Confronting the Text
Conflict resolution is a necessary skill in ministry. Gretta introduces the work of Speed Leas, who has set out levels of conflict and approaches to de-escalating conflict. Leas’ work can be applied to marriage, the corporate culture, the work place, and to the church. Gretta asks how this might be applied on a global scale with religious conflict. The problem of conflict resolution at a global scale is that there is no higher arbiter who can step outside the conflict and provide an objective viewpoint. Collectively, we have to work this one out all on our own. One approach to the de-escalation of religious conflict comes from our understanding of the “text.” A progressive approach holds that the “text” is a human construct (rather than the authoritative word of god for all time) and therefore it can be accepted or rejected or reworked or reinterpreted to support underlying values. We must confront the text, especially where it would serve only to escalate conflict within the world.
Wilderness Living
Gretta opens with a discussion of evolution. “My hope is that evolution isn’t a theory, but a promise.” We desperately need to evolve in at least one respect – we must evolve as a species that regards one another as sacred and holy. Wilderness has been viewed as a stage in the process of spiritual evolution. We at West Hill find ourselves sometimes in the wilderness. For example, we have recently forced ourselves to view our complicity in systems that process food in ways that promote cruelty to animals. The same is true of our complicity in global environmental issues. How do we survive in the wilderness? How do we recover a sense of comfort?
Mountains & Islands
These two images provide powerful metaphors in our religious tradition. The mountain is a place to which we retreat to have spiritual connection with the divine. Gretta illustrates how the meaning of the mountain has shifted over time, using the myth of Masada as an example. On the other hand, there is island living too. Gretta illustrates island living with the Hugh Grant film, About A Boy. While island living can be self-absorbed, there is a sense in which we do have to treat ourselves as islands, as a place we can retreat to for our own spiritual nurture, just like that mountaintop time. People within the congregation then offer ways in which they nurture themselves.