Barbara talked about the view of God as one that “terrifies and mystifies”. There were questions about this view and Barbara discussed that there are individualistic views of God, that we may see Him/Her/It differently.
There has been a culturalization of “facts” about how we view God and this was proven as we took the Christmas IQ Test, devised by Chuck Jones. It was a relief to learn that this quiz was not to be used to judge our intellect; much less the presence of a brain; but it awakened us to the myths and stories which have been “developed” about the details of the birth of God’s son.
Did you know that Joseph wanted to break the engagement with Mary and that Mary left town for three months? ‘Tis true! We learned that there is no mention in the Bible about what method Mary and Joseph used to travel to Bethlehem or what the innkeeper told them about where to bed down when they arrived. Did you know that no animals were identified as attending Jesus’ birth or exactly what kind of shelter in which He was delivered? Did you know that when the three Wise Men found Jesus, he was living in a house? In the Bible it was only Matthew (who wrote to the Jews) and Luke (who wrote to the Gentiles) who wrote about their version of the Savior’s birth. Through the centuries the Christians have taken those recounts and added their own details and through those centuries, we have believed.
The best part of this December 22nd Bible class was hearing Marty Hallas sing again the St. Thomas’ hymn which she and her husband Don had crafted years ago and which she had sung the night before at Supper, Song and Prayer. Marty also read to us her Christmas poem, which she also had written and named “Gifts from God”.
It was another morning of friends sharing and learning and thanking God for all our gifts.
posted by Jill McGrath
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