textweek

One Page Year B Calendar

Looking for a one-page front-and-back listing of lectionary readings? Cynthia Hinson of St Paul UMC, Conroe, TX, sent me this link from the United Methodist Church. This follows the United Methodist Church listings for 2006 (Year B and beginning of Year C). During the season after Pentecost it follows the read-through-OT-books options rather than the themed options. Worth taking a look at, even if you're not United Methodist. If anyone knows of anything like this for other lectionary variations, please let me know!

Gospel according to Mark

As we get started in the year of Mark, take a look at "Recent Reflections on the Gospel according to Mark" by Sean P. Kealy, in Biblical Theology Bulletin, Fall, 2005. It's a helpful introduction to scholarship especially of the past few years, with a useful bibliography.

Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine

At NPR's All Things Considered: "Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine."

"In his new book, Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine, Yale professor and literary critic Harold Bloom wrestles with the meaning of God's covenant with the Hebrew people. Bloom discusses his own troubled feelings about the Hebrew God Yahweh with Debbie Elliott."

Einstein and the Mind of God

At Speaking of Faith: "Einstein and the Mind of God"

"With physicists Freeman Dyson and Paul Davies, and through the words of Albert Einstein himself, we explore Einstein’s way of thinking about mystery, eternity, and the mind of God."

Ann Rice, Out of Egypt

Dan Clendenin has written a review of Ann Rice's Christ Our Lord: Out of Egypt. From Dan's Journey with Jesus newsletter:

"The novelist Anne Rice has sold millions of books writing about the occult, so she shocked readers when she remarked in a *Newsweek* interview that henceforth she intends "to write only for the Lord." This week I review "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt," the first book in her planned trilogy about the life of Christ. She has a seven year old Jesus narrate the entire novel."

Journey with Jesus - Advent 3

Check out Dan Clendenin's Journey with Jesus for this week. Dan writes about Mary, Ambrose and Basil and the bias of God's heart.

"Helping the homeless and parsing corporate compensation are complex issues; I can't pretend to know much about either. People with good intentions take widely divergent positions on how we should respond to poor people and rich corporations; but whether one should engage these matters is, for the Christian, beyond dispute. As I read the Scriptures for this week, God looks and feels biased. He seems to take sides, and not just about wealth. These Biblical texts are so uncompromising that it is tempting to "spiritualize" them in order to soften them. Instead, I think we should take them at face value as a declaration that the advent of God's kingdom subverts our ordinary ways of doing political and socio-economic business."

"Our Endangered Values"

Check out the NPR Fresh Air interview with Jimmy Carter about his new book, Our Endangered Values. I'm in the middle of reading the book, and really finding it interesting and helpful for raising issues of church & state, text & interpretation (who has the right to interpret), etc. I can see some church groups studying this book together!

bloomingcactus - Advent 3

Check out Todd Weir's bloomingcactus this week for an interesting discussion of the "light" in terms of Jungian psychology.

"Much of the pain and suffering around us comes from people imagining that they are the light themselves.  In psychological terms, my mind turns to Carl Jung when thinking about light and darkness within us.  Jung warned of the dangers of trying to live only in our light.  The shadow within is dangerous when ignored.  Jung believed that the things that we repress that we don’t want to know about ourselves create this shadow within us.  In our attempt to be “children of light” we often repress and try to hide from our greed, selfishness, hostility, grandiosity and pain.  We push these things from our conscious selves, but they rise up from our unconscious and control us."

Lectionary Collage

A new resource recommended to me this week is begodshelper.com. Eugene Stutzman and David Ryan are creating a collage and personal growth guide for each week's set of readings. Mr. Stutzman and Mr. Ryan are members of Covenant Mennonite Fellowship of Sarasota, Florida. It's definitely worth a look to pull us out of looking at the texts primarily through more text/words!

"Taking Faith Home" bulletin insert

Taking Faith Home, Advent 2, Greg Priebbenow, formingfaith.com. A free intergenerational take-home insert for integrating lectionary readings with at-home prayers, family time, table grace, devotions, ritual and suggestions for service. Take a look!