Yr. C, Wk. 8: Light Burdens and Na'aman's Easy Cure

Matt led a service from the New Zealand prayer book, familiar in outline but delightfully different in wording. Matt especially likes the many, many ways that the closing prayer names God: "Eternal Spirit, Earth - maker, Pain - bearer, Life - giver...." The worship service's Scripture from Matthew 11:25-30 included the line "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light," which provided Matt's question for our brown bag dinner, "What burden of yours has been lightened in the past week or so?" Answers included relief of different kinds: work completed, medical issue solved, decisions now in others' hands.

Yr. C theme: Living as Spiritually Mature Christians Class: Matt, Pete, first year; Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: none!

All of us had read the essay in the RRG (Reading and Reflection Guide) concerning the theories behind the process that EfM calls "theological reflections." Our veterans allayed some confusion that the first year students expressed. We discussed the fungibility of the four categories of sources. Scott asked about the "application" part of the TR, often short - changed in EfM groups, and we heard a lot of thoughtful responses:

• Erica finds herself pausing in harried situations to ask, "Where am I in the cycle?" She explained, "If I'm stuck in judgement, I know that I need to get to redemption."
• Christine admitted to having felt sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of information thrown at her, between Year One readings and TR processes, "but I learned to trust the process and this community," and she finds the TRs "interesting and elusive" in the sense of "hard to put in words."
• Susan observed that the TRs for her reinforce the need to step back from the particulars of any situation (or news event, or issue) to examine the universal. She has internalized this process.
• Mariel says that she has been "re-framing things," asking, when a situation disturbs her, "What redemption would look like in this situation, and what would it take to get there?"

Theological Reflection After Halloween cookies that Susan brought us from Douceur De France, we got down to our first theological reflection.

This week, Scott began from the Tradition source, reading with others several translations of II Kings 5, the story about Na'aman the Syrian Leper. Our focus became the moment when Na'aman feels indignant that Elisha seems to be disrespecting him, and he turns away -- when a servant says, "Had he asked you to do some difficult thing, you'd have done it." [Note from Scott: Only after EfM, I noticed the echo from the night's gospel reading, "My yoke is easy, my burden light."]

Gene broke through an impasse during the composition of our collect when he pointed out that we were confusing two separate issues from the story. Here's the final result:

Collect
O Lord, our mysterious and all - powerful creator and redeemer: When Na'aman the Leper felt rage and disappointment, You calmed him through a wise servant; help us let go of our expectations, to hear the Holy Spirit speak through unexpected voices. Amen.

Gene composed a lawyer's version: "Thank You for exceeding our expectations, even though Your miracle methodology does not meet with our standardized procedural criteria." Next week: Christine may be absent, but will send her thoughts on Luke. Pete will bring food; Scott will lead worship. Susan will bring a TR from the Action source (i.e., an experience). We go on to readings for Week Nine.

Yr. C, Wk. 7: the Stillness of God, Nuggets, and Images

Erica based our worship on Psalm 46. After we read verses 1 - 11 three times, three different ways, we silently meditated five minutes on whatever the images meant to us. Erica concluded with a lovely poem, "Teresa's Bookmark" by Teresa of Avila, which includes the lines "all things pass... God alone suffices."

Erica posed a question for us to answer during the meal, "For what in your life these days do you need to reclaim an awareness of the stillness of God?" Our answers ranged widely, and were deeply emotional - including concern about reaching out to someone, a process of discernment, a feeling that life is rushing or segmented, and a relationship in which "there is literally nothing I can do."

Christine's meal was more than sustenance, as she explained that the stuffed cabbage rolls are an old family recipe, and the confections for dessert were made joyfully with her mother, for whom so much of life is now a struggle.

[Photo: Christine's goodie bags, including wizard hats (PB stuffed Bugles dipped in chocolate), jack - o - lantern peeps and frosted ghost cookies]

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians Class: Matt, Pete, first year; Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: none!

Three strands emerged from our discussion of the readings:

• "Nuggets" of fact lie at the roots of so many stories both in Scripture and in History, and variations result from the authors' different purposes for story - telling.
• Accounting for Evil has led some to Manichean ideas of co - equal forces of good and evil. Plato and Augustine saw evil as a lack of good, not a force in itself. Ancient Jews and pagans alike thought evil was the result of their doing something wrong.
• We found layers or cycles in Old Testament, New Testament, history, and life itself.

After our dessert, we shared the images we'd brought.

[Photos: Two collages of images that in some way express the spiritual lives of the individuals in our class.]

