The other day for instance, I spent the morning with 30 or so parents, grandparents and childminders, slowly getting to know their stories and learning not just their names, but their children's names as well. Then in the afternoon I visited a care home, where I met 12 new people, so that's 12 names to learn, along with some basic details about each one. In the evening I visited a family to plan their elderly father's funeral with them, listening to them telling me the story of his nearly 90 years of life. Next week it will be my job to tell his story to everyone who comes to his funeral - no one in the family wants the pressure of standing up on an emotional day and trying to do it themselves. I'll have to sum up a full and fruitful life in 5 minutes.
Can I cope with another memory task as well? I'm giving my hippocampus a bit of a workout this Lent. Maybe the exercise will do it good, that's what I'm hoping.
So far I've learnt the easy bit - the first part of the sermon, the Beatitudes, which couldn't have been designed better for easy memorising.
The rest of chapter 5 is more challenging, consisting as it does of more technical discussions about the Law, and what Jesus' attitude towards it is, and what ours should be. The helpful thing is Jesus repeating the same structure six times over, as he tackles six different subjects: murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge and enemies. The hard thing is that what he says varies subtly with each section.
Linking these 6 discussions on aspects of law-keeping to the Beatitiudes there are two other sections - one on salt and light, the other introducing and summarising Jesus' attitude to the Law - he's not here to abolish it, but to fulfil it. Or to bring it to completion, to a finish. A very interesting word is used there, and I might talk about that next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment