Very important and an utterly new idea from Paul was that the gospel was not about following some criteria outside of the human person which he called ‘the law’, but that the locus of authority had changed to inside the human person.

Have you experienced this locus of authority transition from outside to inside the human person in your own spirituality?
How has this affected your experience fo the good news of the Gospel?

Paul would have agreed with Jesus, I think, that humans are punished by their sins more than for their sins

What layers of meaning does this quote have for you?

It is very interesting to me that the New Testament only sends out those (Apostolos) who can be witnesses to resurrection (Luke 24:48. Acts 1:22. 3:15b, 13:31), that is, witnesses to this immense inner and outer conversation that is always going on. Otherwise, we have little to say that is really helpful, and we just create unnecessary problems for people. Negative or cynical people, conspiracy theorists, and all predictors of Armageddon are the opposites of witnesses to resurrection. And many such people appear to be running the world and even the churches, The Christ of John’s Gospel says, ‘Be Brave. I have overcome the world and its hopelessness’ Courage and confidence is our message. Not threat and fear

Focusing on the final quote, from John’s Gospel, write down the first thoughts, feelings, sensations, or images that come to you?

If you are frightened into God, it is never the true God that you meet. If you are loved into God, you meet a God worthy of both Jesus and Christ, How you get there is where you arrive.

How did you get there? Where have you arrived today?

I would insist that the foundation of Jesus’s social program is what I will call non-idolatry or the withdrawing of your enthrallment from all kingdoms except the Kingdom of God… Non Attachment (freedom from full or final loyalties to man-made domination systems) is the best way I know of protecting people from religious zealotry any kind of antagonistic thinking or behavior. There is nothing to be against, but just keep concentrating on the Big Thing you are for!

Paul’s notion of sin comes amazingly close to our present understanding of addiction… The addict, or sinner, does not actually enjoy the world as much as he or she is enslaved to it, in Paul’s understanding. Jesus had come to offer us a true alternative social order here and not just a ‘way to heaven’ later.

Almost all people are carrying a great and secret hurt, even when they don’t know it.

The only way out of deep sadness is to go with it and through it..
When I try to heroically do it alone, I slip into distractions, denials, and pretending – and I do not learn sufferings softening lessons.

What is coming up for you as you reflect on these quotations?

What has been your experience of “deep sadness? Have you gone through it alone and slipped into distractions, denials,or pretending?

What is it like, or what would it be like “to go with it and through it” Is there someone in your life that could support you?

Jesus did not come to change God’s mind about us. It did not need changing. Jesus came to change our minds about God and about ourselves and about where goodness and evil really lie.

Briefly share the word or phrase that stood out for you

Thinking he could solve the problem of sin inside of the medieval code of feudal honor and shame, Anselm said, in effect. Yes, a price did need to be paid to restore God’s honor, and it needed to be paid to God the Father, by one who was equally divine…. In authoritarian and patriarchal cultures, most people were fully programmed to think this way…. This understanding also nullifies any in-depth spiritual journey: Why would you love or trust or desire to be with such a God?

Decide what you may want to share with the group; is your focus primarily on the ideas and theology of shame-based thinking, or is it primarily on your personal experience of shame-based thinking?

The Divine Mind transforms all human suffering by identifying completely with the human predicament and standing in full solidarity with it from beginning to end. This is the real meaning of the crucifixion. The cross is not just a singular event. It’s a statement from God that reality has a cruciform pattern.

Notice what in this statement resonates with you

When Jesus spoke the words ‘This is my Body,’ I believe he was speaking not just about the bread right in front of him, but about the whole universe, about everything that is physical, material, and yet also spirit-filled. … The bread and wine, and all of creation, seem to believe who and what they are much more readily than humans do. They know they are the Body of Christ, even if the rest of us resist such a thought.

Take a moment to examine your own hands. Do you know that your hands and your entire physical body “are the Body of Christ”? What thoughts, questions, or images that come to you

As I watch Catholics receive communion at Mass, I notice that some, after taking the bread and wine, turn toward the altar or the Sacred box that reserves the bread and bow or genuflect as a gesture of respect, as if the Presence were still over there… Don’t they realize that the Eucharist was supposed to be a full transference of identity to them?”

I have known many Evangelicals who received Jesus Jesus into their hearts but still felt the need to get saved’ again every Friday night. Did they not believe that a real transförmation happened if they made a genuine surrender and reconnected to their Source? Most of us understandably start the journey assuming that God is ‘up there’, and our job is to transcend this world to find him

We Spend so much time trying to get up there, we miss that God’s
big leap in Jesus was to come down here!

reflecting on these quotes – where is God for you?

Humanity now needs a Jesus who is historical relevant for real life, physical and concrete, like we are. A Jesus whose life can save you even more than his death. Jesus we can practically imitate, and who sets the bar for what it means to be fully human. And a Christ who is big enough to hold all creation together in one harmonious unity

What aspects of this passage can inform us at The Land as we seek spiritual meaning?

We were made to love and trust this world, ‘to cultivate it and take care of it’ (Genesis 2:15), but for some sad reason we preferred to emphasize the statement that comes three verses later, which seems to say that we should dominate the earth (1:28), where within one generation we become killers of our brothers (Genesis 4:8).

In what ways have you loved and trusted this world?

In what ways have you sought to dominate or enforce your own way in the world?

What have been the repercussions of both approaches, in your own life and in the lives of those around you?

Remember, the archetypal encounter between doubting Thomas and the Risen Jesus (John 20:19-28) is not really a story about believing in the fact of the resurrection, but a story about believing that someone could be wounded and also resurrected at the same time!… Put your finger here,’ Jesus says to Thomas (20:27). And, like Thomas, we are indeed wounded and resurrected at the same time, all of us. In fact, this might be the primary pastoral message of the whole Gospel.”

We cannot jump over this world, or its woundedness, and still try to love God. We must love God through, in, with, and even because of this world.

Take a minute to reflect on these quotations and relate them to your own life. Do you have experience of being “wounded and resurrected at the same time”?

The Lectio is from chapter 5

“The Crucified and Risen Christ uses the mistakes of the past to create a positive future, a future of redemption instead of retribution. He does not eliminate or punish the mistakes. He uses them for transformative purposes. People formed by such love are indestructible. Forgiveness might just be the very best description of what God’s goodness engenders in humanity.”

What words or phrases stand out in this passage?

“After years of counseling both religious and nonreligious people, it seems to me that most humans need a love object (which will then become a subject!) to keep themselves both sane and happy. That love object becomes our ‘North Star,’ serving as our moral compass and our reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other in a happy and hopeful way. All of us need someone or something to connect our hearts with our heads. Love grounds us by creating focus, direction, motivation, even joy and if we don’t find these things in love, we usually will try to find them in hate.”

Questions:
When have you experienced this love object with someone (or something)?
What was positive or whole about that experience?

When have you lacked having a love object in your life? How did this affect you?

Jesus refused to “enforce or even bother with what he considered secondary issues like the Sabbath, ritual laws, purity codes, membership requirements, debt codes, on and on. He saw they were only ‘human commandments,’ which far too often took the place of love.”

Reflect on the “membership requirements” and experiences of “human commandments” that have been formative in your early-stage religious experiences.

What experiences helped you and your spiritual development?
What experiences hindered you and your spiritual development?

“Many educated and sophisticated people are not willing to submit to indirect, subversive, and intuitive knowing, which is probably why they rely far too much on external law and ritual behavior to achieve their spiritual purposes.”