McEntyre, Marilyn Chandler. Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. Grand Rapids, MI:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009.
385 words
“Foster the kind of community that comes from shared stories . . . “ (Mc Entyre, xi)
“There is, in all of us, a hunger for words that satisfy, not just words that do the job of conveying requests or instructions or information, but words that give a pleasure akin to the pleasures of music. “ (27)
“Mere lists of nouns can be poetry.” (38)
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant. . .” (Dickenson, Emily, in McEntyre, 41)
“Opinions are the stock-in-trade of thoughtful people to be earned and held strongly until further evidence requires their modification.” (41)
“The practice of precision not only requires attentiveness and effort; it may also require the courage to afflict the comfortable and, consequently, tolerate their resentment.” (44)
“Healing involves naming the insults and offenses.” (59)
“We inhabit narratives . . . every story provides a space in which author and reader meet . . . some readers . . . become the guides or docents in those spaces.” (78)
“Once we have dwelt in a particular house of fiction, we hold within us the memory of the landscapes and intimate spaces it affords. And that memory furnishes and redesigns our interior spaces where thought is born and nurtured.” (79)
“Our lives are lived in relationship to words, written and spoke, sacred and mundane. They are manna for the journey.” (86)
“Conversation is a form of activism . . .” (89)
“Curiosity is a form of compassion . . . ‘What is it like for you?’” (98)
“When silences are allowed, conversation can rise to the level of sacred encounter.” (107)
“Understand how richness of experience, even the most searing, blesses us in the struggle.” (115)
“Stories are pathways.” (121)
“High intelligence involved in word play offers not only entertainment but encouragement.” (188)
“The story is told of Mother Teresa that when an interviewer asked her, ‘What do you say when you pray?’ She answered, ‘I listen.’ The reporter paused a moment then asked, “The what does God say?’ She replied, ‘He listens.’ It is hard to imagine a more succinct way to get at the intimacy of contemplative prayer.” (211)
“When the mystics speak of prayer, they are talking about that which will create in us a new structure of consciousness.” (O’Connor, Elizabeth, in McEntyre, 220)
Kerkeling, Hape. Trans. Shelley Frisch. I’m Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2006.
(Map of the Camino trail from Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port, France along the North of Spain to the coast and Santiago de Compostela where the grave of Saint James, the great missionary of the Iberian people is located.)
499 words
“The Camino poses a single question to each of us: ‘Who are you?’”
“My friend Isabel had only this to say: ‘Have you lost your mind?’ I decided to go on a pilgrimage.”
“I could be lying on my favorite red couch right now, comfortably sipping a hot chocolate and savoring a luscious piece of cheesecake, but instead I’m shivering I some café at the foot of the Pyrenees . . . (Kerkeling, 1)
“Just thinking about the long trek makes me want to take a long nap. And here’s the amazing part! I will hike it! At home I don’t even take the stairs to the second floor, yet starting tomorrow I’ll have to cover between 12 and 18 miles a day to reach my destination in about 15 days.” (2)
“My guidebook . . . [says] for centuries, people have undertaken the journey to Saint James when they have no other way of going on with their lives –– figuratively or literally. Since I have just dealt with sudden hearing loss and surgery to remove my gall bladder –– two ailments that are perfectly suited to a comedian –– it’s high time for me to readjust my own thinking.” (3)
“According to legend, the Santiago trail was used by Celts in pre-Christian times as a path of initiation. Veins of electromagnetic power in the earths and lines of energy (called ley lines) are said to be aligned with the Milky Way along the entire trail, all the way to Santiago de Compostela (which means ‘field of stars’) . . . The Catholic Church kindheartedly forgives the sins of people who complete a pilgrimage to Santiago. But that’s not my primary incentive, I’m drawn to the idea that the pilgrimage will help me find my way to God and thus to myself.” (4)
In my oxygen-deprived French cell last night, I got three hours of sleep . . . If there is a God, at least He has a sense of humor . . .” (11)
“On a beautiful path running along the mountain range, I see twelve enormous birds of prey circling right over me.” (22)
“But I’m also a bit grouchy today, which I attribute to the pains in my knee, and I feel a bit lonesome. Naturally I could call home, but if I do that, I’m likely to end the journey on the spot.” (31)
“I blathered my endless supply of sketches onto a cassette and . . . decided that it would be best to provide background for the sketches. Four weeks later, I received an invitation for two to broadcast in Berlin. “ (33)
“Her bright red freckled skin tells me she hast to be British.” (55)
“The sensation of being on my last legs is fast becoming a form of meditation.” (127)
“It is much easier to walk the Camino with a friend.” (257)
“The church bells are ringing. Sweaty as we are, we run from the office straight into the mass.” (326)
And bonus quote: “ The Creator tosses us into the air and then, to our happy amazement, catches us again just at the right moment. It is like the spirited game parents play with their children.” (332)
I just found out we have our own ‘Camino’ in Canada, the Island Walk in PEI:
“Gardens at Ceperley House, Burnaby Art Gallery” Phone Photo, DS
In my youth I avidly read each book required by courses. I joined into class discussion, my hand always in the air. Debates fascinated. Once upon a time, in a flurry of defences, I argued against free will. When I listened, I became convinced of the other side, for a lifetime. Mrs. Krueger was the freedom fighter. I wonder now at her background. Were her arguments from experience?
