romans were very picky about that, and Paul's escorted journey to Rome can be explained only if he had the proper ID.

Jessica was fascinated by the fact that icons and images, forbidden as foreign idols in the early church, became central to worship in the years around 1000 CE.

Theological Reflection
Because we were missing two, and Jessica had to rest early, we put off the TR another week.

We prayed for Joyce, Donfred, and Jessica, too.

For Monday:
Daniel will miss next week, so it's Scott's turn again to bring a TR; Jessica will do worship.

← | latest | →

Yr. D, Wk. 18: Kings, Paul's letters, and Surrendering to the Light

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
Lanie integrated her own photos spanning sunset to midnight (mostly on the Mediterranean late last year) with prayers for the close of day.

Her gathering question was about three items on our "bucket lists." Susan's was mundane, yet daunting: cleaning house. Scott's was to finish works left undone: an opera called City on a Hill, a choral concerto based on the Nicene Creed, and a series of murder mysteries for the H.O.A. to solve. Others wanted to travel: Joyce and Lanie want to cruise Alaska, Donfred wants to tour central Africa, Jess wants to travel to Ireland, New Zealand, and Italy. We began to plan an EfM field trip. If Lanie's in charge, it will include a drive to Montana and a tour of Scotland. Jessica had one other item: to establish a pet rescue center.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Sustaining Spirituality : 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Daniel.

Discussion of the Readings
Reading the overview of Paul’s letters, our Y2 readers were interested in the technology of letter-writing back in the day. Donfred told how rough drafts were made on clay that could be smoothed over and re-written; Joyce told how ink was a mixture of dark powders (charcoal, soot) with natural gums such as sap from trees, so it stuck. Susan told how it was expected that disciples of a teacher would sign his name to writings of their own, not to fool anyone, but in a good faith effort to represent what the teacher would write.

Joyce relayed what Lanie had told her in a breakout session: that 1 and 2 Kings were full of parallel stories; that prophets were organized in schools that served largely as cheerleaders for kings, and how the lone prophets who talked back to the kings stand out: Elijah, Elisha, and Micaiah. Lanie observed that the temple seemed to be a place for sacrifice but not what we would think of as church. She’s right, and that’s why Collins (and Rabbi Heschel whom we’ll read one day) say that it was the DESTRUCTION of the temple at the end of 2 Kings that transformed Judaism from a local nationalistic ritual to a world-wide faith that inhabits a temple “of the imagination.” The scriptures that Y1 is reading were put together during that time after the destruction of the temple – their aim being to preserve the stories on which the faith is built.

After Jessica's disappointment in the church intrigues and crimes of the 12th century last week, she was delighted to read about the light of faith shining forth among saints in holy communities during the same time. Theological debates of today started then. St. Francis was described amusingly as a playboy son of millionaire who lived Jessica’s secret dream to start a pet rescue.

A common statement that Powell quoted provoked some thought: Christianity is the creation of Paul, not Jesus. Joyce and Lanie said that can't be right, because Paul was "an ambassador" for Christ, speaking of Christ always. That's true. It's also true that Paul in his letters shaped the beliefs and practices of churches that he planted, and churches for all time. Beyond collecting twelve apostles to go out into the world, Jesus himself was not involved in organizing people or their beliefs. People who did not share the beliefs of his Jewish disciples but who had faith in him got cured and praise. So Powell, by quoting the common idea about Paul, is not denigrating Jesus, only saying something like "apples and oranges," one embodied the faith, the other organized believers to embody the faith.

With comments on something Jessica said, Donfred found the secret square. He wins 7 volt battery-powered heated socks.

Theological Reflection

After break, we took some time to examine the examen outlined on page 117 of the RRG -- a practice that, in keeping with this unit's theme, can "sustain spirituality."

Scott brought a painting, Conversion on the way to Damascus, imagining the incident that marked Saul the Jewish Pharisee's change to Paul the Christian missionary to the Gentiles, by 17th century artist Caravaggio. Subbing for Daniel at the last moment, Scott chose this because of its tie-in to our year's overarching theme of "the journey."

We found our focus in the open arms of Saul/Paul on his back, welcoming surrender.

Considering some of the theological perspectives, we saw this picture as the Judgment, an "ah-ha" moment in Saul's life when Jesus asked, "Why do you persecute me?" Sin in this world would be Saul's denying the vision, crawling away and pretending it never happened, holding on to his reputation as a respected persecutor of Christians.

Looking at the action source, we wondered whether any of us have also "welcomed surrender?" Jessica spoke about being in contentious sessions with Vestry: "Once the group has made its decision, there's relief to say, I've given it to God." Lanie concurred, with reference to the Search Committee. Susan could relate to surrender in her decision to retire.

