Category: General Interest
Items of General Interest about liturgy, the liturgical calendar, church customs and culture, our unique “Episcopal vocabulary,” the intersection of faith and culture, and all other items not fitting into the other categories (or fitting into multiple categories).
The Yaakov Cycle
I quite like scholar’s section introductions. Unlike issues, arguments and conclusions which I may or may not welcome, follow or share, good introductions are forward looking – full of hope. The writer seems freer, almost stating the obvious while pulling us onward.
I find Everett Fox’s following introduction to the Yaakov Cycle most helpful as our lectionary reads highlights of the Jacob Cycle through these last and coming few weeks. It is taken from his excellent English translation and commentary “The Five Books Of Moses”
I especially like his last paragraph reminder of “the two levels of biblical reality.”
Last week our discussion ranged from “reads like a novel” to “dysfunctional family” to other literature e.g. “The Red Tent” and I would hope these and Fox’s thoughts below would lead us to read beyond our lectionary samplings and encounter the whole story.
YAAKOV (Jacob)
Genesis
25:19-36:43
BEFORE COMMENTING ON THE YAAKOV CYCLE, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO CONSIDER WHY HIS father Yitzhak (Isaac), the second of the Patriarchs, receives no true separate group of stories on his own.
Yitzhak functions in Genesis as a classic second generation-that is, as a transmitter and stabilizing force, rather than as an active participant in the process of building the people. There hardly exists a story about him in which he is anything but a son and heir, a husband, or a father. His main task in life seems to be to take roots in the land of Canaan, an admittedly important task in the larger context of God’s promises in Genesis. What this means, unfortunately, is that he has almost no personality of his own. By Chapter 27, a scant two chapters after his father dies, he appears as (prematurely?) old, blind in both a literal and figurative sense, and as we will see, he fades out of the text entirely, only to die several
chapters, and many years, later.
The true dynamic figure of the second generation here is Rivka (Rebeccah). It is she to whom God reveals his plan, and she who puts into motion the mechanism for seeeing that it is properly carried out. She is ultimately the one responsible for bridging the gap between the dream, as typified by Avraham (Abraham), and the hard-won reality, as realized by Yaakov.
Avraham is a towering figure, almost unapproachable as a model in his intiimacy with God and his ability to hurdle nearly every obstacle. Adding to this the fact that Yitzhak is practically a noncharacter, and that Yosef (Joseph), once his rise begins, also lacks dimension as a personality, it becomes increasingly clear that it is Yaakov who emerges as the most dynamic and most human personality in the book. The stories about him cover fully half of Genesis, and reveal a man who is both troubled and triumphant. Most interestingly, he, and not Avraham, gives his name to the people of Israel.
Distinctive themes of the cycle include physical struggle, deception, and confrontation. These are expressed through the key words of Yaakov’s name (“HeellHolder” and “Heel-Sneak,” then Yisrael (Israel), “God-Fighter”), “deceive” and similar words, and “face.” Also recurring are the terms “love,” ‘bless,” “firstborn-right,” and “wages/hire” (one word in Hebrew). The cycle is structured partly around etiologies (folk explanations of place-names and personal names) and also around Yaakov’s use of stones in several of the stories.
Continuing from the Avraham cycle are such earlier themes as wandering, sibbling rivalry, the barren wife, wives in conflict, the renaming of the protagonist, God perceived in dreams and visions; and particular geographical locations such as Bet-EI, Shekhem, and the Negev (Cassuto 1974).
Finally, it should be mentioned that the Yaakov stories are notable in the manner in which they portray the two levels of biblical reality: divine and human. Throughout the stories human beings act according to normal (though often strong) emotions, which God then uses to carry out his master plan. In this cycle one comes to feel the interpretive force of the biblical mind at work, understanding human events in the context of what God wills. It is a fascinating play between the ideas of fate and free will, destiny and choice – a paradox which nevertheless lies at the heart of the biblical conception of God and humankind.
Everett Fox,
The Five Books of Moses: A New English Translation with Commentary and Notes
(New York: Schocken Books, 1995).
http://www.clarku.edu/departments/foreign/facultybio.cfm?id=365
Pray-as-you-go . . . try it . . . like it . . . make it a habit
Have you ever decided to do better at praying daily? Or, pointing the finger at myself, how many times have you determined to pray better, pray more frequently, pray daily, pray always? David Burgdorf recently shared a prayer resource with me that I now share with you. From their website:
Pray-as-you-go is a daily prayer session, designed for use on portable MP3 players, to help you pray whilst travelling to and from work, study, etc.
GO TO: Pray-as-you-go . . . daily prayer for your MP3 player.
I encourage you to give it a try. I have found it a beautiful way to slow down, breathe, rest in God, pray. I use the iTunes podcast (accessible through the website).
Be sure to come back and post a comment about your experience with Pray-as-you-go. Come back and share prayer resources you have found and use. Let’s keep the conversation going. Let’s pray up a holy storm!
Jacob dreamed
On Sunday, July 17th we read from the book of Genesis:
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.
11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.
12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;
14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.
15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”
17 And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
19 He called that place Bethel. —Genesis 28:10-19a
How is this (Genesis 28) our story?
Consider these questions about Jacob’s dream.
- Do you believe this story?
- Do you think that God has ever spoken to “mere mortals” in dreams?
- Do you think that God, to this day, uses dreams as one way to communicate with us?
- Do you know anyone who has dreamed and in that dream has heard God? If yes, do you believe what you have heard from this person? What clue(s) did the person use to know it was of God?
- Have you ever “heard” God in a dream? How did you know it was God?
- When was the last time God spoke to you in a dream?
These are a few of the questions that occur to me as I hear Jacob’s story. In the Sunday Morning Forum we shared our answers to some of these questions. We invite you to share your answers here as we continue to live in the light of this reading from Genesis. –djr
For further consideration and reflection
Consider that Jacob encountered God (v. 13), “a very personal Being.” within his dream, and was transformed. Dreams are mysterious in their power because of the One who meets us there at just the right time. —djr
Nearly midway into life I had come into a dark woods, into a blind alley. I found my way out of that stalemate through an understanding of dreams. I worked with a Jungian analyst, a Jew who had escaped from a Nazi concentration camp. He believed that the Holy One still spoke to both sleeping and waking human beings in dreams in the silence of the day and in the night. With his help I discovered that my dreams were wiser than my well-tuned rational mind and that they gave me warnings when I was in danger. They also described in symbols the disastrous situations in which I found myself. These strange messengers of the night also offered suggestions on how to find my way out of my lostness. When I followed these symbolic suggestions, much of the darkness lifted, and my situation no longer seemed hopeless. Many of my psychological and physical symptoms of distress disappeared.
In addition to all this, I found a very personal Being at the heart of reality who cared for me; my theological dry bones were covered with sinew and flesh. And then, as I continued to listen to my dreams, I experienced the risen Christ in a way that I had not thought possible. And last of all, I realized that the Holy One continued to knock on the doorway of my inner being in my dreams even when I paid no attention to them, and he would also be waiting for me when I deliberately opened the door of my soul to the risen Christ. Prayer, contemplation, and meditation, then, became real and necessary aspects of my life as I journeyed toward fulfillment and wholeness.
Morton T. Kelsey, God, dreams, and revelation,
Kindle edition, Preface (search: stalemate)
Abba
“You have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:15-16
A prayer for the week
Abba, Father,
in darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Copied. Source not known.
Church of Sudan offers Anglicans digital record of historic day
Check in on this. Perhaps on Sunday we’ll order one or more CDs for our library. –Dan
Anglicans around the world are being offered a slice of history in the form of a new CD of around 450 photos and films recording the independence weekend in South Sudan.
International Co-ordinator for the Episcopal Church of Sudan Rebecca Coleman is hoping that people right around the Anglican Communion will want to own a CD filled with sights and sounds from the day a country was born. Not least because proceeds from the sale of these historical discs will help upgrade the communications systems in the Provincial Office.
“I have produced CDs of the photos and videos I took over the independence weekend in South Sudan,” she said. “There are 450 photos and films in total, all fantastic quality, and featuring scenes from the day such as the arrival of President Bashir, the lowering and raising of the flags, the national anthem sung by the enormous crowd, and close-ups, some humourous, of the delegates who attended.
“Bonus features include Independence Eve on Juba’s streets, the sound track of the national anthem and thanksgiving prayers in All Saints Cathedral.”
“The CD costs just 50SDG, 15USD or 15GBP,” said Rebecca, “and all proceeds go towards an urgent upgrade of the communications systems in the Episcopal Church of Sudan offices.
You can get a CD from the ECS Provincial Office, but they are also available in Juba, the USA and the UK. Contact Rebecca at international@sudan.anglican.org for more details.
via Anglican Communion News Service: Church of Sudan offers Anglicans digital record of historic day.
Have you ever heard of EYE?
Would you like to hear a “good” story about the generation of (Episcopal) Christians now finding their voice and their gifts? Read on, here is an excerpt and a link to the larger story.
EYE: the Episcopal Youth Event is a triennial gathering of youth and adults from every Province of the Episcopal Church. EYE 2011 took place June 22-26 in St. Paul, MN. I have been able to attend and participate in 2 of these events and can tell you the energy and enthusiasm is life-changing.
For three solid days — from early morning to late night — 730 Episcopal youth, supported by more than 300 adult advisors and 50 bishops, were immersed in a comprehensive program designed to enrich and empower the next generation of leaders in the Episcopal Church. More than 50 workshops shared knowledge, stories and skills on subjects such as prayer and spirituality, effective Bible study, youth ministry and mission trip planning. Presenters included church leaders like Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton; the Rev. Angela Ifill, Episcopal Church black ministries officer; the Rev. Winfred Vergara, Episcopal Church Asian American ministries officer; and the Rev. Bob Honeychurch, Episcopal Church officer for congregational vitality.
Two daily plenary sessions presented keynote speakers that included Sutton, Rodger Nishioka of Columbia Theological Seminary, Episcopal missionary Cameron Graham Vivanco and the Rev. Luke Fodor, Episcopal Relief & Development’s network coordinator.
Fodor challenged the participants to “reframe the way we think about mission and our role in it,” suggesting it “is not possible for us to do mission” but that rather “mission is something that God does through us. God is the missional agent in this world.”
“My brothers and sisters, fear not. We all fall short of the glory of God, but God always works through us. Mission is not about us, but is about God and the others we meet when God is using us to build the Reign of God,” he said. “When we begin to think about mission in this way, mission becomes less and less about us. As we shed our baggage of fear, anxiety and the silent lies that suggest we don’t matter, then mission becomes more and more about God and our fellow humans.”
What was said to these young leaders is equally true for us: “reframe the way we think about mission and our role in it, for it is not possible for us to do mission, rather mission is something that God does though us. God is the missional agent in this world.” In the closing service of Holy Communion participants (young and old) heard an exhortation which is as true for us as it was for them.
Explaining that lay persons, like bishops, priests and deacons, are “the ministers of the church” (Book of Common Prayer, page 855), Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies, invited participants to “jump into the waters of baptism.” [A video of Anderson’s address is available here.]
“We are the baptized. And the true claim of baptism, as our courageous ancestor JennieWylie Kellerman said, ‘is to wade in the water and be immersed in our Lord’s perverse ethic of vulnerability and gain through loss.'”
“He was not passive. Jesus troubled the waters. That’s our job if we are to follow Jesus. Our job is to upset any status quo that stands in the way of peace and justice, to question and do something about anything that stands in the way of a reconciled world,” said Anderson. “That’s why we are committed to mission. It’s our job to turn this world upside down; to turn over the tables; to look outside ourselves with fresh eyes and then help others see the kingdom of God.”
Read the ENS article: Episcopal youth enriched and empowered for mission
View and listen to Bonnie Anderson’s Address here
Reflect further – leave a comment
- What do you think about God working through you to build the “Reign of God?” Are you ready? Do you need to be ready? Do you need to trust God for the grace to accomplish things through you?
- In what ways do you “upset any status quo that stands in the way of peace and justice?
- In what ways have you invited God (Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier) into your life so that you may, word and example, benefit others?
- What aspect of the Baptismal Covenant do you find challenging? comforting? easy? difficult?
Start a conversation, keep a conversation going, leave a comment.
Infusing the sacred into daily life
“Today, Americans are cultivating spirituality by probing deeper dimensions of things they do each day, from prayer to exercise and volunteering.” (1)
One way to deepen spirituality being followed by many: volunteering. As part of the Sunday Morning Forum we seek to encourage each other to do what we can with who we are in the time we have, for the glory of God and the welfare of all God’s children and all of God’s creation. Consider:
Even volunteering is serving as a portal to higher things. Organizations that make up the Catholic Volunteer Network guide some 14,000 volunteers to reflect on vocation, suffering and poverty.
“It takes a little while to realize, ‘I might not cure AIDS, but I might be able comfort someone who’s dying, and it makes a world of difference to that one person,’ “ says Katie Mulembe, CVN’s membership and recruitment coordinator. “You realize, ‘That’s why I’m here. And that’s good enough.’ “ Read the entire post
In our Baptismal Covenant we have promised to seek and serve Christ and to strive for justice and peace in the world. Let us fulfill our promises to God and each other.
____________
(1) “Americans search for ways to infuse daily life with the sacred” by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, USA Today at http://tinyurl.com/4ch4rjl on 31 Jan 2011
Hear what the Spirit is saying; A Reflection
Note: These words were first shared in the Forum handout on Pentecost (06/12/2011); I have updated them for posting. -Dan
It was early May 2007 when the Rev. Dr. Roger Douglas became the Interim Rector of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, CA. In his first Sunday with us he introduced me to the phrase “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.” We used it that day as a concluding remark to the lessons appointed for Sunday worship. We responded, then, as now, “Thanks be to God.”
As with all change, I was not quite sure I wanted to go where he was leading, or do what he was asking (and that’s only on the superficial level of the words in worship— I hadn’t even reached the deeper level of meaning). The words were chosen in 1988 by the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia as the customary conclusion to the Sunday lessons. Its usage has moved slowly through the church. Nineteen years and an ocean later the People of God in New Zealand became my teacher. Who could have known?
I have learned much since 2007 and know there is much more to learn. Here is a progress report about my learning from those “innocent” words “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.” Here is a brief indication about why I have chosen this name for the Sunday Morning Forum at St. Margaret’s.
First, grow quiet; be attentive, so that you can hear. Hear what? Hear how?
Hear: hear with your ears, of course, but hear especially with your heart; yes, hear the words, hear the story, it’s a start, but hear also what is not spoken aloud, only whispered into your heart by the Spirit.
Hear: hear with a deep trust, a heartfelt trust, that these words, though spoken long ago, are indeed spoken by the Spirit for all ages and generations, they are immediate, they are for the moment, they are narrative for your story, not just “their” long ago story.
Hear: hear these ancient words in the chances and changes of your life and the world as it is today.
Hear: hear the words and the stories and wisdom rediscovering that, above all, the truth is that God will do more of the same, now, in your life and in our life together; moreover, in days still to come God will continue to do the same. It is important that we hear clearly so that we can speak truly and plainly to generations just beginning to hear the Spirit.
Hear: hear the Holy Spirit fire crackling in these words; these words are meant to set your heart on fire, for, these are no ordinary words, they are “Holy Spirit words,” hear them well.
Hear: hear what is being said to “the Church,” that is, to all of us gathered; hear by speaking and listening to each other in prayer, in song, in taking communion, in going back into the world “rejoicing in the power of the Spirit,” while loving and serving the Lord (in his people).
This is a beginning report. I’m still learning what it means to hear what the Spirit is saying.
One final comment: I am convinced that the Spirit can most clearly be heard in community. Thank you for helping me to hear what the Spirit is saying in this Sunday Morning Forum.
The Charter For Lifelong Christian Formation: Why we gather together in person and online
James Weldon Johnson, Poet
Click image to listen to the Metropolitan Baptist Church Choir (Largo, MD)
sing “Lift every voice and sing” by James Weldon Johnson
Today (June 25th) the Episcopal Church remembers James Weldon Johnson.
James Weldon Johnson was born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida…. In 1900, he collaborated with his brother, Rosamond, a composer, to create “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” Written in celebration of President Lincoln’s birthday, the song, still popular today, has become known as the “African American National Anthem.” Read the entire post at Holy Women, Holy Men
As we remember, we pray:
Eternal God, we give thanks for the gifts that you gave your servant James Weldon Johnson: a heart and voice to praise your Name in verse. As he gave us powerful words to glorify you, may we also speak with joy and boldness to banish hatred from your creation, in the Name of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Source: Holy Women, Holy Men
On Trinity Sunday we read “The Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16-20). In James Weldon Johnson we have a wonderful example of using God-given gifts to glorify God and benefit the community and we pray that the same may be true in us. God will surely hear that prayer–are we ready to work with God’s grace and for God’s glory?
Lyrics for “Lift every voice and sing” by James Weldon Johnson
Lift every voice and sing,
till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the
dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
bitter the chastening rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet with a steady beat,
have not our weary feet
come to the place
for which our fathers died?
We have come over a way that with tears have been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past,
till now we stand at last
where the white gleam
of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee,
shadowed beneath thy hand,
may we forever stand,
true to our God,
true to our native land.
Source: Gospel Music Lyrics
Hear what the Spirit is saying 