Welcome to Week 3 of reading and discussing Slow Church together. Here are a few questions to add to our list. Feel free to choose one or two to answer, or you can pose your own to the group.
“Scarcity impedes our imaginations, compelling us to conclude, ‘We could never do that.,” (p.160) “It’s a failure of imagination when we get locked into the scarcity mentality and can’t see the resources God has provided for us.” (p. 169)
How do you see the concept of scarcity (as it relates to community and church) show up in your own life? How does ‘failure of imagination’ play out in your particular example?
“Gratitude and ingratitude are at the heart of justice and injustice.” (p. 180) “If lack is the root of injustice, then gratitude is the root of justice. How can we hoard what isn’t ours?” (p.182)
How would you unpack that idea to someone who may not agree? What examples would you give them?
“What would it look like for us to incorporate gratitude into our life together?” (p.189)
Have you seen gratitude incorporated into the DNA of a church or community? How did that happen? What does it look like lived out?
“The world is God’s and everything in it. We live by divine hospitality. And yet we are given the opportunity – even the command – to offer hospitality to God by caring for the people who are the most vulnerable.” (p.198) “The words translated as ‘hospitable’ in the New Testament are often variations on the Greek philoxenia, which literally means ‘love of the stranger.’” (p.199)
Where do you see opportunities to extend this type of hospitality in your community?
“God longs for the transformation and redemption of all creation, which begins in the people God has called. As we slow down our lives and mingle together around the Eucharistic table, and as we deny ourselves and become increasingly attentive to the super-abundant gifts of God in our community and place, we will taste the delectable fruits of God’s kingdom. We will come to know the abundant life of shalom for which we were created.” (p.221)
What stirred in you as you read this?
Which aspect of a “slow church” community do you most long for? What’s one step you can take to move in that direction?
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Whether you’re reading along or not, feel free to step in and visit the conversation happening in the Rabbit Room forum.