Meeting 1. - The Inhabited World ******************************** .. tags:: content|creation|Creation, content|space|Space, content|vocation|Vocation, content|incarnation|Incarnation, method|text-work|Text work, method|image-work|Image work, type|sharing|Sharing Introduction for the animator and goals ======================================= The Friday meeting is meant to form the community of the small group. It centers on God, who creates space for us and at the same time calls us to discover it. It is largely a sharing-based meeting, in two main blocks: known space and unknown space. **To help the group warm up and get to know one another, you will need photographs of different landscapes; these will be supplied to animators before the meeting.** The questions in the outline are suggestions only; trust your judgment about which will bear the most fruit in your group (there will not be time to cover every question ;)). The meeting comes right before evening prayer, so in both content and tone it should lead into that prayer. Introduction ============ Once you have the room for your group, invite people to share reflections from the conference that has just ended. While you wait for everyone to arrive, conversation about this first shared moment of the retreat works well. When the group is complete, open with prayer, then recall the ground rules for the small group. They are: - discretion during the conversation -- we do not take what is shared outside the group - refraining from commentary -- we do not comment on other people's reflections and experiences - refraining from giving advice -- we avoid advising one another **For the first activity we provide photographs** (you do not need to print them; they will be given out at the retreat before the meeting) showing different landscapes. Ask each person to choose one and say briefly why they picked that image from the set. The aim is not only facts about people but something of character -- for example: "I chose a mountain landscape because I love hiking in the mountains. I'm Alina." Known space =========== We begin the first meeting with a longer passage about the creation of the world. This will be the opening part of the whole retreat and of this meeting. We want to look once again at the divine Creator and once again at the world -- which has become ours and has been entrusted to us with care. The essence of this part of the meeting is realizing the truth that I, the human person, am a child in a world created by God. The whole world was created and carefully tended so that I could grow and act. Parents have a very similar experience during pregnancy and after the birth of a child. They give over the space of their home, often an office or a bedroom, so that their child can grow. It is a beautiful intuition of a parent who creates space out of love. Let us read: Gen 1:1-31 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God commanded the earth to sprout vegetation, seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees of every kind. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. God then made the lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate day from night and to mark seasons, days, and years. He made the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night, and also the stars. And God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. After that the waters swarmed with living creatures and birds flew above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. God blessed them to be fruitful and multiply. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. Then the earth brought forth livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and God saw that it was good. At last God created the human person in his own image, male and female he created them, and blessed them, saying that they should be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. He entrusted them with dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves on the earth. God also gave every seed-bearing plant and every tree with fruit as food, both for human beings and for the living creatures. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. -- Gen 1:1-31 .. note:: While reading this longer passage, we want to dwell on the characteristics of the divine Creator. These features say a great deal about the Builder and allow us to know him more deeply. #. God created the world out of nothing. #. The building began from the firmament-heaven rather than from the foundation -- unlike what we would normally expect. #. The first days are about ordering space (light, heaven, earth), and the next ones about filling that space (heavenly bodies, birds and fish, animals and the human person). God, like a good father, builds space for the human person -- from the farthest things to the nearest -- and then places him in the middle. #. Each stage is completed and crowned with a positive summary. #. There is no chaos. Questions leading toward the heart of the matter (loosely for the group): - What can be said about the 'creation of the world'? - What stages of creation can be noticed in this description? - What does this say about God as Creator? **In my life:** - What is my everyday space? Where am I an 'inhabitant'? - In what sphere is God building a 'home' for me? What role does God have in this space? And what role do I have? - What has God built in my life 'starting from the roof' -- something counterintuitive? - What space in my life is still 'under construction'? What is my attitude while waiting? - Is there any area of my life in which I am losing hope in God's action, or can I still wait for his fruits? - For me, is God the Creator of the world more like a caring parent or a mighty demiurge? Or perhaps someone else