Dear Kaleid Women,
Kaleid is a growing tribe of women learning to “See Ourselves, See Others, and See the City” through new lenses. In our current email series, we are “Seeing Ourselves” by looking at the way our habits of worship shape what and how we love, from the outside in.
Robert Webber, the late theologian, professor, and founder of the Institute for Worship Studies defined worship simply as that which “does God’s story” by remembering it and anticipating it in our liturgies--our habits.
Webber’s definition begs a few key questions, Let’s consider them together and, in doing so, open ourselves up to a new way of seeing our heart-shaping personal liturgies--our habits.
We invite you to take three, fifteen-minute breaks in the coming week to journal and ask for the Holy Spirit to illuminate your understanding about the following questions. (Each week going forward in this series, we will offer a list of questions for journaling.)
What is God’s Story? Weber shares his perspective by offering four key biblical settings that reveal God’s cosmic story of faithfulness.
First “God and the Garden” is the story of God, acting out of Trinitarian community, creating humans for harmonious relationship and glorifying work.
Second, “God and the Desert” is the story of God, dealing with the reality of evil, meeting His people in the desert and covenanting with Israel to sanctify them in order to bless the world.
Third, “God and the Garden of Gethsemane” is the story of God as Christ, reversing the curse of desert-causing evil, restoring life by conquering death.
Finally, “God’s Eternal Garden” is the story of God, dwelling with restored creation in an eternal community of love where all is made right.
(For instance, try to put “God’s story” into your own words and consider the roots of that story in your relationship with the Lord.)
What habits do we have that help us remember His story? What does it look like to call to mind the ways God has created, met, restored, and dwelt in the story of His people (Israel and the Church)? What does it look like to call to mind ways God has done this work of holy, loving recapitulation in our own lives, families, and communities?
(For instance, the habit of giving God the work of my hands each day in prayer and enjoying the mundane ties me to His story of redemptive work told in the Garden of Eden.)
How can we anticipate God’s story through our habits? What does it look like to anticipate God’s story in how I live? Are there ways to connect my heart with the hope of human redemption or the future glory of restored creation? Is there a way to remember the future of the Church in how I live today?
(For instance, the habit of going for walks slows me down to appreciate the glory of creation and anticipate the greater glory of God’s restoration of all things in the coming kingdom.)
We are women of habit. By noticing and tying our habits to parts of God’s great story, we infuse our lives with the transcendent, and we worship the faithfulness of our loving God, ever at work in the world.
Blessings,
The Kaleid Team
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