Connect LEVNT by Brent Pelton

brentpelton — 2024-05-22 22:47:53 UTC

Proverbs 9:1-6

Wisdom has built her house;

she has hewn her seven pillars.

2 She has slaughtered her animals; she has mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

3 She has sent out her female servants; she calls

from the highest places in the town,

4 “You who are simple, turn in here!”

To those without sense she says,

5 “Come, eat of my bread

and drink of the wine I have mixed.

6 Lay aside immaturity and live,

and walk in the way of insight.”

I think that this bible passage embodies grace because it is an invitation of life to all. God invites us all through God's spirit to engage in growth and development through Christ. Proverbs speaks of God's invitation to us as speaking to all above the busyness of life.

brentpelton — 2024-05-22 22:48:36 UTC

Matthew 5:43-48

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

I really like this passage and how it relates to grace. Sometimes we believe that grace, compassion, and love only extends to a select few. However, God extends this to all people regardless of identity, human labels, etc. It also reminds us that we are to mirror that extension of grace to those we encounter by supporting those in our community in a manner that we feel loved and cared for as well.

brentpelton — 2024-06-06 05:47:27 UTC

When I think of creation I think of the three creation myths: one being at one with nature, dominating nature, and the spirit of creation. I am drawn to Proverbs idea of creation that the spirit of God which is in us is the same spirit that created the world with God. This helps me because it talks about ongoing creation and the movement of the spirit. It relates to school because recognizing the spirit's movement in everyone means that I am recognizing the divine presence that exists between and with us.

brentpelton — 2024-06-06 05:52:32 UTC

Of these passages, the Matthews passage resonates with me because I have worked with marginalized and disadvantaged people as a teacher. They tend to carry many worries and it is great to have a sense of God giving suport to those things that we overlook or see as lesser.

brentpelton — 2024-06-06 05:56:40 UTC

In the book The Lost Art of Scripture, it explores the idea that creation is good. The early rabbinical understanding of creation being good is that we learns and gain from imperfections. That is why God made creation good and not perfect. I like this because we fill each other's gaps in creation. Hearing others' strengths and limitations means that we grow together to build creation and the kingdom of God together.

brentpelton — 2024-06-06 06:00:18 UTC

Random reflection: would creation theologianslike this section? Dorothee Soelle and Matthew Fox probably would not like the finite nature of creation being discussed nor the powerlessness of humanity. I wonder how their perspectives fit into this worldview?

brentpelton — 2024-06-06 06:02:58 UTC

This idea of imago dei reminded me of this commercial.

brentpelton — 2024-06-06 06:11:39 UTC

Is this actually co creation? Looks more like it's over to God, and the best we can do is offer thoughts and prayers. Sounds like a depressing understanding of creation! I think we are a part of the ongoing creation and we need to listen out for our vocation in the everyday bits of life and our movement in creation.

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 03:58:18 UTC

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:03:46 UTC

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:13:21 UTC

This is a really great clip on creation spirituality and how it is quite different from what I feel was explained. Creation spirituality focuses on Original Blessing (not Original Sin), which is an older tradition and incorporates creation into spirituality.

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:24:26 UTC

The glue that holds Christians together is the shared goal and purpose for their faith. This can be very different depending on the person's theological bend. Atonement theology, for example, may lead people to focus on conversion and salvation, neglecting the marginalized and human agency within creation. Liberation theology, for example, may lead people to focus on tanglable actions to take in the service of God, but neglect time for reflection and listening. A shared theological vantage point leads a group of people to see a vision and a purpose for their faith beyond themselves.

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:31:29 UTC

What do these quotes suggest about relationship with God and being in community?

God gives God's children gifts and abilities to shape their community and the world. We all are given these things so that we can be a part of the community, supporting and caring for each other in ways that only we can offer.

What do they suggest about beliefs and values that shape a Christian community?

That no one is left out of the graces and gifts that God has to offer. This means that God asks each of us to share abundantly and receive abundantly God's gifts through the people around us.

What guides Christian communities when relationships are challenged?

We all have a part to play, even if we are struggling to see the 'usefulness' of a particular person's gifts or attributes. It's not for us to decide someone's worth, but rather to incoporate their perspective and abilities into the community.

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:32:41 UTC

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:36:42 UTC

I very much agree with Nadia that I am a snarky person by nature and am never drawn to people that are 'perfect' or 'good' but often side with people who are honest about their foibles and challenges. Equally, that God wants to hear us being challenged or use the choice words that we offer when we are frustrated or don't really know. I really connect with this idea that we often try to offer only perfection, not our true selves in the Christian world.

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 04:59:10 UTC

Page 185 has a section on the relationship between the church and society more broadly.