Joyce brought up an analog from the culture source, When Harry Met Sally. Digressions followed, relating to diners and "I'll have what she's having."

For Insights, we agreed that the painting of a young man, armored in colorful and shiny garb, eyes closed, arms welcoming, body vulnerable to the horse's hooves, we agreed that the painting "humanizes" Paul, making him young, cocky, and humiliated. Jessica sees that, when you fight for one position over another, you have to trust in the result. We could identify with this question: "You have my attention. What do I do now?" Scott, looking at the sword and helmet discarded on the ground in Caravaggio's painting, wondered, "What are my helmet, sword, and armor that keep me from surrendering to God's will?" All agreed, the need to control is the shield.

Susan countered that surrender is not always the appropriate response.

In chat, Scott asked us about thoughts and prayers regarding "welcoming surrender."

• For the members of our church to lean into the call of being the hands and feet of Christ. Getting more people to be more active – not standard 20% of people doing 80% of the work.
• A part of surrendering is learning to be content and trusting where we are, knowing that even in those times the Lord is moving on our behalf.
• prayers for peace
• Lord, i'm hearing messages that I don't like about things I need to give up for my health -- help me to relax my grip on my sword and shield

Joyce volunteered to collect all these threads into one prayer:

Collect for SurrenderYes, Lord! We all have had or will have a Damascus moment in our life. My prayer for us all is that we will be like Paul, putting up our hands in total surrender to You. Giving You all our cares (1 Peter 5:7) and taking up our cross (Luke 9:23) to follow You in perfect peace and contentment wherever we are in life. In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!!

For Monday:
We do the readings in the RRG for week 19. We try the examen on p. 117. Scott will bring worship; Daniel will bring the TR.

← | latest | →

Yr. D, Wk. 17: Saints and Sinners Defying Gravity

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
Daniel put together a worship service with prayers well-matched to what we read and who we are, with a prayer from the Y1 readings in Samuel, a prayer for leisure for the retired professor, and an excerpt from Psalms. He concluded with an Epiphany blessing.

For a gathering question, he asked about something we did Friday morning that we don't usually do. (Heavy snowfall began around 6am Friday in Marietta.) We variously flipped off the alarm, slept late, recuperated in bed from a medical procedure, and walked in the snowy tracks of some neighborhood Big Foot whose strides were 20-to-30 inches wider than Scott's.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Donfred missed the first 45 minutes.

Discussion of the Readings
An overall theme emerged after Jessica expressed outrage over the venality and hypocrisy of leaders in the medieval church. Forget the spiritual excuse for clerical celibacy: it was just a way to keep sons from inheriting church lands. The church monetized sin -- and still does, Jessica said, telling of a Catholic friend who paid to be re-admitted to the church after a divorce. Jessica was appalled by the violence and hatred of so-called Christians slaughtering Muslims during the Crusades.

But Jessica acknowledged that beautiful things were happening in the church within that same time frame, including the glorious expressions of faith and light in Gothic architecture, and the life of her church's name sake, St. Teresa.

So the theme that emerged was something about two tracks, one up, one down: yes, there was ego, self-interest, violence and what Lanie politely called "hanky-panky," but also glorious advances in what our unit is about, "developing a sustaining spirituality."

Daniel allowed David and the apostles grace to grow as they go. "David's misdeeds do not separate him from God's love." Listening to Susan talking about the apostles, he thought, "they may be rag-tag" and dense, but they figure it out as they go along, and grow.

Figuring out as you go along is the theme of this year in EfM!

Joyce was especially taken by the story of Roman soldier Cornelius, and how he and Peter, cultural enemies, were drawn together by God.

Lanie won the prize this week, a $99.99 chili kit delivered to her door. She can invite to dinner her skeptical friend who thinks that Episcopalians sacrifice cats.

Theological Reflection
Scott, considering how often The Wizard of Oz pops up in our TRs, brought a song from the musical Wicked, the backstory to the movie. In the song "Defying Gravity," Elphaba the green-skinned witch invites her friend Glinda to join her against the fake wizard. Though Glinda respectfully declines to go against the popular ruler, Elphaba "puts herself out there" to oppose the oppression of animals in Oz.

So here's a totally secular song from a secular show that's a huge Broadway hit and even more successful in movie theatres. How does this song in this show "go" with our tradition and our theology?

We quickly focused on Elphaba's sense of purpose that motivated her risk to show leadership (Donfred's term) in opposition to oppression.

We explored some theological categories, seeing the Creation in this musical as a world of consequences, a world where most people prefer to live within existing boundaries, where change has to be, as Daniel said, "incremental." (We thought of reactions to small changes in liturgy. Scott reminded us that MLK faced opposition from Black pastors who thought that change should be "incremental" -- like the Pharisees, they wanted to separate themselves from the oppressive culture of the Romans -- not on option for Jesus, wrote Thurman.)

