FINAL Wonderfalls Bible Study

Episode 13: Caged Bird

Leviticus 19:10-12

Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ “Do not steal or cheat or lie. ¹² Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the Lord your God.

Proverbs 6:20

People don't despise a thief if he steals food when he is hungry

Isaiah 41:10-14

Do not be afraid—I am with you!
    I am your God—let nothing terrify you!
I will make you strong and help you;
    I will protect you and save you.

¹¹ “Those who are angry with you
    will know the shame of defeat.
Those who fight against you will die
¹²     and will disappear from the earth.
¹³ I am the Lord your God;
    I strengthen you and tell you,
    ‘Do not be afraid; I will help you.’”

¹⁴ The Lord says,

“Small and weak as you are, Israel,
    don't be afraid; I will help you.
I, the holy God of Israel, am the one who saves you.

Isaiah 5:1-7

Listen while I sing you this song,
    a song of my friend and his vineyard:
My friend had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
² He dug the soil and cleared it of stones;
    he planted the finest vines.
He built a tower to guard them,
    dug a pit for treading the grapes.
He waited for the grapes to ripen,
    but every grape was sour.

³ So now my friend says, “You people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my vineyard and me. ⁴ Is there anything I failed to do for it? Then why did it produce sour grapes and not the good grapes I expected?

⁵ “Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge around it, break down the wall that protects it, and let wild animals eat it and trample it down. ⁶ I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it.”

⁷ Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty;
    the people of Judah are the vines he planted.
He expected them to do what was good,
    but instead they committed murder.
He expected them to do what was right,
    but their victims cried out for justice.

Genesis 45:4-6

Then Joseph said to them, “Please come closer.” They did, and he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people's lives. ⁶ This is only the second year of famine in the land; there will be five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor reaping.

What do you think of letting the kid go for a slinky?

Is all theft the same? Why or why not?

Compare to the situation with the kid to the theft situation discussed in Proverbs.

How does the Leviticus passage bear on the Proverbs command.

What does Eric say about going back to New Jersey?

What do you think of Heidi calling Jaye unstable over what happened with the murder accusation, 

given what we know about how that turned out?

Would God ever encourage someone to lie, do you think?

Reflect on this quote: “even if you have a choice, it can and will be taken away from you.”

How do we see the issue of fate in the Isaiah 4 passage?

Why does Mahandra fear the truth regarding her relationship with Aaron? Reflect upon this.

What do you think of the way the police officer deals with the kid?

Reflect on this quote: “give him heart.”

Reflect on this quote: “who is going to strengthen my resolve?

What do you think of the scene with Sharon holding Jaye while she’s crying?

Reflect on this scene and Jaye’s desire for resolve in light of the Isaiah passage.

Reflect on this quote: “Okay, so maybe you can make me.”

Can Jaye gain any special courage or strength from her ‘gift’ in this situation with the gunman of 

the sort Isaiah promises? Why or why not?

Is it the security guard’s fault that Jaye and the others find themselves in this situation?

What do you think of the bank robber insisting he shouldn’t be guilty of murder?

Do you agree? Why or why not?

What do you think of Eric going to see Heidi? What do you think of Heidi’s reaction?

Reflect on this quote: “I’m not going to die a coward.”

Reflect on this quote: “if you kill your pet bird, it can’t sing for you any more”, in light of Isaiah 5.

Reflect on this quote: “you think you’re all alone in this.”

What is the irony in these words?

Through everything this season, how many lives has Jaye saved? How did this kind of salvation 

come about?

What did Joseph say about what his brothers did to him?

What did this ‘saving of many’ cost people?

Was it worth it? Why or why not?

Was Jaye’s heartache? Why or why not?

What do you think of what happened with Heidi, Jaye and Eric?

What does Eric say about everything that happened? What do you think of this?

More WILFRED Quotes With Comments

"The master understands that the universe is forever out of control." - Lao Tzu
[God, I love Taoism. After Christianity it is my favorite religious philosophy.]


"Our biggest problems arise from the avoidance of smaller ones." - Jeremy Caulfield
[This hits really close to home to me today. So many of my problems are from the avoidance of smaller problems.]

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." - James A. Garfield
[The truth won't set you free until the truth is done with you. Truth upon secrecy or lie is like the cutting out of an infection. It is the only cure, but it is painful nonetheless.]

"The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change is service to a fellow human being." - Lee Iacocca
[Or, to God.]

"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway." - Mother Teresa  
[Yep and yep.]

"If you do not ask the right questions, you do not get the right answers." - Edward Hodnett
[An often ignored truth. Asking the right question is an important skill. I often say that continental philosophy asks the right questions, whereas analytic philosophy helps us get the right answers.]

"Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." - Malachy McCourt
[I am so tired of resentment. I am weary of it.]

"If we knew each other's secrets, what comfort should we find." - John Churton Collins
[That is the freedom that truth brings.]

"The mistake is thinking that there can be an antidote to the uncertainty." - David Levithan
[Indeed.]


"Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always." - Hippocrates
[I'm trying.] 

"Suspicion is a heavy armor and with its weight it impedes more than it protects." - Robert Burns

"Sincerity, even if it speaks with a stutter, will sound eloquent when inspired." - Eiji Yoshikawa
[We live in a world steeped in insincerity. I can barely stand it. It chokes me. I have to swim in the genuine to feel clean.]

"I have little shame, no dignity - all in the name of a better cause." - A.J. Jacobs
[Every person involved in the human condition who is trying to any good will feel this way some of the time.]

"Truth may sometimes hurt, but delusion harms." - Vanna Bonta
[I love this saying.]

"Intuition is more important to discovery than logic." - Henri Poincaré
[I have learned to trust my intuition. The consistency of success doing this is astounding to me.]

"How weird was it to drive streets I knew so well. What a different perspective." - Suzanne Vega

"There can be no progress without head-on confrontation." - Christopher Hitchens
[This one is hard for me. But I succeed at it sometimes.]

Quotables From WILFRED

I've been watching the show WILFRED. I like it a lot. It is dark and raunchy at points but ultimately it is about one man's struggle with the meaning of experiences that are almost too much for him to bear. The infinite manifests itself as various visions. He cannot tell whether these visions correspond to anything outside of his head or not, though. Is he crazy? Or is he connected to something Deeper? Is this mystical experience? Or schizophrenia? These questions resonate with me. Each episode begins with a quote. Here is a collection of them. They are excellent. Some are followed by commentary.

"Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination."- Mark Twain
 [I've always found this to be true.]

"Trust thyself only, and another shall not betray thee." - Thomas Fuller
[Oh if it were only that easy. The hardest part of life is that you are forced to trust those you are inclined not to. Trusting others is non-optional. But how is one to be comfortable with that, knowing human nature to be what it is?]

"Fear has its uses but cowardice has none." - Mahatma Ghandi 
[To understand this quote, one must remember that Aristotle taught us that bravery is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act in the face of fear.]

"Happiness can exist only in acceptance." - George Orwell 
[The Serenity Prayer, anyone?]

"Seek respect mainly from thyself, for it comes first from within." - Steven H. Coogler
[But to respect oneself, one must first respect others. Even with self-respect...you have to give respect to get respect.]

"Conscience is the dog that can't bite, but never stops barking." - Proverb
[Indeed]

"In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes." - Steven H. Coogler


"Anger as soon as fed is dead -- tis starving makes it fat." - Emily Dickinson
[Recent studies have shown this may not be true. "Healthy outlets" for aggression may not relieve it.]

"Make no judgements where you have no compassion." - Anne McCaffrey
[There is no justice without mercy.]

"Isolation is a self-defeating dream." - Carlos Salinas de Gortari
[Any thoughts on this one? I got nothing]

"Doubt must be no more than vigilance, otherwise it can become dangerous." - George C. Lichtenberg 
[This may be one of the greatest reflections on doubt I've ever read. Yes, this is what doubt is about, really. It is not about a stultifying skepticism that prevents creative belief or action, but about a certain type of mindfulness...mindfulness of what one does not know.]

"Love is a willingness to sacrifice." - Michael Novak 
[I believe Novak is a Christian, and so the wisdom here is not surprising.]

"The value of identity is that so often with it comes purpose." - Richard R. Grant 
[But can one have purpose without identity?]

"Discontent is the first necessity of progress." - Thomas Edison 
[Oh, absolutely. This is a major line of criticism of Buddhism, for me.]

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go." - Herman Hesse 

"Let not a man guard his dignity but let his dignity guard him." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
[I got nothing.] 

"Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving." - Erma Bombeck
[Guilt is not in and of itself bad. Guilt that has no end is. We must have someone who can both judge and forgive. Without that we are lost.]

"Be here now." - Ram Dass 
[I'm trying]

---

WONDERFALLS Bible Study Week 12

Episode 12- Totem Mole

Exodus 12:47-49

 The whole community of Israel must celebrate this festival, ⁴⁸ but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honor the Lord, you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival. ⁴⁹ The same regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you.”

Deuteronomy 23:3

No Ammonite or Moabite—or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation—may be included among the Lord's people.

Ruth 1:16

But Ruth answered, “Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

Matthew 17:1-13

Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. ² As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. ³ Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. ⁴ So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased—listen to him!”

⁶ When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. ⁷ Jesus came to them and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don't be afraid!” ⁸ So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus.

⁹ As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Don't tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death.”

¹⁰ Then the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?”

¹¹ “Elijah is indeed coming first,” answered Jesus, “and he will get everything ready. ¹² But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man.”

¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Matthew 26:36-40

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him, ³⁸ and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹ He went a little farther on, threw himself face downward on the ground, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

⁴⁰ Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, “How is it that you three were not able to keep watch with me for even one hour?

Galatians 2:11-14

 But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him in public, because he was clearly wrong. ¹² Before some men who had been sent by James arrived there, Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers. But after these men arrived, he drew back and would not eat with the Gentiles, because he was afraid of those who were in favor of circumcising them. ¹³ The other Jewish believers also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action. ¹⁴ When I saw that they were not walking a straight path in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you have been living like a Gentile, not like a Jew. How, then, can you try to force Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Galatians 3:15-29

My friends, I am going to use an everyday example: when two people agree on a matter and sign an agreement, no one can break it or add anything to it. ¹⁶ Now, God made his promises to Abraham and to his descendant. The scripture does not use the plural “descendants,” meaning many people, but the singular “descendant,” meaning one person only, namely, Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is that God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to keep it. The Law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, cannot break that covenant and cancel God's promise. ¹⁸ For if God's gift depends on the Law, then it no longer depends on his promise. However, it was because of his promise that God gave that gift to Abraham.
¹⁹ What, then, was the purpose of the Law? It was added in order to show what wrongdoing is, and it was meant to last until the coming of Abraham's descendant, to whom the promise was made. The Law was handed down by angels, with a man acting as a go-between. ²⁰ But a go-between is not needed when only one person is involved; and God is one.
²¹ Does this mean that the Law is against God's promises? No, not at all! For if human beings had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it. ²² But the scripture says that the whole world is under the power of sin; and so the gift which is promised on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe.
²³ But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed. ²⁴ And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith. ²⁵ Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us.
²⁶ It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus. ²⁷ You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself. ²⁸ So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God has promised.

Deuteronomy 1:17

Show no partiality in your decisions; judge everyone on the same basis, no matter who they are. Do not be afraid of anyone, for the decisions you make come from God. If any case is too difficult for you, bring it to me, and I will decide it.

Reflect on this in light of the Bible passage?

What do you think of Mahandra laying claim to tribal status?

What does becoming the ‘people of God’ entail in the various passages? What tensions do we see 

there?

Where do we see similar tensions in the episode?

How did the encounter with the totem differ from Jaye’s other animal encounters?

How does the encounter with the woman differ from Jaye’s other visions?

What does the woman say about her?

Reflect on this quote: “I don’t want to be chosen.”

What does Jaye want from the woman? What do you think of this?

Reflect on this quote “okay, that’s just odd.”

How was the Transfiguration a unique event in the life of Jesus and His follower?

What do we learn about Jesus, God and the disciples involved from that passage?

What ‘oddities’ do we see in that passage?

How did Jesus feel about being chosen?

What do you think of Sharon going to the reservation to get cigarettes?

Reflect on this quote: “my people were being exploited.”

What do you think of Little Foot and her behavior towards Sharon and Mahandra?

Reflect on this quote: “her spirit spoke to you.”

What do you think of the idea of a seer, or a spirit guide?

Compare and contrast the Transfiguration event with these figures and beliefs concerning seers 

and spirit guides in other cultures.

What does Jaye say Bill Hooten needs to do?

What do you think of this?

What do you think of the way the tribe treats Mahandra’s case?

Reflect on this in light of Deuteronomy 1.

Reflect on this quote: “it’s like she knitted a sweater for me I could never wear.”

How is the discussion around being one of God’s people similar to the discussion around the seer’s 

‘gift’?

What does Aaron say about callings and spiritual gifts? Reflect on this.

What role is Aaron playing for Jaye now?

Reflect on this in light of our earlier discussion of Moses and Aaron in Exodus.

Reflect on the feather ceremony.

Reflect on this quote: “I’m not a leader…I need a leader.”

Reflect on this quote: “you are having a spiritual awakening” in light of the Transfiguration.

How does Jaye play a role similar to Jesus in the transfiguration vis a vis Hooten?

What are the trials of the seer and the tribal trial over Mahandra like?

What kind of ‘trial’ did Paul get involved in, in Galatians?

How does the Galatians 3 passage enlighten the reasons for the trial in Galatians?

How did Peter and James resist the call of God in Galatians? How does Jaye in the passage?

What is the man’s encounter with his New Grandmother like?

Reflect on this: “it was a set up, I didn’t stand a chance” in light of Deuteronomy 1.

What do you think of the sit-in?

What does Jaye realize as a result of the sit-in?

Reflect on what happens to Littlefoot in the sauna.

Reflect on this quote: “I wish I had great purpose…no you don’t.”

What does Jaye say of purpose?

How do the Gospel passages reflect on this exchange?

How do the Galatians passages?

What ‘transformations’ do we see in the episode and in the Bible passages?

What does Jay say about being ‘special’?

What does the Hooten?

What do you think of the way it all comes together at the end?