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 05:03:06 UTC

I really like this diagram because it ca help to explain differences in interpretations and where theological rubs may start. For example, I am not a fan of the Message becaues it is a bit too loose for my liking. Seeing that it is at the extreme end of 'paraphrasing' helps me to identify why it would create such a rub for me (and if someone really likes it, where our different approaches may begin).

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 05:16:01 UTC

Identify and critically reflect on unresolved issues or remaining questions to develop a plan for further learning that will advance your understanding?

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 05:22:05 UTC

How are the ideas and information presented connected to what I already knew?

What new ideas did you get that extended my thinking?

What challenges have come up in your mind from the information presented?

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 05:24:08 UTC

How does Lutheran theological practices shape classroom practices?

brentpelton — 2024-07-17 05:25:23 UTC

What are my unresolved issues or remaining questions? How will I advance my understanding,

practice and contribution to Lutheran education?

brentpelton — 2024-09-30 22:23:52 UTC

I think it is interesting that for some, religious pluralism is a challenge. The bible draws on, reinterprets, copies, and adds from a variety of religions and interpretations of Israelite belief from a wide variety of sources: Cannanites, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Hellenistic, Roman, and other belief systems. The ideal of a 'correct' or 'pure' biblical faith was not accurate then, nor would it be fair to apply that world view today. In many ways, I think it is a shame that most Christian denominations have a closed cannon, as we can learn so much from God's revelation throughout the ages, places, cultures, and times. It is important to hear a diversity of voices that God uses to speak to God's people and how they address a variety of challenges of their time.

brentpelton — 2024-09-30 22:56:46 UTC

I always find it interesting what passages or books of the bible people find the most helpful or speak to them specifically. It often speaks to their theology and what they believe and highlights the development of theologies across time, cultures, and spaces. For me, for example, my favorite gospel is Mark because I think it leans into the humanity of Jesus and the unknown of God more than any of the other three texts. I am not as big of a fan of John because I feel it deemphasizes God's care and interaction within humanity. It also, in my opinion, emphasises a belief in Jesus' divinity to a point that God feels distant to the average persons' needs. Both have their place and neither encapsulates Jesus entirely, but it is interesting to see which 'Jesus,' for example, speaks to people more.

brentpelton — 2024-09-30 23:03:18 UTC

I really agree with the statement that harm really comes about when you deny that human agency could have been involved in the bible. I really find it important that we question texts: what is the text type, who was it written for (and not for!), what was the culture (and the assumptions of the people), etc. etc. Literal interpretation are really worrying and do so much harm. I definitely agree with this speak on many levels!

brentpelton — 2024-09-30 23:06:43 UTC

This is a good framework to begin having a conversation around a text. I wish I had this when I was teaching RE!

brentpelton — 2024-09-30 23:22:53 UTC

I really like this idea that the elements of creation already existed and that God gave purpose and direction for the parts of creation. I think it's also nice to see a note that there are two creation stories. One is arguable more supportive of a coexistence with creation rather than domination.

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 06:05:32 UTC

Although I get where this author is coming from, it feels as if the argument is that science and religion are discussing the same thing. I don't think they are lines of enquiry that are the same: they ask different questions and, therefore, come to different answers about the nature of the world. Creation stories, for example, are not attempts to explain how the world came to be, but rather our relationship/place in the world. Trying to make one answer the other could create ongoing challenges.

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 06:11:29 UTC

One thing that stands out to me is the interconnectedness of creation, peoples, and God within the text. That one cannot stand without the other. If we were to try, the foundations of our communities would be altered and, therefore, uneven for the building of positive engagement and witness of the Spirit. This applies to schools because we need to know that we are all learning, sharing, growing, and witnessing the Spirit in our actions and engagement with each other.

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 06:19:27 UTC

I think this quote summarizes a Lutheran community in many ways. I think the primary way in which this is shown through a need for mutual trust and mutual learning. We all are given gifts, no matter the age or stage of a person's life. Recognizing the Spirits movement in the person and allowing space to express that movement is so important in every community.

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 06:26:11 UTC

I really like this idea that we all have a place and a purpose. As teachers, we need to help people to discover their purpose through play, wonder, inspiration, and hope. Helping students, and staff, to explore these aspects in schools allows for listening to the Spirits movement in their lives to discover who they feel called to be.

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 06:45:55 UTC

I think one of the interesting things that is lost on many people in stories such as Jonah is that the "good" guy who has it all together is actually portrayed in a negative light. Likewise, the "bad" guy who stumbles is portrayed in a positive light. Often parables are meant to break down cultural assumptions and find God working in places that we would east expect. These stories, whether it's the tax collector who prays well, Moses who has a stutter and doesn't want to be a leader, or other such stories, remind us that we do not have it all figured out, which means that we cannot and should not try to have God all figured out too.

