Doug Pagitt from Solomons Porch asks for the movements I use in teaching spirituality to the emerging culture.
Doug, This is the series of movements that refect the Scriptural pattern of discipleship. It is drawn from Peter, James, Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, John 15 and the Psalms. I adapted it from Brother Thom Wolf's Universal Disciple, in which he presents discipleship in a diagram form and uses the building metaphor. My version is more physical and uses different words but the strucuture is similar and just as Biblical.
Students in USA and Australia have taken it from me and adapted it slightly. They now have their own versions that are probably very similar. But here is my original as I taught it in Japan earlier this month.
A TREE BY THE RIVER
I begin with reading Psalm 1, using visuals (G-Force or Winamp) and ambient music. I get people to reflect on the river of Life, to think of themselves as Oaks of Righteousness (Isaiah) and their toes as roots. Taking their shoes off is helpful.
1. RENEW EVERYTHING. By God's Spirit we are renewed, reborn, recycled. In order to respond to our new life in Christ we:
a. put off the old things - envy, jealousy, whatever belonged to the old life and we:
b. put on the new self - cloth ourselves in Christ.
The movement moves the hands from the ground to the knees (that I mention look like "o's" and stand for "off" and "on") up high in the air, looking like we are putting on a coat.
2. REMAIN ENTHUSED. We pause and reflect on abiding in Christ, resting in him, with our arms facing upward. Remaining leads to two motions:
a. word - let the word of Christ remain in you (bring arms down to stomach)
b. spirit - be filled with the Spirit - (bring arms upwards again)
The next movement involves how we relate in the natural world. We do a quarter turn.
3. RESPECT EVERYONE.
a. support - everyone who is over us or takes care of us.
b. nourish - everyone under our care.
We lift our arms to support and bring them down slowly to nourish. Up and down. Wives(up/respect - support), husbands (down/love-nourish), children (obey), fathers (nourish), employees (up), employers (down), citizen (up), government (down), environment (up to respect, down to nourish)
The next movement deals with the supernatural.
We turn to the opposite side and use our other arm or both arms.
4. RESIST EVIL
a. watch - defensive posture
b. pray - our offensive action
The movements are the same as Respecting - arms up and down like a wave.
The final movement is facing forward and raising our hands upward and pointing fingers straight up. God's life in us comes out and is given to the world.
5. RELEASE ENERGY
a. leaves - medicinal, leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations
b. fruit - nutritional, for people to taste and see that God is good.
As we lower our hands downward to the side, our hands are slightly cupped to look like leaves. When our hands reach shoulder height, we clench a fist to look like a piece of fruit. For younger groups, we release the fruit by opening our hands and making a "plopp" noise.
I often do a final exercise to show that the spiritual life is not to be lived in isolation.
Since their arms are already pointing sideways, we link them together and move people into a cluster on interlocked branches. I tell them that pine trees always exists in clusters so they can hold each other up. Sometimes I change the music at this point from ambient to house/dance. Once in California, the young people jumped up and down in unison and the floor nearly broke through.
There it is. Have fun with it and let me know of any improvements so I can change the source code.
Doug, This is the series of movements that refect the Scriptural pattern of discipleship. It is drawn from Peter, James, Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, John 15 and the Psalms. I adapted it from Brother Thom Wolf's Universal Disciple, in which he presents discipleship in a diagram form and uses the building metaphor. My version is more physical and uses different words but the strucuture is similar and just as Biblical.
Students in USA and Australia have taken it from me and adapted it slightly. They now have their own versions that are probably very similar. But here is my original as I taught it in Japan earlier this month.
A TREE BY THE RIVER
I begin with reading Psalm 1, using visuals (G-Force or Winamp) and ambient music. I get people to reflect on the river of Life, to think of themselves as Oaks of Righteousness (Isaiah) and their toes as roots. Taking their shoes off is helpful.
1. RENEW EVERYTHING. By God's Spirit we are renewed, reborn, recycled. In order to respond to our new life in Christ we:
a. put off the old things - envy, jealousy, whatever belonged to the old life and we:
b. put on the new self - cloth ourselves in Christ.
The movement moves the hands from the ground to the knees (that I mention look like "o's" and stand for "off" and "on") up high in the air, looking like we are putting on a coat.
2. REMAIN ENTHUSED. We pause and reflect on abiding in Christ, resting in him, with our arms facing upward. Remaining leads to two motions:
a. word - let the word of Christ remain in you (bring arms down to stomach)
b. spirit - be filled with the Spirit - (bring arms upwards again)
The next movement involves how we relate in the natural world. We do a quarter turn.
3. RESPECT EVERYONE.
a. support - everyone who is over us or takes care of us.
b. nourish - everyone under our care.
We lift our arms to support and bring them down slowly to nourish. Up and down. Wives(up/respect - support), husbands (down/love-nourish), children (obey), fathers (nourish), employees (up), employers (down), citizen (up), government (down), environment (up to respect, down to nourish)
The next movement deals with the supernatural.
We turn to the opposite side and use our other arm or both arms.
4. RESIST EVIL
a. watch - defensive posture
b. pray - our offensive action
The movements are the same as Respecting - arms up and down like a wave.
The final movement is facing forward and raising our hands upward and pointing fingers straight up. God's life in us comes out and is given to the world.
5. RELEASE ENERGY
a. leaves - medicinal, leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations
b. fruit - nutritional, for people to taste and see that God is good.
As we lower our hands downward to the side, our hands are slightly cupped to look like leaves. When our hands reach shoulder height, we clench a fist to look like a piece of fruit. For younger groups, we release the fruit by opening our hands and making a "plopp" noise.
I often do a final exercise to show that the spiritual life is not to be lived in isolation.
Since their arms are already pointing sideways, we link them together and move people into a cluster on interlocked branches. I tell them that pine trees always exists in clusters so they can hold each other up. Sometimes I change the music at this point from ambient to house/dance. Once in California, the young people jumped up and down in unison and the floor nearly broke through.
There it is. Have fun with it and let me know of any improvements so I can change the source code.
