Books, Blogs, & Brownies

So here we are at week 2 of our discussion of The Passion of Mary-Margaret and before I answer the discussion questions, I'll clarify my love-hate relationship with the book since I unknowingly sparked some curiosity.  

Though I am not an orphan like MM, my mom passed away when I was fairly young.  I recently had my first child (isn't she beautiful!?!) and have been dealing with my mom's death in totally new ways as I seek to become to someone else what I have never really had myself.  There was a particular night that I was reading this book when I looked at God and said "Seriously!  Are you really going to ask me to grow through some fictional, just-for-fun novel?  I'm tired.  I do not want to face this anymore."  And He gently reminded me that He would continue to pick at the wounds of my past until I allowed Him access to fully heal them.... to turn these wounds into scars.... healed reminders of all that I've been through and all that He has shown me, but no longer scabs that are constantly ready to bleed.  (Come on, you know, you needed some more blood imagery!!!!!)  

So here I am still trying to break free (love you, Beth Moore!) from a lot of the issues (I won't even go into the rest of my family issues or the fact that Jude reminds me of a dear friend of mine from high school!) that MM faced in this book.   I hope this makes sense and maybe gives insight into how I read this book since I obviously read my own story into hers.

And now without further delay, the discussion questions...  I'll try to answer them briefly since this is already a long post....  though being brief has never been a strength of mine.

We find ourselves reading Mary-Margaret’s personally penned story of her life. If you were to look back on your life and journal it all down in story format what are some things you would include? What main characters would we meet? What would be the tone of your story? Ultimately, what would the testimony of your life be (or what do you hope it would be!)?

For the sake of space and time, I’m going to answer this with the five most important “chapters” of my story and the five most important characters.  I would say the chapters of my life have included 1.) my mom’s death and the years after it that included living with a biological father who has never played a real role in my life, 2.) my college years as God began to open my very closed heart, 3.) my single years that I am so incredibly thankful for, 4.) meeting my husband and the awesome ability to create my own family... one that I actually fit into, and 5.) becoming a mother and seeing God’s unconditional love in a whole new way.  Major characters are more difficult since I feel like God has used different people throughout my life, but I guess I would include my dad (step-dad, but the one who has provided for me), my brother, my husband, the sister-I-never-had, Beth, and my daughter.  Hmm…. I guess my mother also played a huge part due to her absence so make that 6 major characters!  The tone of my story would be one of God's refining grace as He continually molds me through my family, friends, and experiences.

 In chapter 3, on page 22, Mary-Margaret breaches the subject of Christian mysticism. How did this sit with you? What are your thoughts on this topic?

I tend to skim things that I don’t agree with and this is one of those areas!  I would have to do more research, but I didn’t find any of it to be Biblical. 

In these chapters (3, 4 &5) we begin to see Mary-Margaret’s intimate relationship with Jesus. What do you think about the relationship we see between Him and her? In what ways can you relate to her approach to Jesus? In what ways can you not?

MM’s relationship with Jesus is perhaps my favorite part of this story.  To be honest as I read it, I was jealous of MM’s relationship with Him.  You see, I’ve had those times in my life where I needed Jesus with every breathe I took, but God is currently teaching me to love and need Him during a time of extreme joy… to seek His companionship from complete desire and not need.  I felt MM was a great example of someone who loved and desired Jesus’ presence regardless of her circumstances.  In the bible study, I’m currently going through there was a quote that said “You are as close to God as you CHOOSE to be.”  MM CHOSE to be close and it is my desire to make that daily choice as well!

For more discussion, join us at Kristen's .