{"id":159,"date":"2011-10-24T15:14:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T15:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=159"},"modified":"2011-11-09T20:52:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T20:52:00","slug":"session-four-first-story-of-creation-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=159","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">    var _gaq = _gaq || [];   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']);   _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);    (function() {     var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;     ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';     var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);   })();  <\/script>  <\/head> Session Four &#8211; First Story of Creation &#8211; continued. &#8211;  Held on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><strong style=\"text-align: -webkit-auto;\">Follow up to our conversation from Session Three<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We began with a discussion of some of the responses to the question, what moved you, what jumped out at you as you listened to, reread the 1<sup>st<\/sup> story of creation [Genesis 1:1 \u2013 2:4a.]<\/p>\n<p>For Rosemarie it was the account of the fourth day of creation, verses 1:14 \u2013 19.\u00a0 Ken\u2019s mention of the video <em>Cosmic Voyage<\/em> lead to a lengthy discussion, why is it that someone who already believes sees God in the wonders of nature while the person who doesn\u2019t believe might see the exact opposite, evidence in the wonder of nature that God does not exist? Certainly nature itself isn&#8217;t any different.<\/p>\n<p>Are we hardwired, as Ken suggested?\u00a0 Why was Paul attracted to cars, Dick to scripture, etc?\u00a0 How do we talk with others whom we don\u2019t share a common point of view and do that respectfully?\u00a0 What makes our group attractive is that it is a place where everyone\u2019s thoughts are respected.\u00a0 It is a setting in which people feel free to express whatever they think.\u00a0 They can be challenged by the thoughts of others.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Ken\u2019s very choice of the word \u201chardwired\u201d emerges out of the influence of science, perhaps from the advances in studies of the brain.\u00a0 Now this is true whether Ken was aware of the scientific influence or not.\u00a0 To recognize the influence, however, is what it means to rise to the level of our times.\u00a0 The next step in the process is to ask a series of follow up question.\u00a0 For instance, what is meant by being \u201chardwired?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 What are the implications for the idea that we are created in God\u2019s image?\u00a0 What about our being free?<\/p>\n<p>Besides the natural sciences, Mark suggested that the human sciences like psychology, philosophy, even theology contribute to the differences between human beings.\u00a0 It is difficult in our day to day living to allow these thoughts to influence us.\u00a0 We get swept up in the conversation, especially if we don\u2019t agree with what the other is saying; in matters of religion, in matters of politics, policy, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Ken than added another point in our discussion recalling an important point from the person who responded the opposite of Ken after viewing the video <em>Cosmic Voyage<\/em>. .<\/p>\n<p>Ken: Just as a follow up.\u00a0 This guy wrote a little bit more that what I said initially. \u2026 Look how much they [the Bible] constrained \u2026 how much the universe is compared to what it says in the Bible.\u00a0 It is obvious there is no God because it\u2019s [the Bible] not right.<\/p>\n<p>Ken\u2019s recollection points out another challenge if we are to rise to the level of our times.\u00a0 This person assumes something about the creation story that is simply mistaken.\u00a0 What we are learning in our group is first to come to an adult understanding of reading the Bible; from that understanding to recognize the source of his mistaken view.\u00a0 Finally we are challenged to learn how to talk with him in a way that respects his different point of view.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think is the source of his mistaken point of view?\u00a0 If you know, how would you talk with him?\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know, is it important to know?<\/p>\n<p>Rosemarie offered a wonderful story of a non believing friend of hers who exemplifies a truly moral life.\u00a0 One simple example may capture the heart of Rosemarie\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>Rosemarie: \u2026 I\u2019ll tell you how good she is.\u00a0 I mean this is a beautiful teacher.\u00a0 From the time that she was in high school \u2026 she\u2019s about 50 now.\u00a0 On her birthday she will send her mother\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026 a rose.\u00a0 \u2026 Isn\u2019t that \u2026 to me \u2026 I think that\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n<p><strong>First Story of Creation \u2013 A few new observations, questions, discussion.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jody wondered what other group members thought of the fact that the story has God creating light on Day One and not until Day Four does God create \u201cSun, Moon, and Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Various members brought out that light can have a number of different meetings.\u00a0 It can mean the physical light that comes from the Sun or from other energy sources like electricity or a battery.\u00a0 But it can also mean the light that is thought of when we catch on to something, an intellectual light. The word light can be a symbol with different meanings all held together in the one word.<\/p>\n<p>What does it mean in the Bible, though; that is another and perhaps more pertinent question for us? \u00a0Next week we will discuss how literary studies allow us to understand how primitive people spoke, wrote. \u00a0Additionally in handout for next weeks we will recognize there is a certain\u00a0symmetry\u00a0in the author&#8217;s presentation; Day 1 and 4, Day 2 and 5, and Day 3 and 6. \u00a0Stay tuned!<\/p>\n<p>Ken pointed out that not all literature raises questions such as the Bible does.\u00a0 As a programmer, he doesn\u2019t question the meaning of directions to write a HTML script, for instance.\u00a0 Tina doesn\u2019t question much of what is assumed in her CPA education.<\/p>\n<p>But the Bible is a different kind of literature?\u00a0 We want to know its meaning for us.<\/p>\n<p>It was hard to believe but the hour and a half of our time had disappeared.\u00a0 I wanted to make sure that we focus on the meaning of this First Story of Creation in our gathering next week.\u00a0 So I concluded [I thought] with this question:<\/p>\n<p>And I don&#8217;t want to leave this story without asking ourselves what is it about, what is this author trying to teach us?<\/p>\n<p>In response Annette responded: \u00a0About Heaven and Hell.<\/p>\n<p>In some ways Annette\u2019s response points to the truth and in other ways it fails to capture what is unique to this story.\u00a0 So next week we will tackle this issue, hopefully.<\/p>\n<p>Your comments, etc. are welcomed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Follow up to our conversation from Session Three We began with a discussion of some of the responses to the question, what moved you, what jumped out at you as you listened to, reread the 1st story of creation [Genesis &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=159\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}