Chapters 1 and 2 -- LWD

[Cindy]

Hi, folks. Here are some starter questions on Chapters 1 and 2. Feel free to answer these or address anything else you found interesting in these two chapters.

1) Barbara Brown Taylor (BBT) says "each of us has a personal history of the dark." She also says we have "been taught what to think about the dark, and most of us only have to think a minute to come up with the names of our teachers." Some of you shared your personal histories of darkness last week, but I wanted to open up the question in case others would like to explore the question.

2)Another writer, James Bremner, says that courage (which is the management of fear) needs to be practiced. "For this, children need a widespread, easily obtained, cheap, renewable source of something scary but not actually dangerous." He says darkness "fits that bill." I like this in theory, but I'll admit to putting a really good nightlight in our new toddler's bedroom because he was waking up scared. What are your thoughts? And do you think we need to practice courage?

3)Gregory of Nyssa said "Those of us who wish to draw near to God should not be surprised when our vision goes cloudy, for this is a sign that we are approaching the opaque splendor of God. If we decide to keep going beyond the point where our eyes or minds are any help to us, we may finally arrive at the pinnacle of the spiritual journey toward God, which exists in complete and dazzling darkness." Personally, I have a hard time imagining the pinnacle of the spiritual journey is darkness. What do you think?

4) BBT says she "learned as much about human nature waiting tables" at the bar as she did in seminary. Where or what were your greatest teachers about human nature?

5) Near the end of Chapter 2 BBT writes about how the God of Moses is not a grandfatherly type of God. She says that God offers no safety features or guarantees, just letting us assume the risk for the sake of the reward of intimacy. Do you like this? Do you agree with it, even if you don't like it?

[Cindy]

Hi everybody. Cindy here. I've been thinking about question 4) above. Although my first career was in publishing, I had a short stint in insurance sales before going to seminary. I was working for a managed care company when my call to ministry was clarified, and I think that work contributed to my call. Part of my job was explaining our benefits to the employees of the companies to whom I had sold the coverage. I went to everything from law offices and garment factories, facing all the differences you might expect along the spectrum. The law offices typically paid for full family coverage--or at least subsidized the family cost--but the factories covered employees only. I would explain to those factory workers that they could go to any doctor in the network for $10 or $15, any specialist for $25, and 90% of the docs in town were on our network. Many of them had a $1000 deductible prior to our plan, so they were thrilled. And then they would invariably want to add their families--and I had to give them prices I knew they could never afford on their pay. One man refused to accept his own insurance because he couldn't provide the same for his family. It was heart-breaking.

This story may not directly address my question of who taught me about human nature, but it certainly taught me about the system--which is, of course, a reflection of our nature.

Anybody else have thoughts to add? I'll post new questions tomorrow. (Sorry I'm a day behind schedule.)

[Lynn]

What an interesting life you've had - and are still having. I think I've come to understand a bit more about human nature by observing fundraisers - especially those galas where people are wined and dined in exchange for a nice contribution to some charity. Why don't more people just humbly give without all the bells and whistles? I wonder why we have to be coerced into giving, needing something to soften the pain of letting go of our hard earned cash.

My favorite quote (referring to people at the bar and at the altar): "We were all seeking company, meaning, solace, self-forgiveness . . .
Sometimes I wondered if it even mattered whether our communion cups were filled with consecrated wine or draft beer as long as we bent over them long enough to recognize each other as kin."

[Jennifer]

Re: point #2 - absolutely courage should be practiced, and not just in childhood. It's so easy to stick with what is comfortable and known because new experiences or lives or whatever are scary, but we could be missing out on wonderful. I think about this a lot actually, especially now that big career decisions are coming up n the next year, because I know that one of my problems is exactly this.

[Judy]

Regarding point #2 - I was just talking with a group the other night about how today's parents want to clean up fairy tales so they aren't scary or uncomfortable for kids. To sanitize them. Children are afraid of lots of things and need to learn what they should fear and what they shouldn't. And they know inherently that life is scary and unpredictable. What we as caretakers can do is guide them along the way and show them how to handle fear and danger. Things don't always have happy endings but even when they don't, we can survive if we help each other.

In point #3 I love the phrase that says God exists in a place of complete and dazzling darkness. To me, God is un-knowable - so completely beyond comprehension that we can only grasp at parts of the whole picture. "Dazzling darkness" conjures up such bright and overpowering light that it creates blindness (darkness). Not a bad way to describe our inability to comprehend the divine.

[Debra]

To Cindy's point #1: My grandmother immigrated from Finland as a six year old in the early 1900s. As the oldest of seven, she was responsible to act as the translator for the business aspects of the farm her parents (who never did learn English) bought. As a young wife and mother of three, she was responsible as the primary caregiver and provider for her children during the Great Depression. She (understandably) had her nutty quirky side, but she remained a woman of deep faith until her death in 1995. I was fortunate to know her well into my young adult years and even early middle age. As I grew up she told me I had the Finn sisu. For those of you not familiar with this term I'll cut and paste a definition I found on the web: "Sisu is a special strength and persistent determination and resolve to continue and overcome in the moment of adversity… an almost magical quality, a combination of stamina, perseverance, courage, and determination held in reserve for hard times."

When I face my dark moments, I think of Grammie Johnson and Finn sisu and faith. It gets me through it all.

[Debra]

I love Judy's point about dazzling darkness!

[Debra]

To Cindy's question about who have been our teachers of learning about human nature: A person who was very close to me for nearly twenty years shared a lot about what he had learned about human nature throughout a painful childhood that included bone cancer and a leg amputation as well as a severely depressed father and a mother living in denial of the family dysfunction. One of my friend's often used comments was "we are all bozos on the same bus". It's a humbling yet humorous way to see that none of us is more special than the rest of us.

(As a politican, my friend had a particularly great stump speech joke with the punch line "I'm the guy in charge of the butter." It's about a gutsy busboy standing up to a bigwig member of Congress,but I'll save the rest of that joke for another time!!)

[Lynn]

What a beautiful thing your grandmother told you, Debra! We could all use some of that sisu as we navigate the darkness. Thanks for sharing your story.