Chapter 1

For this chapter pictures are available through website references. ------------------------------------ PAINTINGS Study group members may like to look at a range of paintings, traditional and modern, of Christ in the Wilderness: http://www.artsstudio.com/reproductions/new_kramskoi-christ-02.htm http://www.christcenteredmall.com/stores/art/dicianni/in_the_wilderness.htm http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bota/ho_11.53.htm http://www.bmagic.org.uk/objects/1963P10 http://godslyricalone.blogspot.com/2007/01/christ-in-wilderness.html

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Chapter 2

For this chapter there are resources on the environment. The following may be useful for Question 3. --------------------------------------------------- “Green by Grace” Visit the Anglican Church of Australia website to read about the national Church’s work on – Energy, Environment and Climate Change - www.anglican.org.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- and/or – note what you find important in the following: Tim Flannery is undoubtedly Australia’s strongest and most articulate scientists to speak and write about the radical urgency to act in relation to climate change. Here is an extract of one of his recent essays. N OW O R Quarterley Essay Magazine Sept 2008 N E V E R A Sustainable Future for Australia ? Tim Flannery Our despoliation of Earth’s life-support systems seems to mark us destroyer of our own civilisations, and as the planetary crisis we have created deepens, it is certain that no saviour will arise to rescue us from ourselves. There is no real debate about how serious our predicament is: all plausible projections indicate that over the next forty to ninety years humanity will exceed – in all probability by around 100 per cent – the capacity of Earth to supply our needs, thereby greatly exacerbating the risk of widespread starvation, or of being overwhelmed by our own pollution. The most credible estimates indicate that we are already exceeding Earth’s capacity to support our species (termed its biocapacity) by around 25 per cent. With global food security at an all-time low, and greenhouse gases so choking our atmosphere as to threaten a global climate catastrophe, the signs of what may come are all around us. Everyone knows what the solution is: we must begin to live sustainably. But what does that actually mean? “Sustainability” is a word that can mean almost anything to anyone. Whether used by cosmetics advertisers or fruit sellers, it is bandied about as if it were the essence of virtue. Yet so recent is the word that my spell check doesn't recognise it. That increasingly authoritative fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, defines sustainability as “a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefi nitely.” Hardly a moral definition, this, or indeed – in light of the second law of thermodynamics – a feasible one. Many environmentalists opt for a more practical meaning: “living in such a way as not to detract from the potential quality of life of future generations.” And here we find a definition in harmony with the commonly voiced aspiration to “try to leave the world a better place than we found it.” This essay is in part an inquiry into the causes of our common failure to realise this heartfelt desire – even though it is one shared by almost every individual on Earth. If we accept the environmentalists’ definition, living sustainably does not involve any particular morality beyond extending the Eighth Commandment (Thou shalt not steal) to future generations. A society that limited itself to such a narrow aspiration could be a barbarous place. Why worry about the distribution of wealth? Why waste a corpse? Any meaningful inquiry into sustainability must surely be broader than this, and thus be as much a philosophical and moral discussion as a scientifi c one; for sustainability pertains to us – our innate needs and desires – as much as it does to the workings and capacities of our planet. A real search for sustainability involves a broad vision – indeed, it encompasses many flashpoint issues: is there space for meat eating in a sustainable world, for example? And what of animal rights – and human rights – and religion, and democracy, and the free market, and war? While a detailed look at how these issues could be squared with a fully sustainable future is far beyond the scope of this essay, such questions will continually arise as we examine clear, practical solutions to our most urgent problems. Where does science fit into this inquiry? In human affairs there is often a great difference between aspiration and achievement. Even a society possessed of a moral and philosophical framework ideally suited to attaining a sustainable future may fail to do so if it lacks knowledge of how the world works, and of how its practices and technology are affecting Earth’s life-support systems. Accurate scientific knowledge of Earth and its processes is vital to the pursuit of sustainability. And so I propose commencing this investigation with two questions, which, even if they cannot be definitively answered, can nevertheless guide us in our search. What is our purpose as a species? And how does Earth work? The wellsprings from which we derive meaning in our lives are intensely personal. My own search for meaning has led me to the belief that this generation – those of us living at the dawn of the twenty-first century – is destined to achieve an extraordinary transformation, one unique in the 4-billion-year history of Earth, and one which will influence the fate of life from now on. Geologists talk of the dawning of a new geological period called the Anthropocene, which is characterised by pervasive human infl uence on Earth processes. But perhaps the Anthropocene will truly have dawned when humanity uses its intelligence to help regulate those processes for the good of Earth as a whole. It is the great complexity and order created by evolution through natural selection that has led to the existence of Gaia: Earth conceived of as a self-regulating, evolving system. James Lovelock, the originator of the Gaia hypothesis, illustrated the concept by showing how Earth as a whole maintains the temperature of the planet’s surface within bounds that are conducive to life, and recycles nutrients and regulates the chemistry of the oceans to the same end. In short, life keeps the atmosphere and oceans out of balance with Earth’s rocks in a way that permits life to flourish. The Gaia hypothesis is a way of describing how our living planet as a whole works. We have long understood – from biblical teaching and practical experience – that we are naught but earth: ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as the English burial service puts it. Indeed, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19) are among the oldest written words to have come down to us. Yet while we have long understood that we are earth, it is equally true, but almost never said, that we are Earth as well. We are Earth by virtue of the fact that every one of us has been