Meeting Tuesday October 1: Chapter 3 of Song of Songs/Song of Solomon

Hi everyone - Great to see new faces and to be together last time.  I look forward to seeing everyone, and to welcoming some more newcomers, this Tuesday night at 7 at the Johnsons'.  As always if you are new and need directions feel free to email me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com.  

This week in our study time we'll be looking at Chapter 3 of the Song of Songs, and especially on that theme of the absence of the Beloved -- and how readers of this text have interpreted this to help us understand those times when we are seeking God and God seems "absent."  It is fascinating to see how this text works on many different levels, and we'll be looking at that as well as our own experience of what this seems to be saying.  Bring a Bible if you have one (we have some too) and join the conversation. 

Lindsey is cooking -- I'll have the signup sheet to make sure we're covered on cooking for the rest of our meetings this fall. 

See you all Tuesday!

Next meeting this Tuesday September 17 - the Song of Songs

"Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth" -- so begins this love poem from the Bible! Bring your Bible, whichever translation you like - we'll look at various translations of the first few poems in chapter 1-2 and reflect on how we react to finding this  fairly explicit romantic love poem in the Bible.  How were you taught to think about sex, God and marriage in the Bible?  How do you respond to the images in this poem?   We'll talk about the various ways these chapters have been read in Jewish and Christian tradition and explore how we feel about those readings.  There is much to talk about, and much to hear, in this text and I look forward to beginning our discussion - great to see everyone and begin the conversation last week. This week we'll really get into the text during our study time.

We're having chicken and I'm bringing a hearty and vegetarian rice side dish and some dessert (probably cookies).  Kendra is bringing a salad.  We'll get a signup list going for cooking the rest of this semester when we gather on Tuesday. If you're new please feel free to email me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com for directions to the Johnsons'. We meet from 7-9 for dinner and fellowship, study and prayers.  Looking forward to seeing everyone!