We felt that judgment is the moment of recognition that you have to step out, put yourself forward, to oppose sin.

Redemption, if it is to come, will be when others follow you. Whether or not they do, you're involved.

Susan related this to William James, "The Will to Believe." Performing the action makes the belief into truth, James said.

Looking for experiences in the "Action" source, we heard from Joyce about leading others around a Post Office truck blocking the right lane; and we heard her story about a shy employee (Joyce) who met her rude boss's abuse with kindness, and won the boss's apology.

We easily connected this to Scripture. We did not think of the most obvious New Testament story about Satan tempting Jesus to defy gravity from the highest point of the temple. But Donfred thought of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt; we thought of Martin Luther King, Jr., taking a risk to his life every day, confronting injustice while others dithered about "going too far... going too fast." Scott pointed out that Thurman discussed how Jesus did this in his time, as MLK did in our time.

We voiced many insights as we tried to put together a prayer. Joyce was "voluntold" to complete the prayer for us. Here it is:

Dear God our Heavenly Father, You encourage us to go out into the world, to be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless) as doves; To love our neighbors as ourselves; and to know that in You we live, and move, and have our being. So, everyday enable us to grow in our trust, help us to become more and more familiar with Your voice because You can only use us to the degree that we trust and to what our faith expects. Grow us Lord; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
References from Matthew 10:6, Mark 12:30, and Acts 17:28

For Monday:
We do the readings assigned for Week 18. Please do examine the "examen" in the "Response" section on p. 117. Try it at least one evening this week: this is one of the respected practices of our church that helps to "sustain" us in our journeys! Joyce is working on a collect from Wk 17; Daniel will bring us a TR from one of the four source (tradition, action, culture, position). Worship will be provided by Lanie.

← | latest | →

Yr. D, Wk. 16: Spirituality in metaphors of Dust, Tides, and Journey

← | latest | →

Interested in joining us? Link to our Visitor's Center.

Worship and Gathering
We arranged to meet at 7:30. That allowed Daniel, Lanie, and Scott to attend St. James's evening service for the start of Epiphany. Scott and Lanie brought their laptops to Zoom in from the church, but Daniel somehow got home and logged on in time.

Susan brought worship from the Northumbrian community. She asked us about any New Year's resolutions. We were unanimous: none.

Yr. D, Living Into the Journey with God, Unit 3 Developing a Sustaining Spirituality: 1st yr: Lanie, Daniel; 2nd yr: Donfred, Joyce, Susan; 3rd yr, Jessica; 4th yr, Scott. Mentor: Scott. Absent: Jessica, Donfred.

Discussion of the Readings
We all read an essay built on some excerpts from Beloved Dust: Tides of the Spirit in Christian Life by retired Rev. Dr. Robert Davis Hughes III, co-founder of EfM, whose final classes as EfM mentor trainees included Susan and Scott.

Daniel remarked on the first part of the essay. The author draws on modern physics, sociology, and psychology to show how our understanding of the universe, our world, and ourselves has outgrown the simpler up-and-down heaven-and-hell cosmology that we see in the Bible. While Daniel acknowledges the differences in understanding, he was struck by continuity between old ways and new ways. Susan added that the short synopses of ancient thought didn't do justice to the variety of ancient cosmologies, and the short synopses of Hughes probably didn't do justice to his work, either.

Scott appreciated the tides metaphor because it helps to envision how we can experience both advance and what Hughes calls "slack" at the same time. Lanie had utilized that metaphor memorably in a chapter of her spiritual autobiography.

While Lanie and Joyce both told us that the reading was difficult, each brought out something that interested them. For Lanie, it was her surprise to learn that the word for the Holy Spirit is feminine, which could support a gender-fluid view of God in the Trinity. Or not: gendered nouns aren't all that significant, as, for instance, everyone's hands in French are masculine, while everyone's heads are feminine.

Joyce saw a connection between "centering prayer," which she practices, and the Jesus prayer listed with habits that can help us to sustain spirituality. These will be covered at the ends of RRG chapters during this unit, where the RRG asks us all to "respond."

Theological Reflection
None this week.

For Monday:
Daniel leads worship. Scott will bring a source for a TR. We're all reading what's assigned to our years in the RRG for wk. 17. Notes in the RRG about Samuel and about Acts are particularly helpful this week, and so are the readings by Collins and Powell. It looks like Jessica will have fun discovering that certain traditions of Roman Catholics -- Purgatory, marriage, priestly celibacy, and the Pope -- were actually late developments, not bedrock.

← | latest | →