At a Glance
Theme:
Christ’s Incarnation: God Taking on Human Flesh
Faculty Speaker:
Dr. John Utz, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Literature and Theology
Lectionary Texts:
Exodus 3:1-15; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:1-20; John 1:1-18
Jeri McCombs participates in a pottery workshop during
the Arts Village. |
Hannah Barnwell converses with a guest from Urban Hope during a hospitality meal. |
James Wood and Samuel Alvarez play soccer
during free time. |
Reflections on the Lecture
Dr. Utz led us in reflections on the incarnation through study of both biblical passages and poetry. We learned that the word ‘incarnation’ literally means ‘taking on flesh,’ as we discussed the mystery of Jesus’ humanity and divinity. We discovered that Jesus’ death was not an afterthought but was the first thought of God, part of the divine plan for the world from the beginning of time. After diving deep into several biblical passages, we turned to metaphor in poetry to help us understand the mystery of the incarnation. We focused on “Agnus Dei,” a poem by Denise Levertov, in which we explored the symbolic image of the “lamb of God,” painting a picture of a Christ with “radical humility.” Holding Christ’s full humanity and full divinity together while imagining Christ’s similarities to a lamb gave us multiple layers of meaning and ways to view the second person of the Trinity.
Quotable Quotes
“It’s confusing the mess out of me… but that’s pretty cool.”
— Will Small, on learning that the incarnation is a confusing paradox.
“If God is our Father, does that make Jesus our brother?”
— Student during plenary lecture
Student: “What’s more important than basketball?”
Staff: “Dinner!”
Student: “Basketball is nourishment…”
Other Activities
After our plenary session this morning, we split into worship workshop groups for the first time, and began preparing to lead one of the evening worship services for next week. After lunch, we experienced our second arts village workshop before having a bit of free time for rest and recreation. This evening, we were blessed by a beautiful worship service in the Episcopal tradition, led by Fr. Joshua Whitfield from Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill, NC. Episcopal and Anglican students served as acolytes as we experienced worship through all of our senses.
What’s Ahead...
Tomorrow we will attend our first of three ‘prayer practices’ workshops, learning different ways to pray both corporately and individually. Dean L. Gregory Jones and Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones will lead our discussion of Christ’s passion, we will attend our third arts village workshop, and we will enjoy a hospitality dinner hosted by the Congregation at Duke Chapel. Rev. Lisa Yebuah and Rev. Abby Kocher, both former DYA mentors, will lead us in evening worship.
« Day 3 | Day 5 »
Duke Youth Academy
for Christian Formation
The Divinity School,
Duke University
Box 90966,
Durham, N.C. 27708-0966
919-660-3542,
DuYouth@div.Duke.edu |