entirely? .. note:: *Demiurge* (from the Greek demiourgos, 'craftsman', 'maker') is a philosophical and religious concept meaning a divine being or force that creates and shapes the material world out of pre-existing matter, acting according to an ideal pattern. In Plato's philosophy, he was a good, divine builder of the world. In Gnosticism, he became a negative figure -- a lower, often evil being (identified with Yahweh), the creator of an imperfect world in which human souls are trapped, in contrast to the true, transcendent God. Unknown space ============= We have spoken about what is currently our known and familiar space. But just as a child gradually discovers that the world is bigger than the mother's womb, a given room, or a house, so there often arises in us the sense that there is something more than what we have known so far. For centuries, people looking up at the sky have asked about the limits of the known world and what lies far beyond the horizon. St. Augustine said: 'You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.' There is in us a certain unnamed longing. Let us read: Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. -- Acts 17:22-27 - When do I experience most strongly the sense that there is something more than what I have known so far? - What do I long for most deeply? - How do I recognize that something new is approaching in my life? - How much of an explorer is there in me? What do I most enjoy exploring? Very often we feel the need to somehow name and define what remains unnamed -- and that is completely normal. Yet sometimes it is worth remaining in that state when we still 'do not know what it is about, but we know that it matters very much to us.' The Greeks in Athens set up an altar to an unknown god -- it did not trouble them that they were honoring a reality they had not yet fully grasped. In a certain sense, they anticipated the Gospel. Sometimes we too must wait for the right moment, because faith outruns our knowledge. The call to discover something new can come from within us, but it can also be a call from God. Throughout the history of salvation, the Creator called particular people to step beyond what was familiar and go on a journey -- Abraham, Moses, Elijah, the apostles. Let us look at a few descriptions of such a call: .. note:: These passages are read only by the animator, illustratively. We do not want to go deeply into their content. **Abraham (Gen 12:1-4)** The Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.' So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. -- Gen 12:1-4 **Moses (Ex 3:10-12)** Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. ... 'I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.' -- Ex 3:10-12 **Elijah (1 Kgs 19:7-8)** The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, 'Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.' And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. -- 1 Kgs 19:7-8 **The Apostles (Mt 4:18-22)** While walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed him. -- Mt 4:18-22 Let us reflect together: - What do all these passages have in common? - When have I myself experienced being called to step beyond what was familiar? - Am I more of a homebody or a traveler? What does that depend on? - What was the most important journey I have ever made? What was the impulse behind it? We often say that faith is a journey -- we are not called to stand still, but to keep discovering what God has prepared for us. Often we know exactly the destination toward which we are heading and the road we must walk. Yet an extremely important element of every journey is surprise -- when we encounter something we did not expect. God often gives us far more than we ask or imagine: I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. -- Eph 3:14-20 - How do I travel most often? By planning everything from beginning to end, or by leaving space for spontaneity? - What do I follow more often -- intuition or precise instructions? What does that come from? - When was the last time something surprised me in faith? - What is my experience of God, who did infinitely more than I asked or understood? It is good to know where one is going, but sometimes by letting go and leaving the trail we can discover much more. By getting lost, we may come across something we did not expect, but which was exactly what we needed most. Our relationship with God and with other people would not be the same without all those moments in which someone else surprises us and brings into our life something we would never even have expected. The Creator who became an inhabitant ==================================== The original dwelling place of the human person was paradise. Ever since we left it, we have felt a painful lack. In a certain sense, our whole life is a journey that can be described as a kind of return home. Yet God remains for us not only the one who created a place for us to live. Let us read: He was in the world. -- Jn 1:10-14 - How does the prologue of St. John's Gospel relate to the description of creation from the Book of Genesis? We try to return to paradise, but in truth paradise came to us in the person of Jesus. The Creator also became an inhabitant. The tree of life, to which we lost access after leaving Eden, grew on Golgotha as the tree of the Cross. God, who created a dwelling for us, himself wanted to dwell among us and in us; we have been called a temple of the Holy Spirit. We can already experience God's closeness now, even as we still await full union with him. Conclusion and application ========================== Let us now go to the evening prayer with our whole sense of lack, our longing, everything in us that is still unnamed, and entrust it to God, who wants to be as close to us as possible.