August 7, 2018
A word about Sunday school! (You are free to run for the hills, but I’d rather you stay with me.) For years I felt I didn’t need it. My reasoning: I was taken to SS for infants and children and teens, which gave a good foundation. From there I worked and studied on my own (introverts, unite, in the privacy of our homes!) Then I was moved to teach weekday Bible studies, a task I embraced with fervor for many years, and figured was sufficient. But then one day, I eased shyly into a Sunday morning class called Explorers. I had heard they boldly cross boundaries, exploring outside the box, daring to examine unexamined presuppositions. So at venerable fifty-something, I showed up. Well, you guessed it—I rose through the ranks and now find myself Commander of the Night Watch—er, facilitator of the group. And oh how I love our little community. And in a way I’m not kidding about the Night Watch. The task of biblical literacy and spiritual growth seems urgent to me.
When I set up this website, my idea was to consolidate my writings and teachings, offering refreshment to whoever is hungry for whatever fare. I want to be a conduit, not an endpoint!
One request was that I provide a link from my site to the monthly prayer calendar I compile for our church. Another request was that I begin to archive my Sunday school lessons. This I did by reserving a place for them apart from my weekly/daily musings in general. (I’m a little behind—fixing to post the last two lessons. Which you are free to read, or not!) The thing about lesson-texts is that they miss the orality of the Sunday school experience–the conversation, the different perspectives, the puzzled brows, the aha moments, the mutual respect. And the sheer joy of being together. Still, you may find something in them you can use.
For me, it’s kind of like this: There is Ultimate Reality, also known as Creator, God, Mother, Father, YHWH, other Names too numerous to mention. I am pleased (thanks to a vivid dream I may tell you one day) to think of Ultimate Reality as ‘She Who Is Behind Everything.’ She is not Person, She is the Uncreated. She is not me but She lives in me and I in Her. She is not Color but the everflowing overflowing superabundant Source of Color. Allow me to illustrate. Yesterday I glanced at my kitchen windowsill and saw this:
My heart was pierced with joy, with terror at the Vastness… the miracle of existence, the depth of mercy…
In response, I can keep the weekly lections for my little group, and watch for signs (without depending on signs), and share a few illustrated stories. And prayer calendars. And lessons. Small things, done with great love.
Everlasting Arms 