Daily Journal

Day 12 - And Now, The End (Reign of God)

published on Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Theme

Coming Reign of God

Faculty Speaker

Dr. J. Kameron Carter, Associate Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies

Lectionary Texts

Ezekiel 47:6-12; Psalm 147; Revelation 22:1-5, 20-21; Mark 13:32-37

Quotes from the Last 24 Hours

“The Kingdom of God ripped from the context of prayer and discipleship becomes a space of control and domination, and shuts down identity.” - Dr. Carter during plenary

“Will you live into the story of being a child of God or into distorted stories - the ones that crush you?” - Dr. Carter during plenary

Reflections on the Lecture

Dr. Carter’s lecture aimed to demystify the subject of “The Reign of God” by putting it into the contexts of the Lord’s Prayer and current examples of how we understand Christian identity. We who pray “Thy Kingdom come” are revolting against the worldly powers that are in opposition to Jesus Christ, and asking that God’s Kingdom become a powerful reality among us. Dr. Carter challenged listeners to think about the reign of God as inextricably bound to a life of prayer and discipleship. He asserted that removing it from these contexts only results in a perversion and misapplication of the reign of God in which people attempt to become masters of their own and others’ destinies. Unless those who follow Christ realize that being children of God changes their identities, then we will allow the powerful pressures of this world to conform us. When our identities are determined by societal standards of power, beauty, success and economics, then we bear witness to the corrupted kingdom of worldly powers and not to God’s Kingdom. Dr. Carter showed a video clip from "The Matrix" in which Neo chooses to accept the truth, requiring him to sever allegiances with the old world and its systems in order to embrace the new. In watching the clip, we realized how the movie illustrates the power and responsibilities that come with a commitment like Christian baptism.

Other activities

The liveliness and familiarity of morning prayer, the crowded bookstore, the hubbub of packing and other logistical duties, and our general conversation signal the end is near. Today is a joyful day with tearful sharing and heartfelt reflection. Our DYA director, the Rev. Jeff Conklin-Miller, is the preacher for evening worship. Through proclaiming the “Coming Reign of God,” Jeff will call attention to the work that God has been doing in our lives during these two weeks (and before we even arrived) and urge us to bear witness to God’s reign by the power of God’s Spirit in whatever ways God will call us.

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Day 11 - Living Into Our Baptisms (Vocation)

published on Friday, July 1, 2011

Theme

Vocation

Faculty Speaker

Rev. Dr. Fred Edie, DYA "Big Cheese" and Associate Professor of the Practice of Christian Education

Lectionary Texts

Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24; 1 Corinthians 3-4:1; Matthew 10:1-14

Quotes from the Last 24 Hours

"We receive our lives as a gift. We are not self-made. God is our Creator." - Rev. Dr. Fred Edie during plenary

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." - Frederick Buechner, quoted in plenary and worship

"When I came here, I wanted to pursue math and science in college because I thought it would set me up for a career where I could make a lot of money. Now I am wondering if that is what God wants most out of my life." - A student reflecting on plenary

Reflections on the Lecture

After several days of pondering how the Spirit enters our world through the church's corporate practices such as witness and reconciliation, the students engaged Dr. Fred Edie in a discussion on how the Spirit enters the lives of individual Christians. In our baptisms, we are called into God's service; yet many things impede us from living fully into our vocations. Obstacles include our own hesitations, fears, excuses, the cultural norms that place financial and material success over anything else, and the paralysis we feel when faced with too many choices. We spent time in our mentor groups considering how a deepened understanding of God as Creator, Covenant-Maker, Reconciler, and Farmer informs our calls to lives of service.

Other activities

In the afternoon today we enjoyed the “Going Deeper” sessions of the arts village. Students learned about the theology and art of iconography and pottery, created collages as a practice of community art, and learned a dance for Friday’s worship. We also participated in our last prayer practices workshop and enjoyed learning about new ways to deepen our connections to God, scripture, and one another. Our dinner was served by Agape Korean Church from Cary - it was delicious! In the evening our worship included silence and contemplation as we began preparing our hearts for returning home.

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Day 10 - Life in the Spirit: Reconciliation

published on Friday, July 1, 2011

Theme

Reconciliation

Faculty Speaker

Rev. Chris Rice, Co-Director, Center for Reconciliation

Lectionary Texts

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 104:1a, 24-35; Romans 8:14-27; Acts 2:1-14, 22-47

Quotes from the Last 24 Hours

“The way things are is not the way things have to be.” – the Rev. Chris Rice during plenary
“The world can be changed in a zip code.” – the Rev. Chris Rice during plenary
“I guess we can’t hide all our problems.” – A student during mentor group

Reflections on the Lecture

In our plenary session this morning, the Rev. Chris Rice talked with us about reconciliation and what it means for us to be reconciled. He framed the discussion with the understanding that reconciliation is a gift. We were asked to wrestle with the reality of our own historical challenges, like Rwanda. Several stories were shared and questions were asked. The Rev. Rice asked us to consider, ”What kind of Christianity are we being baptized into when you can have Eucharist in the morning and kill in the afternoon?” Our baptismal journey is very much a journey into a new reality and a new “we.” “Here’s the point,” suggested the Rev. Rice, “We don’t get to choose who our people are. God chooses who our people are.” With problems and issues so big, the calling of reconciliation can seem overwhelming; and we began to see how far we have to go. Yet, the Rev. Rice encouraged us, although “reconciliation is as big as the Rwandas of the world, as big as the border, as big as race … it’s never bigger than the person nearest to you to love.”

Other activities

Following lunch today we boarded buses and began our Durham Pilgrimage. We visited the American Tobacco Campus and Bennett Place. We saw the beauty of the old abandoned tobacco warehouses that have been renovated into productive office spaces. At Bennett Place (the site of the largest troop surrender of the Civil War) we saw the well-traveled road where Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and Union General William T. Sherman met to negotiate the terms of surrender. We also saw a monument of unity – two pillars or columns (one representing the north and one the south) with a beam across the top labeled “UNITY” – which signifies the unification of our country. Upon returning from the pilgrimage, the DYA community was asked to consider what they saw/heard and what was missing (what they didn’t see/hear). We wondered about the history of the American Tobacco Campus and about those who were displaced by the development. Regarding Bennett Place, we wondered about the suffering and destruction that occurred and about the stories we didn’t hear, particularly those of African-American soldiers. Tonight our worship spilled over into a portion of our mentor group time, but no one seemed to mind as we worshiped together in a spirit of reconciliation and hope. 

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