Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 2

Welcome
Last week, we thought about how negative voices make us feel, where they come from, and how we feed them. This week, we are delving into what the Bible calls fools. Sometimes a fool is easy to pick out, and other times, not so much. Could the fool in your life be a small voice that’s just constantly playing in the background, on your social media feed, from the news, or even a co-worker? Someone or something that slowly brings you down and has you making choices that just aren’t sound or honoring yourself or others? How can we discern these voices in our lives and make different choices?

Prayer Practice
During this series, we are encouraging groups to spend time in silence or meditation together. Last week, we tried to be silent for 30 seconds together. While it may have felt fast for some, it might have been awkward for others. It’s ok to test our comfort limits and try new things!

This week, we are encouraging groups to share silence together for 1 minute. If you like, you can set a timer for 1 minute, as we did last week, and then move on to the prayer. Or if you’d prefer, you can try this 1 minute guided breathing meditation: Calm | Breathing Bubble

Opening Prayer
Creator, thank you for another week together and time to dive into these deeper topics. Help us to understand ourselves and you better during this time. Guide our conversation as we try to discern more about the fools in our own lives and how to quiet them. Amen.

Ice Breaker
When you hear the term Fool, what’s the first image that comes to mind? A court jester? Someone who falls in love too quickly? What does “fool” mean to you?

The Head
Do you find yourself consciously thinking about who is foolish and who is wise in our society or the community around you? Maybe the phrases “He’s such a fool” or “That was wise counsel” don’t naturally flow through your mind, but you can point out a bad idea when you hear it. Let’s take some time to talk through what we think about foolishness and where we look for wisdom.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

• Have you ever met someone who seemed to have no regard for instruction? How would you describe them to the group? What was it like interacting with this person? 
• Do you think the Bible contains wisdom? Or do you think it’s outdated and not applicable to our current world? What examples come to mind when you think about this? 
• What is the relationship between fearing God and having knowledge? What does that mean to you?

Proverbs 10:14
The wise lay up knowledge,
But the babbling of a fool brings ruin near.

• How do you think one “lays up knowledge”? 
• In what ways does a fool influence your thinking? 
• How does listening to God/Spirit change your thinking? 

The Heart
Is there a voice in your life that is a little bit louder than it should be? Do you ever find yourself acting a fool yourself? Sometimes changing our behavior requires us to look inside ourselves to understand why we make the choices we do.

Proverbs 10:23
Doing wrong is like sport to a fool.
but wise conduct is pleasure to a person of understanding.

• Have you ever left a group of people, a job, or a club and realized later that the voices of those people were dragging you down and putting you on a destructive path? If so, what is something you learned from the experience? 
• What is the impact of “wise conduct” on your day to day life, your mood, and your relationships with God and others? How does living a life of wisdom bring you pleasure?
• With all of the different voices out there using Christianity as a tool for their agenda, how do you differentiate between the voice of God and all of the other noise?

The Hands
Nobody wants to be the fool in the Bible. We don’t want others to look at us and think, “I’m never taking that guy’s advice!” What do we need to do in order to live a life of wisdom?

Proverbs 12:15
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice.

• What is one thing you could try this week to foster more grounded thinking in your life? 
• What action can you take when the fools in your life start getting louder? 
• Who are the wise people in your life who could gently (or not so gently!) encourage you to make some different choices?
• How can we as a group help one another in finding positive voices to listen to?

Closing Prayer
Creator, thank you again for this time and these people. Be with us as we go into the rest of our week. Help us to remember what we’ve learned and how to better discern foolish advice from wise counsel. Help us to continue to quiet the noise that isn’t helpful for our lives and hone in on what is good. Amen.

Going Deeper
A couple of years ago, The Gathering did a whole sermon series on the Book of Proverbs. If you want to dig deeper into the topic of wisdom in the Bible, you can check out that series here:

Proverbs: Words to Live By 

Additional Resources
Here are some brief YouTube videos to guide your meditative prayer practice this week:

One Minute Guided Meditation | MedBridge 

One Minute Guided Meditation | Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health 

1-Minute Meditation | Calm

From Pastor Charity
Wellness Groups begin in February. Whether you're in a season where a group will benefit you or you know of someone, please consider your emotional health as you begin the New Year.

Review the offerings here www.gatheringnow.org/wellness