{"id":633,"date":"2012-09-25T17:03:29","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T21:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=633"},"modified":"2012-10-03T16:25:56","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T20:25:56","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=633","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> Gen. 16: 1 \u2013 16 \u2013 The Birth of Ishmael Part 2- Held on Sunday, September 23, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Gen. 16: 1 \u2013 16 \u2013 The Birth of Ishmael \u2013 Part 2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A review of last week uncovered that the group took off on its own without uncovering much of the background by attempting to answer the questions which function to do just that; get at the background.\u00a0 I felt that this week we should attempt a more disciplined approach.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how successful we actually were but we tried.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A review of the background from Sunday\u2019s entry dated September 16, \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=627\">http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=627<\/a>\u00a0as well as the notes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/16\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/16<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/16\">\u00a0<\/a>would offer worthwhile context for this passage.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Our Basic Questions +<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As we prepare to hear the passage, I again raised for the group a set of questions that, by now, should sound like a mantra.\u00a0 Nonetheless, for the sake of continuity, here are the questions I think help us to stay focused.\u00a0 [I think I should really ask the group if the questions are of any benefit \u2026]<\/p>\n<p>Our <strong>first question<\/strong>, who are the characters in the passage; to which we have added, and what role does each of the characters play?\u00a0 To get at the \u201crole\u201d question, we need to pay attention to what the characters say and do and also what we would expect them to say and do but they don\u2019t.\u00a0 For example, does Abram talk, yes but when in the story and to whom.\u00a0 Is that his only talking role?\u00a0 What does that fact communicate?\u00a0 How does Sarai understand God\u2019s role in her not bearing any child?\u00a0 What role does she see Abram playing in the conflict she and Hagar are having?\u00a0 When does Hagar first say anything and to whom?\u00a0 Is the messenger and YHWH one and the same character with different names or two different characters?\u00a0 What does YHWH [God] say?\u00a0 There are so many questions, what are your questions?<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>second question<\/strong> in some sense is the most complicated and that is the \u201cwhen\u201d question.\u00a0 What is the \u201cwhen\u201d of the passage?\u00a0 What is the \u201cwhen\u201d of the author?\u00a0 And, most critically, what is our \u201cwhen,\u201d the \u201cwhen\u201d of our life at this time?\u00a0 What do you make of the fact that the author \/ editor lived nearly a thousand years or more after the time of the story?\u00a0 Is the author \/ editor using the past to help explain his present?\u00a0 How do we do the same think?\u00a0 What would be concrete examples in your life in which you have done that or hear someone else do that?<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>third question<\/strong>, what is the theme, purpose, plot of the passage?<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>fourth set of questions<\/strong> has to do with a fact. The bible is a historical document, the cultural values of the times are inevitably imbedded in the book.\u00a0 Since we also believe that the same bible is the word of God, then there are some values that are transcendent, meant for all people and all times while others are simply a part of the culture of the story and \/ or of the editor \/ author.\u00a0 So we find ourselves in any given passage, affirming some values and rejecting others.\u00a0 This raises the fundamental question for me, what are the values that we affirm and what values are we rejecting and what is the rationale for such discernment?<\/p>\n<p><strong>My Refrain<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before we read though, let&#8217;s quiet ourselves, remember whatever we can from the background, our questions and, most importantly, pay attention to what happens inside of us as we read.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Reading: Gen. 16: 1 \u2013 16 &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/16\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/16<\/a><\/strong><strong>. \u2013 <\/strong>We reread the passage in its entirety and would invite you to do the same.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion &#8211; Part 1<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First then the characters and some indication of their role<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Sarai<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Speaking to Abram she understands her bareness in the light of Yahweh &#8211;\u00a0\u201cThe LORD has kept me from bearing children. \u2026\u201d Yahweh is the actor in her life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Now what she does certainly rings of the culture of her day \u2013 she decides\u00a0to be proactive in order to accomplish Yahweh\u2019s will. She thinks she is doing\u00a0good in giving Hagar, her slave, to Abram to be his wife and bear him the children\u00a0Yahweh has promised. \u00a0This brought out a cavalcade of responses from the group. Here are\u00a0a few examples \u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>This is a good for Sarai but is this good only a good in \u00a0her culture or is it a transcendent good; and how do we discern? On first read, it seems woman today\u00a0don\u2019t do that; certainly not in the context of slavery in the US. But Heber\u00a0pointed out that modern technology does allow another woman to bear a child\u00a0for a childless couple. And that has raised a whole host of modern day issues, more or\u00a0less unresolved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Sara pointed out that maybe Sarai should have trusted in the Yahweh;\u00a0her actions might have emerged out