Symbolon Week 2.
I thought the video portion was better this week. It was about scripture and tradition. How with the magisterium one cannot exist without the other. How "Bible alone" or Sola Scripura fails. But then I found the small group portion to be lacking. It might be the questions they ask. It might be the moderator. I don't feel like I felt a connection with these people this week, unlike last. We didn't go around introducing ourselves. Anyway... Where should I start?
I got home. Had a quick dinner. Washed my dishes and prayed. Freshened up... The Aunts' door was completely closed. It's usually cracked a bit. But I knocked. Tita Carmen was asleep. Tita Mena was lounging. Anyway, I told her I was heading out to a "church thing" and would be back at 8:30. I was putting on my jacket and she came down to get dinner, I suppose.
Got to the church around 6:50. Room was pretty full. But a guy at the snack table approached me and greeted me. He didn't say anything other than hi, he then stood there like he was expecting something. So... I don't know, I was weirded out. Like... Did he want me to introduce myself? I eventually evaded him, took a seat, put my stuff down and went to the snack table. He then started talking about the selection, coffee, tea, monster and the like. I saw people from my group last week, smiled at them. Once again felt... Like people were in their little groups and I'm all by myself. Once again, I saw Fr. I and avoided him. Well... I almost took a selfie, but I couldn't find him in my screen without being weird.
As I said, the video was about Scripture and Tradition. Talked of how Jesus didn't give the Church the Bible, nor did it drop from the sky. Jesus established a church and gave Peter the Keys. Talking about protestant denominations interpreting the bible for themselves. Each having their own interpretation. Them relying on the bible alone. Talk of authority. There was a study done with school children on whether a fence should be placed up. Basically without a fence children seemed to huddle close to the building, while with a fence the more they spread out. Basically... With boundaries there is true freedom. With authority, the Church, there is freedom and security.
We then broke into groups by the year of our birth, like the last number. So... I was at 9 and for a while I was sitting by myself. Someone from a crowded table came over. Soon other people came too. Yeah, so the questions... Oh firstly... Jesus is not a plan B. I don't even remember the question, but a lot of the responses were people were sinning in the old testament, the world was full of evil, Jesus needed to step in to fix it all. Uh... No. Sin exists because we suck! Even God says they (we?) are a stiff necked people. Having read through the old testament, over and over again it's about how they turned their back on God, etc, etc. I don't know... I never saw Jesus become man as a direct answer to the sinning of the old testament. Maybe it's a "plan B" in the sense of "Oh happy fault". As in without the original sin of Adam and Eve would we have had the incarnation? Would God have become Man? Anyway, yeah... Oh the initial question was "Do you believe God wants a personally relationship with you?" He went around the table asking for answers and all I can say was, "Yes?" Lol! Yeah, that was pretty much all I said. Oh and then someone said they understood the Church, but nowhere in the video did it mention the sacraments. I feel like the series is a slow build, so I get why it wasn't mentioned. But she was saying the sacraments are where we find God. She didn't exactly say they weren't present in other churches, but... Yeah, I was getting what she was saying. Asked if we had shared what we learned last week. Kinda? Or if we told anyone about the program. Kinda? It ended on a weird note... It was a question about Sacred Tradition and Tradition of Men. And... I personally didn't understand what tradition of men was. Someone brought up Church and State. Then someone mentioned the country's founding. Then someone brought up slavery. So he kept talking about how he and the moderator (who was black) in the past would have been at odds just because of their skin color. Like... What does this have to do with anything??? Thankfully the main speaker guy was like wrap it up, time to leave.
Anyway... Fr. I was 2 tables away. I do not know if he stayed around last week. But... I'd be interested in his answers. But at the same time, I'd be too, even more so, shy to say anything.
cc 7500centfish kumquatqueen
I got home. Had a quick dinner. Washed my dishes and prayed. Freshened up... The Aunts' door was completely closed. It's usually cracked a bit. But I knocked. Tita Carmen was asleep. Tita Mena was lounging. Anyway, I told her I was heading out to a "church thing" and would be back at 8:30. I was putting on my jacket and she came down to get dinner, I suppose.
Got to the church around 6:50. Room was pretty full. But a guy at the snack table approached me and greeted me. He didn't say anything other than hi, he then stood there like he was expecting something. So... I don't know, I was weirded out. Like... Did he want me to introduce myself? I eventually evaded him, took a seat, put my stuff down and went to the snack table. He then started talking about the selection, coffee, tea, monster and the like. I saw people from my group last week, smiled at them. Once again felt... Like people were in their little groups and I'm all by myself. Once again, I saw Fr. I and avoided him. Well... I almost took a selfie, but I couldn't find him in my screen without being weird.
As I said, the video was about Scripture and Tradition. Talked of how Jesus didn't give the Church the Bible, nor did it drop from the sky. Jesus established a church and gave Peter the Keys. Talking about protestant denominations interpreting the bible for themselves. Each having their own interpretation. Them relying on the bible alone. Talk of authority. There was a study done with school children on whether a fence should be placed up. Basically without a fence children seemed to huddle close to the building, while with a fence the more they spread out. Basically... With boundaries there is true freedom. With authority, the Church, there is freedom and security.
We then broke into groups by the year of our birth, like the last number. So... I was at 9 and for a while I was sitting by myself. Someone from a crowded table came over. Soon other people came too. Yeah, so the questions... Oh firstly... Jesus is not a plan B. I don't even remember the question, but a lot of the responses were people were sinning in the old testament, the world was full of evil, Jesus needed to step in to fix it all. Uh... No. Sin exists because we suck! Even God says they (we?) are a stiff necked people. Having read through the old testament, over and over again it's about how they turned their back on God, etc, etc. I don't know... I never saw Jesus become man as a direct answer to the sinning of the old testament. Maybe it's a "plan B" in the sense of "Oh happy fault". As in without the original sin of Adam and Eve would we have had the incarnation? Would God have become Man? Anyway, yeah... Oh the initial question was "Do you believe God wants a personally relationship with you?" He went around the table asking for answers and all I can say was, "Yes?" Lol! Yeah, that was pretty much all I said. Oh and then someone said they understood the Church, but nowhere in the video did it mention the sacraments. I feel like the series is a slow build, so I get why it wasn't mentioned. But she was saying the sacraments are where we find God. She didn't exactly say they weren't present in other churches, but... Yeah, I was getting what she was saying. Asked if we had shared what we learned last week. Kinda? Or if we told anyone about the program. Kinda? It ended on a weird note... It was a question about Sacred Tradition and Tradition of Men. And... I personally didn't understand what tradition of men was. Someone brought up Church and State. Then someone mentioned the country's founding. Then someone brought up slavery. So he kept talking about how he and the moderator (who was black) in the past would have been at odds just because of their skin color. Like... What does this have to do with anything??? Thankfully the main speaker guy was like wrap it up, time to leave.
Anyway... Fr. I was 2 tables away. I do not know if he stayed around last week. But... I'd be interested in his answers. But at the same time, I'd be too, even more so, shy to say anything.
cc 7500centfish kumquatqueen