Erica closed the session with a prayer of surrender by Loyola, that ended, "Give me only your love and your grace.  With this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask."


Next week: Brown bag dinner. All of us are reading the essay "Seeking Meaning" (RRG p.52 - 61) that opens the next unit, Theological Reflection as a Life Skill. Matt will lead worship. Susan will be bringing a story for our first Theological Reflection.

Yr. C, Wk. 6: Webs and Imperatives

Christine led worship with a liturgy adapted from the prayer book, and posed a question for us to answer while we consumed our brown bag dinners: Have you any special preparations / reactions for Fall? Our answers often had a sense of ritual, and we agreed that ritual and seasons are naturally tied together.

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians Class: Matt, Pete, first year' Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: none!

Our discussion of the readings left a "web" of associations on the board, and a "web" was sort of the theme for the night. Erica wore spider - web themed leggings; a tiny spider dropped down in front of Scott's surgery - enhanced eye.

Pete got us started, reacting to the excitement and emotion in the stories of Jacob and Joseph. Christine highlighted the ways that Mark and Matthew told the same stories with choices, and we enjoyed a digression about Matthew's love of numbers. Third year's reading was about "setting boundaries," but Mariel and Gene saw those boundaries emerging from a "swirl" of inter - mixed influences.

When Scott asked if any themes emerged from this "web," we got a list of "messy" transformations from old to new, Jacob to Israel, a maturing of doctrine. We had nice things to say about "committees" ("together sent on a mission"). After a short break, we shared our stories of "imperatives" that nudged us towards greater maturity in our spiritual lives. Our drawings expressed these:

Next week: Christine will prepare food; Erica, worship. We will each bring a picture for sharing, one that somehow represents our spiritual lives.

Yr. C, Wk. 5: For what has been...

Panera Bread provided great sandwiches, salad, and cookies, courtesy of Mariel. Before we ate, we had worship led by Scott in the other room, with candle, apple slices with honey, scraps of paper, and flowing water. These were all elements of traditional Rosh Hashanah worship, for washing away scraps in our lives that hold us down, for remembering the sweetness of life, and for recitation of confession and praise. We considered the question, "What's sweet in your life recently, or expected in the near future?"

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians Class: Matt, Pete, first year' Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: none!

Our discussion of the readings took off from Matt's delight at engaging with Genesis again, after having read it in a very different context back at FSU. The issues of translation and feelings of delight / confusion brought out interesting comments from all participants in all years.

Following our cookie break, we added colorful images to the mandalas we're producing week - by - week, and told the stories that go with them. This week, we doubled up, with stories first of a person or event that contributed to our maturing spiritually; then, of a question that moved us forward in that maturing process. We practiced active listening, then capped each set with the prayer, "For what has been, for what is, and for what is to come, we give thanks."

We concluded with a collect for St. Michaelmas, which coincided this year with Rosh Hashanah, both being backwards - and - forwards looking remembrances. [Photo: Botticini, 1470, Florence - an image associated with Michaelmas: Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael with Tobias.] 




Next week: Brown bag. Christine provides worship and a question for our check - in time during the meal. We're doing the readings assigned for Week Six. We will be sharing stories of a "an imperative" that helped us to mature as Christians.

Yr. C, Wk. 4: Struggling with God

Gene led Scott, Pete, and Mariel in worship before our brown bag meal, and concluded the evening with a Prayer for the Human Family. For an ice - breaker, we followed the suggestion in the RRG's Week 4 to list each person's favorite stories in books and movies. The energy level was high as we added Watership Down, On Golden Pond, Rear Window, Forest Gump, All Creatures Great & Small and some more obscure treasures. We pondered the question, "What common threads run through your own favorites?" Our answer led naturally to the readings, which concerned, in part, how Jews and Christians chose the canon of books by which we worship.

Yr. C,Living as Spiritually Mature Christians. Class: Matt, Pete, first year' Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: Matt, Christine, Erica, Susan.