shaped by the process of evolution through natural selection: it’s that process which spawns the exceedingly complex and highly ordered structures known as life and its ecosystems. And this has a profound implication: Earth was not made for us, rather we were made for this Earth. This realisation of our purpose is at odds with some of the most powerful currents in our Western civilisation, including the Christian tradition I grew up in. In fact, it is diametrically opposed to them, for it asserts that we are evolved to serve Earth, and that our great and distinguishing characteristic – our intelligence – is not ours alone, but Gaia’s as well, and is destined to be used by Gaia for her own purposes. James Lovelock took the name Gaia from the ancient Greeks: it was their term for the earth goddess. I believe that over the course of the twenty-first century we will again come to serve our Earth goddess, perhaps even to revere her. Looking at the current state of Earth, you might be tempted to see humanity as an enemy of Gaia, but to do so would be a mistake. We are self-evidently part of Gaia, and, just as self-evidently, as animals in the Gaian system we must kill (even if we kill only vegetable matter) in order to survive. Gaia is all about the giving, taking and reprocessing of life. Perceiving ourselves as outside of and antagonistic to Gaia is, I believe, a terrible mistake, for to do so leads us to consider actions necessary for our survival to be somehow wrong. As animals we must eat, and that means taking life. Striving for a bloodless, painless world of pristine morality and zero impact on nature is delusional. Even more importantly, it blinds us to what I believe is the true purpose, according to the Gaian perspective, of our existence. I believe that the deepest signifi cance of the twenty-fi rst century can be glimpsed in the hierarchical structure of life on Earth. Here lies the potential for sustainability and the transformation of our existence. Guided by evolution, the history of life has been one of increasing complexity and increasing effi ciency. The eminent evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould argued that life has not increased in overall complexity because simple life forms such as bacteria still constitute the great mass of life. Yet, viewed from a Gaian perspective, this theory overlooks the undeniable spread and increasing development of life. Life has spread from its origins on the bottom of shallow seas 3.5 billion years ago to almost all parts of Earth’s rind. Some 540 million years ago, creatures learned to burrow into the sediments of the sea floor. Then they colonised land, the air and the ocean depths. Furthermore, as life evolved and spread, the reproduction and metabolism of innumerable lineages improved over time, as did the effi ciency of bodily command-and-control systems. Large, highly evolved creatures such as mammals play a disproportionately important role in infl uencing the carbon cycle and other ecosystem processes. There is no doubt that their evolution has increased Gaia’s ability to control planetary life-support systems, for as mammalian metabolism has become more complex and efficient, so has that of the planet as a whole. Six hundred million years ago, when there was little or no complex life, Earth’s thermostatic control was so poor that the planet repeatedly froze right to the equator, an event known as “snowball Earth.” Since the rise of complex life, such events have not recurred. Evolution through natural selection is a blind process whose only tools are variation (within populations) and death (of the less well adapted). That’s why Richard Dawkins likened its workings to that of a “blind watchmaker.” But now, after 4 billion years, the evolutionary process has thrown up a potentially powerful and swiftly responsive command-andcontrol system that may serve Gaia as a whole. That system is our own human intelligence and self-awareness. It is my belief that we humans are poised to become, from now on, the means by which Gaia will regulate at least some of its essential processes. Is it right to say that we are Gaia’s self-awareness? Gaia’s brain? I believe it is. After all, we commonly talk about our own self-awareness, yet rarely question whether our toes, for example, are aware of the beautiful starry night that our brains are taking in. Admittedly, our bodies are far more highly integrated than are Gaia’s disparate parts. But it is undeniable that we are a part of the Gaian whole. Whether there is a Gaian meaning to our existence or not, acknowledging that we are an influential part of Gaia requires a change in the way we interact with Earth’s life-support processes. After all, brains do not despoil the bodies that they are part of, for to do so is to destroy themselves. Admittedly, brains are expensive to run. Our own brains, which constitute just 2 per cent of our bodies by weight, greedily take around 20 per cent of all the energy we consume. As Gaia’s intelligence, humanity will doubtless impose a heavy tithe on the Earth, yet that burden cannot be so great as to bankrupt the system that supports it. Gaia’s potential for intelligent control is exceedingly recent: it arose abruptly towards the end of the twentieth century, after humans had plumbed the depths of the oceans, revealed Earth’s internal structure and her history, and photographed her from deep space. Scientists such as Carl Sagan were the first to glimpse the full significance of these achievements, yet such has been our lack of focus on sustainability that even today the great mass of humanity is unaware of their true import. By the twenty-first century the achievements of these pioneers had opened the way to a limited understanding of how Earth works. Here, scientists such as James Lovelock led the way, and as a result of their efforts we can now describe in some detail how Earth recycles minerals and nutrients, how atmospheric and oceanic chemistry is maintained, how the surface temperature of our planet is regulated, and how biodiversity is protected from external shocks. It was as if, by the late twentieth century, we had fi nally lifted the bonnet on our planetary vehicle and seen the sophisticated engine concealed within. Then, at the dawn of the new century, we began to understand how it actually worked. Such deep understanding of Earth’s self-regulatory systems is inevitably empowering. Just as surgery could not progress without Harvey’s discovery of the circulation of the blood, so humanity could not hope positively to infl uence Earth’s thermostat without knowledge of the carbon cycle. If the twentieth century was the century of technological triumph, then this twenty-first century of ours marks an even more signal moment in planetary history: the century when our knowledge of Earth’s processes must be put to use. Within the lifetimes of many people reading this essay, Gaia will pass from an unconscious to a conscious means of control after 4 billion years of self-regulation. Either that or we will fail to achieve sustainability, and Gaia’s newly attained consciousness

