Our retreat, based on the theme, “What did you learn at the movies?” was a good one. As a small group we shared the fun of watching three movies together, and then discussing them. The first movie we watched was Alchemy. This is a quiet, slow paced film about an artist, and her struggles with relationships, her calling to her art, and finding community. It is a story of transformation and healing. Our discussions covered all these issues, looking at how faith works in our lives and its role in the whole process of transformation. We also looked at how community is formed. Is it the product of ordinary culture, personal intention, or does it arise from a bonding in faith? The same could be asked about personal intimate relationships. After all the talk, we gave ourselves a long lunch break for personal quiet time. We had voted on what to watch next by picking the five most wanted (ranked 5 to 1), and the five least wanted (ranked –1 to –5), then letting a skilled mathematician, make the necessary computation. Saturday matinee, Holy Man, a lighthearted comedy was the perfect balance for the previous period of introspection. We laughed ourselves silly, but still managed to come up with sufficient thought about the impact of our culture and spiritual needs to fuel a discussion until the bell rang for supper. We were almost saturated with the movies, but an evening together made room for just one more, and this time it was Smoke Signals. This is a movie, made by Native Americans about the journey to forgiveness of our fathers. It is very moving. We were also struck how each of us had interpreted ambiguous scenes in the movie differently. When we talked about them, it gave us all a broader understanding. Two of these movies end with poems, read by a main character. Michael transcribed them so that you can read them. (See the next page) This was a good retreat. It was suggested that we either do it again at a later time, or incorporate a movie in future retreats.

A.S.

            The Jesus Seminar Discussion Group is currently meeting at Paschal’s home, on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. The group is discussing, chapter by chapter, the book Gospel of Jesus. All are welcome to join the discussion at any time.

            On May 26^th, the discussion was on those passages relating to John the Baptist. We talked about the possible forms of relationship between Jesus and John. Jesus was perhaps John’s student who began to reinterpret his teaching. This led us to think on the differences: feasting and fasting, how did one become free of ‘sin’, personal commentary (such as John’s condemnation of Herod’s marriage) or overall commentary on the system, apocalyptic vision or another form of eschatology. Although the relationship is fixed in scripture by a Christian necessity to place Jesus in the primary spotlight, one may also ask what Jesus learned from John and what historical traditions was he continuing and expanding. John gave religious expression back to the masses who could not participate in the temple worship in Jerusalem. Jesus then continued this movement by giving them ongoing practice in the present. This discussion makes one think of Jesus in the light of a developmental spirituality, one that is still asking and searching for answers to spiritual questions. Through all of this one sees the crossing of myths, stories, and the framing of the Christian religion.

            On June 9^th, the section was titled “Love and Forgiveness”. It included the sayings on loving your enemies and forgiveness of debts, as well as a parable, The Unforgiving Slave, and a story, The First Stone. The discussion began with how human it is to feel negativity to your ’enemies’. We thought about who are our enemies: those you hate, those you have resentment against? Are our enemies outside of us or inside? As this was also very close to the McVeigh’s execution for the Oklahoma bombing, capital punishment and the reasons for criminal action were part of our talk. We considered the difference between cultural ‘sin’ and individual ‘sin’, where sin is taken to mean ‘missing the mark’. One sees sinners who are named so because of their actions of questionable moral intent, and also ones who are named so because of their position in society, their job, etc. Which one did Jesus use, which his editors? There seem to be two opposing ways in which forgiveness works: one is through reciprocity; the other is open ended and unconditional. Both are given ample room in this material. Is there a way in which they work together? The opposite of love may be holding resentments, and resentments can certainly get in the way of forgiveness, your own of others, and other’s forgiveness of you. None of our questions were completely answered; in fact some new ones arose as a result of our discussion. This gives us all the more reason to continue to work with this material, with a deepening respect for its depth.