{"id":803,"date":"2013-09-28T09:59:15","date_gmt":"2013-09-28T13:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=803"},"modified":"2013-10-11T10:07:31","modified_gmt":"2013-10-11T14:07:31","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=803","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 Children &#8211; Held on Sunday, September 22, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Summer Events<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to believe but we are in our third year of \u201creading\u2019 Genesis.\u00a0 We began our first session by sharing some of the highlights or memorable events that occurred during the summer.\u00a0 We learned about both the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows that make up our life, the summer was no different.<\/p>\n<p>I was excited to share the good news of the birth of my fifth grandchild, Salome, Swahili for peace.\u00a0 There was also my two week stay in the Holy Land.\u00a0 Without going into a lot of the details, I mentioned first the geographical impact that the visit had.\u00a0 Being in the land allows one to know first hand the terrain, the distances, the mountains, the plains, the desert, the plant life, the river, the valley, etc.\u00a0 The bible assumes all of these facts without ever mentioning them, they simply form the backdrop, what the writer and the reader \/ listener take for granted.\u00a0 Being there allows me to read \/ hear these details in a new, more concrete way.\u00a0 I hope to share that as they emerge in our study.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the geography, there were the people.\u00a0 I mentioned the story of just one, Stephanie, who is a Christian, mother of two, living in the Old City of Jerusalem.\u00a0 My hope is that I will be able to connect with her via Skype and she could share her story with our group.\u00a0 That\u2019s the plan, more as it develops.<\/p>\n<p><b>A New Image of Scripture Study<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Me \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 You \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Text<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Imagine yourself as the center of exhange<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">between [in this case] me and the Biblical Text<\/p>\n<p>I attended a seminar that introduced me to a new image of what is going on when we study the bible. \u00a0The center of the study is you, you are in the middle and on either side is the presenter in this case me and on the other side is the text, in this case Genesis.\u00a0 Of course, this occurs not online as type this image but in a live group.<\/p>\n<p>What matters is what is happening inside of you.\u00a0 We believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [all three] are with us, in us.\u00a0 Attending to what is happening within us is the first step to discerning God\u2019s will for us.\u00a0 Ultimately discerning God\u2019s will is reason for attending to what is happening within us.<\/p>\n<p>There are only a limited number of events that can occur within us, either we will attend or we won\u2019t.\u00a0 It is highly unlikely that we will attend the entire time, so we might catch ourselves drifting, thinking of the concerns of our life, day dreaming, etc. But when we catch ourselves, that very act is asking us to return to the now of our studying.\u00a0 Attending might lead to a question or not.\u00a0 If not we might be assuming that we understand what is being read \/ listened to, studied.\u00a0 If we do have a question, then we either express it or we don\u2019t.\u00a0 Either way there was the movement of a question and our response.\u00a0 During the course of our time, our question may be answered or our understanding challenged.\u00a0 But we are not satisfied with that.\u00a0 We want to know if what we understand, the answer to our question is true.\u00a0 The answer to that question can be a simple yes or no but it might also be, I don\u2019t know, maybe, etc.\u00a0 But each of these is also some event within us.\u00a0 It can also occur when we do reach a yes, what we understand is true, we are prompted to ask, well what are we to do now.\u00a0 And that is also an event occurring within us.\u00a0 Along with this back and forth, we may notice as well the feelings that accompanying these events.\u00a0 Such in the most general terms are the categories that help us define the events within us.\u00a0 These movements are a potential source of discerning God\u2019s will for us.<\/p>\n<p>The reason for asking our Who, What, When, Where questions is to help us to attend, to wonder, to search.\u00a0 The image I attempted to describe, along with the probable type of events that occur within us, are meant to help enrich our hearing of the scripture, to discern God\u2019s will for each of us, individually, uniquely.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Context of Today\u2019s Passage.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Walter Brueggemann, in <i>Genesis Interpretation<\/i>, offers an outline of the literary unit running from 29:01 \u2013 31:55, p. 249<\/p>\n<p>29: 01 \u2013 04: &#8211; preliminary meeting \u2013 a kiss of meeting<\/p>\n<p>29: 14 \u2013 20: &#8211; meeting with Laban and the contact<\/p>\n<p>29: 21 \u2013 30: \u2013 deception of Jacob by Laban<\/p>\n<p>29: 31 \u2013 30: 24: &#8211; <b>The Offspring<\/b><\/p>\n<p>30: 25 \u2013 43: &#8211; trick of Laban by Jacob<\/p>\n<p 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 [31: 01 \u2013 16: &#8211; a theological reflection]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a031: 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 might be easy to recognize that <strong>\u201cThe Offspring\u201d<\/strong> is the central focus of the entire unit.\u00a0 And the focus of <strong>\u201cThe Offspring\u201d<\/strong> section is the very last paragraph in which our author reminds in 30:22 \u201cThen God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and made her fruitful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Reading: Gen. 29:31 \u2013 30:24: The Offspring.\u00a0 <\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/29\">http:\/\/usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/29<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the heart of this passage, its central message is God\u2019s fulfilling his promise that began with Abraham, the promise of offspring.<\/p>\n<p>There were many comments by our group.\u00a0 Here are a few that caught my attention.\u00a0 Ken was quite first that the families that make up the story are very ordinary families in a lot of ways; that they are far from perfect, in fact dysfunctional in our terminology.\u00a0 But that this fact reveals that God power is manifest in our weaknesses.<\/p>\n<p>We had this wonderful conversation about who knows what.\u00a0 Again Ken brought out that Rachel doesn\u2019t know the rest of story about Joseph.\u00a0 I pointed out the author \/ editor does know though and that it is the author \/ editor who is inspired not necessarily the characters in the stories that he tells.<\/p>\n<p>Michael then said something that has a lot of significance.\u00a0 He listened to the story but he also knew in advance the \u201crest of the story\u201d as it were.\u00a0 He knew about Joseph and that knowing shaped how he heard the story of his birth.\u00a0 But it is not only knowing the story of Joseph that shapes how we hear, it is also, as Christian, knowing the story of Christ, that shapes, gives meaning, to the stories we read \/ listen to, as well as to our life.<\/p>\n<p>Finally Tim pointed out how time is factor.\u00a0 After all Jacob worked for more than 14 years to \u201cearn\u201d first Leah and then Rachel.\u00a0 When we are caught up in the struggles of our life, we find it very difficult to see these events in the context of God\u2019s Kingdom which encompasses the entire universe from its beginning to its conclusion.\u00a0 Such a vision changes everything but being open to that vision itself \u00a0is a gift from God.<\/p>\n<p>Your comments, observations, questions are welcomed.\u00a0 See \u201ccomment\u201d link below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summer Events It&#8217;s hard to believe but we are in our third year of \u201creading\u2019 Genesis.\u00a0 We began our first session by sharing some of the highlights or memorable events that occurred during the summer.\u00a0 We learned about both the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=803\">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-803","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\/803","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=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":806,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions\/806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}