“What is our (my) takeaway from this study?...

“What is your take away from the study?

What have we learned this time…?”

Impossible questions.

I’ve never had the luxury of studying through the entire Bible thematically – salvation history – without the pressure of lectures, classes, papers and tests. All studies lasted 14 weeks September to December or January to May or an intensive few summer weeks.

Or I’ve been on the teaching side; framing/presenting/testing/entertaining/trying to learn more all the time/trying to captivate. Never till Red Tent did I have the luxury to scurry off with my book, notebook, Bible and catechism, and do the weeks assignment with the only pressure to get it done.

Unheard of learning.

And the learnings? There were so many each week. Oh, those impossibly repetitive Hebrew Scriptures stories! Our ancestors lived their cyclical patterns: prosperity, too much comfort, eyes off the Maker, the fall, the rising up, the falling down, finding out where “they“ went wrong.

At some point early on, it stopped being about our ancestors. In my morning prayer the Lord pointed out that I was behaving like my ancient siblings. Ouch! The us/them, me/them binaries had to give way.

Week after tedious week, my Wednesday mornings were my Bible oasis. 

There was the time in winter when the daily mass readings were paralleling our weekly sessions. Maria and I watched the drama unfold from the lectionary.

My brother raised sheep, and now spends months of several seasons with his Colorado girlfriend, whose ranch hands shepherd thousands of sheep and thousands of steer. She manages the entire operation. My brother gets the job (usually turning me green with envy)  of riding the range or alongside Julie when they’re helping the shepherds in bringing the animals in. Then there’s Lorraine and Maggie and all their work behind the scenes! They do it for love. Oh the headaches, worries! They don’t have to gather us in for the unpleasant, but they do ride the range, right from their studies or kitchens or living room. They watch the 20 something of us – as we as we tend our families, our students in our every day pastures, and sometimes deal with our own lost sheep. They pray for us. 

So my friends, the morning fog is burned off now, and the Holy Spirit within is as excited as the birds who have delighted me as they sang up yet another sun. Thank you Red Tent sisters, my point and counterpoints, thank you for your patience, and thank you Lorraine and Maggie for setting the academic free for a year!

“Rejoice and be glad.” Each day we have been given life anew.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will direct thy paths.”

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Mph 

26 May 2020