Laura

This semester I’m serving as Women’s Chaplain for my social club (for an idea of what social clubs are, think a coed sorority, but conservative Christian school style).  My primary responsibilities for the semester are to organize weekly girls’ devotionals and plan a weekend retreat.

I’ve thought all summer about what the theme for this semester’s devotionals would be.  They’re typically cute or clever, like “Princesses at Heart” - spiritual lessons from Disney princesses, or “Road Signs” - lessons from traffic signals like stop signs, yield signs, speed limit signs, etc.  Awesome, right?

I have a confession:  I’m awful at cutesy and girly. 

In middle school all the girls in my class would sign each others’ yearbooks in pink and purple sparkly gel pens.  And by sign, I mean write full page novels about how sweet and wonderful the other girls were and how much they’d miss them and how they better stay in touch this summer and blah blah blah.

I was that girl that wrote “H.A.G.S.”

 I wish I had that sweet, womanly, second grade teacher cleverness about me, but I don’t.  The closest I get to girly is watching “Say Yes to the Dress” every Friday night and cross-stitching.  And come to think of it, those aren’t even girly, they’re just the signs of a sad, lonely life of a gal whose boyfriend is living in Europe this semester.

And so, I decided to do something different this semester.  Instead of torture myself trying to come up with an incredibly clever, creative theme with adorable graphics and handmade craft projects for every devo, we’re doing an old-fashioned Bible study through Mark.  That said, I’m wanting to put a decidedly contemporary and hopefully fresh spin on it.

Ever since taking Critical Introduction to the New Testament last semester I’ve been fascinated with difference interpretation and methods of reading Christian literature, particularly form and redaction criticism and the idea of reading the gospels as carefully crafted, cohesive stories (granted, these theories aren’t the most cutting edge or recent, but I’ve found them useful for person growth in combination with other methods of reading and study).  I’ve been reading through Mark in large chunks, attempting to become intimately familiar with the book’s plot and character development and overarching themes.  By reading Mark as a single story, rather than as a bunch of unconnected tales and life lessons, I’ve discovered a much richer picture of the life and purpose of Jesus and what it means to be his follower.

So, our goal for the semester is to work our way through Mark much the same way a book club would work through a popular novel - reading a section carefully, coming together to discuss it, and sharing theories and questions about theme, author’s intention, and plot.  While there’s certainly a place for focusing on a small section of scripture for the purpose of teaching a particular practice, we’re going to shy away from simply pulling out of Mark a list of dos and don’ts or phrases to be strung together with others from across the canon to support a theological position.  Instead, we’ll try to look at the book as a whole, recognizing that Mark, by inspiration, chose his words carefully in order to communicate a message.

Prayers for wisdom as we attempt something new!  I’m sure it will take a little getting used to, and I hope that we all have open hearts and minds, as well as the patience to make mistakes and learn and grow together.