theology

The group work is attached.

the link of the place we went to as group is:

http://www.fortancient.org/

(1)

 

 As an Individual, each of you must find a natural “Thing” in this spot (i.e., tree, turtle) ( same place you went with group )

 

When it comes to understanding this thing, everything remains in question; and yet, our scientific findings remain correct. But, to apprehend this thing, we must leave science aside for now, and we do so not with the proud delusion that we have all the answers but out of discretion inspired by a lack of understanding this thing.

 

(2)  Now stand or sit before the “thing”. (Reflection Exercises)

 

Read the sequential “exercises” (a to i) below, pausing for a few minutes after each exercise to reflect on your relationship to this thing.

 

(a) We always stand outside of science. Or, rather, science directs us outside of ourselves. We are conditioned to see this thing as an object, rather than as a numinous presence, as a motive power, as a unique expression of the divine. We are conditioned to focus on its physical attributes and how it is useful to us. We have lost the ability to see it as revealing something more than what it is. We look at the turtle, but can’t see past the shell. But there is always more to it, and most of this is concealed from us. Even if we were to break the turtle into parts to study and analyze it, there is more to the unique expression of turtle-ness.

(reflect for 5 min)

 

(b) Still, here you are, standing before this thing—and the thing stands before you, it has arrived in your world. As the thing appears before you and you stand before it, worlds collide. The two of you stand face-to-face with each other. Who is meeting who here? (reflect for 5 min)

 

(c) The thing’s world becomes part of your world. And since you possess that special mode of conscious self-awareness where by the thing comes to life in the psychic-spiritual dimension of creation, you become part of the thing’s world. First, the turtle comes into existence. Then, it comes to life in the human mind. Once it comes to life in the human mind, and once we name it, that is, once the turtle enters into language, then the turtle enters into being. To simply exist is not enough. For it to be seen as a unique expression of the divine, it first must emerge as a presence that both reveals itself and keeps itself in concealment. (reflect for 5 min)

 

(d) Now, one might say, after considering the previous points, that this thing has its own “voice” or that it is a unique voice in the polyphonic language of God. And, this voice has something to reveal, something to teach you. (listen for 5 min)

 

(e) If you give yourself over to this thing, if you quiet your mind for the moment and open yourself up to the intimate relation between this thing and the world around you (the river valley), this thing will begin to challenge your taken-for-granted assumptions about:

 

 this thing (the turtle) as enhancing the world (river valley)

 the world (the river valley) as meaningful context for this thing (the turtle)

 This thing no longer fits the “ideas” we once had about it “buzzing” about in our heads.

(reflect for 5 min on relation between thing and world)

 

(f) Equally important, this thing (turtle) and the world (river valley) will begin to challenge your taken-for-granted assumptions:

 

   about who you are:

What does it mean to be human?

Are we not basically the same as the thing (turtle)?

Are we not all engaged in the struggle to prolong life?

Are we not subjected to the same inevitable death as this thing (turtle)?

(reflect for 5 min)

 

   about who you are in relation to the world

What does it mean to be human in a more-than-human world?

Are we not dependent upon the world around us?

Are we not immersed in it like fish in the ocean?

                         

           (reflect for 5 min)

                         

(g) This thing (turtle) and the world around you (the river) are part of the broader community of life that brought you into being and now sustains you. This Universe community, and in particular this Earth community, is the very source of every expression of human life. It is the primary source of: Our physical nourishment and health, Our intellectual perceptions, Our emotional and aesthetic sensitivities, Our sense of the divine. (reflect for 5 min).

 

(h) The interconnection is clear. The relation between the physical world and the spiritual world are inseparable. For, what we do to the other-than-human, we do to the human. What happens to the outer world (manifestation of divine), happens to the inner world (apprehension of divine).

 

It is no overstatement to say that our very relation to the divine is threatened because we are only looking in certain areas to find the divine. We have developed a narrower view of something that cannot be compartmentalized. We have, in a sense, become “autistic” about our ideas of the divine. Overcoming this cultural autism, we might say, is one of our greatest challenges.  

(reflect for 5 min)
 

(i) Finally, spend a few moments engaging in the following:

 

Apprehend how behindness, withinness and otherness of this thing relates to, enhances, and is enhanced by the beyondness, beneathness and otherness of the world around you.

 

Apprehend how the story you learned from Part 1’s Outline assignment above is “present” in this thing, and how this thing is a unique expression of this story.

 

There–“in between” thing and world—there “in between” story and firsthand experience is the mystical realm of primordial experience.

 

REFLECTION PAPER ASSIGNMENT: (To be handed in as a printed paper)

 

In 2 pages, discuss: (1) the manner in which the thing (you have chosen) relates to and enhances the mystique of the place your group chose; (2) the manner in which the place you chose relates to and gives context to the mystique of the thing; that is, how the thing tells the story of this place; and how the story of this place gives context of meaning to this thing; and, finally, (3) how the “in between” of thing and its world reveal/conceal a unique expression of the divine.

 

DUE (as a hard copy) on October 28, 2013. 2 pages, double-spaced.