Comment

Comment by Ingrid Sanden on July 19, 2012 at 10:56pm

I wrote a blog about last Sunday's sermon - please take a look and comment if you want!

http://www.fairlingtonumc.org/profiles/blogs/oldest-child-syndrome

Thanks!

Comment by Christian White on July 17, 2012 at 12:52pm

Our conversations with Dr. Oden were stimulating and engaging.    I have so many thoughts swimming around in my head about all of the different things that she said.  We have finished reading the second chapter which invites us to think about how we are welcomed by God.  She uses the story of the two lost sons to illustrate her point.  She writes, "God welcomes us like the Father in Jesus' parable of the two lost sons.  God's welcome is eager and expectant and is not conditioned by our repsonse.  We know this welcome in each of our lives, in a host of ways, and in our lives together as congregations."

I wonder, can you think of a time in your life when you experienced God's welcome in some way?

Comment by Karen J. Levy on July 15, 2012 at 6:08pm

I have read the first chapter and a half of the God's Welcoming book.  It is the best open doors commentary I have ever seen.  One comment made from a Sunday school member this morning was about when she did some volunteer work for the poor.  In so many words she said that one thing that needed to be sorted out first is understanding peoples problems and their issues to better serve them and to not be put off by certain groups of people.  Walk in their shoes first.

Comment by Christian White on July 13, 2012 at 7:44am

One of my frames of reference that I am coming to with this book is my ministry with children.  I frequently find myself thinking about what this all means for our children.  This morning it struck me about how important recognition is.  What a difference it makes when we are out and about with our children and another adult recognizes their existence with a question or comment.  There are occasions when we are out and another person might tell one of my children that their dress is pretty or that their hair looks nice.  My girls' faces will light up!  Who doesn't like to be told that they are pretty!  But, maybe there is more to it, that the simple act of recognition by the other made them feel a part of that fleeting sense of community we get just being out.  And then, sometimes, I will be talking to another adult and my little one will immediately want my full attention, she will even go so far as to climb into my arms, grab my face and turn it towards her so that she can be recognized!  It made me think about how recognizing the other, how recognizing children, is one way that we welcome God.

Comment by Christian White on July 10, 2012 at 12:36pm

Dr. Oden reflects on the story of Abraham and Sarah welcoming the stranger.  On page 17, she writes "Early Christians point to the story of Abraham and Sarah under the oaks of Mamre as the paradigmatic story of hospitality, its quirks, and its blessings.  Christians have looked to this story for the particular characteristics of the radical hospitality God offers- readiness, risk, repentance, adn recognition.  Abraham, Sarah, and the strange travelers lay bare for us these spiritual marks of gospel hospitality."

Chapter 1 discusses the spiritual marks, or orientations of the heart, that mark
the path of hospitality.  When you reflect on your experiences of being welcomed and of welcoming others, how have the spiritual marks of readiness, risk, repentance, and recognition accompanied these experiences?

Share your thoughts- or even a story!

Comment by Ingrid Sanden on July 8, 2012 at 1:05pm

I really loved today's sermon. I will think about the phrase, "We distance ourselves from others by name-calling and using lables." I think I do that, even though I hate admitting it. This week, my goal is to 1) consider taking a risk and being hospitable and welcoming to those who I may marginalize, and 2) not just see the glass half full or half empty, but think about people who can't even reach the glass at all. Thanks for a great service today.

Comment by Christian White on July 3, 2012 at 8:37am

I loved this phrase Eric used- "a call to work together".  I know Eric is thinking about CCC and the work that they will be doing together, real actual house repairs.  His phrase immediately prompted me to think that it is also "a call to BE together".  As we reflect on the theological and scriptural foundation that Chris and John pointed us toward, again we are faced with the question of how we move from call to action.  How do we actually be together?  When we gather for fellowship time, and say to one another "How are you?", how can we say that in a way that actually means, "How are you really doing, in your humanity, in the struggles that we all face daily?"  And then, to embrace that depth of humanity, in a way that all know God's welcome.

Comment by Eric Larsen on June 29, 2012 at 11:25am

As I am readying myself four our upcoming CCC week, I find a lot to chew on in this first chapter.  I recently admitted to other participants that I've lost the feeling that I came back with last summer and look foreword to finding it again.  I think this book's challenge is to find that same place everyday.  I need to meet each person (new and old acquaintanceship/associates) and challenge myself to find God (and what God is offering) through them. Radical hospitality seems not just a call to make welcome.  Instead, it seems a call to work together.  Work takes time and effort.  Like Chris and John, I personally welcome the chance to take some time, to share, and to work at this.  All the better to do it, together, as a congregation.  

Comment by Chris and John Clardy on June 28, 2012 at 4:44pm

As I read Dr. Oden’s first chapter, it occurs to me that she does not begin the book by asking anyone to leap into action.  She recognizes that some communal understanding of “gospel hospitality” is the not-to-be-missed first step in achieving it in a real way.  She takes time to explore concrete examples of it, both biblical and contemporary.  She talks about its ability to transform both the giver and the receiver.  She even acknowledges that fear of hospitality is an unavoidable part of being human.  Finally, she offers meditations that are designed to aid our thinking about hospitality.  I personally would welcome a time of sharing our responses to these basic (and, yes, radical) ideas before we pressure ourselves toward action. 

Comment by Christian White on June 28, 2012 at 2:50pm

I have been working on our July Book series a lot today and thinking about the fact that I have all of these thoughts and ideas swirling about in my head.  I needed to get focused, so that I could try to really think deeply about our calling to welcome the other.  Then, I remembered Dr. Oden's question that drives the book.  I call it the Essential Question, which means answering this question is really the whole point to our time of study together.  This question is "How do we move from knowledge of God's welcome to action?"  We can't just talk about it Cultivating a Community of Hospitality, we have to do it.  This is the hard part though!!!

I mean, I read Sue's comment, welcoming and accepting all without exception.  And she is right!  I agree!  But how do we do it?  I guess there is not one answer, but thinking about this Essential Question helped me to step back and reflect on all of this as we move into the first Sunday of our study.

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