{"id":792,"date":"2013-05-03T15:54:46","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T19:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=792"},"modified":"2013-05-03T16:09:11","modified_gmt":"2013-05-03T20:09:11","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-33","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=792","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> Jacob\u2019s Arrival in Haran &#8211; Held on Sunday, April 28, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Personal Note on Posting Timeline<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, May 5<sup>th<\/sup> is our last session for this school year.\u00a0 We will meet to discuss Evangelization at my place on Thursday, June 13<sup>th<\/sup> from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.<\/p>\n<p><b>Review:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In preparation for our discussion on Evangelization I argued that there has been a growing tension, if not alienation, between the Catholic Church and the Modern World which has a near 800 year history.\u00a0 I then listed the major Western dislocations that have occurred.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Renaissance and Reformation \u2013 moving to separate throne and altar<\/li>\n<li>The Scientific Revolution \u2013 totally revolutionizing our very understanding of the natural world and universe in which we live<\/li>\n<li>The French Revolution \u2013 radically changing the very notion of government and the world of politics<\/li>\n<li>The German Historical Mindedness \u2013 introducing critical thought into human studies, philosophy, and theology; changing how we understand the very Bible of people of faith.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>This historical overview allowed me to remark on what Annette, Heber and Mark had to say in our session held on Sunday, April 21<sup>st<\/sup>.\u00a0 I had stated the obvious that Jesus\u2019 life, death, and resurrection did not change the natural world in any way.\u00a0 Yet something was radically different on earth afterwards for the believer.\u00a0 What is that difference was the question I had asked.\u00a0 Annette responded that it was an awareness, something that happens in us.\u00a0 The difference can most easily be understood as a change in meaning.\u00a0 But there is a problem; meaning is shaped by our worldview, by what we are before we understand something. \u00a0The problem exists if our worldview and the world as it actually is don&#8217;t mesh.<\/p>\n<p>Heber and Mark identified the problem and its nature.\u00a0 Heber said that in his opinion the ladder in the story of Jacob\u2019s dream was why we think heaven is up, the ladder goes up. \u00a0In the story, however, the messengers on the ladder were going up and down. \u00a0And God wasn\u2019t presented as even being on the ladder.\u00a0 No, God was standing by Jacob\u2019s side.\u00a0 Heber\u2019s remarks reveals the difficulty in hearing more than what our worldview will allow us to hear.<\/p>\n<p>A clue to the reason for this was given by Mark.\u00a0 He stated that he grew up with an Italian father and a Lutheran mother.\u00a0 He was taught that heaven was up and, most telling, not to believe anyone who said anything different.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with \u201cheaven\u201d is not the word but its meaning.\u00a0 It is not an astronomical term; it is theological one.\u00a0 To the extent that \u201cheaven\u201d distracts us from the coming of the Kingdom it doesn&#8217;t mesh with the actual world. To argue the case,\u00a0I went on to offer a different take on the basic Christian message than one of &#8220;going to heaven. &#8221;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Jesus taught us one prayer in which we pray\n<ol>\n<li>Our Father\u2013 so I leave you with a question, who is the \u201cour.\u201d\u00a0 Only followers of Jesus?\u00a0 Well yes and no.\u00a0 Maybe only Christian pray the Our Father but Jesus\u2019 Father is the Father of all human beings, period.<\/li>\n<li>Who are in heaven \u2013 is \u201cheaven\u201d in this prayer an astronomical term? Not really, \u201cheaven\u201d simply means that God is beyond us, in theological terms, transcendent. God is a spirit and is not in space or time; space and time are in God.<\/li>\n<li>Thy Kingdom Come \u2013 God\u2019s kingdom [reign] is a presence coming to us, all the time, is at hand, etc.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t going to it; it is a presence wherever we are. The Christian scripture is filled with images attempting to help us become aware of the presence of God\u2019s reign in our life on this earth.<\/li>\n<li>We all die and our bodies will return to dust.\u00a0 Yes that is true.\u00a0 We are not mere bodies though.\u00a0 We are also immaterial and because of that we too in our death will be neither in space nor time.\u00a0 However, we also believe in the resurrection of the body, on the last day.\u00a0 More on this later.<\/li>\n<li>At every mass, if we attend to the Eucharistic Prayer, we can recognize that the prayer is addressed to the Father.\u00a0 At every mass, in that Eucharistic prayer we pray in Christ, through Christ, and with Christ.