Sunday-Ps.66:8-12 has a complex view of God’s work in the world. it uses the image of being purified by trials, as in metal. It sees God as placing burdens on us. At the same time, it has God moving through these trails to bring us to a spacious place. that sense of a safe and secure place lies at the heart of the word for salvation in Hebrew. Where do you feel secure, and where do you feel threatened in life right now?
Monday-”O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart./Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.” (St. Augustine) nI like the idea of the Spirit entering into a heart abundantly, for God is not the god of scarcity. Where is your spiritual dwelling neglected? Where do you need cheerful beams of light to enter into life?
Tuesday-Divinity is aimed toward humanity...God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else. (Hildegard of Bingen) I like her sense of the world being connected, related, joined together. it is part of the complexity of creation. it also elicits awe at the ways we are bound together in god’s care and providence for all of creation.
Wednesday-in working with Haggai, we spoke of contemporary temples such as sports stadia. One person brought up the computer screen. What spiritual contacts do we make through this stained glass of the 21st century? What threats do you perceive n this new mode of technical expertise? Can the computer screen replace worship of any style together?
Thursday-In that same class on Haggai, we also spoke about the decline in the felt significance of worship.I never get that the people who talk about the 10 Commandments miss a lot of church services. I don't get that people who speak of the early church miss Acts 2:42-47. Do we even bother with making excuses for skipping worship?
Friday-"There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun." Thomas Merton-What would happen today, if you choose to see yourself (and everyone you meet) as this amazing combination of light and spirit and good rich earth? How would we treat one another differently if we saw how very connected and related we are to one another?
“Would we care for the earth more tenderly and consciously because we are in such intimate relationship?” (Carrie Newcomer)
Saturday-the Missouri History Museum has an exhibit on Prohibition, based on the book, Last Call. Seeing the wreckage that alcohol and its enterprises made of human lives, a national movement used a variety of political approaches to outlaw alcohol to be sold for most purposes. Admissions to mental hospitals for alcoholism did fall during the period, but a culture of crime leaped up in the legal gap. Good intentions do not always created good policy. unintended consequences have a way of popping up to create new sets of problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment