DFUMC Book Study

What would it require for a person to live all the commandments of the Bible for an entire year? That is the question that animates this hilarious, thought-provoking memoir from Jacobs (The Know-It-All). Participate in a church-wide book study tcoming very soon!! Stay tuned to this page for more information.

Month Nine: May

Friday, September 05, 2008 Comments (2)

So Jacobs begins his exploration of the New Testament, and it brings up a great deal for us as Christians to think about too. You might ask again why we should be looking to a person struggling to believe in God, much less in Jesus Christ, as a guide. One reason is that it's good for us to take a step back from time to time, to see ourselves as others see us, to see how we fit into the larger picture, to dialog with others who differ from us. That is rarely harmful, and can often strengthen our own convictions. Having said that, I did feel a shift in myself when I came to this chapter. Did you? I know a fair amount of the old testament and I treasure it. But the new testament is more my home, the area which I've studied more. And it does feel strange for someone who is relatively unfamiliar with and new to this part of the tradition to be telling me about it. I find I'm also nervous because Jacobs, right off the bat, knows something that I encounter nearly daily: there are so many differing perspectives out there about Jesus and the bible and the interpretations thereof, that it can be painful and perplexing, but also enormously fascinating. I'm also nervous because I've read books written by non-Christian journalists in particular which describe Christianity, and not usually in a way that I recognize or appreciate.

But I find that Jacobs does a decent job. I can recognize the Christianity that I practice in his writings. While there are some things I might want to clarify or add more to, I'm not left feeling like he's talking about a different faith altogether. I also appreciate the way he talks about what his beliefs are (or at least where his struggles with belief are). I also appreciate his ventures into the heart of various "camps" within Christianity, and his explanations about these different streams of thought. What do you appreciate or struggle with as you read this chapter?

I continue to think about the questions that I've been asking in worship, which come from Adam Hamilton. He says that it's essential for churches and the people in them to find answers to these questions: Why do people need Christ? Why do people need the Church? Why do people need our church in particular? Jacobs is struggling with the first one in particular. What would you say to him as he's pondering the need for belief in Christ? Where might you have advised him to go on his quest to understand and live out the new testament? What's missing from his search?

As you read Jacobs' description of his experience at Falwell's church and of the Red-Letter Christians (Tony Campolo), what are your thoughts? What appeals to you? What doesn't? What is your experience of and interaction with such evangelicals as these? Have you read The Purpose Driven Life? How might you critique each of these movements? What have you learned from each of them? How do you see them affecting the public discourse, public policy in our country?

The bullets:

What do you make of the Evangelicals Concerned and Steven Greenberg and their theological stances?
Have you ever come close to having an "obsession with gratefulness"? What might help you be more grateful? What effect does more gratefulness have in your life, in your relationship with others and the world around you?
In what ways do you keep a record of wrongs? What is your experience with forgiveness? How have you been shown, how have you offered unconditional love?
Do you ever have the sensation of being "seen" the way that Jacobs describes? If so, is it oppressive? Freeing? What is it like for you?
How do you understand miracles? What do you think of Armstrong's explanation of logos & mythos? What about her argument that fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon?

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Peace, Jenny

Month Eight: April

Saturday, August 23, 2008 Comments (0)

I wanted to reflect some on two of Jacobs' sections in particular. First, Day 233, dealing with handshakes (pg. 240-241). This is a beautiful example of something that I think nearly all of us do -- how can we not? Jacobs finds justification in scripture for a belief or preference he has already. He doesn't like to shake hands, and the bible has given him "an excellent excuse for avoiding shaking hands with women." And he figured out how to expand the prohibition "to the rest of the population too." Jacobs doesn't have to stretch much at all in terms of interpretation to justify not shaking hands. But what he does bump into is that the first rationale that he found is a little bit iffy in context. And then the second is thought to apply only in the era of the Temple. This is not the first time we've come across this situation in the book, and I'm certain it won't be the last. It's a challenge for most any of us, for most of us have preferences and opinions, often apart from or prior to our study of scripture. And even when our opinions and preferences are determined and shaped by scripture, often we have chosen which parts of scripture to pay attention to in forming our opinions. It's also challenging for us because scripture is just not that clear about many things. There are contexts that no longer exist. There is knowledge that has been gained. There are even changes of thought and reinterpretation of laws within scripture itself. Do you see a way to avoid doing this? Should we try to avoid doing this? What might be a faithful way to approach such issues?

The second reflection is somewhat related -- it's the discussion about slavery and barbaric behavior (pg. 244-247). Again, he's trying to reconcile modern understandings with the realities of the Bible. I just find it to be so interesting that we have these four approaches to dealing with the very difficult "barbaric" realities of scripture. (Which one do you tend to agree with?) I'm most interested in the fourth option -- where you "simply act as if the Bible doesn't say what it says." We really do this all the time. Think of the story of Noah's Ark -- it's a favorite and beloved story. We decorate children's rooms with images of it. We sing cute (annoying?) songs about it. But it's a brutal story! Only one family in all the world was spared? Only one (or seven, depending on which verses you are reading) pair of animals is taken along with the family? Imagine the horror as all those people and creatures perished. Imagine the survivor guilt. Imagine the cleanup that would have had to happen after such a flood. It's an awful story. But we talk about it as an example of God's grace and mercy. It's even part of the thanksgiving over the water in our baptism service: The water is a means of God's grace, carrying the ark and those within to safety. But what about the water that was a destructive force of death? There are many stories with very difficult moral issues tangled up in them, particularly in the Old Testament. How do you deal with these matters? How might you respond to someone who is new the faith or to reading the bible who is struggling with these things?

The bullets:

Have you been to Israel? What was your experience like? How did it affect you? (pg. 237-238)
Have you ever had a noteworthy experience with a homeless person? What happened? How did you respond to the person? What, if anything, about it made you nervous or challenged you? How did that experience affect how you dealt with your next experience of a homeless person? (pg 228-229)
Thomas Welch (of Welch's grape juice) is mentioned on pg. 231. Jacob's is wrong about Welch's failure. We Methodists bought that unfermented wine for our communion services! Partly this was due to the Methodist involvement in the temperance movement, and its concern for those who struggled with alcohol to be able to come to the table without stumbling on the alcohol in the wine. This section on alcohol (and marijuana) is also part of that discussion at the beginning. Can anything be justified by scripture? What do you think? (pg. 231-233)
Have you participated in a Passover celebration? What was it like? It is hard to skip directly from our current context "to a desert three thousand years ago." What links do you need in between for this story and for others? (pg. 236)
How do you use the phrase "God willing?" For me, it's one of those things where I don't want to deny that something might be the work or good will of God. But at the same time, the natural extension of that is that God must not be willing when something doesn't go the way we or others had hoped. How involved is God in each day to day happening? (pg 236-237)
Reread the stories of Jacob in Genesis. They are complex, and Jacob is one of the most well-developed characters we've got. What do these stories say about who God chooses and how they are chosen? (pg. 236-240)
Who in your life might need more of your honor, more of your hearing? (pg 241-243)
Do you relate at all to his spiritual update? (pg 248-249) Do you have phases? How might you describe and track them?
What do you think of Mr. Berkowitz's way of looking at the world: "Life isn't about rights. It's about responsibilities."? (pf. 250-251)

Keep commenting! The comments that have been posted have been great! Keep 'em coming!

Peace, Jenny

Month Seven: March

Monday, August 11, 2008 Comments (4)

Oh challenges of living in a self-help society! Don't get me wrong. I have been helped plenty by that ever-growing section of the book store and it's corresponding sectors of our society. There is much in me which needs to be helped, grown, understood, changed, healed, and taken control of. And our self-help society, with Oprah and Dr. Phil and so many others at the helm, has empowered many people to take responsibility, to see themselves and their abilities differently, to make changes in life, to engage their world more.

However, this self-help way of living can turn us into navel-gazers, fad chasers, and easy answer seekers far too easily. It fits so neatly into our consumer way of life -- always shopping for the thing from which we get the most benefit. It feeds so nicely into our understanding of individualism (see pg. 213-214). It deceives us into thinking that I can change myself (I believe Kevin's sermon on Sunday dealt with this). It can also shift our vision to think that it's all about me and what I can get out of something, even if that something is to be a better person. I think that Christian churches around the country are trying to find balance along this line: is the purpose of church, of programs, of worship, of the sermon in particular to give the people something that they can use to be better people, to live better lives, to feel better, to get more out of life, work, home, family? Or is it to praise, serve, obey, glorify, and love God? I believe that most people walking into a church on a Sunday morning (or whatever time worship is) expecting a good portion of the former, and as a result most of our churches shift to offer a good portion of that which is expected. But we too are on "thin ice", as Yossi says, when we lose sight of the latter.

And, as Jacobs discovers, it's a very difficult thing to escape. (pg. 208) It's very very challenging for us to give of our time, our energy, our resources, ourselves simply because that is what God created us for and asks us to do in response. Even the concept sort of twists our minds some as we try to comprehend it. But I'll ask you to ponder this for a bit.

What is your expectation of church and worship? How often do you hear (or find yourself saying), "I'm just not getting as much out of this as I'd hoped. So I think I'll move on to something else that suits my needs better." How might we respond to others when we hear this? How might we look in ourselves for a different perspective? What do you think of Yossi's little parable on page 208? How might you (and we as a church) find a way to just serve God? Can you relate to Jacobs' epiphany on pg. 219-220 about praising God and that praise rising up out of him, spontaneously, unconsciously almost, unfettered?

The bullets:

When have you experienced something that seems terrible at first turning out to be a great thing? (pg. 207) (You might read / re-read the book of Esther. It's short, and a good story!
When has such good news as the above just simply not been consoling enough, particularly when the terribleness is fresh? (pg 205-207)
Have you ever gone on a pilgrimage of some sort? What was it like? Where did your journey take you? How were you changed by the experience? Did you come home the same as when you left?
How do you connect (or not) with the biblical image of shepherd? What images, feelings, experiences does it conjure up for you?
Jacobs reflects for just a minute about individualism, pointing out that he is "trying to fly solo on a route that was specifically designed for a crowd." He also reminds us that individualism is a relatively new concept. (pg. 113-114) What do you make of this? How do you see yourself as an individual and as one connected with a community? What do you think about his comparison with Wikipedia? What gifts do you find in individualism, and what gifts do you find in community, particularly when it comes to matters of faith, worship, prayer? To which are you currently most oriented?
Have you ever tried tithing something like an orange? What might the experience be like for you? Would engaging in such a practice regularly be a way to help us grow in our ability and willingness to tithe with our finances too?
Have you ever met anyone like Uncle Gil? What was it like?

Grace and peace to you,

Pastor Jenny

Month Six: February

Sunday, August 10, 2008 Comments (1)

I was most struck by three things in this chapter, which all fit together for me: 1. Jacobs' pondering about his neighbors' request for him to help only because he wants to, rather than because the bible tells him too. (p. 194-195) 2. The practices of binding that he describes, particularly that of the tifillin. (pg 197-200) 3. his mental shift, feeling closer to the ultrareligious New Yorkers than then secular. (pg. 201)

As I've mentioned before, one of the things I appreciate so much about this book and Jacobs' experiment is his willingness to try the different practices on and to let these practices affect him. Sometimes we are given the gift of faith, and that faith enables us to do the practices, creates in us the desire to pray, to serve, to love, to give, to study, to be set apart. But sometimes, we are given the practices, and it's only through praying, serving, loving, giving, studying, being willing to be set apart, that we are able to glimpse and grasp faith. For most of us, it's a combination of the two.

So when I read about Jacobs' practices and his reflections about how those practices affect him, I'm encouraged. Even if he does not ultimately become a believer in the sense that most of us might feel more comfortable with, I see that these things are working on him. Reading the bible, knowing the laws, what the bible asks of us matters. As we expose ourselves more to God's living word, the line begins to blur between our desire to help and the command to help. Maybe we are transformed into people with a desire to serve. Maybe knowing that God desires and even commands that we serve, and our love for God, moves us to be able to serve, to see the ways that we actually can serve. There is something similar about the binding of the tefillin. As Christians we talk about writing the law on our hearts, and while I prefer that myself, there is something to literally having these commands before you each day. As Jacobs says, "Just try forgetting about the word of God when it's right in front of your eyeballs, obscuring a chunk of your view." Or if you can feel the straps around your arm and head. Putting God's word before us each day, literally, even if it's not in the form of tefillin, matters. It affects us and changes us. I think one of the big ways that it changes us is that it does bring about a mental shift. We begin to see things through a different lens. Soon everything looks different. The "Big Questions" stay in the forefront of our minds and hearts. And perhaps we begin to see significance, to see God even, in things which previously looked quite ordinary or even strange.

I love Jacobs' discovery that "maybe the beard teaches us to remember the less fortunate" as he connects shaving the corners and leaving the corners of the field to be gleaned. That is the beauty of an embodied theology. God, our faith shapes us, not just our hearts, but physically in our actions (and sometimes our looks) too. And sometimes it's the actions which shape our hearts as well. Tex Sample is excellent at reminding us that baseball players are physically formed into baseball players -- pitchers have muscles which have developed to help them throw better. Swimmers have bodies which have been shaped by swimming and the development of particular muscles, and those muscles contain memory and purpose. We become shaped by what we do, and what we do shapes us. Even kissing your spouse each day embodies, and expresses, and can even remind us of our love for the other. The same is true for us.

What practices have you discovered which shape you and your faith? Have you found a practice which has created a shift in you, caused you to see the world, others, God, through a different lens? What practices might you try for a while (many say it takes a couple of months of consistency before we are able to see any effect, for things to become "habits" for us.) just to see what changes in us and our relationship with God, others, the world? How do you "bind" God's word to your arm, head, heart, life?

The bullet list:

The red heifer law was a new one for me, as was the group who was preparing for the Third Temple. But he begins talking about Revelation here. How do you view the book of Revelation? Why? I encourage you to read it, particularly with a commentary in hand as you do so. I can recommend some helps if you'd like them! (pg 191-192)
Have you ever taken a step back, spiritually speaking? What brought it on? What are your doubts? Where does your skepticism spring from, if you have it? What affect do those doubts have on your spirituality and the rest of your life? What,if anything, has helped you to come out of that spiritual low? (pg 193)
Jacobs talks much about his struggle with honesty, telling lies. How well do you do with this commandment? What do you think of his "radical honesty" with the people at Homer's? What are the risks involved in radical honesty? How would you have handled the situation? Feel free to translate this occurrence into a situation you might have actually been in. (pg. 195-196)
Page 200 gives a very short summary of the different views of the way the bible came into being. What do you think? Of the two ideas put forth on this page, which do you most resonate with? Why? How does your view affect how you read the bible?

Grace and peace to you all! Looking forward to hearing what you think about some of these matters!

Pastor Jenny

Month Five: January

Sunday, July 27, 2008 Comments (0)

Offering and sacrifice continue to be challenges for us today -- both because we struggle to comprehend the sacrificial system described in scripture (or I believe most of us do) and because offering and sacrifice are still part of our devotion to and worship of God, even if it looks different today than it did through much of scripture. Jacobs has just received the news that his wife is pregnant with twins, and he wants to show his gratitude (pg. 159). In a biblical way, he offers fruit on a platform of stones, but found the experience to be empty and meaningless, disconnected from his sense of gratitude or his attempts at connecting with God. His experiences of kaparot are quite interesting. I appreciated his remarks about it being difficult to relate the experience out of it's full context. This is true for many things in scripture and in our ritualistic worship practices. I also appreciate his attempt at finding some way to connect with the sacrificial mandates and practices in the bible, and his attempt to reconcile this with his new-found / re-awakened awareness of and gratitude for life as well as the unacceptability of animal sacrifice in himself and our culture. What did you think of his experience? Sacrifice was also connected to the expiation of sin, and Jacobs refers to the Yom Kippur practice of transferring sins to a "scapegoat". There is something important about ritualizing our confession and need for forgiveness as well as our gratitude. How do we express our gratitude for God's gifts to us? I speak of this often in our time of offering in worship, asking the congregation to respond to God by offering our resources and ourselves. Celebrating communion is also a way that we express our gratitude, and "offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us. . . " Confession is also closely connected to communion. We confess before we come to the table. And our being greeted at the table by Christ each week is a way of knowing ourselves to be forgiven. Do you have other rituals of gratitude and confession / forgiveness? How do you connect with the ideas and practices of offering and sacrifice? Are they part of your worshiping and devotional life? How do you connect with God through these practices? How are you a "holy and living sacrifice"?

The rest I'll address in my bulleted list. (There continue to be so many topics to address!)

How has your faith changed or affected the way you see and experience the world around you? Who is "your God"? How would you describe your experience and understanding of God to a child? What do you do with passages in scripture which seem to depict a God who is different from "your God"? (pg. 152-153)
Do you have any evidence of "biblify-ing" your house? Your clothes? Your appearance? What affect does this have for you? (pg. 154-156, 180-182)
Do your tongue or your ears need guarding? The words virtue and habit often get a bad rap, but virtues can be described as holy habits. They may be difficult to establish and it may seem (at least sometimes) like they wouldn't really make much difference in our lives if we did live virtuously. But Jacobs seems to be experiencing quite positive results as he engages in virtuous behavior, doing things like refraining from negative speech, giving thanks, etc. He notices changes in himself and in his relationship with the world around him. What is your experience of this? Is there a particular holy habit that is beckoning to you? (pg. 157-158) I think that George's comment from last week relates well to this understanding of virtue. We don't always know or acknowledge the affects of the ways we interact with one another and the world around us, particularly in this digital age where we are bombarded with outside stimuli constantly.
What do you do with conflicting commandments? Is Jacobs really between a rock and a hard place on pg. 158? Isn't there some way that he could have attended to both commandments in his conversation with Julie?
Although there's a little more to the story of Ruth than Jacobs recounts, it is a beautiful story, and gleaning has a central place in the story. Have you found a way to practice gleaning or anything similar in your life? How do you connect to the centrality of agriculture to the biblical narrative, particularly when few of us in our congregation lead agriculturally-centered lives? (pg 165-167)
We've touched on it before, but more through the lens of purity. George's comment addressed it well in Month 2. The food taboos are challenging, as are any food restrictions or taboos that do not easily fit in with the surrounding or prevailing culture. I find the comment of Maimonides to be interesting: the purpose of food laws is "to train us to master our appetites; to accustom us to retrain our desire; and to avoid considering the pleasure of eating and drinking as the goal of man's existence." Do you think we have outgrown biblical food laws as a society? How does your faith relate to your practices of cooking and eating? How do you expand these understandings to a broader economic picture for the world? (this goes beyond what Jacobs addresses, but it is part of the biblical understanding of diet and food, including gleaning and Jubilee / sabbath as mentioned earlier here an in other postings.) (pg. 169-176)
What can we learn from Jacobs' experiences of honoring his elders, humility, and kindness? What does it mean, in practice to honor one's elders? To live with humility? To be kind? (pg. 176-179)
Does "biblical bedrock" (original intent) exist? How would you know if you found it? How does the concept of original intent in scripture relate to the concept of it being a "living word"? How do you hold together the tension of reading scripture both in its original context (as much as we can) and allowing it to speak to us in our modern context, along with our developments of technology and understanding of the earth and science and created world around us? (pg. 182-183)

Blessings as you read and ponder and comment!

Grace and peace, Pastor Jenny

Month Four: December

Monday, July 21, 2008 Comments (2)

Ritual is one of those words in our world that has come to have a rather negative connotation. It's boring. It puts us into a rut. It's dangerous, even, as we can get so attached to the ritual itself that we forget the point or it or find it difficult to change when necessary. But I think that ritual is extremely important for us humans. The bible is full of ritual, and thus Jacobs' exploration of it here. Ritual is tricky, however, because ritual can draw us into the divine and into God's work in the world. But we can also get caught up in the ritual itself, finding it empty and shallow. Rituals can help us enter into the heart of our faith, living it out with our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our senses, and our community.

We all have rituals, many of which are subconscious or nearly so. Some of which are life-giving, and probably some others which are not so. Rituals provide us with structure for our lives and provide a framework for our days. They are something reliable for us, particularly when we find our lives more chaotic than we'd like them to.

Jacobs explores ritual from a variety of angles in this chapter, starting with Hanukkah and Christmas, through to the end of the chapter where he describes his struggle with OCD and missing his shofar (ram's horn) for the first of the month. Since Christmas is the one we celebrate, let's focus on that one. Christmas is a huge ritual for us, and the Christmas season is full of so many smaller rituals, some corporate, some societal, some familial. If there's so little in scripture about it, why do you think it's become such the ritual that it has? What deeper needs does it speak to? Have you ever felt lost or that something was missing when you have missed a ritual?

Throughout the chapter, Jacobs seems to be settling into his rituals more, enjoying them more, finding more purpose in them. He's beginning to see the ways that our outward lives affect our interior lives, and vice versa. (pg 122) His time with Mr. Berkowitz (pg. 141-144) is quite interesting to me. Here is a man who loves and lives ritual. He loves going to synagogue, prayer, structuring this clothes and the order of this life to make him more ready for God. He has created (or followed) rituals so that his life can be more deeply rooted in the greater ritual of worship and prayer and devotion to God. I'm guessing that many of us have the same reaction to all of this, at least at first, as Jacobs did. We know a particular type of freedom to be the American way, and we cherish it. It would feel too restrictive to be told to put on your right shoe, then your left, then tie your left, and tie your right. And I would have to say that part of me also looks at that as a sort of "religious mircromanagement" too. However, I also know "the beauty in a more rigid framework, the structure, the stable architecture of religion." I doubt I could get into the putting-your-shoes-on-like-this king of ritual, but then I think about some of my own rituals. For instance, in the morning after my shower, I do things in a certain order. Not because I have to or because I'm compelled to. I do it because over the years, I've discovered it to be the most efficient way for me. It saves me time, so that I can do other things. When I'm sleepy and not quite awake yet, it's less likely that I'll forget something. But I'm not so rigid about it that I can't veer from it when needed or when something seems more helpful. Others might look at my ritual and feel the same way about it as I do about Mr. Berkowitz's shoes. I wonder how you feel about ritual. Are you one who rebels against it? One who looks for every opportunity for structure? I get a glimpse into some pieces of this in your lives when you converse with me about worship in our church. What are some of your rituals?

But here's the crux of it for me. We need ritual in our lives, the question is which ones will we take on and which ones will we leave behind and why. One thing we can learn from Jacobs' willingness to live in the rituals this year is that he can see from experience which ones work for him and which don't. He allows them to affect his life and gives them a chance to "work". My guess is that many of us get frustrated with attempts to make sure prayer is part of our daily ritual,so we give up and do it less ritualistically, which is most likely less fruitful. One of the hard parts is having the patience and determination to figure out which ritual is the right ritual for us, the way of praying, for example, that will allow us to connect with God most fully. This goes for things from prayer to eating habits to getting enough rest to getting our work done to caring for the kids and their rituals. How do you deal with this? Maybe some rituals have found you more than you have found the rituals -- have you experienced that? Have you found grace and beauty and peace in any of your rituals? Are there rituals you have that are not helpful, which might need to be transformed or shed? Are there ways that our worship rituals can shape the rituals in the rest of your life (that is a major purpose of our worship, by the way -- a ritual practice that we engage in together so that we can continue to live out the ritual when we are scattered)?

More questions you might want to ponder and converse about:

Have you ever found Sabbath against your will? What was it like for you? Were you able to come to peace with it and enjoy it? (pg. 123-125)
For you who are in tune with modern pop culture: Would you "rather have Bart Simpson or one of the Flanders kids?" Why? (pg. 126) In what ways do you worry about your own children or others who are in your care? How do you seek to care for their spirituality, morals, values, faith?
What do you make of intercessory prayer? How do you think it "works"? Does it work? What do you think of Jacobs' reading of Abraham's intercessions about Sodom?
The church and sexuality have had a challenging relationship since the beginning. Sexuality is so complex and our understandings and the ways that we express it today is so different from the ways of the societies of biblical times. That doesn't mean we don't listen and follow that which we find in scripture, but it does make it challenging to understand what scripture says about it. In what ways have your views and practices of sexuality been shaped by scripture and the church? Have you read the Song of Solomon? What is your response to the book? How do you view it? (pg 128-138)
What kind of hunger do you have for spirituality? (pg. 142) How does that hunger get fed?
What do you do with the "ethically murky" stories in scripture and their outcomes, like the story of Tamar? (pg. 146-147)

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Peace, Pastor Jenny

Month Three: November

Friday, July 18, 2008 Comments (0)

One thing that I find quite interesting about this book is that Jacobs seems to really be trying to let Scripture seep into every part of himself. He struggles with this, as most of us do if we're honest. Some of the ways that the bible is taking over his life are humorous and things that so few of us would take on for ourselves. But others, I identify with quite well, and imagine that many of you do too. Some of what he's discovering is quite beautiful and moving to me. Sometimes I wonder if he's missing the point completely. Sometimes I find myself cheering, saying, "Yea, he's discovered something really important!" Where do you identify with Jacobs and see pieces of your own journey in his? Where do you find his story completely foreign to you?

For instance, he discovers what a difficult thing it is to give those most close to us the gift of free will. Granted, his son is a little young to be given complete free will. But he catches a glimpse of the enormous self-emptying, power-giving, control-relinquishing that it is for God to give people free will. This is particularly so when there is something very specific that a father might want or not want for his children, as Jacobs is discovering he has for his own son. How do you experience God's free will in your life? How have you experienced the human parallel of relinquishing control of others, while still giving appropriate guidance?

Another place where I cheered is when Jacobs is experiencing the tension (pg. 107) of humans being on the one hand sinful, humble, insignificant beings, and on the other hand made in God's image, "the pinnacle of biblical creation." This is one of many great biblical tensions. But it's these tensions that are so compelling and energizing to me. I also find that these tensions can be very very challenging for many who seek to follow Christ. It's tempting to want the black and white, the definite answers. But as he keeps discovering, there are fewer of those than many of us are comfortable with. I like the ways he's honest about the way the answers that others give him around stoning (pg 94) and cutting of a wife's hand (pg. 112) are just not completely satisfying to him. It's a fine line, though, isn't it? Sometimes we are asked to trust and have faith even when we aren't satisfied with the reasons or the answers. And other times, we do need to delve deeper, How do we know which side of the tension we need most to be on at a given moment? How do we know when we need to give ourselves over to faith and trust, and when our souls are stirred up on such a way that we need to keep digging and praying and conversing on our journey because there is more for us to discover?

I also find myself delighted that he loses sleep trying to process this and so much of this. I suppose I see in him something I wish for many: real energy, passion, curiosity, devotion, determination to be on this journey and to be open to what one might discover on the journey. Granted, he's only committing himself for a year, and his exploration, as we've discussed before, likely looks different than most of ours would. And perhaps your motivation would be different from his. But, I wonder what passion you've had (or have) for scripture, for prayer, for faith. Have you ever lost sleep in seeking to understand? Have you found a favorite book of the bible (or passage) with which you resonate completely (pg. 114)? How have you pursued this passion, lived it out, committed to something as a result of it? Where might you find this kind of passion if you have not experienced it before? And as you contemplate this, do you ever find yourself fearing the same thing that Jacobs fears about religion (pg. 103): "To embrace religion, you have to surrender some control. But what if it's a slippery slope, and you lose all control, slide right past the Judeo-Christian mainstream, and end up in a yurt kneeling in front of a guy wearing a tablecloth who has renamed you Lotus Petal?" ?

Well on to my bulleted list of various directions you might choose to contemplate and comment on:

How do you deal with the theme of punishment in scripture, both divine (pg. 112-114) and the more human (pg 91-94 & 111-112)? What do you think of the explanations that are given by Yossi, Rabbi Noah Weinberg, & Kate?
Do you identify with Jacobs at all in his spiritual journey, particularly his new ventures into the realm of prayer (pg. 94-96)? Have you used the ACTS prayer? How do you express your thanksgivings? How does is your relationship with God and others different as a result of such expressions?
What do you make of his visit to the Atheists meeting? Do you ever feel tempted by secular humanism?
What have been the results of your trying to "speak biblically"?
I find his images discussion interesting. There is a lot of history around images (sometimes quite violent) in our Christian tradition, which he alludes to a bit (pg. 105). But I'm surprised that he doesn't talk about icons at all. The Eastern Churches (Greek, Russian, Coptic) have a deep spirituality and practice around icons, which has become much more accessible to the West after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Few of us struggle with images in the way he talks about them. But what exactly is a graven image? How do you know one when you see one, and when you do see one, what is your response?
What about stories like Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac and Noah's ark? I remember the time I really realized the gruesome tragedy and violence involved in the flood story. It was a difficult adjustment because I had been immersed in the cuteness, happiness, and joy of the story, from the nursery toys and decorations to the never-ending "Rise and Shine" song that I've sung hundreds of times. It's so easy to focus on the animals and the rain and forget about the demise of the whole rest of the earth. How do you come to grips with these stories? Which ones do you need to read again with fresh adult eyes? Are there New Testament stories that seem to fall into the same category?
What do you do when you can't really find guidance in the bible about the specific thing you need guidance on? (Like IVF, pg. 116-118).

