tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post4150881416856265381..comments2024-01-07T09:34:44.086-05:00Comments on What Canst Thou Say?: A New Mission for the Church?Robin M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-2870082616557927922011-02-27T10:03:00.475-05:002011-02-27T10:03:00.475-05:00I just want to add that I really love Walter Wink....I just want to add that I really love Walter Wink.mandy shepardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-47688223729085390072011-02-25T16:05:07.131-05:002011-02-25T16:05:07.131-05:00I'm a former Quaker and current Catholic siste...I'm a former Quaker and current Catholic sister and the "midwife" model is one that has come up a lot recently in some of our deeper discernment as sisters. We talk about "midwifing" and "hospicing" at the same time. My community of 1200, 50 years ago now recieves one new member a year. And we see our selves as needing to "hospice" through the radical diminishment while also "midwiving" the tender new flames of mission.<br /><br />I think your descriptions of the midwife metaphor and birthing the spiritual life are very helpful. And yes, it falls apart at the same time since we are talking of the Spirit who will blow where she will! <br /><br />I just wanted to add the hospice image. The families in my faith communities bury their grandmothers and birth their babies all in the same year. The church/minister accompanies the faith community through birth and death.Sarah Hennesseynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-31173493412777912172011-02-25T14:08:59.103-05:002011-02-25T14:08:59.103-05:00As a poet, I have due respect and due caution towa...As a poet, I have due respect and due caution towards "powerful images."<br /><br />Quibbling is needed because a powerful image can lead us right back to Egypt... in the sense of Moses & that really artistic calf.<br /><br />Yes, we need to respect the current understanding of people we approach-- and we also need to recognize that what they're sure of might ultimately be something they need to break lose from. Expertise in the way things have been can be respected without being idolised (which is a danger implicit in your midwife model.) & maybe the best model is more like "We all need to get knocked up by God & take things from there!" (?)forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13861950371962268402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-88449812730194005322011-02-24T00:35:37.770-05:002011-02-24T00:35:37.770-05:00I'm going to start from the end: Hi Wess, I...I'm going to start from the end: Hi Wess, I'm glad you liked it. But aren't you supposed be to taking some silly little test this week? For those who want more on this topic, I recommend <a href="http://gatheringinlight.com/2010/06/08/lady-wisdom-as-mid-wife-proverbs-8/" rel="nofollow">this post from Wess's blog last year</a>. <br /><br />Forrest, I think the fact that you can quibble this long about this idea is a sign that it's a powerful image. It's a metaphor with rich possibilities and not a complete correspondence between the original and the new interpretation.<br /><br />Micah, glad you like it. It was breathtaking in the room when Wess introduced the concept.<br /><br />Rik, I'm glad you did post today about your impressions!Robin M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10336915224193704866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-72807338240876986572011-02-23T22:45:16.013-05:002011-02-23T22:45:16.013-05:00Hey Robin, thanks for the write-up and your reflec...Hey Robin, thanks for the write-up and your reflections on what we all discussed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05386944067721486993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-90204622782063783902011-02-23T22:37:32.913-05:002011-02-23T22:37:32.913-05:00I'm dubious about this one: "the midwife ...I'm dubious about this one: "the midwife trusts the mother to be competent." At least in this context!<br /><br />What we're really supposed to trust is rather that "God is competently at work within the mother." What's being born knows when and how it's due. The community (or individual) may not have a clue about that.<br /><br />And the church might really have some responsibility here beyond "midwifing". Some "seed" may need to be planted that goes beyond what an individual (or community) would consciously welcome. "Spiritual harassment"? Dare we say that the recipient is "asking for it"?! Sort of a slippery, slimy cliff-edge here... so let's try for a better way of describing the situation!<br /><br />At the deepest level, we all want the Spirit to be openly born and living actively within us. At the conscious surface, we aren't so sure... What happens to our security if we consent?-- Will we at least get spiritual child support? Or will we end up on some sort of spiritual welfare, thrown out on the streets with a child we can neither control, nor bear to leave, nor sustain by our personal strengths! <br /><br />Something needs to seduce our fears away... and our fearful consciousness will naturally distrust Christ's courtship! "Spiritual panderers," anyone? Hmmm! No, this sounds more like it: the church as go-between. As arranger of opportunities for these lovers, Christ and our selves, to meet.forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13861950371962268402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-21339916025572037782011-02-23T13:13:08.671-05:002011-02-23T13:13:08.671-05:00Thank you for this post, Robin! It really speaks t...Thank you for this post, Robin! It really speaks to my own sense of the Church's mission, yet re-frames it in a way I had never considered before. While midwifery is not an image that would normally occur to me, it is a beautiful one, and very apt!<br /><br />Micah Bales<br /><a href="http://www.lambswar.com/" rel="nofollow">The Lamb's War</a>Micah Baleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06849915973708989620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13642801.post-92151908980221701812011-02-23T06:40:58.932-05:002011-02-23T06:40:58.932-05:00thanks for sharing this. I have my own notes that...thanks for sharing this. I have my own notes that I keep meaning to blog up, but haven't gotten around to it. So this is so very helpful.Rik Panganibanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08757004087745160715noreply@blogger.com