Scott improvised worship from the Psalm appointed for the evening, Psalm 95, with a reading from Jeremiah, the book assigned to First Year students for the night. Jeremiah 15.5-10 develops the lovely image of a tree that sends its root out underground beside a stream: even in dry times, it has what it needs to grow. We gave answers to the question, "What has been your 'root?'" Several of us agreed with Mariel that "little things," performed in ritual repetition, can ground us for our days. Susan draws nourishment from being absorbed in art class each week; Erica feels the same about her handcrafts, adding that she also finds refreshment in the changes of seasons. Gene "deals in problems all day," so he has learned to cultivate his gratitude.
[Class: Christine, first year; Mariel, Tom, Gene, second year; Erica, third year; Scott and Susan, mentors. Absent: Christine, Tom.]
Christine sent word to us that she's keeping up with reading and will post comments to our blog, soon. She adds, "The funny thing, or observation, I’ve come to realize about my quiet self is that I am wanting to blurt things out during service at church, though in fairness our Rector often asks
has anyone...? Or does any one know...? Also, I can’t get the Feminist Perspective book by Yee out of my mind."
Mariel was delighted to recognize a great deal of Ephesians from the use made of it in our prayer book. Disturbed by the phrase addressed to wives, "Submit to your husbands," she researched the passage and found that earliest sources present that phrase in a longer context with the previous sentence, making a single admonishment to both wives and husbands to mutually submit to each other, i.e., to share and respect each other. Gene was fascinated to see the parallels between Colossians and Ephesians; minus any references to specific matters of a church, the parallels suggest that Ephesians was written to be a general epistle for many churches.
Mariel was confused by a sentence in Ephesians that seems to equate greed with idolatry; Susan and Scott leapt on that, because the fourth year reading of theologian Timothy Sedgwick emphasizes that very point: "sin" in its larger sense is always "idolatry," a misplaced love. We all discussed that concept: what we love is what occupies our minds, our time, our habits. That should be God.
Erica reported on the decades leading to the Protestant Reformation. Her wide - ranging survey covered a conflict between mysticism and reason; persecutions of Jews and outliers whenever a wave of Black Death made people think God was punishing the community; the humanists' critical view towards authority, calling into question doctrines not supported by scripture, such as purgatory. Erica was struck by John Wyclif's statement that "the true church is invisible," a phrase that we discussed. We also discussed the tendency of Christians to want objective criteria for judging the true devotion of other Christians. (This was a problem with the Puritans, Scott noted.)
Nearly all these themes came into play when Mariel wondered what makes our current Book of Common Prayer so different from the one in 1928. Here's a more complete answer, with help from Forward Movement's book
Inwardly Digest: the 1979 version grew out of research during the post - Vatican II ecumenical movement of the 1960s, drawing on a better scholarly understanding of worship in the earliest centuries of the church. The language was modernized; choices were multiplied; emphasis on sinfulness of the believers was lightened; the role of the priest was lessened and the participation of the worshipers, increased.
We took photos for use in an upcoming EfM flier.
Theological Reflection
For our source for a theological reflection, Erica brought a pair of volumes called "The Brick Bible," old and new testaments. She had never looked inside them, almost dreading what she might find: she knows a boy disturbed by what he sees in these books, though her own sons have impressed adults with their Biblical acumen from recalling incidents illustrated in these volumes. It's "brick" because it's all posed with LEGOS!
We gathered around the books with delight at the author's ingenuity. We looked up certain passages just to see how Legos could handle them, such as the rush of demon - possessed swine off the cliff. In our exploration of our thoughts and feelings about the books, we discussed these questions:
- Is a Lego Bible a "mockery" (as an online reviewer claimed)? We decided on "lovely and campy," and also agreed, even if it is a joke, God has worked through "fools" and through flawed artists before.
- Is the Lego Bible a "dumbing down" for children? We decided it's not really for children, except "when used as directed!" Also, we decided that frank versions of the stories, at least for older kids, are better than the sugar - coated Sunday school Bibles we remember from pediatricians' offices.
- On the other hand, is a story enough? Do we need images to "get into" them? (Cf., lectio divina is a Benedictine process for us to do exactly that -- and we have a workshop on that March 2 at St. James)
- Thinking about the boy "disturbed" by the graphic violence executed on Lego figures, we thought of how we all projected ourselves on toys and items in our worlds when we were small, so that what happens to them in play is more real -- more immediate-- to us than, say, a narrative from the Bible or the news. (Does the same mechanism apply for adults to icons and objects in the church -- the Host? the Cross?)
- Do these crude and colorful reenactments of Biblical stories continue a line that stretches back to ancient carvings, medieval mystery plays, and stained glass windows?
We came to these "implications for action":
- That the artist took ten years to complete this project makes us think it's no joke, but a calling. Are there any such "callings" in our lives? (Scott proposed that a parent's grown child was / is still a "calling.")
- Lego of our own lives. (Note: I think that may have been a pun; I don't recall why it's on the board! - SS)
- Play is a form of learning; in fact, we can't learn without play; and, furthermore, we are engaged in play when we do a TR!
Collect for Playfulness
Abba, our Heavenly Father: You taught your disciples with surprising parables and outlandish similes, and you said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who retain qualities of children; let us in our daily lives remember to do what gives us joy, that we may manifest Your Spirit through delight and creativity. Amen.
See a post on my personal blog that relates: "Playing's the Thing."
Next Week: Our readings are for Week 24 (Isaiah + in year one; Philippians + in year two; "A House Divided" in year three); Gene will bring food; Christine will lead worship; Tom will bring a source for the TR.
