Blog (Page 19)
Finding the words
“Most of us are not professional theologians, and for many Christians, almost all talk about God occurs when we are inside the church. This is not surprising, since talking about God inside the church is often a lot easier and much less threatening than talking about God out in the world….The grooves of what to say and how to say it are already carved into the service of worship and into our memory. But what about speaking of God in…
Words
This week we consider the words we might use to express our faith. We appreciated this video featured on RADIOLAB and thought you might enjoy 3 minutes of contemplation on “Words”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HfwkArpvU
Talking about faith.
“A common misunderstanding is to think that talking about faith means getting our belief system all worked out in advance before we open our mouths. When we speak about our faith, we intuitively think that what we are doing is finding the language to say what we think we already believe. That is, we get our beliefs formulated in our minds and hearts , and then we search for just the right words to capture what is already fixed and…
Toward Sunday
We begin a new four-week worship series this week called Talking Ourselves into Being Christian. We hope this worship series will help us to talk about following Jesus in our everyday lives. Our worship series is based on a book called Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian by Thomas G. Long, a professor of theology and preaching at Candler School of Theology. Outline of Talking Ourselves into Being Christian July 20: Overview. Living and Talking about Faith. Psalm 139.1-12,23-24 July 27: This is the Day: Waking Up to the Joy God…
Wondering
Frederick Buechner in his book “Peculiar Treasures”, gives us a glimpse of the two brothers in our scripture for this week. Read through his descriptions below and allow yourself to wonder about Jacob and Esau. Where do you see Grace? How might you frame a story like this in your own family? How are doing good and doing harm linked? Jacob: The book of Genesis makes no attempt to conceal the fact that Jacob was, among other things, a crook.…
The Trickster
“The Trickster may work as a kind of outlet for strong emotions or actions in which humans may not indulge….despite his or her flaws the Trickster often represents the introduction of good things to society.” (from Barbara Babcock) Learn more here: http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli/trickster.htm For some it is uncomfortable to consider the role “Trickster” in the story of Jacob and Esau. We want a hero and a villain in which to place our security and our blame. Life falls into these neat categories only…
Toward Sunday
We conclude our worship series on The World Cup and turn our attention to Marion Grau, a German theologian who teaches in Berkeley at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Grau’s writing invites us critical rethinking of binary concepts that have dominated much of Western Christian thought. Outline for World Cup June 15: Genesis 1.1-2.4a (Brazil – Ivone Gebara) June 22: Genesis 22.1-14 (Ghana – Mercy Amba Oduyoye) June 29: Genesis 21.8-21 (Croatia – Miroslav Volf) July 6: Romans 7.15-25a (USA – George Tinker) July 13: Genesis 25.19-34 (Germany – Marion Grau) Think…
Listening Pays
A powerful old story captures the importance of the messages that we listen to inside of our heads. An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.” It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy,…
Relatives
People ask George Tinker about the Osage view on non-violence. He replies: “We don’t have that word in our language because we know that we have to eat lunch. And you can’t eat lunch without perpetrating violence on our relatives. Whether it is corn, or buffalo or elk. We will disrupt the life of that relative in order to live. The end result is that we must find a way to restore the balance as we disrupt it. ” In…
Toward Sunday
We continue our worship series,World Cup, by focusing on the writing and teaching of a prophetic theologian/pastor from one of the countries competing in this year’s World Cup. We will turn our attention to George Tinker, a prominent American Indian theologian, this Sunday. Tinker teaches at a United Methodist seminary in Denver. His writing and work will challenge us to consider US independence very differently than it is commonly depicted in dominant tellings of US history. Outline for World Cup June…
Struggling toward forgiveness.
This week we will learn more about Miroslav Volf who has worked hard to form his own understanding of forgiveness following wartime atrocities committed against his people. Below is a quote which frames his challenge: I, a citizen of a world at war and a follower of Jesus Christ, could not hang up my commitments, desires, rebellions, resignations, and uncertainties like a coat on a coat rack before entering my study, to be taken up and put on when the…
Toward Sunday
We continue our worship series, World Cup, by focusing on the writing and teaching of a prophetic theologian/pastor from one of the countries competing in this year’s World Cup. We will turn our attention to Miroslav Volf of Croatia this Sunday. Volf teaches at Yale and is widely considered one of the most prominent theologians of our generation. Volf’s writing is rooted in his experience with war and ethnic cleansing in Croatia and invites reflection on reconciliation and forgiveness. Outline for…