I was more to be found on the dance floor than at the library door. I married young and had my children. It was then, in the hours after bedtime, and during naps, that I read as if my life depended on it. The first tome was Gone With the Wind. I began university and was interrupted by life many times. This became my pattern.
The Gleanings Project will be part of one of those interruptions. I will glean books for glimpses of knowledge and wisdom, fun and study, using fewer than 500 words (with a few exceptions). Later, I will get down to serious work again. Thank you for being companions on the way. Your likes and comments are awesome.
Keen, Karen R. Scripture, Ethics & The Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships. Grand
Rapids: Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018.
658 Words
The evangelical world is facing increasing tension as leaders like Hatmaker express affirmation of same-sex relationships . . . so what is causing some Christians to switch sides in the debate? (Keen, ix)
I had resigned myself to a celibate life and focused on serving in ministry . . . Then something happened . . . The more I dug into the Bible . . . gnawing sense that my previous conclusions were incomplete. New questions arose that I had not considered before . . . false stereotypes . . . As our knowledge of human sexuality and sexual orientation increases, I suspect we will continue to grow in our pastoral response . . . explore the inspired authors’ intended meaning . . . (x)
In what ways does the Bible inform our ethical practices? . . . explore the biblical authors themselves to see how they interpret . . . implications . . . life-giving . . . (xi)
The trend of treating same-sex attraction as a spiritual or medical disorder continued into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (2)
Same-sex attraction cannot be simplistically characterized . . . C.S. Lewis in a letter to a friend, suggested gay people have a lifelong condition and declined to offer a spiritual explanation for causation . . . he suggested that gay people can find a redemptive purpose in their lot . . . The disciples were not told why (in terms of efficient cause) the man was born blind (Jn IX 1-3): only the final cause, that the works of God should be made manifest in him . . . Lewis was before his time, and it would be many years before the church at large caught up with him . . . others were rethinking the issue. Notably, gay and lesbian people themselves began challenging both ancient and modern theories of disorder; testifying that their lives did not match prevailing negative assumptions . . . 1969 Stonewall rioters launched a visible fight for dignity and fair treatment. Shortly thereafter, in 1972, the United Church of Christ began ordaining gay and lesbian pastors, the first mainline denomination to do so. (3)
Religious Right organizations . . . psychological theory that same-sex attraction was environmentally caused . . . In response, churches became more supportive of efforts to heal or cure gay or lesbian people rather than criminalize them . . . Gay people are admirable saints called to a celibate life. (8)
The 2000’s brought another significant shift in the conservative church’s response . . . awareness that sexual orientation change is unlikely for many. Like previous shifts, this was brought about by the stories of gay people, namely, young Christians whose testimonies differed from classic ex-gays . . . These young Christians often reported growing up in loving homes and had no history of destructive behavior. They remained devoted to God and committed to chastity. (9)
Celibate gay Christians who lend their voices to this movement include Wesley Hill [Regent College] . . . [and] gay members married to people of the opposite sex who are straight . . . This movement has made significant contributions to theologies of friendship and community . . . held up as examples of how to live a self-sacrificial life . . . Currently, the conservative church finds itself with a palette of options. (11)
Gay-affirming evangelicals have gained traction through the support of biblical scholars who are providing new arguments rooted in traditionally accepted hermeneutics . . . now an in-house [debate] . . . (13)
If historical trends continue, whatever paradigm shifts occur in the future will likely flow from gay and lesbian Christians truthfully testifying about their lived reality. (14)
The biblical authors do not write about the morality of consensual same-sex relationships as we know them today . . . The current debate on same-sex relationships centers on anatomical (or bodily) complementarity, including the role of procreation. (20)
Ellard, Colin. Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life. New York, NY: Bellevue Library Press, 2015.
