The Rock That Is Higher
Page 27
L’Engle asks, “Isn’t…being against rather than for the frame of mind which produces terrorism?” What things have you been against in life? How might changing your position to being for something instead be more productive? What should a Christ follower be for?
The author says, “Virtue is not the sign of a Christian! Joy is.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree with her? She also says, “When I turn to the Good News and accept it joyfully, that does not free me from human emotions.” How do our emotions affect our joy, if at all?
L’Engle says that we diminish ourselves when we “tidy ourselves up, removing the uglier characteristics,” and that this action is, “ultimately, dehumanizing.” In today’s world of social media, it is common practice for people to edit out the negative aspects of their lives, personalities, bodies, and habits. Why is this practice of removing our imperfections dehumanizing? What is it about our flaws that makes us human? Why are we afraid of our own ugliness?
Chapter 10: Story as a Creative Act
The etymological definition of the word virtue (or, as the author spells it here, vertue) is “that which is necessary.” Therefore, the act of creating, L’Engle says, is a virtuous act—meaning creation is a necessary part of life. L’Engle resists dwelling on sin and depravity, not because she believes herself sinless, but because “God is calling me away from sin and depravity, both of which kill the creative element in us, and towards creativity, humility, and vertue.” What creative outlets do you have in your life? Do you make time for creativity? Why or why not?
L’Engle examines how many artistic endeavors are accomplished when the cognitive side of the brain—or the intellect—is resting, thus allowing creativity to bubble up. This process is both one of faith and one of relinquishing control. Have you ever experienced this bubbling up of creativity that the author describes? What do you think she means when she says, “I must have more faith in the work than I have in myself”?
This chapter argues that integrity comes when a person’s inner and public selves are closely related. L’Engle says, “King David’s public and private selves were close together, despite his adultery, and that is why his repentance was real.” What do you think she means when she says these two selves must be close together? What must we recognize about ourselves and about God in order for these two “selves” to be close together?
L’Engle argues that “myths…give us our sense of identity. They make possible our sense of community.” What does this mean? What myths have given you a sense of identity and place? The parables of Jesus? Family tales told by your grandparents? The story your best friend shared at your wedding? Why are these myths important? In what ways have we lost some of our own identity by losing touch with myth?
The author is critical of literalism, saying, “Literalism kills the stories of Jesus, and comes close to killing us. Literalism makes no demands of us, asks of us no faith, does not cause us to grow.” Give some examples of literalism in your own faith journey. Have you ever fallen into the trap of literalism? Have you seen literalism in someone else’s life? How is it damaging? What drives literalism?
L’Engle points out our culture’s shift toward a “have, have, have” mentality. I have a headache. I have children. I have insomnia. Do you find yourself phrasing things this way? Do you agree with the author that this language is a result of our tendency to find self-worth through possessions? Why or why not?
Chapter 11: Story as a Redemptive Act
This chapter is long and complex, and it is bursting with wisdom. Therefore, more questions are included than in previous chapters, and are broken down by topic.
Myth, Fairy Tale, and Story
L’Engle frequently turns to story when facing times of grief or trial. In this chapter, she talks about the ways story helped nurture and heal her after her father’s death and during other painful times in her life. Do you relate to her experience? Have you ever turned to story for healing? Do you enjoy a certain genre of fiction, or long to read a book after a busy or trying day, or binge-watch a certain television series? Why are you drawn to these stories?
The author asserts that the darkness and violence often found in fairy tales—the “all-wrongness,” as she puts it—is an essential recognition of humanity’s brokenness. It is through story that we see the hope of our redemption, she argues. She says, “But the teller of fairy tales, ancient or modern, is also aware of the infinite value of the human being, of the extraordinary fact that we often accomplish the impossible.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree that story is an important reminder of the “infinite value of the human being”? In what ways does story perpetuate hope in the impossible? How does the “all-wrongness,” or brokenness, depicted in story reveal our humanity and lead us toward redemption?
She says, “True story calls us to be part of the universe as it heals us.” What do you think she means by “true story”? If true story calls us to be part of the universe, to what do you think the false story calls us? What is the difference between “true story” and the “cunningly devised fables” to which she referred in the last chapter?
This chapter talks about fairy tales, specifically the idea of an older and younger son and a great quest. What is this quest? Who are we called to be in this story? What are some characteristics of the younger son that L’Engle highlights, and why are they important?
Using the fairy tale of the princess and the pea as an example, the author talks about the awareness Christians are called to have, even amidst the cushioning distractions of the world. Have you ever, as L’Engle describes it, been unable to “sleep all night because we felt the hard pea of awareness under all those mattresses of indifference”? What “pea” are you aware of, despite the distraction the world offers? How do you respond to it?
Naming, Prayer, and Redemption
Adam was called to co-create with God by naming the animals. He was a Namer. L’Engle says, “If you name somebody or something, you discover that the act of Naming is very closely connected with the act of loving, and hating is involved with unNaming—taking a person’s name away, causing anyone to be an anonymous digit, annihilating the spirit.”
Have you ever named someone or something? Did choosing a name feel important? Did it draw you closer to that which you Named? In what ways have you “unNamed” someone? Have you ever called a frustrating coworker “that man,” or substituted another word for the name of someone who’s angered you? How is this an act of “unNaming,” or of hatred? Why is this destructive?
Do you believe that God calls all the stars by name—every star in every galaxy? Why or why not? If so, does this knowledge comfort you? Make you feel inconsequential? Instill awe? Why?
L’Engle says, “When you give someone your name, you give that person power over you, and we’ve forgotten this.” Do you agree with her? Has our society become too flippant with names? How does knowing and using a person’s first name create intimacy?
In what ways can redemption be painful? How have you experienced this?
The author says, “To identify is to limit, to pigeonhole. To Name is to love.” What is the difference between identifying and Naming? Why is identifying someone limiting, as opposed to loving?
Success, Compassion, and Love
L’Engle says, “If we think only in terms of success, then our success becomes more important than compassion; if we feel compelled to succeed, we don’t have time to know anybody in the cause by name.” Do you agree with this? How do you maintain compassion in your life? Has compassion ever challenged your desire for success? In what ways might a drive for success trample compassion?
L’Engle calls love the “mainspring of all Christian social action—love, not
success. Having compassion. Having the courage to share in each other’s joys and fears and pains, every single day.” How can we live a life of love and compassion in today’s chaotic and success-driven world? In what ways does our society—through social media or twenty-four-hour news coverage or the isolation caused by constant use of technology, for example—challenge this more intimate idea of Christian social action?
Do you agree with the author when she says that “the opposite of love is power, rather than hate”? Why or why not? In what ways do you see this idea played out in the world today?
This chapter talks of the “monsters” within us all. What monsters do you struggle with in your own life? Resentment? Jealousy? Anger? False expectations? How do you face and overcome these monsters?
What does L’Engle mean when she says, “Privilege accepted should mean responsibility accepted”? In what ways are we privileged? What, then, is our responsibility?
Resurrection and Meditation
Do you believe in the happy ending promised in so many fairy tales? Why or why not? Do you believe in a happy ending—our resurrection with Christ—for yourself?
L’Engle says, “But God, the Good Book tells us, is no respecter of persons, and the happy ending isn’t promised to an exclusive club.” What do you think she means by this? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?
Do you practice meditation? Why or why not? L’Engle calls meditation “the practice of death and resurrection.” What do you think she means by this? Why is (or isn’t) this practice important?
Discuss the following quote:
“For the happy ending is intrinsic to the life of faith, central to all we do during all of our lives. If we cannot believe in it, we are desolate indeed. If we know, in the depths of our hearts, that God is going to succeed, with each one of us, with the entire universe, then our lives will be bright with laughter, love, and light.”
Do you agree with her? Does anything about this idea challenge you? What role does the knowledge of a “happy ending” play in your faith?
Chapter 12: Story as Resurrection
This chapter is long and complex, and it is bursting with wisdom. Therefore, more questions are included than in previous chapters, and are broken down by topic.
Grief, Forgiveness, and Freedom
This chapter begins with a discussion on grief. The author recounts her own grief and her ways of grieving through story. What is your relationship with grief? Share a time in your life when you or someone you love faced grief. How did you (or they) manage it? What brought you comfort? Is that grief still a part of you? Why or why not?
Recalling the days before antibiotics and other medical advancements, L’Engle says that death and grief were given more room in our society. Houses hung mourning wreaths, people wore clothes signifying their grief. Now, she says, “we no longer have a mandated or permissible period of mourning.” Do you think this reality is detrimental in any way? Is it important to express grief, or to have our grief recognized by others? Why or why not?
Do you think God grieves? L’Engle says, “If we do not allow ourselves to grieve, we cannot allow God to grieve.” Do you agree with her? What do you think grieves God? How do we “allow God to grieve,” if at all?
“Forgiveness requires healing grief. Forgiveness hurts, as all grief must, and if it hurts to forgive, it hurts equally to be forgiven.” Has forgiveness—both given and received—ever hurt you? How so? How are grief and forgiveness related?
The author argues that freedom exists only within the “strict law of love.” She says, “A river isn’t a river when it overflows its banks. The stars would be raging, flaming destruction if they had not been set in their beautiful courses.” What is the world’s idea of freedom, and how does that differ from what L’Engle says in this chapter? Why do boundaries create true freedom?
Memory, Mortification, and Judgmentalism
How important is personal memory? What about communal memory, such as the memories shared in a family or church or town? In what ways have communal memories shaped your life and faith?
The author says that to mortify our bodies is “to honor them, to enjoy them.” She cites exercise and eating well, generally being responsible for the temple of our body, and treating it with respect. Considering this definition of mortify, in what ways do you mortify your body? What about your spirit? Your mind?
Have you ever known a time when you were too ill (whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually) to pray for yourself—but you felt the prayers of others? Describe this experience. How did it shape you? What did this teach you about prayer?
What is the difference between making judgments and being judgmental? L’Engle calls making judgments “a deep responsibility [that] must never be done from fear, but with awe and humility.” Describe a time you were asked to make judgments in this way. Did you do so from a place of awe and humility? Did you wrestle with fear in your decision?
L’Engle says, “Story does not force. Facts are the merest beginning of my understanding of the Christian story.” What role do facts play in your understanding of the Christian story? How has your understanding of story—specifically the Christian story—changed with the reading of this book? What has challenged you? Surprised you?
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