ALL THAT'S KNOWN

This song deals with the role of education. Is it just to pump us full of facts, or to challenge us to critical thinking? When education is just teaching to the test then it becomes dull and uninspiring. But education may open you up to new possibilities within yourself. Does Latin or Astronomy have anything to do with who you are as a person? I never understood English until I took Latin. I never understood myself, much less God, until I seriously studied theology.

Read LUKE 2:41-52 for the story of the young Jesus in the temple. The 4th Commandment calls us to honor father and mother. Jesus ignored father and mother on the trip home from Jerusalem to the point of their scared concern, but then is amazed that they could not understand that he must be "about my Father's business." What role does "those in authority" play in helping or hindering your process to self-awareness and discovery?

Think about your own Sunday School or, especially, catechetical (confirmation class) instruction. If it was a good experience for you, it may have a positive impact on your faith development. If it was a bad experience for you, it my have turned you off completely to any faith development. I once had a student in confirmation class who never returned to class or to church after he didn't get the bike for Christmas that he had been praying for. We didn't study the Lord's Prayer soon enough for him!

Jesus debating with the teachers in the temple seemed to be saying, "Just watch me! One day all will know." Do you feel like the circumstance of growth and life are holding you back? The powerful message of the ministry of Jesus had to wait about 18 more years before he was mature and wise enough to be able to share it with the world.

"I'm calling," cries out Melchior. Is anybody listening to you as you call out for true learning and for someone to take you and your ideas seriously? What are you calling out for the world to know about you?

All That's Known - LYRICS

MELCHIOR
All that’s known
In History, in Science
Overthrown
At school, at home, by blind men

You doubt them,
And soon they bark and hound you
Till everything you say is just another bad about you

All they say
Is “Trust in what is written”
Wars are made
And somehow that is wisdom

Thought is suspect
And money is their idol
And nothing is okay unless it’s scripted in their Bible

But I know
There’s so much more to find
Just in looking through myself, and not at them

Still, I know
To trust my own true mind
And to say there’s a way through this

On I go
To wonder and to learning
Name the stars and know their dark returning

I’m calling
To know the world’s true yearning
The hunger that a child feels for everything they’re shown

You watch me
Just watch me
I’m calling
And one day all will know

Mama Who Bore Me

From the moment of our birth we begin to question our existence. We question our value as individuals. We question those who are influencial in our lives. We question the existence of God because we have suddenly been removed from it.
READ Psalm 14 and Psalm 22:6-11
What is meant by the concept of original sin? What is your reaction to being told that we are sinful human beings from our birth? Where do you place yourself on the scale between perfect and imperfect?
READ Jeremiah 1:5 and Luke 2:19
Or do you believe God has a plan for your life from the very beginning? Jesus was born in meager circumstances, in humble surroundings, with a suddenly absent father, yet overcame the obstacles in his life to make a profound difference in the world.
Did angels announce your birth (that is to say: Do you have any story to tell about any unusual, special or unique situations of your birth)?
READ Luke 2:34-35
In the song, Wendla accuses her mother of not adequately preparing her for the pain of life. What role do parents play in helping to develop your identity? What role should parents play in your faith development?
To light a candle: sounds like an Advent theme to me! So where is hope for the future to be found? "Christ will come a -callin'" Do you find hope in those words - a possibility of new birth and new life - or just more disillusionment?
"When he comes, they don't know how to go." Are we missing out on something? In this world of sin, do we fail to respond to the hope and the grace that God has to offer in the birth of Jesus?
"No sleep in heaven, or Bethlehem." Just curious-what do you think that means?
In the following reprise of the song, the music changes from a slow ballad to an active rock genre as if to say that in each new age of development, from infant to teen to adult, it keeps getting more and more complicated!

Mama Who Bore Me - Lyrics

For music and videos, check out "Spring Awakening" on YouTube.

Mama who bore me, Mama who gave me
No way to handle things,
Who made me so sad.

Mama, the weeping; Mama, the angels
No sleep in heaven, or Bethlehem

Some pray that one day Christ will come a-calling
They light a candle and hope that it glows
And some just lie there, crying for him to come and find them
But when he comes they don't know how to go.

Mama who bore me, Mama who gave me
No way to handle things,
Who made me so sad.

Mama, the weeping; Mama, the angels
No tears in heaven, or Bethlehem.

Spring Awakening III

INCARNATIONAL THEOLOGY: God resides in human flesh and blood.

READ the Gospel of John, chapter one, verses 1-18.
"The Word became flesh and abided with us, full of grace and truth." (v.14)
What does it mean to you that God took on human form? Do you think Jesus struggled with the same issues of identity and self-awareness as we do?

READ the Gospel of Matthew, chapter one, verse 23.
The Hebrew word "Immanuel" literally means "God with us." The words are quoted from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Some five hundred years before the birth of Jesus the intention of God to "pitch his tent" with us, to "tabernacle" with us, to dwell within the human experience was already revealed.
In what ways do you know that God is with you? Does it help to know at times when God seems far away to you that the promise of God has always been there from the beginning?
PJ

Spring Awakening II

Spring Awakening is a Broadway musical based on an 1891 German play by Frank Wedelind about personal self-discovery. The musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater opened in 2006 and won eight Tony Awards in 2007.
The first time I heard the songs of Spring Awakening I had no idea what it was about. Hearing songs like "Momma Who Bore Me," talking about a birth in Bethlehem, to "I Believe," to "The Song of Purple Summer," which seemed to me to be about eternal life; I supposed that the musical was somehow about the life of Jesus. I did have a hard time understanding how a song like "Totally F***ed" fit it. But might that not be an apt description of crucifixion!
Upon deeper awareness it made sense to me that a play about the intimacies of human life, about the struggle between despair and hope, about the effect of sin and the desire for love and forgiveness, is the story of each one of us: you and me and Jesus.
Such issues of teenaged angst like maturbation, abuse and rape, thoughts of suicide, and sexual identity and awareness existed as much in the late 19th century as they do today. As much as things change, some things remain the same. Is that surprising to you? Or would you expect that to be the case?
PJ

Spring Awakening

The Broadway musical, "Spring Awakening," is coming to Proctor's Theater in Schenectady February 16-21. I'll be going to the 2PM. show on Sunday, February 21. Anyone want to meet me there? We could talk about it afterwards.
In the meantime, listen to the songs by download or CD (or tape, 8-track, record) and I'll provide a weekly Bible study and discussion guide.
WARNING: the lyrics and theme of the musical is EXPLICIT. I'm requesting that you be 18 or older to participate in this discussion.
PJ