Chapter 3

For this chapter there are resources on the set reading and the topic of refugees. ----------------------------------------
The Cleansing of the Temple. Whilst the set reading for this week is from St John’s Gospel some thoughts on the event as read in one of the other Gospels could be of interest: Jesus Cleanses the Temple (Mark 11:15-19) Jesus Cleanses the Temple 15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; 16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. 17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. 19 And when even was come, he went out of the city. (Compare: Matthew 21:12-17; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-22) Jesus, the Temple, and the Priests The two stories about the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree may be Mark’s best use of his common technique of “sandwiching” stories in a manner that allows one to serve as exegesis on the other. Both stories are probably not literal, but the story of the fig tree is even more abstract and reveals deeper meaning to the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple — and vice-versa. After cursing the fig tree, Jesus and his disciples reenter Jerusalem and proceed to the Temple where “moneychangers” and those selling sacrificial animals are doing a lively business. Mark reports that this infuriates Jesus who overturns the tables and chastises them. This is the most violent we have seen Jesus yet and is quite uncharacteristic of him thus far — but then again, so was cursing the fig tree, and as we know the two events are closely linked. What is meant by Jesus’ actions? Some have argued that he was announcing that a new age was close at hand, an age where the cultic practices of the Jews would be overturned like the tables and transformed into prayers that all nations could join in. This might help explain the anger experienced by some because this would eliminate the Jews’ status as God’s special chosen nation. Others have argued that Jesus’ purpose was to overturn the abusive and corrupt practices at the Temple which served to oppress the poor. Rather than a religious institution, there is some evidence that it may have become more concerned with how much profit could be made by exchanging money and selling expensive items which the priestly hierarchy said were necessary for pilgrims. The attack, then, would be against an oppressive aristocracy rather than all of Israel — a common theme with many Old Testament prophets and something that would make the anger of the authorities very understandable. Perhaps like the cursing of the fig tree, though, this isn’t a literal and historical event either, even though it is less abstract. It might be argued that this incident is supposed to make concrete to Mark’s audience that Jesus has come to render the old religious order obsolete because it no longer serves God’s purposes. The Temple (representing in the minds of many Christians either Judaism or the people of Israel) has become a “den of thieves,” but in the future the new house of God will be a house of prayer for “all nations.” This phrase references Isaiah 56:7 and alludes to the future spread of Christianity to the Gentiles. Mark’s community probably would have been able to identify closely with this incident, feeling that Jewish traditions and laws would no longer be binding on them and expecting that their community ----------------------------------------

