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Health & Fitness

Interfaith Bible Wrestling on March 9: Send my roots rain!

Exciting interfaith Bible "wrestling" with Dr. Carol Ochs, Jewish spiritual guide. Saturday, March 9, Good Shepherd gathering at 9 until 12:30, then over to Gesher Shalom for lunch until 1:45.

The Church of the Good Shepherd and Congregation Gesher Shalom are trying an experiment in preparation for Easter and Passover:  we're going to read the story of dry bones in Ezekiel together over lunch, from Jewish and Christian perspectives.

This session is part of a morning of Bible Study at Good Shepherd. Dr. Carol Ochs has been a mentor and friend of mine since college.  She taught Philosophy for many years at Simmons College, and just retired after ten years of directing the D.Min program at Hebrew Union College, where she established a program of Jewish Spiritual Guidance.  She has written at least eight books about the Bible and the spiritual quest.   She’s insightful, dynamic, and engaging.  

At Good Shepherd, Dr. Ochs will walk participants through stories of "the mighty acts of God" that Episcopalians hear at the Easter Vigil:  Creation, The Flood, the Binding of Isaac, the exodus from Egypt, and the prophetic summation of these teachings in Isaiah,  Zephaniah, and Ezekiel.  THe day starts at 9 with coffee and bagels. The conversation about Ezekiel will take place at Gesher Shalom over a kosher lunch starting at 12:30.  The day will end about 1:45.

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Here's how Dr. Ochs describes the day:  The texts read for Easter Vigil are a map for our own creativity, renewal, "recapitulation" or resurrection. We will see how taking seriously the statement that we are created in the Image and Likeness of God will open up these texts in new ways. Genesis 1:1-2:3 contains all we need to know and yet it is the most difficult text to fully absorb. So we will start there and then branch out to The Flood (Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18 and 9:8-13 and explore the question of the relationship of creation to destruction. Abraham's Binding of Isaac explores our most intimate creation and our relationship to our children. Exodus 14:10-15:1, the deliverance of Israel from Egypt brings us to the knotty question of freedom from Egypt and freedom to--create? serve God? get lost in the wilderness? Isaiah 4:2-6, 55:1-11; Ezekiel 36:24-28 and 37:1-14 and Zephaniah 3:12-20 show us the prophets' plea that we remember the map and return (recapitulation) to our original relatedness to complete trust in God.

I have been involved in interfaith "wrestling," (a term taken from Godwrestling by Arthur Waskow) for decades, with Carol and others.  It's amazing to discover new insights into texts because of different religious contexts.  The goal is greater understanding through dialogue, not deciding which interpretations are right and trying to convert anyone to our own opinion.  Listen, share, and learn.  

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Anyone is welcome to come to the morning at Good Shepherd and/or the lunch at Gesher Shalom, but please call Good Shepherd to make a reservation.  

 


 
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