For such a small contingent of members, we had a wide - ranging discussion of the readings. Mariel related to the idea that the Jews saw "history as the arena where they could watch God at work," and she was reminded that "Israel" means "struggler with God." The many voices struggling with each other in Jesus's day (Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots) were only the top examples. She recommended to Gene EfM's succinct study guide on line. Gene wondered at how the third year book condenses nine months of readings from EFM's first year curriculum into one piece. He loved the idea that the supposed shapers of Judaism were also the ones being shaped. Pete could relate the reading from Yee to the idea of struggle among diverse voices. He has been pleasantly shaken to have his notions of feminism and scripture opened up to so many perspectives: "I knew it intuitively, but I never thought about it. [The book] is eye - opening."
From Christine, about the second year readings:

My reading about the NT writings and the numerous methods used to study, scrutinize, translate, and/or interpret proved to be both fascinating and intriguing. I am Amazed, though, that simply put there is truly something wonderful within the writings of The Gospels, The book of Acts, the letters of Paul to the churches, The letters from Paul to individuals, The letters to the Hebrews, Letters by other people (Peter/James/John), and the book of Revelation. Something touches or reaches out to people (ancient to present day) that causes them to want to study these on so many levels, individually as well as scholastically....or historically or psychologically, the list seems endless but delightful. The sentence in Powell that put this into my mind was under the “Historical Criticism” topic: “Historians...view Jesus, Paul, and other figures of the NT as important...and they understand the emergence of Christianity to be one of the most significant developments in human history..” This, coupled with my somewhat naive but joyful outburst in a discussion with Fr Ben (Christ Church) just after the service Sunday about the Gospel and Sermon. He had mentioned Redaction Criticism and all the ways folks “come at the Bible” in his sermon. So I mentioned my current thoughts on how a piece of scripture could be so short but the study and discussion could go on for —ever! At which moment I raised up my arms to form a giant circle , imagine the “O” in the “O-H-I-O” game day cheer..that big O 😁. I forgot to mention to him my delight in hearing his mention of Redaction Criticism...he encouraged me “to let the water of the river just wash over me” and don’t get overwhelmed. That’s where my kind of “aha” moment came in. Also briefly the methods behind “exegesis” and “hermeneutics” were thought provoking and interesting unwrapping understanding for me as I walked through the various forms of study. Exegesis “refers to scholarly study of the Bible with and emphasis on the actual explanation of texts” Powell pg. 72. Hermeneutics “refers more to the philosophical reflection on the process of interpretation, including consideration of questions regarding what the goal of interpretation should be...” also pg.72.

Next week: We read Week 5 assignments, and we'll double up on the spiritual autobiography prompts (person or idea / question that helped us to mature spiritually). Mariel will bring our meal; Scott will lead worship. It's Rosh Hashanah!

Yr. C, Wk. 3: Building on Childhood Faiths

Susan led worship from the BCP when Gene was kept at work. Erica brought fixings for soft tacos. Our check-in question was anything spiritual or outstanding about the week just past, and our answers mostly focused on our responses to the readings. Our discussion of the early chapters in our different texts dovetailed with the stories we shared in three - minute monologues about a time when we felt a desire for God: most seemed to say that our childhood images of God have been challenged. We agreed that's a bit scary, a bit wonderful.

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians. Class: Matt, Pete, first year' Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: Gene.

Katey sent word that she would be joining the morning EfM class, giving both of our groups the six - student quorum we need to continue. Next week: Erica will be absent. Gene will lead worship. It's a brown bag dinner night.

Yr. C, Wk. 2: "Spiritual Maturity" Theme

Mariel led worship, and, during the brown bag dinner, asked what gave you a moment of peace or joy in the past week or two?

Yr. C, Living as Spiritually Mature Christians. Class: Katey, Matt, Pete, first year' Christine, second year; Mariel, Gene, third year; Erica, fourth year; Scott and Susan, co - mentors. Absent: Scott, at Camp Fortson with 7th grade.

Here are Susan's handwritten notes:

Spirituality, maturity as a theme. Do you want to work toward maturity? Related categories of maturity. Christine: discussion made her feel good that [it's] not so easily solved since she still thinks about it. Matt - how much of this is out of our hands? Lots of different factors (micro - meso - macro). Mariel - "entantled" came to mind, as a physics "entangled: to describe reality. Pete [said] micro, etc. come into play in understanding Bible / religion. Erica surprised by look section on listening/spiritual maturity as a way of being, not just a resource issue. Mariel - bothered by p. 26 quote. Interesting discussion about human heart and knowing what God wants vs. what we want. Talked about ABCD method of reading. Maturity as process - the "adult" meaning (toward the ultimate) -- metaphors like entangled peaks/ valley. Matt - we apply the "check the box" mentality to religion too. Merit badge metaphor. Gene - this class gives us a set of tools. Concerning the RRG's metaphor of "colors" in life, Erica suggested that we listen to the song "You Decorate My Life" by Kenny Rogers.

Next week: Erica brings the food, Gene leads the worship.