Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Phase One, Week Five, Exercise Two: Contemplating Sin and Disorder In the World

This exercise is to take place between December 7 and 10.

Why are we spending two weeks on sin and disorder? First, from a Christian perspective, it gives us an appreciation for our need for Christ. Second, from a global perspective, it gives us an appreciation for our need for healthy spirituality (for theists it gives us an appreciation for our need for God). Third, it is also a universal character of religion and spirituality that as human beings we struggle against non-charity and injustice in many aspects of our lives. This exercise helps to ground us in reality.

Ask God for the grace to be aware of how you might be complicit in some form of sin or disorder.


It may seem strange, but we will be praying with the internet. Use a search engine like google or yahoo and search using five to six of the following phrases. Find a specific case that details a form of sin or disorder. You may also want to try searching www.washingtonpost.com or www.nyt.com.


*violence
*violence against women
*violence against children
*violence against Christians
*violence against Muslims
*violence against Jews
*violence against Buddhists
*oppression
*oppression of women
*oppression in the Americas
*oppression in Africa
*oppression in Asia
*oppression in Europe
*violence against gays and lesbians
*homophobia
*Matthew Shepard

Now, conduct two to three other searches that you think concern hatred and/or injustice. You may want to enter the specific names of the people involved.

Read the 7 or 8 articles that you find. Choose one of them and use your imagination to enter into the scene. What character are you drawn to? Why? Ask God why you are drawn to that character. What do you feel about the situation?

Ask God for help or meditate in the method appropriate for your tradition. Tell God what you feel. Ask God for an interior knowledge of the insight He wants to give you. Are you to play a role, any role, in the healing of the world?

Close with an Our Father or prayer in your tradition.

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