477 words
“Regardless of what can be known about the thinking that lay behind the careful construction of Goebekli Tepe, six thousand years before the invention of the written word, one thing is clear –– what happened there may represent the very beginning of what has now become a defining characteristic, perhaps the defining characteristic of humanity: we build to change perceptions, and to influence thoughts and feelings; by these means, we attempt to organize human activity, exert power, and in many cases, to make money. We see examples of this everywhere, scattered through the length and breadth of human history.” (Ellard, 15)
“Breathtaking natural phenomena like an inky starlit sky or the depths of the Grand Canyon, or a human-built artifact like a cathedral ceiling, can exert measurable influence on our feelings about ourselves, how we treat others, and even our perceptions of the passage of time.”
“When we visit a shopping mall or a department store . . . we find ourselves entering almost a hypnotic state with lowered defenses, diminished reserve, and a heightened inclination to spend money on something we don’t need. . . by careful design.”
“A walk through a busy, urban street market teeming with colorful wares, the delicious aroma of food, and a hubbub of human activity . . . can cause our moods to soar.” (16)
“The areas of our brain that process feelings are widely distributed . . . It is difficult to overestimate the importance of such findings for our overall understanding of how the brain produces adaptive behavior . . . “ (19)
“Walls reinforce or perhaps even create social conventions and cultural norms. The invention of dedicated sleeping spaces in homes changed our views about sexuality. The design of traditional Muslim homes and even of streetscapes reified beliefs about gender and generational divisions.” (25)
“Despite our modern state of detachment from the conditions that originally shaped us, most of us still crave contact with nature . . . We are innately attracted to elements of places that for our forebears might have made the difference between life and death . . . When we visit new cities, we naturally gravitate toward whatever verdant squares and gardens may be on offer. “ (30)
“Our preferences for the appearance and arrangement of trees takes us one step beyond simple spatial consideration and into the realm of color, texture, and form.” (36)
“One can see the hallmarks of these preferences in almost every aspect of our behavior, from where we choose to walk and sit, what we like to look at, and how we try to arrange our lives, alternating as much as possible between powerful forces of technologies that shape our attention and the restorative effects of natural settings . . . More than any other single factor, our cravings for nature underlie the psycho-geographic structure of our lives.” (51)
Even visiting gardens virtually can have powerful effects. Here is one where I recently explored the blue poppies online at Reford Gardens in Quebec:
Coles, Robert. The Call of Stories. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989.
487 words
“As I have continued to do psychiatric work with children, I have gradually realized that my teaching has helped that work along –– by reminding me how complex, ironic, ambiguous, and fateful this life can be, and that the conceptual categories I learned in psychiatry, in psychoanalysis, in social science seminars, are not the only means by which one might view the world.” (Coles, xvii)
“The conversations have been about certain books which I use and use in various courses . . . a collective exploration of the personal responses . . . suggestive power . . .” (xviii)
“Concentrate on understanding her, not on trying to change her behavior.” (9)
“I wanted to hear more about her, not about the ‘symptoms.” (10)
“I allowed the patient’s ‘agenda’ to take over . . .” (13)
“As active listeners, we give shape to what we hear, make over their storiesinto something of our own.” (19)
“Why not let her story keep unfolding . . . “ (20)
“Few would deny that we all have stories in us which are a compelling part of our psychological and ideological make-up.” (24)
He ended with a plea for ‘more stories, less theory’.” (27)
“Their story, yours, mine, –– it’s what we all carry with us on this on this trip we take, and we owe it to each other to respect our stories and learn from them. “ (30)
“It’s sad the way people get lost when they run up against other people.” (42)
“She was able to announce, at one point, that Pride and Prejudice offered parallels of sorts to the circumstances in her high school.” (43)
“Sometimes, it’s those ‘down’ moments when you do your best thinking.” (49)
“There are worse words than cuss words, there are words that hurt.” (51)
“Her stories worked their way into the everyday life reality of their young lives: watching their mothers iron, and thinking of a story; watching a certain heavy drinking friend, relative, neighbor, and thinking of a story, watching children in church, and themselves in school, and thinking of a story.” (57)
“You feel ashamed of yourself for those ideas, until you get to realize that lots and lots of people (maybe everyone) has them –– at least sometimes.” (59)
“With a novel . . . [if] you take things slowly, and get your head connected to what you are reading then (how do I say it?) the story becomes ours. No I don’t mean ‘your story’; I mean you have imagined what those people look like, and how they speak the words in the book, and how they move around, and so you and the writer are in cahoots . . . feel his isolation, his bad luck, and react with anger at the wrongs done him.” (64)
“Some novelists, of course, are forthrightly concerned with ethical reflection.” (82)
“The stories are emotionally powerful and have a strong effect on the students.” (89)
“Walking on Water” 11″ x 14″, Acrylic on Paper, DS
Bessey, Sarah. Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women. New York: NY, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2013.
492 words
“Let us be women who love.” (McVicker in Bessey, xvii)
“Let us rise the questions of our time.” ( “ , xviii)
“Let’s head outside. I want us to sit around a fire pit ringed with stones and watch the moon move over the Pacific. I want us to drink good red wine . . . I want us to talk about this –– really talk about womanhood, church, the labels, and where we go from here . . . we are wounded, we are wounding.” (Bessey, 1)
“Let us discover how we can disagree beautifully.” (2)
“Let’s be done lobbying for a seat at the Table.” (3)
“I want to be outside with the misfits . . . the ones rejected by the Table . . . Aslan is on the move.” (4)
“Years ago, I practiced anger and cynicism, like a pianist practices scales, over and over.” (5)
“This night, by the bonfire, I want to wrap us up in the warmth of good stories, of strong love, of prophetic callings.” (8)
“Jesus made a feminist of me.” (11)
“It might surprise antifeminists and anti-Christians equally to know that feminism has its roots tangled up with the strong Christian women’s commitment to the temperance movement, suffragists movements, and in America and England in particular, the abolitionist movements of the nineteenth century.” (12)
“At the core, feminism simply consists of the radical notion that women are people, too.” (13)
“I’ll say that again, louder, and I’ll stand up beside our small bonfire and shout it out loud. I’ll scare the starfish and the powerful alike: patriarchy is not God’s dream for humanity. It never was, it never will be.” (14)
“[Jesus] love us. On our own terms. He treats us as equals to the men around him; he listens; he does not belittle; he honors us; he teaches us; he includes us –– calls us all beloved.” (17)
“Jesus subverted the social norms dictating how a rabbi spoke to women.” (18)
“When Mary of Bethany sat at his feet, she was in the posture of a rabbinical student.” (19)
“The lack of women among the twelve disciples isn’t prescriptive or a precedent for exclusion of women and more than the choice of twelve Jewish men excludes Gentile men from leadership.” (22)
“Jesus would teach or quote a portion of the Law and then move us forward from our current places toward God’s original intent.” (27)
“God’s dream for humanity is clearly not slavery.” (28)
“All this battling to eradicate human trafficking happens despite the fact that there is actually no specific verse in Scripture that prohibits the buying and selling of human beings . . . because we understand God’s creative purpose for humanity.” (29)
“In addition to slavery, the Church has, in general, dismissed polygamy, the buying and selling of daughters, stonings . . . and many other culturally accepted practices. God is still moving, still active, in our world today.” (30)
Photo Collage of Paintings and Shells Deborah Torley Stephan
Benner, Juliette. Contemplative Vision: A Guide to Christian Art and Prayer. Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011.
