Study guide
By Robert C. Blezard
Writers: Capturing expressions of life W
riters capture the deepest expressions of the human experience. Poets distill in spare words the essence of what it means to be alive. Novelists explore the human condition by creating char- acters and a world in which they live. Nonfiction writers gather important information and compile it in under- standable, illuminating ways. Each writer brings a perspective to bear in his or her work, and Lutheran authors can speak both of the Christian faith and our relationship with God.
Exercise 1: The Bible is art The writing process hasn’t changed in human history. It begins with inspiration in a human mind, and then a hand crafts letters and words and meaning. Scripture was written exactly that way: inspiration from God to human writers. The Bible contains stories, narratives, essays, history and poetry.
As a study group, examine the
week’s lectionary texts (or any other selection) as writing. What genre of writing is it? What is the writer’s pur- pose? What is the essential message? What is the writer’s “voice”? What is the writer’s perspective? How does the form of the writing lend itself to telling the essential message?
Blezard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Arendtsville, Pa. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston University and did subsequent study at the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.
Exercise 2: The poetry of Psalms The Bible contains its own book of poetry—Psalms. God’s people find comfort and strength in the words of ancient poets who wrote about human life and our rela-
tionship with God. Read your favorite Psalm as poetry. Try to imagine the poet who is writing it: What problems, concerns, joys and issues is the poet dealing with? How does the poem speak to all of our lives?
Exercise 3: Write your own psalm Psalms express the cries of our souls to God, and so does poet Ann Weems, whose Psalms of Lament (Westmin- ster John Knox Press, 1995) followed the murder of her son.
Challenge yourselves to write
a psalm. You can create one from scratch. Or find one that appeals to you and write the psalm in your own voice and context. Or rewrite Psalm 23—instead of making God the shepherd, write about whatever God is to you. Share the results. Consider publishing your group’s efforts in the church newsletter.
Exercise 4: Autobiographies The Bible contains several “first per- son” faith stories. Prophets, such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea and Ezekiel, all write in the first person. Choose a couple of prophets and look at how their story is interwoven with the prophecies they utter on God’s behalf. If you read the text as autobiography, what new insights into the prophet do you get? What new insights into the prophet’s message?
Exercise 5: The story of a searcher Looking for meaning in life? Wonder- ing what it’s all about? So was the writer of Ecclesiastes. This book of the Bible speaks to every faithful searcher. The writer tells of his search for answers to life’s perplexing prob- lems. The roads he took are the same
many take today: power, money and pleasure. Read Ecclesiastes and dis- cuss its relevance to your lives.
Exercise 6: Write your faith story “Write about what you know” is the timeless advice of writing coaches. Ask everybody in the study group to write approximately 500 words about one of the following topics: What I like about church; my first faith experience; what I like about being a Lutheran; I knew God was real when …; the church I grew up in; my favorite pastor (or Sunday school teacher, youth minister, etc.). Read them to one another. Consider shar- ing them in the congregational news- letter or on the church bulletin board.
Exercise 7: Stories of faith Some books of the Bible are like novellas, containing a beginning, a plot and an end. Esther, Ruth, Job, Daniel and Jonah all tell remark- able stories of faith. Have you ever thought to read them simply for the enjoyment of the story they tell? Read one or more of those books and talk about their value as story—and not necessarily what they mean theologically.
Exercise 8: Faith writers
Fiction writers who are people of faith may put plenty of theology into their books, but it’s usually interwoven into the fabric of the story they are telling. Discuss what novels you have read that have theological overtones (per- haps from the Lutheran authors in the cover story). How can fiction help us understand ourselves and God better? Choose one novel that you all can read and then talk about it together.
This study guide is offered as one example of the more than 300 that are currently available on The Lutheran’s website. Download guides—free to print and Web subscribers—at
www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).
26 The Lutheran •
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