\u00a0 Those prepositional phrases define a relationship that is enriching of our spiritual life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Background: Gen. 29: 01 \u2013 30: Jacob\u2019s Arrival at Haran, <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Walter Brueggemann, in <i>Genesis Interpretation<\/i>, offers an outline of this literary unit running from 29:01 \u2013 31:55, see p. 249<\/p>\n<p>29: 01 \u2013 04: &#8211; preliminary meeting \u2013 a kiss of meeting<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">29: 14 \u2013 20: &#8211; meeting with Laban and the contact<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">29: 21 \u2013 30: \u2013 deception of Jacob by Laban<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px;\">29: 31 \u2013 30: 24: &#8211; <b>The Offspring<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">30: 25 \u2013 43: &#8211; trick of Laban by Jacob<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\"><i>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [31: 01 \u2013 16: &#8211; a theological reflection]<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">31: 17 \u2013 42: &#8211; meeting with Laban and dispute<\/p>\n<p>31: 43 \u2013 55: &#8211; covenant and departure \u2013 a kiss of departure<\/p>\n<p>From Brueggemann\u2019s outline, it is easier to recognize that \u201cThe Offspring\u201d is the central focus of the literary unit as a whole.\u00a0 It probably represents an independent unit that may well have been an amalgam of authors expressing interests and perspective from both the North and the South.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Reading: <\/b>Gen. 29: 01 \u2013 30. <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/29\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/29<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Vv. 01 \u2013 04: &#8211; These few verses simply set a context of journey for the whole unit.\u00a0 Like his father, Isaac, before him, Jacob is to go to Haran.\u00a0 There to find a wife and produce offspring out of which the promise will continue.\u00a0 The characters are Jacob and shepherds overseeing three droves of sheep.\u00a0 Jacob berates the shepherds for their poor work ethic.\u00a0 The huge stone over the well plays a bit of a role for Jacob in the next seen.<\/p>\n<p>Vv. 05 \u2013 20: &#8211; Ken remarked that Jacob single handily removing the stone over the well might symbolize his \u201cmiraculous\u201d powers.\u00a0 It definitely was meant to impress Rachael.\u00a0 The initial meeting with Laban seems friendly enough but first impressions are deceiving.\u00a0 Laban doesn\u2019t want Jacob to work for free; Jacob asks for his younger daughter as payment for seven years of service.\u00a0 They both seem to agree but Laban can\u2019t be trusted.\u00a0 Seven years later, and the morning after the wedding feast, Jacob awakes to the fact that he has been duped.\u00a0 But what comes around goes around and Jacob intends to get even.\u00a0 But that\u2019s for next week maybe.<\/p>\n<p>Ken found this passage comforting in an odd way.\u00a0 The passage reveals God working with characters that are less than honorable.\u00a0 They seem to be more like us than we might like to admit. This fact was comforting, gives us hope.\u00a0 Ken also pointed out that God seems more to nudge persons than to overwhelm them with his presence.\u00a0 His observations appealed to me so I thought I would ask the rest of the group what they thought of Ken\u2019s perspective.\u00a0 But try as I might, no one really expressed an opinion one way or the other.<\/p>\n<p>It seems that Jacob is presented sometimes as a person without much uprightness \u2013 deceiving his brother and his father and sometimes as a person with character \u2013 his willingness to live up to his contract with Laban even though he had been duped. This inconsistency in Jacob\u2019s character raised a question of maturity.\u00a0 I wondered when do we [in our modern age] reach maturity.\u00a0 Ken though that there were different levels of maturity seemingly over ten year periods or spans of time in our life.\u00a0 Tim thought we should define maturity first then we would be in a better position to identify the age of those who reach it.\u00a0 Roseann thought that maturity was a function of responsibility. Carol agreed with her.\u00a0 Kai concluded our conversation by making two observations.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t think responsibilities were a function of maturity so much as one\u2019s response to the responsibilities that come our way.\u00a0 Secondly, since the prefrontal lobe is not fully developed until age 24 or 25, he thought that would be the age at which maturity would begin.<\/p>\n<p>Your comments, observations, questions are welcomed.\u00a0 See \u201ccomment\u201d link below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personal Note on Posting Timeline Sunday, May 5th is our last session for this school year.\u00a0 We will meet to discuss Evangelization at my place on Thursday, June 13th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. Review: In preparation for our discussion &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=792\">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":[15,7,6,19],"class_list":["post-792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-historical-method","tag-modern-scripture-scholarship","tag-scripture-criticism","tag-scripture-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792","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=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions\/795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}