Wednesday, July 05, 2006

The Art of Being Ekkeisia - Reflections From Dione

The Art of Being Ekkleisia

I missed the middle two sessions on this one, so forgive me if I have missed something, or say too much…

I looked up Dictionary.com, a favourite of mine, to get a feel for the words art & ekkleisia, this is what it came up with…

ART:- “Synonyms: art, craft, expertise, knack, know-how, technique
These nouns denote skill in doing or performing that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of rhetoric; pottery that reveals an artist's craft; political expertise; a knack for teaching; mechanical know-how; a precise diving technique.”

ec·cle·si·a Pronunciation Key (-klzh-, -z-)
n. pl. ec·cle·si·ae (-zh-, -z-)
1. The political assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state.
2. A church or congregation.
[Latin ecclsia, from Greek ekklsi, from ekkalein, to summon forth : ek-, out; see ecto- + kalein, kl-, to call; see kel-2 in Indo-European Roots.]

So from that, I believe the art of ekkleisia means to be called out (chosen?). In practice, that means we need to gain skills in the following of Christ through study, practice (doing) and by observing others in the church and Jesus himself. I liked that Frank used the term progress in his post because when we look at it’s meaning below it fit’s in well with the art of being ekkleisia. We are all work in progress. I liked the mention of blog's in the last session, it's a great way of getting honesty/truth out to the masses, or at least to get your thoughts out into an open forum. :) I have experienced a lot of personal growth through my own blog, and through joining cession where I feel encouraged to think why I believe what I do.

prog·ress Pronunciation Key (prgrs, -rs, prgrs)
n.
1. Movement, as toward a goal; advance.
2. Development or growth: students who show progress.
3. Steady improvement, as of a society or civilization: a believer in human progress.
4. A ceremonial journey made by a sovereign through his or her realm.

I am glad to be part of a community of believers that want to be just that – a community. It takes work to move towards being this. We humans are not, nor could we ever be perfect, but steady progress is being made. Progress, I believe, is the most important part of living.

Continue to grow, learn, live life!

Blessings,

Dione

4 Comments:

Blogger BJ said...

The works in progress idea is cool - one of the quotes that grabbed me was the Erwin McManus idea that we are all "hypocrites in transition". The church is not perfect...because it consists of people who are works in progress - thats what make the church so perfect - there is the joy of seeing lives transformed. There's nothing to add once perfection is achieved...in that sense perfection is boring!

10:49 PM  
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