"...because inside human beings is where God learns."

The middle of Week Two brings a course shift from "Systems and Structures" to "Race, Class and Gender."  That means we have Sam back (a favorite lecturer for all of us in the program).  Jazz is playing when we arrive in class, his quirky sense of humor, very soft heart and deep well of compassion shine through as we explore painful topics.  Couple this with his passionate love of justice and the Mystery and you have the right facilitator to lead discussions addressing very difficult material.  And he has by far the best quotations worked into his handouts!  This week's standouts are as follows:

I want to put a warning sign on a Bible just like tobacco companies put them on their cigarette packs.   The label should say that without guidance, this book can lead to various side effects, such as mental illness, cancer, rape, genocide, murder and a slavery system.  - Hyun Kyung Chung
(context:  discussion of how the Bible has been used to support racism, classism, sexism and naturism)

The body broken (in Eucharist) by hostilities has become a symbol of hospitality.  Hostility is transformed into hospitality when we provide a space for others to find their voice, to sing their own songs, and articulate their narratives among us.  Hostility is transformed into hospitality when we experience liberation from our preoccupation with ourselves, our security and comfort, and our idolatry expressed in classism, sexism, racism, and naturism.  - Eleazar S. Fernandez
(needing a word of hope as we touched on the pervasiveness of all the "isms)

And the quote that reframed hours spent in the classroom:

To me the classroom continues to be a place where paradise can be realized, a place of passion and possibility; a place where spirit matters, where all that we learn and all that we know leads us into greater connection, into greater understanding of life lived in community.  - bell hooks
(a shout out to all teachers reading this - it is worth it!)

It has been a hard week of formation - some of the hardest work I've done in awhile (both in the classroom/small group sessions and within my self)  But it has been worth every second.  Near the closure of our Systems and Structures class, Dr. Liebert shared a poem that has stayed with me all week - an affirmation of all those who are doing hard work and trying to see it through.  If you have some heavy lifting of your own to do, take heart in these words by Rainer Maria Rilke:

Just as the winged energy of delight
Carried you over many chasms early
   on,
Now raise the daringly imagined arch
Holding up the astounding bridges.

Miracle doesn't lie only in the
     amazing
Living through and defeat of danger;
Miracles become miracles in the clear
Achievement that is earned.

To work with things is not hubris
When building the association
     beyond words;
Denser and denser the pattern
     becomes -
Being carried along is not enough.

Take your well-disciplined strengths
And stretch them between two
Opposing poles.  Because inside
   human beings
Is where God learns.

Wow.  And Amen.  And back to work (after a much needed Sabbath)  -
Kim