August, 2001 Volume XII, Number 8
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Our Day of recollection will be held on the August 18th from 10 AM to 3 PM at the home of Paschal Baute. This will be the Spiritual Growth Network’s twelfth birthday. We hope you can join us to celebrate. In the morning we will have a time of walking meditation. We will share some of the styles of walking meditation, and take a short time to develop our personal intention before we do our walk. After the meditative period we will leave time to process the experience by ourselves and in the group. After lunch we will focus our informal discussions on what we have and have not been able to achieve in our twelve years. We will also brainstorm for ideas on what we want to do in the near future. We would like to choose a topic or book to use for a course this fall. Please bring your choices with you to share. We are also considering exploring some different types of meditation this fall and need to discuss the possible formats.
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Our July Day of Recollection focused on the material that is being put forth by the Jesus Seminar. We were led by Frank Glenn. Frank began by giving us an overview of the ‘quest for the historical Jesus’. He talked about how we got our present documents. The starting point is always the original life of Jesus; after which sayings and acts of the historical Jesus were selected by hearers for oral transmission. These were repeated until they were written down. The three earliest compilations are hypothetical, known only from their appearance within other documents. They were most probably a sayings Gospel, which preserved sayings, aphorisms and parables, a signs Gospel, found most prominently in John, and a passion, which preserved an account of his last days. None of these were written in the factual, well documented style that we are accustomed to find in biography or history of today. These first writings were then edited, becoming narratives for certain communities of the followers of Jesus. (Here we get the gospels we know and a few we don’t.) These continued to change, interacting with an on-going oral tradition. Certain of these writings were then selected to become our ‘sacred’ texts when Christianity became the official religion of Rome.
The Jesus Seminar has been doing publicly what biblical scholars have always done quietly within their academic cloister. It did set itself certain objectives. These were to: make a complete list of sayings from 30-150CE attributed in documents to the historical Jesus, decide on “tests” of authenticity, evaluate each sayings’ authenticity as Red (That’s Jesus), Pink (Sure sounds like Jesus.), Gray (Well, maybe.), or Black (There’s been some mistake.), and publish the findings in both scholarly and popular formats. To understand more of how this work has been done, please look at the article, “What can we know about what Jesus said?” in this newsletter.
After the presentation of this summary, we had a discussion that allowed us time to explore and understand these lines of transmission. We then did an exercise, using a saying that is found in three Gospels. “Congratulations, you hungry! You will have a feast.” (Luke 6:21) We were asked to look at all three versions and decide which was the one we felt Jesus would have said, and why. Which one, if any, would he not have said and why. Would Jesus say the same thing today? Why or why not? And what did the saying mean to us personally. We wrote in our journals, and then had small group discussions. After lunch we talked and had a discussion centering on the aphorism “Become passers-by”.
This was a very good day. The discussion was lively and varied. There were many points of view represented. The Jesus Seminar Discussion Group meets on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 9 – 11 AM, presently at the home of Paschal Baute. All are welcome.
Our Fall Retreat is scheduled for September 21st to the 23rd. We plan to focus on how an ecologically sound spirituality can help us heal not only the earth, but also ourselves and those who engage in the struggle both for and against earth centered values. We are still deciding on the whole format, but Dave Peck has promised to teach us the Ghost Dance; Michael has volunteered a quiet, solitary, Sufi exercise. We plan to use our Sunday not only to ground our insights but also to link them to our lives in an ecologically friendly manner. Retreats are open to all; they cost only $55, which is what the Sisters charge us. They are a wonderful way to renew our intention to live from a spiritual center. More information will come out in the next newsletter, but if you want to sign up early, let Barbara Ballard know of your intentions. (2961 Rio Rita Ave., Louisville, KY 40220, phone: 502-459-6022.)
August 18th, Saturday from 10AM to 3PM
Theme: SGN Birthday Celebration
Potluck lunch.
September 21st – 23rd.
Theme: Healing and an ecological spirituality.
October 20th.
Theme: Sweat lodge at Michael and Ann’s farm.