Refugees
The following poems from different context may be helpful to group members in imagining aspects of what it must be like to go through the refugee experience- especially relevant to Question 2. Becoming a Refugee By Deng Duot Dimma Refugee Camp June 2004 The actual moment, Of Exile, Is like an illness. You are ill, With rage. To each family, It means closing the door, On friends, culture, your native country. One year is an exile, Compared to ten years. Ten years, Means nothing, In the history of the country. But for a human being, Is a long time. For a child, A life time. Some of us, We're born in Ethiopian camps. Peace is 'round the corner, What I call home, Will still be, Another exile. Because, I don't know home. What an irony, To become a refugee. [14-year-old Deng Duot, a Sudanese refugee, presented this poem during the 2004 World Refugee Day commemorations in Ethiopia Poem by Giddi Abamegal, an Oromo refugee in Kenya published in Tilting Cages: A Collection of Refugee Writings, edited by Noomi Flutter and Carl Solomon. It reflects the feelings of loneliness, uncertainty and rootlessness which permeates the lives of refugees everywhere. In front of my tilting cage that little hut of plastics, so not to suffer from loneliness, I travelled far and wide all in my thought. I went back to the remote past, our home and its vicinities, grandma and her stories of my great grandfather, those mighty warriors from whom I inherited intolerance and pride. I travelled far and wide all in my thought. I went far into the future, into my dreams and high hopes. To see what was there, where this changeless passage of time, where this endless kick of my heels, could possibly one day lead. I travelled far and wide, all in my though I also travelled to eternity, to see my soul at the end of this mess. I travelled far and wide, All in my thought. Written by Chinua Achebe from Nigeria No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mother's tenderness for a son she soon will have to forget. The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea of unwashed children with washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms struggling in labored steps behind blown empty bellies. Most mothers there had long ceased to care but not this one; she held a ghost smile between her teeth and in her eyes the ghost of a mother's pride as she combed the rust-colored hair left on his skull and then - singing in her eyes - began carefully to part it... In another life this would have been a little daily act of no consequence before his breakfast and school; now she did it like putting flowers on a tiny grave.

