Well — today (Sunday Dec. 3rd) we met. And we opened in prayer and then we started into our check-in. Check-ins from those who were able to join last week & check-ins too from those who were unaware of the homework. And the homework was to write and/or find a Proverb to share.
Some proverbs were short & others long — some found online — others from scripture — others were written by ourselves or in a note from someone else. It was fun hearing the different proverbs shared for they also share a bit about ourselves (of course) — we heard about if we want a mountain to move, well start picking up stones today — invitations to put on love & carry it with us — that fruit takes time to grow — to get up from our laziness — and that all you need is love (to name only some). We observed the writing being directed toward men (ah ancient context) — and wisdom itself often being personified as a woman. And before turning to Proverbs 1:1-7 (again) we heard from Selwyn Hughes,
I shall never forget my pastor taking me aside…and saying, “I’m going to teach you to steal, to drink, to lie and to swear…I want to teach you how to steal time out of every day to read something from the book of Proverbs. And then I want to teach you how to drink from its clear, refreshing waters, to lie on your bed at night and meditate on its great themes and to swear that by the grace of God you will put into practice its wonderful teaching.” …This then is what Proverbs is all about — wisdom for living…
And then we turned to scripture – hearing Proverbs in our 3 times read w/silence in between before hearing what God was inviting us to consider. A very insightful point was the importance of listening, and the invitation that the more wise we are the more we oft listen. And in the quasi meditative silence considering Proverbs specifically as guide a question was asked, what about verse 6? Someone else named, well both 5-6. The word of possible contention being “riddles” — and we discovered not every translation used “riddles” some seemed to remove that line entirely — the King James version made reference to dark sayings. And we considered this for awhile, even (possibly) equating parables as riddles. This was a rich dialogue that invited us to consider perhaps riddles (and/or parables) are important because they invite us to be a bit more critical (perhaps similar to the sermon theme of “Stay Woke”) of the situation/problem/life in front of us because we are not able to see the same, the beauty (& challenge) of the riddle (and/or parable) is to look again and with new perspective and this perhaps of course is an invitation to listen more intently. And that seems rather timely in this season of Advent as we keep watch (“Stay Woke”) looking for God being born (again) among us.
And we have homework (who doesn’t want homework!?!) To read Proverbs 1 EACH DAY this week. Yes — to spend some time with this wisdom literature, and with this chapter in particular. To hear God speak to us through these verses, to prayerfully be surprised by what God might reveal in a week of journeying with these 33 verses. And we will check in with what God did — with how God spoke — with what God might have even said do (or not do).
I am excited to be blessed by what God will be revealing to each of us and can hardly wait until we get to check in next week. Until then — strength, energy & courage in the reading and in the listening to God in this Holy conversation where we learn to listen more intently.
In expectation to see Christ,
~ Rev. Sabrina Slater