{"id":352,"date":"2012-02-01T19:11:43","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T19:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=352"},"modified":"2012-02-01T19:27:34","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T19:27:34","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjava-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=352","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>  <\/heat> Session Fifteen \u2013 Held on Sunday, January 29, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Review of Session Fourteen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Carol made two keen observations last week. First she noted that Noah has not said anything in this story.\u00a0 And second, that we are told the names of the men but not the names of the women.<\/p>\n<p>I observed that the second observation is probably a function of the patriarchal society that dominated the entire time of the writing of the Jewish and Christian scripture.\u00a0 However, the first is much more likely a function of the authors themselves.\u00a0 If my observations are correct, God\u2019s revelation has much more to do with Noah not talking but very much doing than the fact that the women are not given names.\u00a0 These types of distinctions can enhance our understanding of the Bible without the need to affirm as revealed the cultural make up of the believing communities.\u00a0 Again, this type of distinction is not an all or nothing proposition, nor is it always easy to know.\u00a0 Thus the need for the believing community, responsible theologians, and authentic teachers; at its heart though is the Gift of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Great Flood and the Covenant with Noah<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We began by reviewing the notes for the Great Flood at Gen: 7:6 \u2013 8:22 and for the Covenant at Gen: 9:1 \u2013 17.\u00a0 Select the appropriate chapter for your review &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/books-of-the-bible\/#Genesis\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/books-of-the-bible\/#Genesis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of discussing the notes is to allow ourselves to hear more fully, more authentically, the passage we are listening to.\u00a0 Let me know if this helps you.\u00a0 Of course, it can only make a difference if you actually read the notes.\u00a0 If the notes raise any questions, let me know that as well.<\/p>\n<p>There were two of the notes on which I focused our attentions.\u00a0 The first is the note for Gen: 8:7 \u2013 12 where there is reference to the Gilgamesh Epic [really worth your read <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Epic_of_Gilgamesh\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Epic_of_Gilgamesh<\/a> and to the first century A.D. Roman author Pliny.\u00a0 These two references give you clues to how the understanding of the bible has advanced over the years; comparisons and contrasts with diverse sources of similar concepts are very helpful.<\/p>\n<p>The second focal point was the biblical concept of Covenant.\u00a0 I would urge you to google \u201cbiblical covenant\u201d to be exposed to this key concept.\u00a0 A covenant has its origins in \u201csecular\u201d society which the Israelites and then the Christians modified to communicate its unique meaning to their faith communities.\u00a0 As Christians we believe that Christ established a new covenant which is expressed every time in the Catholic tradition Mass is celebrated. The Covenant with Noah is with all mortal creatures, see the note for Gen: 9:8 \u2013 17.<\/p>\n<p>At this point I made an observation that to live the biblical stories requires that we come to understand their meaning in the life of the original faith communities. \u00a0Accomplishing that allows us to keep that meaning but also requires an intelligent adaptation to our new context [authentic conservatism]. Without that adaptation ironically we actually fail to preserve the original meaning [inauthentic conservatism.] \u00a0 The measure is neither being conservative nor being liberal; the measure is being authentic and to that extent you will find yourself in an extraordinarily demanding middle. \u00a0Your thoughts?<\/p>\n<p>From a review of the notes we moved forward to read Gen: 7:6 \u2013 9:17 but with three questions in mind:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\">\n<li>What part of the story did you like the best?<\/li>\n<li>What do you think is the most important part of the story?<\/li>\n<li>Where are you in this story or what part of the story is about you?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>We would love to hear you answer to any or all of these questions.\u00a0 Here are a few of our answers.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the first question, Annette did not hesitate to say the first part of the story when God remembered he had Noah in the ark. \u00a0She wondered aloud, why would God have to remember, didn\u2019t he already know?\u00a0 Later on Annette would answer the final question along a similar but quite profound line. \u00a0The first part of story where we can wonder if God might have forgotten that Noah was in the ark. \u00a0This reminded Annette of life.\u00a0 We feel like God forgets where we are sometimes; we feel lost, forgotten.\u00a0 And some people give up on God because they think God has forgotten them.\u00a0 I think Annette\u2019s observations are very profound.\u00a0 Have you ever felt that God has forgotten you?\u00a0 Do you know people who have given up on God because they feel that God has forgotten them?<\/p>\n<p>In response to the first question, Ken remarked that the covenant seemed to reveal that God felt remorse for what had happened and He wanted to make things right with the people.\u00a0 He felt bad, poured himself out to reconcile with what He had done.\u00a0 The Covenant is like a second chance.\u00a0 We talked a lot about how good it feels to be given a second chance; for Tina that is where she found herself in the story.\u00a0 I was reminded of Peter asking Jesus, well how many times do I have to forgive, seven times.\u00a0 Jesus, no, seventy times seven times.\u00a0 And why did Jesus say this, because that is what his Father does and he wants us to be like his Father, his children.\u00a0 What do you think of this part of our conversation?\u00a0 What would you add?<\/p>\n<p>Dan and Tim thought that Noah simply doing what God told him to do without question was the most important part of the story.\u00a0 This raised the fundamental question, to know what God is asking of us.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if God said, just build the ark, here are the dimensions?\u00a0 Life doesn\u2019t seem to be so clear cut for many of us.\u00a0 I suggested that the important point is not necessarily to know what God is asking of us but to keep the question in front of us.\u00a0 For me the question is more important than the answer.\u00a0 What about you?<\/p>\n<p>There was much more but perhaps this little bit points to the richness of people of faith gathering to listen and share.\u00a0 By responding on line, you too can be part of a larger conversation.\u00a0 Another suggestion would be to gather a few of your family and friends once a week and using this website to guide you in your efforts to Rise to the Level of our Times.\u00a0 When you think about it, that is just what the earliest Christians actually did, of course, without the benefit of the Internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Review of Session Fourteen Carol made two keen observations last week. First she noted that Noah has not said anything in this story.\u00a0 And second, that we are told the names of the men but not the names of the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=352\">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":[10,5],"tags":[7,6],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-modern-scripture-scholarship","tag-scripture-criticism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352","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=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}