5. In Over Our Heads (We Make the Road by Walking)

"Celebration" by Tom DuBois

Engage

1.  What one thought or idea from today's lesson especially intrigued, provoked, disturbed, challenged, encouraged, warmed, warned, helped, or surprised you?

2.  Share a story where you felt like someone at the top of the pyramid, or like someone at the bottom.

3.  How do you respond to the comparison between stories and scientific theories, or to the distinction between factual and actual truth?

4.  Have you ever known a bully, or have you ever been a bully, or have you ever been bullied?  Tell us about it.

Activate

5.  Look for moments this week when it might be appropriate for you to say, "God must be better than that."  And look for examples this week of the powerful exploiting the vulnerable when it might be appropriate for you to say, "We can be better than that."

Meditate

6.  Ask yourself, in God's presence, "What desire to acquire may be driving me into trouble?"  After a few moments of silence, acknowledge the desires that come to mind.  Then ask for other, better desires to replace the desire to acquire.

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2014

4. The Drama of Desire (We Make the Road by Walking)

Competition

Engage

1.  What one thought or idea from today's lesson especially intrigued, provoked, disturbed, challenged, encouraged, warmed, warned, helped, or surprised you?

2.  Share a story about your interaction with someone you were jealous of or considered a rival.  What did they have or desire that you desired?  How did your relationship play out?

3.  How do you respond to reading the Philippians 2 passage as a reversal of the Genesis 3 passage?

4.  How do you feel when you win or lose in a game?  How do you feel when you do better or worse at something than someone else?  Tell us a story about it.

Activate

5. Be especially sensitive to revalry this week.  When you feel it, ask what "desire to acquire" is driving you.  And ask whom you are imitating in this "desire to acquire."  In this way, seek to become more aware of the Cain and Abel struggling in your own life and heart.

Meditate

6.  After a few moments of silence, let one emotion rise to the surface and express that emotion to God — and, if you'd like, to your companions, with a brief explanation.

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2014

The Seventh Step ~ How Little We Know

Questions

1.  Armstrong writes, "When we cling to our certainties, likes, and dislikes, deeming them essential to our sense of self, we alienate ourselves from the 'great transformation' of the Way, because the reality is that we are all in continual flux, moving from one state to another.  An unenlightened person, [Chinese philosopher and mystic] Zhuangzi explained, is like a frog in a well who mistakes the tiny patch of sky he can see for the whole; but once he has seen the sky's immensity, his perspective is changed forever" (p. 122).  How do you interpret this lesson?  How might you put it into practice?

2.  Discuss what Socrates meant when he said, "The unexamined life is not worth living" (p. 129).

3.  Discuss the concept of the mystery of life that was underscored in this chapter.  How does acknowledging and honoring the mystery of life and of each other contribute to our capacity for compassion?

4.  Do the exercise on page 129, "conducting a debate in which everybody argues for a position that is the opposite of what he or she believes.  Then discuss your experience."

Actions

1.  Follow the three steps Armstrong lays out on pages 128-130.

"First, think about those experiences that touch you deeply and lift you momentarily beyond yourself so that you seem to inhabit your humanity more fully than usual" (p. 128).
"Second, stand back and listen to the aggressive certainty that characterizes so much of our discourse these days" (p. 128).
"Third, spend some time trying to define exactly what distinguishes you from everybody else" (p. 129).

2.  Added by Bonnie from page 130):  "Make a serious attempt to pin down precisely what it is that you love about your partner or a close friend.  List that person's qualities:  Is that why you love him?  Or is there something about her that you cannot describe?During your mindfulness practice, look around your immediate circle:  your family, colleagues, and friends.  What do you really know about each and every one of them?  What are their deepest fears and hopes?  What are their most intimate dreams and fantasies?  And how well do you think they really know you?"

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2010

3. A World of Meaning (We Make the Road by Walking)

"Creation reveals wisdom through its patterns" (p. 12).

Engage

1.  What one thought or idea from today's lesson especially intrigued, provoked, disturbed, challenged, encouraged, warmed, warned, helped, or surprised you?

2.  Share a story about a time when you lived by the logic of rivalry, compliance, or meaningless mechanism.  How did that work out for you?

3.  Imagine and describe what your life would be like if you chose to live more by the logos of love than you do now.

4.  Is there a movie that you like to watch again and again?  What about it makes you want to keep enjoying it again and again?

Activate

5.  Share with someone this week — a family member, a friend, a coworker, or an acquaintance — the idea that we all live by a certain logos or logic.  Ask them which logos they see to be most powerful in today's world — rivalry, compliance, meaningless mechanism, or love.

Meditate

6.  Observe a few moments of silence to imagine yourself living more fully in the logos of love.

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2014

2. Being Human (We Make the Road by Walking)

Engage

1.  What one thought or idea from today's lesson especially intrigued, provoked, disturbed, challenged, encouraged, warmed, warned, helped, or surprised you?

2.  Share a story about a time when someone played god and judged you, or a time when you played god and judged someone else.

3.  Tell us about a person who reflected God to you in some special way.

4.  Think about your hands.  What is something kind and creative you can do with your hands?  What is something mean or harmful you can do with your hands?  How can the same hands do both kind and mean things?

Activate

5.  If part of being image bearers of God means that we represent God in caring for the Earth, it's important to learn about your corner of the Earth.  You know your postal address (nation, state, city, postal code).  What is your environmental address?  Learn about your watershed, what makes it special, and the environmental issues it faces.

Meditate

6.  Observe a few moments of silence.  Let a silent prayer rise from within you.

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2014

1. Awe and Wonder (We Make the Road by Walking)

Engage

1.  What one thought or idea from today's lesson especially intrigued, provoked, disturbed, challenged, encouraged, warmed, warned, helped, or surprised you?

2.  Share a story about a time when you most felt the humble awe and joyful wonder described in this chapter.

3.  What is the most beautiful place you have ever seen?  What was so special about it?

4.  What is your favorite animal?  Why do you like it so much?

Activate

5.  This week, choose one facet of creation that you love — birds, trees, weather, soil, water, light, children, sex, aging, sleep.  Observe it, think about it, learn about it every chance you can, with this question in mind:  if that element of creation were your only Bible, what would it tell you about God?

Meditate

6.  Observe a few moments of silence.  Let a silent prayer of gratitude arise from within you.

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2014

Spiritual formation ~ a year-long quest

Even though Brian McLaren writes from a Christian perspective, you can use his book to become more alive whether you are Christian or something else or no religion at all.  The flap promises "this book will inspire and activate you in your spiritual journey" even if you feel out of place in traditional church circles.

We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2014

This book puts tools in our hands to create a life-changing learning community.  The fifty-two (plus a few) weekly readings guide an individual or a group of friends through a year of rich study, interactive learning, and personal growth.  Discussion questions are designed to challenge, stimulate, and encourage, so that we can re-imagine what it means to live joyfully and responsibly.  Our goal is to move toward justice, creativity, and peace on our spiritual journey.

Part I ~ Alive in the Story of Creation

1.  Awe and Wonder
2.  Being Human
3.  A World of Meaning
4.  The Drama of Desire
5.  In Over Our Heads
6.  Plotting Goodness
7.  It's Not Too Late
8.  Rivalry or Reconciliation?
9.  Freedom!
10.  Getting Slavery Out of the People
11.  From Ugliness, a Beauty Emerges
12.  Stories That Shape Us
13.  The Great Conversation

First Quarter Queries

Part II ~ Alive in the Adventure of Jesus

14.  Promised Land, Promised Time
15.  Women on the Edge
16.  Keep Herod in Christmas
17.  Surprising People
17A.  The Light Has Come (Christmas Eve)
18.  Sharing Gifts (Sunday on or after Christmas Day)
19.  Jesus Coming of Age
20.  Join the Adventure!
21.  Significant and Wonderful
22.  Jesus the Teacher
23.  Jesus and the Multitudes
24.  Jesus and Hell
25.  Jesus, Violence, and Power
26.  Making It Real

Second Quarter Queries

Part III ~ Alive in a Global Uprising

27.  A New Identity
28.  A New Path to Aliveness
29.  Your Secret Life
30.  Why We Worry, Why We Judge
31.  The Choice Is Yours
32.  Peace March (Palm Sunday)
32A.  A Table. A Basin. Some Food. Some Friends. (Holy Thursday)
32B.  Everything Must Change (Good Friday)
32C.  Doubt. Darkness. Despair. (Holy Saturday)
33.  The Uprising Begins (Easter Sunday)
34.  The Uprising of Fellowship
35.  The Uprising of Discipleship
36.  The Uprising of Worship
37.  The Uprising of Partnership
38.  The Uprising of Stewardship
39.  Whatever the Hardship, Keep Rising Up!

Third Quarter Queries

Part IV ~ Alive in the Spirit of God

40.  The Spirit Is Moving!  (Pentecost Sunday)
41.  Moving with the Spirit
42.  Spirit of Love: Loving God
43.  Spirit of Love: Loving Neighbor
44.  Spirit of Love: Loving Self
45.  Spirit of Unity and Diversity
46.  Spirit of Service
47.  The Spirit Conspiracy
48.  Spirit of Power
49.  Spirit of Holiness
50.  Spirit of Life
51.  Spirit of Hope
52.  God in the End

Fourth Quarter Queries