Biblical Text: Acts 10:1-33
Helps us identify key elements in the narrative or text. By “owning” the elements, the details, of a story, we can re-populate the story with our own story as well as discover how elements in an ancient story or text can help us re-imagine our own story.
Bible. Pen and blank sheets of paper (preferably unlined). Writing paper or notebook.
Spend a moment in quiet prayer. If you wish, begin by freewriting for 3-5 minutes. Just let the pen empty out your concerns and thanksgiving for the day. Breathe.
- the burning bush in the story of Moses’ call.
- the “foal of an ass” in the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem
What might “stand-in” for a burning bush in your own story? What catches your attention and arrests your heart like a burning bush? How is God “stopping” you in the middle of your day’s business, insisting on your attention? Draw a picture or create some kind of visual representation of that “interruption” in your life that may well be an announcement of a calling.
Or …
What is the “foal of an ass” in your own story? What carries you through your “triumphant entry”? Can you even think of yourself as having a triumphant entry? Muse about “what carries me” in my strength? Draw a picture of it! Drawing a picture will keep you from getting overly spiritual or too high-falutin’. An ass is an ass … not a particularly spiritual object in our imagination. Jesus road on an ass. On what do you ride?
Take a moment to breathe and let the playtime settle around you. Carry your curiosity and insights and questions into the day.
On Discovering Ourselves
Story Cousins
Guidelines for Individual Playdates
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