I know that many of you are out there reading the book. Hopefully you will join the conversation! Don't be intimidated or shy! Your questions, your experience, your thoughts are invaluable to the discussion! Hope to hear from you soon.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jenny

Month Two: October

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Comments (3)

Thank you for your patience in my delay in getting something up about Chapter 2! Chapter 3 will follow sometime before the week is out.

I wanted to start discussing this chapter with something Dian brought up in her comment: Rules. Jacobs does talk a lot about rules. And in a way, it's challenging NOT to talk about rules because the Bible seems to be full of them. But every time I read the word, I'm jarred just a bit, because I also don't think of them as rules, the same way I think of rules in other places in our society. It becomes exhausting and terribly legalistic to think of a life of faith as one that just keeps all the rules. No wonder he's bored. (pg. 52) Didn't Jesus come to show people that God calls us into relationship with God and with one another after the people had become more focused on the rules than the relationships? But at the same time, the "rules" were meant to define and foster relationships. And sometimes, digging into the rules can be fruitful and important. Take for instance Jacobs' keeping track of his own lying (pg. 53-56, 81). There is something so like John Wesley in his attempt to keep track. Wesley developed his own code system for keeping track of his sins. He kept track in a journal to mark his progress toward Christian Perfection and to hold himself accountable to his Christian discipleship. For some of us, we'd get sidetracked in this approach to thinking it's all about the rules; we'd be consumed with guilt; our focus would be off; and it would not be a fruitful way to grow in our faith or relationship with God. But for others of us, such self examination could be quite helpful; we might discover many very subtle ways that our everyday actions do pull us away from a fuller relationship with God and others; we might be forced to look at the ways we rationalize so much of our behavior; and we might be able to change as a result. What is your method of self-examination? How do the "rules", "laws" or "commandments" (what do you call them?) in the bible contribute to a greater relationship with God and others in your life?

While sad that he's still agnostic, I appreciated his spiritual update on pg. 52-53. I appreciate it because what he says echoes some of my own experience and that of so many that I have talked to over the years. Have you experienced anxiety, frustration, or boredom in your spiritual journey? Have you had trouble sensing God's presence? How do you recognize God's presence? What is your response when you can't connect with God's presence? What is your prayer life like? Do you ever struggle with prayer? With a wondering mind? I really appreciate these sections in the book because they are hitting the more crucial stuff for me. The exploration of what the bible says, what the rules mean, how to follow them, etc. is important, I believe. But it's in actually trying to connect with God that faith becomes alive and whole. I think his experience at the Simchas Torah celebration (p. 84-87), where he is seeking the "joy of religion" also connects here. Have you ever experienced terror, fascination, or delirious happiness in your spiritual journey?

There is much in this chapter about interpretation of scripture: the discussion about creationism (pg. 56-63), and sabbath (pg. 71-74), the exploration of literalism & the Talmud (pg. 65-70). This is one of the things I was excited about in reading this book together -- a chance to talk about how we approach the Bible. This is crucial to some of the divisions among Christians today. It's one of the things that is so tough to work through when we try to determine what the bible says and means about so many important issues in our faith and our world. This will be an ongoing discussion for us. But for now -- how do you deal with different translations, different interpretations, known (and unknown) duplication and translation mistakes? How do you deal with apparent contradictions in scripture? How do you deal with apparent contradictions between scripture and what we now take to be unacceptable behavior (like chopping off hands, stoning, slavery, multiple marriages, etc.? Are these important questions for you?

Again, too many things to talk about. So here are a few more topics you may wish to talk about. Please add your own if I've left out something that you'd like to discuss!