493 words
“What images and inner associations form for you when you think of contemplative prayer . . . nuns sitting in prayerful stillness . . . monks in a monastery walking in silence in a cloister . . . Can you see yourself in the picture that forms for you?” (Benner,11)
“Contemplative prayer is for all Christians. It is our response to God’s invitation to relational intimacy . . . a receptive form of prayer . . . “ ( “ )
“Teresa of Avila has described it as the gaze of faith that is fixed on Jesus –– sharing time alone with a good friend . . . Regular practice of this type of prayer is not merely a discipline but is a way of moving prayer from the closet to the rest of your life.” (12)
“My training as a visual artist first oriented me to the priority of careful noticing . . . docent in an art gallery . . . teaching people how to really see what they were looking at. This translated well into my subsequent work as a spiritual director . . . physical seeing a doorway to spiritual seeing . . . Judeo-Christian art . . . as an aid to contemplative prayer.” (13)
“These great works of art . . . were central to the way churches proclaimed the Word.” (15)
“It opens us to the mystery of that which cannot be reduced to thoughts or beliefs. It helps us love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul and all of our strength.” (16)
“As we carefully gaze on the painting, we enter the world it depicts –– into its time and place. When we do this, all time becomes present time, and we are led into the eternal presence –– into the One who is ever present to us. Such openness allows us to be filled more completely with the Spirit and drawn into a deeper relationship with God.” (19)
“Becoming attuned to the Spirit of God through the practice of contemplative prayer, we find that we also more attuned to others.” (20)
“We will examine how transformed vision will shape the way we live in and relate to the world.” (21)
“The questions are intended to provide you with an opportunity for deeper engagement with both the paintings and the biblical texts they are based on. Use them as a way of noticing and responding to the gifts and invitations that you may have received from the Spirit of God.” (23)
“We are so used to being busy that we treat it as an essential characteristic of the good life.” (27)
“Rather than thinking of prayer as communicating with God, think of it as an openness to God. Unceasing prayer is, then, unceasing openness to God. ” (55)
“Jesus created a close-knit community of followers bound strongly together in love.” (121)
“Art for the Sake of the Soul” in Collage Book, DS
Introduction
In my youth I avidly read each book required by courses. I joined into class discussion, my hand always in the air. Debates fascinated. Once upon a time, in a flurry of defences, I argued against free will. When I listened, I became convinced of the other side, for a lifetime. Mrs. Krueger was the freedom fighter. I wonder now at her background. Were her arguments from experience?
I was more to be found on the dance floor than at the library door. I married young and had my children. It was then, in the hours after bedtime, and during naps, that I read as if my life depended on it. The first tome was Gone With the Wind. I began university and was interrupted by life many times. This became my pattern.
The Gleanings Project, to begin in the New Year, will be part of one of those interruptions. I will glean books for glimpses of knowledge and wisdom, fun and study, using fewer than 500 words. Later, I will get down to serious work again. Thank you for being companions on the way. Your likes and comments are awesome.
. . .
Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
500 words
“Jesus’ paradoxical teaching . . . it is in losing ourself that we truly find it . . . I have done neither [here]. . . journey of finding our authentic self in Christ and rooting our identity in this reality is dramatically different from the agenda of self-fulfillment promoted by pop psychology. ” (13)
“The goal of the spiritual journey is the transformation of the self.” (14)
“Beneath the roles and masks lies a possibility of a self that is as unique as a snowflake.” (15)
“A humble self-knowledge is a surer way to God than a search after deep learning.” (a Kempis in Benner, 20)
“Personal knowledge is never simply a matter of the head. Because it is rooted in experience , it is grounded in deep laces of our being. The things we know from experience we know beyond belief. Such knowing is not incompatible with such belief, but is not dependent on it.” (25)
“Paradoxically, we come to know God best not by looking at God exclusively, but by looking at God, then looking at ourselves –– then looking at God, and then looking at ourselves . . . mostly fully known in relationship to each other.” (26)
“God’s call to a deep personal encounter . . . is an invitation to step out of the security of the boat and meet Jesus in the vulnerability and chaos of our inner storms.” (31)
“Revelation is not simply something that happened at some distant point in the past. If it were, all we could ever hope for is information from this historic event.” (34)
Because God is love, God can only be known through love . . . This is transformational knowing . . . also requires surrender . . . Genuine knowing also demands a response . . . To surrender to Divine love is to find our soul’s home.” (35)
“Relationships develop when people spend time together . . . the essence of prayer . . .Spirit-guided meditation on the Gospels. ” (37)
“The meditation I am recommending is not the same as Bible study. It is more an exercise of the imagination than it is of the intellect. It involves allowing the Spirit of God to help you imaginatively enter an event in the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels.”
“My journey, however, has not been easy. I have trouble visualizing things . . . But . . . allowing myself to daydream on it –– is sharing Jesus’ experience with Him . . . slowly moving to a new level of personal knowing of Jesus.” (39)
“Coming to know and trust God’s love is a lifelong process . . . allowing our identity to be re-formed . . . core of the spiritual transformation. “ (51)
“In human community . . .” (52)
“Spiritual transformation, not self-knowledge is the goal of Christian spirituality. “ (72)
“Every moment of every day or our life God wanders in our inner garden, seeking our companionship.” (88)
ShellseekerReflections 