Creation of Adam, Courtesy of Breezy421

Imagine going back in time to when Genesis is written, to a culture and world view that is vastly different from ours. People relating to each other and the world in ways we can barely comprehend. Creation stories about, not so much how it all begins as why it begins, including gods and monsters battling each other. A world of people being so very in tune with what we call nature that they had virtually no sense of our cause/effect mind set. Every thing that is happening relates to God or gods.  A world full of mythical beliefs that ancient people held to as firmly as our faith in science is today.  Imagine, even for a day, experiencing being part of a world where people value/seek integration and community as fiercely as we fight for autonomy and independence.A world of people being so very in tune with what we call nature that they had virtually no sense of our cause/effect mind set.  Every thing that is happening relates to God or gods.  A world full of mythical beliefs that ancient people held to as firmly as our faith in science is today. Imagine, even for a day, experiencing being part of a world where people value/seek integration and community as fiercely as we fight for autonomy and independence.  As I am getting requests about doing another Genesis journey (third in less than a year), I am in the process of adding a mini exercise of experiencing life in the ancient world.

As Tina and I were fascinated and over taken in Avatar 3D last night I was being taken to another place in my mind. At  20 years of age, living among a group of Stone Age Indians, a group of us experienced a world about as foreign as possible in our times. I enjoy telling about the funny questions they came up with; related to the high flying bird in the sky (jet) that leaves a trail behind him. “Do you have a moon like ours where you live?” For all the entertainment and smiles at their naïveté – there are a lot of things I still can’t shake. Anthropology classes and discussions are never the same. In a similar way I think this extra dimension to the Genesis journey has the potential to take us from our own myopic western way of living into a wonderful mysterious world created by God. It seems to me to be no coincidence that the Celtic way of Christianity – so in tune with creation – saw the amazing fruit that we are seeing in the organic movement of church life that is spreading around the world. This Genesis Trek is more than fun, more than fascinating, it is the root of who we are.  For more details on the Genesis Journey (and our newest class “Engaging Beauty”) check out our blog at http://newwinecommunity.blogspot.com/2009/02/back-to-origins-genesis-1-11.html 

As of this writting one class is filled. We are open to do another class on either Monday and/or Thursday (or possible a weekend time).  Any feedback on a day or time preference will be taken into consideration.  In preparation for the trip we are recommending everyone to check out the practice of CO2.  This is a practice which everyone on the Genesis course will delve into as we journey together.  For more information on CO2’s see http://www.lk10resources.com/practice-2.html  once there, check out Read the brochure and for more watch the video.

Thanks for reading,
Jan Cowles
jancowles [at] comcast [dot] net

Photo by John-Morgan

To learn more about School on the Way you can click on the link above to go to their blog or check out this video interview we did with Jan Cowles about School on the Way here.

ENGAGING BEAUTY

In today’s world, the average person (including the average American Christian) can easily slip through their life without ever opening their heart to Beauty–and to the life, joy, transcendence, sorrow, intimacy, romance, and pain that Beauty brings. All of us hunger for Beauty, yet few will answer its haunting call. The purpose of this class is to learn to hear that call, to recognize it–wherever it is to be found–and then learn to open vulnerably to that which we desire and fear more than anything, to allow it to transform us forever.

TIME AND PLACE
We will meet for two hours once per week for twelve weeks at Desi and Rose Starr’s house on the northeastern edge of downtown Denver. If you are interested in taking Engaging Beauty, please email me a list of all the times during the week that you would be available to meet (my contact information is below). I will try to find a time that can accommodate everyone’s schedules, if possible. My earnest hope is to begin this class the last week of January or the first week of February.

COST
The cost will be $25 per class (which is $300 for twelve classes). If you are interested in taking this class but would not be able to because of financial reasons, or if you are someone who would like to help subsidize this class for a needy brother or sister, please let me know.

REQUIREMENTS
You will only be required to buy one book for this class, The Healing Path by Dan Allender. It costs about ten dollars plus shipping on Amazon.com. I’ll copy the rest of the readings and place them on Google Documents as PDF files, and you will be able to read them for free or print them off if you want to. The reading for this course should be manageable and engaging, and I will do my best to require only what is necessary, while making additional resources available to those who would find them life giving. Along with the readings, you will be asked to commit to spending at least one hour a week alone with the Romancer, that is, in solitude and contemplative prayer. If this is intimidating to you, don’t worry, we will discuss it in depth during our first class and grow in our understanding of it throughout the course. I promise that by the end of the course you will look forward to spending your hour in silence!

MY END OF THE DEAL
In my adult life, I have probably thought about Beauty and intimacy with God more than I have consciously thought about anything else, and I have suffered much in pursuing Romance and the Romancer. I promise to bring all of my passion and desire to teaching this class on the subject I love most. If you are interested in taking this journey with me, please contact me (Alex Malaska) by phone at 330.402.2216 (yeah that’s 330 not 303) or by email at alexmalaska@gmail.com. And I look forward to seeing God transform our hearts as we engage Beauty together!