Year D, Wk. 4: Stories, Conversions

Darkness on the face of the deep...  DrewKadel.wordpress.com

Erica provided dinner, and Susan provided tide-related prayer for worship.

Using the "mutual invitation" method for sharing, we drew on our own lives for stories of "conversions" in affection, intellect, political orientation, and religion. 

During our discussions of the readings, Scott posted summaries on the chalkboard, allowing us to look for connections among the different years' readings on Genesis, Jesus, and the Hellenistic world.

Next week, we read the Week 5 assignments.  We're brown-bagging the food; Lynne  brings us worship; Smoot will bring a story from his own life for a TR.  Note:  Scharme will miss.  Erica will miss Nov. 8. 

Year D, Wk. 3: History isn't what it used to be

Scharme brought pizza, and Erica led us in worship.  We discussed opening essays in the Year One and Year Two books, both of them introducing many angles by which we can approach writings of a distant time and place.  The second year book gives an overview of the ways ancient peoples viewed wealth and poverty, class, purity.  Both books suggest that ancient ideas of "history" differ widely from ours.  Susan will be sending us the succinct overview of ancient history from the old EfM "red books." 

We parsed ways to approach the spiritual autobiographical questions we'll be answering next week.

Next week, we read Week Four assignments.  Erica will bring food; Susan will lead worship. 

Year D, Wk. 2: "Travel" metaphor

Scott brought Chinese food.  Bill brought a Psalm for worship, and the question, "When has intense frustration turned to peace for you in the past week?"  We all had cases to share.

We discussed the Reading and Reflection Guide, chapter one.  We were struck by Dante's use of the word comedy : we may go through hell -- our author reminded us of recent historical hells -- and still be in "comedy" so long as hope wins out in the end.  The terms anamnesis, theosis, and scotosis struck us all for different reasons.   Relating them to the travel metaphor, we thought of where we've been helping us to anticipate where we're going; and "scotosis" is the tunnel vision that hides from our view places (views, truths) in plain sight.

With Bill and Lynne away next week, we'll all do our readings, and the first and second year students will meet with the mentors to discuss their first chapters next week.  Food by Scharme, worship by Erica.

The week after, we'll do the readings, then go use the alternative "invitational" method for going through our spiritual autobiographies, focused this year on times of conversions, not just in the religious sense. 

Year D, Wk. 1: On the Right Track

Our first meeting back from summer break, we all had news to share about aging parents and summer pursuits.  Susan made garden quiche and citrus salad.  Scott led worship in the other room, from "Early Evening" with a reading from last year's Forward Day by Day about Job's longing for past days when God was his friend: the meditator urged us to think on joys of this now-time.  Doing that was our "check - in."

We introduced our newest member to the main books of the curriculum, and used the Reading and Reflecting Guide (RRG) acronym "RESPECT" as a starting place for establishing group norms.  We explored the metaphor of "journey," and settled on the image of a train, because we spend a lot of time in our own compartments, but we meet periodically in the dining car.

What will make our journey safe and good for all?  We plan the itinerary, and we stick to the schedule... We're not late... We don't get off-track...  We have the best experience when we've all prepared for the journey with reading and thought... When we come together as a community, we'll leave our baggage (political, personal problems) in the baggage car...  We will keep eyes and ears open to what passes by (in view, in conversation)... We will head to the sleeper car at 9:15... Knowing that we are all companions on this journey, we will not monopolize or hijack the conversation; politics and personal hobby-horses are left behind.  The train must be secure;  no one will blab about what we've heard when we get off at the station.

Rotation of responsibilities:  With a small group, we decided to take some of the pressure off of cooks by adding to our rota a $5 pizza night and a brown bag night.  Everyone will provide dinner once every eight weeks.

Goals:  A journey has an end in sight; we listed our personal goals.  Here's a digest of what we wrote:

Thoughtful discussions and TRs - not settling into a rut, not pushing to be right all the time... Bring depth to St. James' through EfM...  Discipline.... Open mind... Grasp evolution of church from small groups to world-wide network, from experience to dogma... Connect church to wider world, including Judaism and Islam... Bring order to the chaotic impressions I carry around... Gain self-confidence in my grasp of our faith's doctrines, traditions, genres in the Bible... Surrender to God, see God in "mundane" life....

For next week:  We read "Week Two" in the Reading and Reflecting Guide available at EfM's website at Sewanee (see link at right).  Next week, we will take time to prepare our thoughts for a spiritual autobiography, this time presented in a Q+A format.

Next Week:  Scott provides food;  Bill provides worship. 

Telling our Stories: Weeding a Garden

On my own personal blog, I've preserved some ideas from Forward Day by Day that pertain to our program, in an article I call Seeds and Weeds in the Gospel of Matthew: Images for your Inner Gardener. 

Wk. 34: Daniel, Maccabees, 1-3 John, "Travelers," and Labyrinth

Present:  SC, JK, BL, LL, JM, SR, SS, ST.

The Karkulas brought dinner, Smoot brought poetry from hymns for worship, and we answered a question suggested by Thomas Merton's contention that we experience a kind of "violence" in our need to do more for more people.  Sarah suggested that "violence" and "violate" must relate in meaning.

Our discussion brought out questions about Apocrypha, Hanukkah, the sole references to afterlife in the Hebrew testament (both in Daniel), and the meaning of "God is love" in the epistles of John.  Fourth year has come to appreciate stories in My Neighbor's Faith.  

For a TR, Scharme asked us to consider Philippians 4 -9.  The image that this suggested to us was the labyrinth -- knowing that the twists and turns will lead us to the center, that others are there with us.


Collect for Walking Labyrinths
God, you set aside one day of rest for six of work.   Keep our hearts and minds on You, the center of our labyrinthine lives and work.   Let our faith not become over-verbalized and under-experienced, but grant us that peace that passes all understanding.  Keep our hearts and minds on Jesus.  Amen.




For May 3:  We skip April 26, and read lessons for Week Thirty-five. Scharme brings food; Sarah, worship; Susan, TR.

Wk.33: Ruth, Esther, Ephesians, "My Neighbors," and the Stage

Present:  SC, JK, BL, LL, JM, SR. SS, ST.

Sarah provided dinner; Jane, worship.  We answered questions from our pack of cards to cover our responses to the readings.

Sarah's TR started as the story of a birth, but, through the process of reflection, we imagined instead a director watching young performers on a stage.   Before we were finished with this image, we were wondering, "Where is God in this picture?"  We could see God as the director who presented the players a script and then watched with a mix of pleasure and anxiety to see how they act their roles.  But there was also the possibility of the reverse:  We are observers, not in control, as God "performs" our world.



Collect for Life's Rich Pageant

O Creator of all, you have created our stage and the story of our universe, allowing us the freedom to play our parts as we will; give us the grace to recover from our miscues, and teach us to trust in your direction, so that we may partake in your holy performance to the final curtain call; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

Next week, we do lessons for week 34 (on 4/19). Jeff (and Sally) provide dinner; Scharme brings a TR, and Scott does worship.  The week after, we'll take the day off (as it's Mystery Dinner Theatre week).  Week 35 will be May 3rd.