1. In the storm, a bolt of lightning came down and split the tree in half. 2. I fell off my bike speeding down the hill, but didn’t even get a scratch. 3. I wanted an ice-cream but didn’t have any money me –then I found $1.00 on the ground, so I could buy one. 4. When I saw the fire truck going to a house that was on fire, I prayed that everyone would get out of the fire safely and they did. 5. I wake up every morning feeling fresh and ready to start the day. 6. When the forest fire was out of control, the wind turned and the rain came and put it out. 7. God created the world in seven days. 8. I prayed that something bad would happen to the boy at school who is always teasing me, and then he broke his arm. 9. A standard passenger plane weighs more than 100 adult elephants when it is loaded, and yet it can still get into the air and fly!
In each case, make sure to explain your answers / responses.
Are there times you can be heard but not seen? Describe come situations
Are there times you are seen but are not heard? Describe some situtations
Can you look at someone but not really see them?
Can you see someone without looking at them?
Can you hear what someone says but not listen to them?
Do you expect friends to see you better than other people? In what ways?
Is there a difference between the way parents see you and the way teachers see you?
Is there a difference between the way parents see you and the way your friends see you?
Do you think all your friends see you the same way?
Could a stranger see you better than your friends do?
Could someone who disagrees with you see your point better than people who agree with you?
image source: shutterstock
Return to the questions above – try re-asking them about seeing and hearing God. (e.g.; Are there times when God is heard but not seen? Could you hear what God says but not listen to God? Does it make a difference if you see God as a parent or as a friend? Do you expect God to see you better than other people? In what ways?)
For the items listed below decide which word best describes it:
Miracle – Miraculous – Awesome – Lucky – Ordinary
1. As I was walking home I was thinking “wouldn’t it be great to have money to buy an ice-cream” – and then I saw a dollar coin in the gutter. 2. In the storm, a bolt of lightning came down and split the tree in half. 3. I fell off my bike speeding down the hill, but came out of it without even a scratch. 4. When the house down the street caught fire, I prayed that everyone would get out of the fire safely and they did. 5. I wake up every morning feeling fresh and ready to start the day. 6. When the forest fire was out of control, the wind turned and the rain came and put it out. 7. The fortune teller told my sister that she would meet someone and fall in love and she did. 8. God created the world in seven days. 9. Jonah was swallowed by a whale/big fish and survived. (Is this the same as no.8?) 10. I prayed that something bad would happen to the boy at school who is always teasing me, and then he broke his arm. (How does your answer here compare to your answer to no. 4?) 11. A standard 747 airplane weighs more than 910,000lbs when it is loaded, and yet it can still get off the ground!
In each case, make sure to explain your answers / responses.
Are there times you are heard but not seen?
Are there times you are seen but not heard?
Can you look at someone but not see them?
Can you see someone without looking at them?
Can you hear what someone says but not listen to them?
Do you expect friends to see you better than other people? In what ways?
Is there a difference between the way parents see you and the way teachers see you?
Is there a difference between the way parents see you and the way your friends see you?
Do you think all your friends see you the same way? If not, what accounts for the difference?
Could a stranger see you better than your friends do?
Could someone who disagrees with you see your point better than people who agree with you?
When we respond to what we hear, do we do it the same way as we respond to what we see?
Could you see something and respond as if you had heard it? What would this mean?
Could you hear something and respond as if you had seen it? What would this mean?
image source: shutterstock
Return to the questions above – try re-asking them about seeing and hearing God. (e.g.; Are there times when God is heard but not seen? Could you hear what God says but not listen to God? Does it make a difference if you see God as a parent or as a friend? Do you expect God to see you better than other people? In what ways?)
2 And he lifted his eyes and saw, behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and bowed down to the ground,
5 And I will fetch a little bread, to sustain your hearts; after that you will go on, because you have passed by your servant.” And they said, “So you will do, as you have spoken.”
10 And he said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold – there will be a son, to Sarah, your wife.” And Sarah heard from the entrance of the tent, behind him.
In this text Sarah laughs be-kirba (בְּקִרְבָּהּ). What kind of laughter is this? The laughter is a ‘close’ laughter, translated variously as laughing ‘to herself’, ‘within herself’ or ‘at herself’. For Samson Raphael Hirsch it is “the natural, involuntary laughter which we can hardly keep back at the sight of some absurdity” (Hirsch, 1963, p. 352). The question is whether Sarah’s laughter is one of sheer incredulity or of irony, or something else. Two things happen later that further complicate things.
