This week we will be discussing chapters 5, 6, and 7 (if we get that far) of Bishop Curry’s book Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus.
As you prepare for this evening, think about where is your mountain top as discussed in Chapter 5. Where did God surprise you with his presence as he did Moses (Exodus 3:2) and where to you go to touch the divine in your despair as did Elijah (1 Kings 19:8)?
Chapter 6 speaks of our divisions. Gregory of Nyssa (335-395), one of the great Cappadocian fathers who formulated the Nicene Creed, wrote that “Every concept formed by the intellect in an attempt to comprehend and circumscribe the Divine nature can succeed only in fashioning an idol, not making God known.” Think through how your conception of God can create walls of division and how in allowing those walls to be breached, God can be made better known. Also, think about how we live in the tension of each of us knowing and encountering God in unique ways.
Finally, Chapter 7 reminds us that, on this side of the resurrection, we will be tossed as if on a wild and restless sea. Think through how we are called to follow Jesus despite (and often because of) the restlessness and controversies of the present age. How can we stay the course despite being battered by the winds and waves?
Dinner is at 6. The menu is Pesto Meatballs with Polenta. Discussion about 6:45. Compline a little before 8. Hope to see you here.
God is our refuge and strength, *
Psalm 46:1-4
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, *
and though the mountains be toppled into the depths of the sea;
Though its waters rage and foam, *
and though the mountains tremble at its tumult.
The Lord of hosts is with us; *
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.