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 06:49:42 UTC

I think this clip from Nadia Botz-Weber really draws together this idea of grace well. In it, she discusses how Jesus was mistaken for a gardener and how resurrection is messy. I think that we all have messy ressurections in the current moment. We stumble and get dirty, we get lost or don't have the 'correct' answer. So we try to do our best and grace steps in to fill the voice of what we cannot fully offer. If Jesus can be messy in his ressurection, so can I (and anyone else!).

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 07:02:53 UTC

“The God of the prophets did not preach the nation-state, but community between strangers and natives. The apostle Paul did not base the justification of sinners on the Protestant work ethic, but on grace, which appears for young and old, for diligent and for lazy people! And Jesus did not make the family the central value of human life, but the solidarity of those deprived of their rights.”

brentpelton — 2024-10-01 07:03:37 UTC

“The power of life is not a flat sum that must be divided, unequally, between the creator and the created...On the contrary, the more a person develops her [or his] creativity, delves into the project of liberation, and transcends [his or] her own limitations, the more God is God. God does not cling to creational power, making it his (sic) possession, but shares it knowing that good power is shared power.” Dorothee Soelle, To Work and to Love: a Theology of Creation.

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 21:46:29 UTC

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 21:46:36 UTC

Part of my identity is a love of learning. I really am driven to learn and find out new things, having studied linguistics, anthropology, counselling and everything in between. I really enjoy discovering the motivations of people and what drives them to do what they do in their communities.

I always want to learn 'the next thing,' which at the moment is probably going to be educational neuroscience with the aim of possibly doing a PhD in psycholinguistics, but who knows. It always seems to morph and change with the people I meet and share with.

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 21:47:33 UTC

Something that I love to do is learn about new perspectives and ways of seeing the world. I often do this through travelling and seeing how people can take onboard ideas, change them, or do things differently to me. The above image is a photo from my travels in Greece, where people have left plaques on an icon for different desires, hopes, and wishes. It was interesting to take time to see what people left, their faith in this tradition, and how people respond to each others' plaques with reverence as well.

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 21:47:56 UTC

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 22:22:36 UTC

What is the bible?

The bible is a collection of idealizations, hopes, controlled narratives, poems, letters, stories, reinterpretations, and borrowings of a range of cultures and religions. It is a closed cannon (for most Christians) and makes up the majority of the texts that inspire the Christian worldviews, traditions, and cultures.

How is the bible used at your school?

Christian Studies, mottos, values, ethos, worship services, devotions.

What questions do you have about the bible?

When I did my theological training, I read was really interestig theories that the bulk of the psalms were used for encantations. I really would love to wave a magic wand or find out when I die, what were the psalms actually used for. This theory is really interesting with the magic bowls with psalms, talismans with the psalms, etc.

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 22:40:51 UTC

brentpelton — 2024-11-14 23:14:51 UTC

I am very much a scrapbook person if I had to fall into one of those camps. I think that we put too much stock into someone's narrative or perspective of the time. I don't mean this to dismiss the Exodus story or the Gospel of Mark. What I mean is, we do not ground it in it's context and what it meant to the people of the time. By understanding what it means to them, we can then hear our own story as a companion to that story. Why does Exodus have to be this cloud-parting, holy thing that happened in the past? Why can't we hear that narrative of what people thought of their history and think, "Wow, that story is like what my grandma though when she moved to Australia..." We put way to much stock in a reflection and make it this holy eternal unwavering idea, rather than inspiration to hear our own voice, our communities' voices, and our national narratives. When we take the 'holier than your story' out of the bible, we can use it to inspire us to hear God in our own narrative. This might be why I wish mainstream churches had an open cannon. There are so many stories that inspire that could help others beyond texts a few thousand years old.

brentpelton — 2024-11-15 02:22:46 UTC

This is an example of an incantation bowl using biblical texts. I really want to explore this more to understand how the average person expressed their faith in that time period and not necessarily the the priestly texts that we have in the bible. I really want to find out more information about these incantation bowls. I really like the idea of trying to uncover more of the common person's approach to faith historically. I can then find some more resources online like this above. This might be an interesting way of engaging students in CS at the older level, discussing their own cultural elements or practices that they do. This may be throwing salt over the shoulder, having the Greek eye, or other aspects that take on ritualistic elements and connecting it to the lived practice of students.

brentpelton — 2024-11-15 02:45:28 UTC

Here is a text I will read to inform my ongoing growth in understanding the contextual nature of items like the psalms.

brentpelton — 2024-11-15 03:34:34 UTC

I could continue to develop my understanding of these topics through continued study and practice. This could be done with the Masters of Ministry, which combines pastoral, counselling, and theological concepts to enhance my practice. This will build on my previous experience in counselling and theology.