Year C, Advent 2, 2018 – Peace

Hey! Welcome back! Between last week and this week, WordPress changed it’s dashboard design, and so I am not at peace right now. At all. I logged in and everything was different! I will eventually adapt to the new formatting, but the sudden switch has truly thrown me. (David can attest to this!) [Yes, it’s true. – D2]  I find this a bit ironic, because I have always thought I was someone who flowed fairly well with roadblocks and delays. Sudden change? Not so much, apparently. Unexpected developments can throw us off our game, but they can also bring clear evidence that something is on the horizon. If it is something from God, it will likely bring peace to unsettled situations.  This week’s worksheets: EYE smartDownload BODY smartDownload This week’s texts are:  Malachi 3:1-4 [01:58]  David is concentrating on EYE smart this week. Using this intelligence may lead you to resources with lots of color, shape, graphs, form, space, and ways that engage the minds of artists, stylists, and people who create and process information visually. To illustrate the refiner’s fire, try using the links below about smelting silver. Be certain to point out the need for high temperatures and harsh chemicals that will not allow the silver to remain the same.  I am concentrating on BODY smart this week. I looked for ways to engage this text with people’s physical being, so try illustrating the refiner’s fire as a workout routine or new, cleansing diet. For a special effect, try some rigorous standing yoga poses. This passage can also be presented through dance or at least liturgical movement.  Smarts – Eye [02:37], Body [09:46]Links in Malachi   EYE smartHere is a video where a fellow explains how he extracts silver from silver sulfide ore.There are other videos out there on melting silver to pour that might be better. Like this on just melting some silver jewelry.BODY smartTry yoga poses that require attention to balance like tree or eagle.The passage could be interpreted through dance! Or, at least through liturgical movement. Luke 1:68-79 [14:27] Zechariah had a lot of time to sit and watch for nine months before the birth of John, his son. His song of praise can also be interpreted through dance or movement. What caught our attention was the idea of sitting in darkness. We both suggest just trying it – turn off the lights in your worship space. To connect this to BODY smart, ask people to pay attention to physical reactions to being in the dark. For EYE smart, consider what it means metaphorically to be sitting in the dark. How does that look to one’s imagination? Smarts – Eye [20:00], Body [15:30] Philippians 1:3-11 [24:35]  Even though we worked on our assignments independently of one another, we came up with similar ideas for this text, too! We each centered on imprisonment. In EYE smart, David has some material that deals with the space of jail cells and images of jail cells that may date back to the Roman era. For BODY smart, what does imprisonment do to a person physically?  Smarts – Eye [25:48], Body [29:50]Links in Philippians   EYE smartSome information on Paul’s imprisonments.Here is some more about the Mamertine Prison in RomeWikipedia page on prison cellsThere are millions of people who are incarcerated todayBODY smartHow is modern imprisonment different from the first century?The Marshall Project Luke 3:1-6 [33:57] In EYE smart, David illustrates the high, low, and crooked places using roads he experienced in Arizona. He has some hands on ideas for a special effect to demonstrate high and low places swapping out places. I also have an idea for BODY smart to demonstrate this swapping which uses either dough or pillows. You can also illustrate preparing the way with some physical activity that has some hands on application.  Smarts – Eye [37:49], Body [34:57]Links in Luke   EYE smartMake a poster with a two-image sliderMake a paper lantern Image credit: Copyright Haraldur Hubertsson. Used by permission.