(i) She denies laughing (18:15). Why does she do this? What might this say about her laughter? (is she embarrassed? Is she in denial? Is it possible she was so amazed she was unaware of laughing? Or maybe, if she had worked to suppress her laughter, she now wanted to assert that she hadn’t really laughed because she had consciously controlled herself from doing so, keeping her laughter within.)
(ii) She speaks about laughter (21:7). When she gives birth to Yitzak a few verses later she says: “ God has made laughter of me, everyone who hears will laugh”. Here too the passage is open to different readings – is she saying that, in giving birth in old age, God has made her into a laughing stock and everyone will laugh at her (Hirsch), or that God has brought laugher to her and that everyone who hears will laugh with her in joy (Rashi)?
Those who read Sarah as fearing laughter tend to read her earlier reaction in the tent as a negative laughter, while those who read it as joy see her earlier laughter as incredulity or disbelief when told good but improbable news. Sarah is not the only one who laughs. One verse earlier (Bereshit 17:17) Avraham ‘falls on his face and laughs’ when he is told he will have a child by Sarah. If Sarah’s laughter is inward, Abrahams laughter seems to be blatantly outward.
Several discussion plans and exercises explore the nature of laughter:
(i) One looks at how we laugh (where it happens in our body, the control we have over it, inward and outward laughter). This provides different resources for reflecting on how Sarah might have laughed be-kirba (בְּקִרְבָּהּ).
(ii) One looks at emotions that lie behind laughter and causes of laughter (insecurity, joy, embarrassment, etc). This looks at what Sarah might have been feeling as she laughed.
(iii) one looks at kinds of laughter (some distinctions to think about include whether the pictures shows people laughing with or at something, laughing as expression of joy, laughing inside or laughing openly, seeking to hide laughter, openly showing laughter, embarrassed laughter, laughing in amazement).
N.B.: you might like to put these on pieces of card face down on floor/table. One at a time student select a card, read it and comment on it (leave time for other students to respond before the next person selects a card.)
If you do this before reading the text, then return to the cards after your discussion and see whether they offer insights into Sarah’s laughter.
If you do this after your discussion, pause after discussing each one and ask “do you think this quote offers a new way of thinking about Sarah’s laughter?
It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either. Wayne Dyer, Psychologist, 1940-2015 source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/waynedyer127372.html
N.B.: you might like to put these on pieces of card face down on floor/table. One at a time student select a card, read it and comment on it (leave time for other students to respond before the next person selects a card.)
If you do this before reading the text, then return to the cards after your discussion and see whether they offer insights into Sarah’s laughter.
If you do this after your discussion, pause after discussing each one and ask “do you think this quote offers a new way of thinking about Sarah’s laughter?
It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either. Wayne Dyer, Psychologist, 1940-2015 source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/waynedyer127372.html
Being able to laugh at a situation can help you hang on to your perspective. And there’s an intimacy in laughter that nothing else can come close to. Eric Mabius, actor 1971- source: http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=laughter&pg=8
Laughter does not deny pain. Laughter – like a wail – acknowledges and replies to pain. Tim O’Brien, author, 1946- source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/timobrien515506.html
At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. Jean Houston, author 1937- source: http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=laughter&pg=6
When God asks Abraham why Sarah laughs Sarah denies that she did so. Is this denial? Embarrassment? Fear? A lie or… maybe even the truth (if she ‘laughed within’, managing to suppress her laugh, has she still laughed? (is she embarrassed? Is she in denial? Is it possible she was so amazed she was unaware of laughing? Or maybe, if she had worked to suppress her laughter, she now wanted to assert that she hadn’t really laughed because she had consciously controlled herself from doing so, keeping her laughter within.)
At face value this seems a pretty clear cut case of lying – yet god does not administer any form of divine retribution. Why does Sarah get no punishment? Could it be because it was in some way excusable? If so what would make it so? Sarah lies because she was yirah – in fear, or struck with awe – Can we be so overwhelmed that we lie without intending to? (it just slips out?).
The discussion plan explores lying and the texts that come after explore lies that seem to be good lies. Could Sarah’s lie be of this sort, If so, how would we have to understand the situation she was in?
1. Does ‘lying’ have more than one meaning? 2. Can you say something that is false without it being a lie? 3. Are there different sorts of lies? 4. What is the difference between them? Are they equally wrong/right? 5. Is exaggeration a form of lying? 6. Can you lie without meaning to? 7. Can you tell the truth without meaning to? 8. If your lie turns out to be the truth have you still lied? 9. What are some of the likely consequences of lying? 10. Is lying ever justified?
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