Chapter 4

For this chapter there are two extra offerings:. a reflection on silent prayer and a musical resource on John 3:16 . ----------------------------------------- The Silent, Contemplative Way of Prayer. The following quote may be of interest as a follow up to the comment on p 25: We probably need more contemplative, rather than talking type prayer... Contemplative prayer is one of the spokes of the wheel of Christian prayer along with other forms – worship, intercession, confession, praying with scripture … with the hub of the wheel being the mind of Christ. Contemplative prayer is the form of prayer that invites us to go beyond our thought and therefore beyond the ego. Emptying the mind by use of the mantra, or possibly some other approach, is a way to be in the presence of God. This form of prayer practices silence. “There is nothing so much like God as silence.” (Meister Eckhart). Growing a love of silence is the gradual realisation of this mystical truth. Silence is not the absence of noise, but the absence of thought. Meditation is the work of silence. In meditation we chose, as inevitably the mind wanders, to come back to the centre repeatedly. The repetition of the mantra (Marantha – Come, Lord, come, or some other phrases like Lord have mercy, Abba, Jesus...) involves us in not thinking about the mantra but simply and slowly saying it. Distraction is of course ever-present. We are asked to gently return again and again to the mantra. Distraction is like having wandered off the path into the forest. All we need do is come back continually to the path. The tradition teaches that connection with stillness is where God arises and is simultaneously a way to self-knowledge on a deep level. Accepting the notion of ‘God arising’ does not mean that we will have holy thoughts at points in the times of meditation or even that should aim to have them. In the process of slowing down in meditation we go down into the inner chamber of the heart. We may not have visited this space since childhood or only in a fleeting visit during a crisis. In time we discover it is the place where truly home is. Moving into contemplative prayer is not into ‘my prayer’ but the prayer of Jesus. All we do is allow Jesus to act in our souls. It is an act of non- controlling trust, a challenge to ego desire. We are invited into this way of praying alongside the reading of scripture, participating in the Eucharist and engaging in personal mental prayer. It is about abandoning the ego to God and staying in the discipline of a daily set-aside time. Its rooted-ness is in the teaching of Jesus where he continually points to the need for an inner orientation towards God and a corresponding self-knowledge. In the Sermon on the Mount we find the foundations for contemplative prayer: interiority and silence before God -“shut the door” - go into your heart and be there before God stay in the present, the ‘Now’ - “do not worry about tomorrow” attention or mindfulness - “set your minds on the Kingdom”. ----------------------------- From the author’s recently published book Taking the Plunge: Seeking Accompanying Baptising For further reading on this topic visit the website of the World Community for Christian Meditation - www.wccm.org ------------------------------------- Musical Resource As a part of the Closing Prayer the leader may like to consider following - God So Love the World can be found on : youTube , for example - http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=dMa29fqIIoM

Chapter 5

For this chapter a check list is offered as well as follow up questions and suggestions – for some other time. ---------------------------------- Check list of key concepts:
1. Remaining on my own alone is something I may have some fears about but it is a good and wholesome thing to develop (knowing that I am in God’s presence).
2. What are the important ways of praying for me? What new way might I be invited into?
3. The environment is deeply in need of being loved by us humans in this generation.
4. Gather up the ways you can celebrate creation.
5. With those who suffer we need to find ways to ‘walk in their shoes’.
6. Who are new neighbours for me?
7. It is urgent to learn more about the sufferings of Plant Earth.
8. Let us search out and remember the times each of us have actually ‘tasted glory’ in our lives.
9. It is important as Christians today that we are no overwhelmed by the busyness of our high-tech, ultra- mobile society but find God’s grace and light daily.
10. There are a couple of precious scriptural verses in this Lenten series for each participant (different for each person).
11. Jesus is absolutely passionate about bringing God’s love to every human being: blood-spillingly passionate. Each of us need to have the courage to find a couple of things in this series that are ‘ for me’ - that challenge each of us to change and go forward. We are encouraged to decide to do this in the renewal baptismal vows this Easter. ---------------------------------------

Follow Up Questions and Suggestions
If the study group members wish to meet for an extra get-together some of the following as ideas may be helpful - to meet soon after Easter is recommended :
1. Prepare to share a meal together that is the food eaten in another country. The country chosen can be one that has been talked about in the series. Share some more aspects of that country and its people during the meal.
2. After the meal share what Easter has meant for you this year, especially the baptismal vows.
3. If the group does not have a meal together you can still consider doing the sharing in 2.
4. In what ways do participants experience the Risen Christ encouraging or strengthening them at the moment?
5. Would the group like to request sharing aspects of its Lenten group journey with the congregation? If so, how will you prepare for this? (Suggestion: concentrate on discoveries and outcomes to communicate, not generalities like, ‘We have good time’...)
6. Easter is very much about supporting new disciples/new Christians., how will you do this?
7. Is there an activity or prayer or mission project that you as a group - or some of its members - are inspired to undertake in the parish or beyond?