For you women out there especially, what was it like to read about the purity laws? (pg 48-50) They cover far more than menstruation, but this is a good beginning. I liked how Julie referred to "theological cooties" and feeling like a leper. I also liked her response to Jacob's refusal to sit in any place she had sat.
Are you satisfied with the reason Jacobs gave for why Christians have discontinued the observance of many biblical rules? (pg. 47) Do you distinguish between "moral" and "ritual" laws? Is there ever a danger of us just following what we want and leaving the ones we don't want out?
What do you think of his visit to the creationist museum? What is your approach to the first two chapters of Genesis and other related matters? How do you converse with someone who thinks differently about this than you do? What do you think of his comment about the museum seeming like "misplaced energy"? (pg. 63)
On pg 57 Jacobs realizes that "biblical symbolism has seeped into every nook and cranny" of his brain. Have you found the same to be true for you? I find myself kind of proud of Jacobs in that moment in the book -- he knows the bible stories. He's really incorporated the stories and symbols into his life in a profound way. What happens in us (and to us) if we are able to see so much of the world through a biblical lens?
What do you think of the discussion of the Sabbath cycle and Jubilee year? (pg. 63-65) Is there any room to apply this in your life? In the world?
How do you honor the sabbath and keep it holy?
Have you ever talked with a Jehovah's Witness? What was the experience like? Did you learn anything from him or her?
"Should you obey the Bible's rules eve if doing so endangers your life?" (pg. 76-77)
Have you read the prophets lately? What do you think of their message of social justice? What do you think of their "literalized metaphors"?

OK, that's more than enough for now. Don't be shy! Post a comment!

Don't forget to respond to one another, and not just to me. You can also post more than one comment for each chapter, as you have more to add to the discussion.

Grace and peace to you all,

Pastor Jenny

Chapter Two - Coming Soon

Monday, July 07, 2008 Comments (1)

I was hoping to get something up today, despite my being on the youth mission trip, but it didn't happen. I'll be here again later in the week. Check back in a couple of days.

Peace, Jenny

Month One: September

Monday, June 30, 2008 Comments (3)

One of the challenges with this book (and probably one of it's gifts) is that Jacobs touches on so many topics in each chapter. There are many directions we can go as we delve in. So I'll mention some things, but you feel free to bring up things that I don't!

But this way that so many topics come up, even from the very start, is emblematic, I think. When we begin to delve into scripture, into spiritual matters of all sorts, one result is that all aspects of our life come into question. And each step of bringing our lives under God's care leads to another part of our lives needing to be looked at differently too. So it's no wonder that so many different topics are brought up. I wonder how you have experienced this in your life.

We are part of the United Methodist Church, originally called Methodist by people poking some fun at John & Charles Wesley and their "Holy Club" because they were so methodical in their approach to study, service, sacrament, salvation. There is something quite methodical about the approach of Jacobs. In many ways I resonate with his approach. Ah to have all of the rules filed neatly into a searchable, organizable, cross-reference-able database. I love checklists, and outlines, and charts. But I've also tried reading the Bible straight through, and I usually give up somewhere in the middle of Leviticus. I've read all of scripture, but I've had to find other approaches to it to make it something that is more my way. And even now, I approach scripture differently at different times. Sometimes my approach is different based on what part of scripture I'm reading (e.g. I read the psalms differently than I read Paul's letters). Sometimes I read to study, and other times I read to pray. What about you? What do you think of his approach? How would you approach such a quest? Would this be your quest at all? What have your approaches been to scripture? Which have been the most fruitful for you? The least fruitful?

He mentions near the end of the chapter (p. 35/36) that Roger, one of his spiritual advisors, says, "You're going into this thinking that it's like studying the sumo wrestlers in Japan. You're saying to yourself, 'I won't really become one. I'll maintain my distance.' You're dealing with explosive stuff. People a lot smarter than you have devoted their lives to this. So you have to admit there is a possibility that you will be profoundly changed by the end." Jacobs' reaction is one of fear, particularly of losing control. Have you had such a reaction? Do you think it's possible to maintain distance when you encounter God's Word? What power does Scripture have? What power do you think Scripture has to change people? How has Scripture shaped and changed you?

Jacobs speaks several times about his motivations to embark on this quest to follow the Bible literally. Many have to do with being a parent to his son. He speaks of ethical and moral matters. These are important, and just as good a motivation as anything, I imagine. But there is so much more to life with God. It will be interesting to see if he discovers any more as the book progresses. I wonder about your motivation -- why do you study scripture? Why do you go to church and bring your family?

There is so much more to explore. But I'll leave off here with a few more questions about different topics you may wish to explore.

Did you learn anything you didn't previously know about Scripture from this first chapter?
Who is your Spiritual Advisory Board?
What other distinguished religious groups (like the Amish) have you encountered and learned from? What have you taken from them? What have you chosen to leave behind?
Jacobs says that you cannot stop religion from evolving. What does this mean? How have you seen religion evolve? What do you make of it? Is there a way to know what is "Godly" evolution and what isn't? How do we incorporate new understandings and experiences into our understanding of scripture?
Jacobs talks quite a bit about morality near the end of the chapter. What do you think of his discussion? Are the things he mentions really the stuff of biblical morality? Are higher morals what really makes a person better?
How do we know which provisions from scripture are important to us as individuals, as a church, as Christians, and how do we measure their validity? How do we decide what rules and lines of thinking to follow and what not to follow? What do you make of the "jumbled up chopped salad" that is the mix of "ethically advanced and bizarre decrees" found in scripture? What image might you use to describe it?

There's lots more, so feel free to discuss these topics or bring something up on your own!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jenny

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