This is my attempt to summarise our Greenbelt conversations on Thursday and Saturday. Please let me know if i’ve missed anything you felt I should have included!
The bible readings we looked at were Genesis 16, Genesis 21 and Mark 5:1-20
Reflections
- Everyone has been an outsider at some point
- Desert and sea are places where people don’t exist any more – no connection to the rest of the world no sense of identity
- A river is an outsider, going somewhere but doesn’t belong anywhere
- Ishmael is given an identity – a name and a skill to identify him
- Element of insanity in being truly an outsider
- “go back to your community” – the Gospel legion story sends the outsider home.
Outsiders and the Eucharist
- Jesus becomes an outsider and in doing so redeems the outsider honour + shame honour must be sacrificed
- “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
- Being an outsider can be cool and hip – but being forsaken is being truly an outsider. Not cool at all!
- Forsaken by all but God?
- Inside vs outside of God’s will forcing it our own way.
- Outsider Beatitudes – blessed are the refugees
Ideas
- Blank labels given to lose identity
- Blank labels covered with newly written labels
- Sand drawings or sculpture – photographed and showed at eucharist
Throw a ball of wool to each other to create web – then cut it to create outsiders - A giant animosity bracelet
- Balloons – have an inside and outside
- Graffiti – outsider’s art
- Stencil art
- Art where a surface layer is removed to show something
- A hoop with labels on the outside. Labels 2 sided with positive and negative words on different sides. Flip the labels over (into the hoop and inclusion) to show positive. e.g. Victim => Survivor.
- All labels dissolved and form home made paper – (is making paper a bit complex?)
