I've been thinking about how to use the door/wisdom/Proverbs 8:34 theme. Here is one idea using a door (colorful one) and placing the words to Proverbs 8:34 inside the door. My thought is to hang it at the front of the sanctuary and drape the white cloth that is in the sanctuary now from the balcony to the door.

I was browsing on the web and found some other images for doors that are interesting.

Marlies

Thoughts from January 15 (slightly belated)

Here is a quick summary of ideas from Sunday:


Wisdom is found in the city, on the mountain, and in our homes/at our doors. (proverbs 8) Many visualized a doorway with us inviting in wisdom or being open to wisdom .... ideas of faces in the doorway, maybe projecting stop-motion imagery that gives the sense of welcoming wisdom by different people, through time/seasons, in different circumstances. I'm trying to figure out how we could actually do this! (and what space we might have to work with) What might a doorway be like? How big? On the wall? Freestanding? Hanging in air? Rooted in the earth? How is wisdom depicted that we can be open to it? How could it look good whether we were projecting images or not? How does the white cloth work in? Could it integrate? Do we see the path of folly?


The other central idea that many found sticking is the image of lady wisdom and the possibility of projecting images onto some kind of figure - the concept of our times being played out against a backdrop of wisdom on offer. How is wisdom present, moving, speaking differently into different times?


FYI John & Ryan are open to ideas that might incorporate the white cloth - the intent was for it to stay up until Lent, and then be incorporated into a Lenten theme..... but they are open to ideas for integrating with us.

I pray online using sacredspace.ie   The thought for the week, while not about wisdom, is about being open and welcoming to God, rather like the imagery we shared yesterday. I'll post a summary of our thoughts later today. Blessings, Jen

Tourists in Barcelona like to visit the unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family), now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Antoni Gaudi began work on it in 1883, but at his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Gaudi took this matter philosophically when he remarked shortly before his death: ‘My Client is not in a hurry.’ Other architects have played their part since then. Their efforts of course have sometimes been criticised by their colleagues. Mid-point in construction of this extraordinary work was reached in 2010, and completion is planned perhaps for the centenary of the architect’s death.
This remarkable undertaking has much to teach us. Firstly, Gaudi is right about God’s leisurely style! God seems not to be in a hurry about a completion date for the epic that is world history. But like the cathedral, enough of the divine design is available to enable us to have some image of the final masterpiece. Secondly, whereas only approved architects are allowed to leave their mark on the cathedral in Barcelona, each of us - every inhabitant of this planet, every member of the Sacred Space community – is invited to contribute to the shaping of God’s project for humankind. Strangely God trusts us not to make a total mess of it!
Thirdly, to an outsider – and to many insiders also - Christian belief can seem an enormous jumble of disconnected facts, rather like the rocks on the building site in Barcelona. It helps to know that the keyword to Christian faith is relationships! God wants to be in an intimate relationship with us, And works hard at it.The concept of relationships offers a dynamic viewpoint which illuminates every aspect of Christian life. As the poet Hopkins says: ‘I greet him the days I meet him, and bless when I understand.’

Brainstorming

Brainstorming wisdom theme on January 8

Here are thoughts & themes from our brainstorming session around proverbs 8 and Ecclesiastes 3:1-12

(Kyle, Brandt, Laurel, Jen, Martha, Bill, Colleen, Lindsie, Taylor, John, Sophia, Christine, Rachel, Ryan, Gabby, Jenn, Krista, Titia...)

Clock, representing times with lady wisdom as hands behind clock. Could represent different kinds of times around the clock, maybe hard times on the fringes, joyful times in the center, or the reverse with shading between.

2 overlapping worlds (imagine a Venn diagram) maybe overlapping images of positive times and hard times, with gray space (idea of a moving installation) (after the session the idea of projecting figures walking on top of this emerged) maybe a third layer of wisdom somehow encompassing with hands or a figure? This group was thinking BIG - a large installation, possibly hanging, definitely moving at least part of the time.

Yellow brick road and poppies (beautiful but distracting) - how this is like the path of wisdom

Wisdom (and folly) as being present in the city, in creation/the mountain, and in our home. Almost like a gauzy overlay across these places, or maybe a thread thru. (proverbs 8)

Creation, water, season imagery. How wisdom is present throughout, but may be different in different times. Use seasons of the year imagery to illustrate this. Photos of our own through the seasons? (maybe to project with 4 squares?)

I will continue to add to this, and please add your own comments.

2012 wisdom series scripture

January 8  genesis 3:6; proverbs 2:1-11
January 15 proverbs 8
January 22 proverbs 21-22,26; 2 kings 6:8-23
January 29 proverbs 9*
February 5 ecclesiastes 3:1-12*
February 12 proverbs 30:15-23; James 3:13-18
February 19 job 38-41

*focus passages for the Sunday School class

NOTE UPDATE ON Feb 12 of passage to proverbs, not job!

Summer worship series - you are invited to the conversation

An invitation from your pastors. 

"What if Jesus meant what he said?” asks Shane Claiborne. Yes indeed, what if? Do you think Jesus meant everything he said?

Does the challenge to follow Jesus frighten you? It should. Here’s why. You have only one life. Jesus wants it. He wants it all. He wants it completely. How much room is there for Jesus in your life?

Your pastors are inviting you to read the book ‘One. Life: Jesus Calls We Follow” by Scott McKnight. We believe that McKnight challenges us to allow the Gospel to hit us head on, overpower us, own us, and then direct our lives each day.

Are you/we up to the challenge?

Want another reason to read this book? We’re going to use each of the fourteen chapters as a springboard for our sermons beginning May 29 and through the end of August. In addition we are inviting you to attend either a Wednesday brown bag lunch time (12-1 p.m.) or Wednesday evening (7-8:30 p.m.) to study with us. We hope to move through two chapters per session with the evening being a repeat of the noon study. We’ll begin these sessions on May 18th and following Wednesday noons and evenings.

Another reason for reading this book? Scot McKnight has a heart for young people. He teaches college level theology, has taught at a seminary and is considered an exceptional teacher. One reviewer remarked, “In chapters with names like Kingdom.Life, Love.Life, Peace.Life, Sex.Life, Vocation.Life, and Eternity.Life, his (McKnight’s) approach both stylistically and narratively seems geared toward a youthful audience. He tells stories about his students and then proceeds to answer the questions these stories pose or advocate the big living they demonstrate.”

Another chapter centers on “Eternity.Life” and engages a discussion of hell. Anyone who has read Time Magazine knows how current that discussion is.

Rev. Tim Keller in a recent interview stated that the Gospel will question every culture at its root. We take this to mean that Jesus questions us at the root of who we are. Jesus wants to lead us into the life we were created to live, the life Jesus died for us to have. The life the Holy Spirit empowers us to live.

So, will you read the book, join us for discussion and then come on Sunday ready to hear how we engage the Scriptures and discuss the subjects McKnight raises?

Good! We’re looking forward to it.

Pastors Ryan and John

p.s. if you would like to order the book let us know. It retails for $14.99, we can put it in your hands for $10:25.