of her on insecurity. On the other hand,\u00a0it is possible to understand what Sarai did in terms of her efforts to find\u00a0another way to fulfill the will of the Lord, to understand that human actions are part of God&#8217;s intentions. These two approaches to discernment are radically different; when to be proactive like Sarai or when to accept [submit] as\u00a0the will of God what actually happens in one\u2019s life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Ken shared a story from his own life when he was confronted with\u00a0accepting or being proactive in changing what is. He was proactive but that decision caused it&#8217;s share of grief. \u00a0Neither is always right or\u00a0always wrong but how to know that is the challenge. It is the role of the\u00a0community to help in the discernment process but ultimately only the individual\u00a0bears the responsibility for choosing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>What does it mean that Sara confronts Abram with Hagar\u2019s behavior &#8211; \u201cThis outrage\u00a0against me is your fault? \u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Of all that things that Sarai says and does in this passage, which attract you\u00a0and which repulse you and why? \u00a0Are there colnflicting values for us?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>2. Abram<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The only time that Abram speaks in this entire passage &#8211; \u201cYour maid is in your power.\u00a0Do to her what you regard as right.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>A modern day of passing the buck; not the kind of leadership we would think that a\u00a0person of Abram\u2019s historical status would do but he does.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>This passage certainly\u00a0doesn&#8217;t\u00a0paint a positive picture of the foundational example\u00a0of biblical faith. He is a bit more like all the rest of us in this passage. Does that offer\u00a0us hope?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>3. Hagar<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3.1. When is the first time that she speaks and to whom?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>What did she do that caused such a response from Sarai \u2013 The closest thing we could come up\u00a0with was an example of losing status in our community for that is what happened to Sarai. She\u00a0lost status. Think of what happens to a person who loses a job, finds themselves homeless, discovers\u00a0how differently people treat her, and what she thinks of herself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Tim suggested that it was possible for Hagar to have seen Sarai\u2019 gesture as a great gift.\u00a0She has been chosen to bear the child of the leader of the clan, the tribe. What an honor! Tim\u2019s\u00a0comments pointed out how the same actual event can be understood so differently, resulting in\u00a0radically different responses to that event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>As Faryl pointed out, one of the unique \u00a0features of this passage is the central character is Hagar and not the prinicple biblical characters of Abraham and Sarah.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>4. Yahweh<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>4.1. Who does Yahweh talk to and to whom doesn\u2019t he talk at all?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>What does he have to say to Hagar? \u2013\u00a0\u201cGo back to your mistress and submit to her authority. \u2013 How did you react to this sentence\u00a0from Yahweh? Keep in mind that Hagar did exactly that. How should we transfer this position to\u00a0our own times?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>But that is not all that Yahweh had to say &#8211; I will make your descendants so numerous\u00a0that they will be too many to count.\u201d Yahweh invites Hagar to look to her future with hope. \u00a0Is there in \u00a0the transactions between Yahweh and Hagar something true for all time, if only we can discern?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Much more went on but perhaps this account gives an insight into the some of the richness that exists only if a group of the faithful gather and share.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion &#8211; Part 2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong>From this we turned to the global issue that Heber had raised last week.\u00a0 He pointed out that the most recent examples of violence is only incidentally related to the movie.\u00a0 He listed some of the other events he was aware of, the bombing of the Cole, the bombing of the Twin Towers, 9\/11.\u00a0 He was quick to point out that extremists represent only a minority of Muslims and we have extremists in our own country.\u00a0 Of course, this allowed for an open discussion to which I had suggested two extremes to be avoided.\u00a0 On the one hand, as Christians there is nothing inherently wrong to be patriotic to the US but again as Christians our highest value is love of God not love of country and God is God of all the world and all its people.\u00a0 On the other hand, discerning the morally right thing to do is always concrete and, therefore, messy.\u00a0 Often the right thing to say and do is not all that clear and rarely is it some idealism that is unreflectively applied to our concrete.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is much more to report but I leave that to you to imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Your responses, questions, and \/ or comments are welcomed. You can add them by clicking on the comment link at the end of this post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gen. 16: 1 \u2013 16 \u2013 The Birth of Ishmael \u2013 Part 2 A review of last week uncovered that the group took off on its own without uncovering much of the background by attempting to answer the questions which &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=633\">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":[10,5,1],"tags":[18,6,19],"class_list":["post-633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","category-uncategorized","tag-religion-and-culture","tag-scripture-criticism","tag-scripture-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633","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=633"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":638,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}