Week Prior to November 1, 2009

This Sunday is All Saints Day, the day when we are remember. We Re-Member those who used to be here, but are not, and by re-membering we make them members again of our circle ... even if they are not present in body.


There are lots of memory devices. Bring yours. <-- Repeat.


1. How do you remember something important? Notes? Write on your hand? Tell us your stories.


2. What memory-devices do you have at home? Bring them in. Pictures? Mementos? Souvenirs? Why do we collect these memory-laded things? Where do they transport you? Why do we need such transport-ation?


3. OK, technologically, we have LOTS of memory devices. Bring in everything about your computers that serve as memory-keepers. (Keep your computers at home, but let me start a list: flash drives; how will you finish this list? Who can bring in the most memory-laden devices we use?) Why are these important? What are their limitations?


4. Back to All Saints Day. After thinking through 1-3, "What now is memory all about?" (Imagine not having ANY memories?) How do all these reminders and memory devices help us be mind-full? What's the point?


Caleb, participate as you see fit. Maybe a picture of #2 and #3 with some narrative can be a good way to be "presente".


PS: I think we're being asked to come dressed as a biblical character, should you wish to do so. Hmmmm.


Marc

Week Prior to October 25 - Land of the Lost

OK, last week was pretty amazing, from my far-away perspective. Thanks to all who came, or wanted to, but were sick :( .


This week, let's stay in the Jesus story. Let us get transported to "The Land of the Lost".


Luke 15 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015&version=MSG) has three stories of lost things or people. In each story, the lost gets found.


1. Why were they lost? (Get creative, don't be satisfied with the "Sunday School answers")
2. How did they get found?
3. What were the terms and conditions of being found?
4. What new insights can you bring to the discussion on Sunday afternoon?


Teaser: I have the third story as a play - a reader's theater. Would anyone like to actually perform it? Let's talk together on Sunday.


And finally, for a little fun on that last Land of the Lost story: Here is the story in the Key of F:

The Prodigal Son in the Key of F.

Feeling footloose and frisky, a foolish fellow

forced his father to fork over his fourth of the

family farthings and flew far to a foreign field

where he fast frittered away his father's fortune

feasting foolishly with fatuous friends. Fully

fleeced by his faithless fellows and fearful folly,

and facing famine, he finally found himself a feed

flinger on a filthy farm. Flushed and fairly

famished, he fain would have filled his frame with

foraged food from farm fodder.

The frazzled fugitive focused his fancies: "My

father's flunkies fare far finer." Frustrated and

filled with foreboding, he fled forthwith to his

father. Falling at his father's feet he forlornly

fumbled, "Father, I have flunked out and frugallessly

forfeited family favor."

Faultfinding and fuming, the fugitive's firstborn

fraternal family fellow fretted and frowned on fickle

forgiveness, but the faithful father figure, filled

with fidelity, forthwith forewarned, "The fugitive is

found. What forbids further festivities? Let the

flags unfurl and the fanfares flare!" Father

flagged down a flunky who fetched a fitting fatling

from the family flock and fixed a fabulous feast.

Felicitous finish: The father's fervent forgiveness

formed a foundation for the fugitive's future fortitude.

Marc

And the Winner is....

If there was a contest for who could re-write "The Parable of the Good Samaritan" in today's language and custom, we have a winner!

All the way from Colombia, through the magic of the internet, Caleb wrote this one. Get your cup of whatever, sit back, and marvel at the creative genius of our young folk!

Once there was this old guy, a plumber with no money and not too many teeth, who was traveling from Sincelejo to Tolu. Some army guys stopped him on the road, stole his moto from him, beat him up really bad, took his shirt and sandals and cap, and left him bleeding and unconscious on the side of the road. It was a hot day before noon and after a few hours, the guy was sunburned and had heat stroke and couldn’t even sit up or call for help.

He was so relieved to see the car of a Catholic priest drive by and slow down. But the priest was headed to Valencia (a fancy neighborhood in Sincelejo) to say Mass. He saw the plumber dude but as soon as he could be sure it wasn’t anyone with lots of money from the cathedral or the colegio, he just kept on driving in his SUV on toward Valencia. The plumber lay his head back down on the dusty ground and could feel the ants biting him but could’t shoo them off.

Next, a doctor drove by on his way from the clinica to go pick up his kids from the Club. The doctor saw this guy lying there but just kept right on driving in his clean pick up truck---if he stopped every time a person was hurt or dead in the road, he’d never get anywhere! 

Then, Domingo the portero, passed by and saw this man suffering. He stopped and made some bandages out of his shirt to stop the bleeding and cover up the sunburn.  He stopped a guy selling water (in little plastic bags like they do here). Domingo bought three bags of water and helped the plumberman drink some and washed his face off with it. Then Domingo stopped a pushcart. The man pushing it was hollering, “Banano, banano, banano, avocate….” (selling his fruit at the top of his lungs kinda like the peanut and hotdog guys do at a ballgame, in rhythm and all). 

Domingo paid the banano man to let the victim lie on top of his cart (squishing the fruit some) and get pushed to the clinica (like a hospital) in town. He gave the guy 15 thousand pesos—about two days wages and enough to pay for a night in the clinica—and told him to make sure this man had some soup and meat before he left him for the night at the hospital. Domingo promised the beat up guy he’d see him tomorrow and then rushed back toward the apartment building for work, shirtless.

 Which one was really “the neighbor”? Domingo, even though his accent lets you know he isn’t from here and that he grew up a poor farmer and he’s displaced (which is like a really bad thing to be in the eyes of the public here and folks do everything they can to hide that and look better than that so they won’t get so discriminated against).

The End.

Week prior to October 18, 2009

Welcome to the first posting of the Circle of Mercy (www.circleofmercy.org) Youth! We're a group of mostly middle schoolers learning how to make a difference. That simple, and that hard.


If you wish to re-wind some of today's (October 11) events, look at the paragraphs just below. For next week's assignment (yes, but call it fun-work, not homework!), we are re-writing The Parable of the Good Samaritan (You can read it here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010:25-37&version=MSG), situating the action and characters in or around Asheville, NC. 


Today we watched a few YouTube videos and commented on them.


To warm up, we began with a fun look at cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qit3ALTelOo. Don't take away any message! Just fun.


Then, things got serious with a hard look at a possible, anonymous, very fast future, that sort of scared most of us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY&feature=related. Were/Are we in control, or just (huff, huff) in constant pain, trying to (pant, pant) keep up?


We discussed what that kind of future would look like for us individually, and as a group. Then, as a sharp contrast, we looked at two videos, each the brainchild of just one simple person with a simple passion, who wanted to make a difference. They speak for themselves.


1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4 - Free Hugs Campaign
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY - Where in the World is Matt? For best results in this one, click the HD button so it's red. It takes longer to download, but the wait is worth it!


We then talked about what kinds of differences existed between the first video and the last two, where we might feel more connected, and how the vision of a single person could make a difference.


Next week, to repeat: Come and re-tell the story of the Good Samaritan, set in Asheville, 2009. We vote for the winner, who gets a bar of chocolate, the good kind. Again, to read the original story, see http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010:25-37&version=MSG.


Marc