-We wrestle with the teachings of OT and NT in an effort to form a clearer picture in our minds of the descriptions and meanings of the teachings so that we may be a little holier (not to claim moral superiority, but just for the satisfaction of feeling, thinking, seeing and acting closer to our creator). And yet these feats of logic and memory are unlikely to lead to Truth Breaking Forth in any but partial and fleeting flashes. So then, is the exercise futile? No, much as the image of the fruit and the vine, the effort to engage and wrestle with the Word fills our waking minds, and to that extent excludes the fluff and noise of everyday concerns. In and of itself, daily visits to the Word have meaning, therefore. In addition, as we travel life's road, it is helpful to bring questions and anxieties to the Word since it is unchanging. For if we rely on internal reasoning and the acrobatic powers of rationalization, then anything we do can be self-confirming, self-authorizing, self-validating, self-righteous. Only be going to an external point of reference like the life of Jesus and his followers, as well as the foundation of OT that he lived in can we expect a better compass.
-All right, so we are forgiven by the atonement paid in Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth. But the power of this forgiveness of sins big and small for all time comes by accepting that gift. It is given to us, but until we accept it, acknowledge it, and return thanks for it, then the full value is unrealized. This is the Love (caritas) of God and the spirit from the Holy Ghost (numous; numinous breath of life; animating force). But then to do wrong; to go against life and what is good in the knowledge that one can seek forgiveness by remorse and repenting –this is an abuse of the relationship. To love one's enemy, to wish peace upon one and all, to turn the other cheek when insulted –these things say, in effect, in God's creation "it is all good," warts and all. In other words, this Love of God is a power that makes all of life and the world a one-way, one-size fits all, all is blessed phenomenon (love 'em all: the washed and the unwashed, the pure and the polluted, the friend and the enemy –and hardest of all, perhaps, the uncaring). Even Lucifer and his minions are in this creation and have a place in it; otherwise God would disallow it.
-Where "the rubber meets the road" in our relationships to God and to each other, Christian (fulfilled 'Jews' covenanted at first by the OT) or otherwise, is in one's heart: right(eous) thinking and feeling/intention leads to right(eous) actions and goals and course of events. And so the effort of Bible study and reflection, haggling over meanings and cross-connections, patterns and relationships recorded is valuable in a few different ways: it occupies one's mind, it ties what may appear random events into functioning connections, and it gives guidance or counterpoint to the bedlam of one's mind. And yet there is no moral superiority to claim in any prideful polishing of one's knowledge. It is significant only to the extent that it strengthens or develops one's heart: that place where love of one's God and one's neighbor begin.
-Living in the model and going forth authorized by Jesus to be God's hands and feet, ears and eyes means that we are living for God and for one's neighbor, not for oneself or one's (self) justification. By definition, then, we become connected to matters beyond our own personal concerns; thereby enriched by playing a part in bigger things.
-Suppose that the unit of discipleship, development in spiritual maturity and path of holy intent is not the worshipping congregation but instead is the individual person. Then our time together is important but temporary, while our relationship and learning of and through and for God is enduring. From this standpoint, then, the decision and organizational difficulties, clash in feeling or respect or personalities are trivial, much as they irritate or give pleasure. The pangs are urgent and hard to dismiss, but these are not what endures between the person and her or his maker.
-Gospel of John: he is selective in the episodes he gives so that we may glimpse something of the lessons to learn. But as a result, we have no fixed doxa or dogma to proclaim. We have questions and possibilities and to the extent that we wrestle with these meanings, we also construct the learning in our own historical moment and lifestage. In other words, the knowledge is built, not transmitted ready-made.
-About breaking break & cup of communion: while Jews of the time and also today have the custom of wine at Sabbath and pesach/Passover, and also the bread will be blessed, Rabbi Jesus does something novel by putting these elements into the hands of his followers to be his proxy: the bread his body, the wine his life. And while we are living and thus form one piece of earthly creation, this act of communion is a way of accepting (the all important step of acknowledging and returning thanks for grace; love; forgiveness) Jesus and by extension the things he stands for in his lived example and spoken teachings. Thus to take the communion is to subscribe to his story; the story of forgiving all of everybody. We are inside of God's creation, but in communion that creation (Jesus, Son of Man, heir to fallen world and holy striving) is now inside of us.
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