Carlita,
Thanks for helping with the discussion!
My original thread describes a bit where I wanted to go with this and why I thought of this idea in the first place. Basically I celebrate my own version of the Eucharist/Holy Communion which is similar but still quite a different take on what that Sacrament means to most Christians. I decided to harmonize my celebration of these rites (there are two) with the church year that I am already synced in with through my more mainstream Anglican practice (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and so on). In the Episcopal Church we do this partly with short prayers (collects) summarizing the theme of the day or festival and the Bible readings for that date which are determined by the lectionary. However, I was having a hard time harmonizing the lectionary or even modifying the lectionary readings to suit my rites because my focus is more esoteric (inner truth) and much of the New Testament (which is mostly what the traditional lectionaries use for the readings) is concerned at least to a large extent with certain versions of history and certain doctrines that often vary somewhat depending on the book or author, although the lectionary does shape the meaning that comes to be read in the text. Even after altering the collects I have still struggled with this. The lectionary readings work fine at the Anglican mass. I don't have a problem with the Bible! But I just don't think they are the best for the rites I am doing.
I am not trying to write scripture in the sense of a document that is infallible in any way or binding on anyone. It might even be better to call it a form of poetry should I actually begin with this project and succeed, just so people don't get the wrong idea. My practice is not really something that could easily be organized into a religion by its very nature, although it could be passed on from person to person, giving each person total freedom to develop or even change it.
When I have the time to start on this I have chosen to proceed as follows: I will simply write a piece of poetry (or scripture) for each collect and Sunday of the season of the church year. So Advent deals with the coming of Christ, the coming of the light, Christmas with his birth, Epiphany has undertones of light and the Holy Spirit, and so on. I could write a short piece -- even ten verses -- for each Sunday throughout the Church year, finally progressing through the Trinity season which has themes of purgation, illumination, and finally Divine Union.
Depending on how I write it perhaps each piece could be pieced together as one long poem, but I basically intend for this to grow out of the liturgy. I will have to choose which form this will take. A dialogue? A narrative? A combination? Anyway, this idea of how to structure it only came to me in the last thread. It does seem like it will be easier to work on it with this method than simply sitting down and trying to write a book like the gospel of Matthew. What I do intend to be different about the writings is that they will express mythic imagery and draw from wisdom literature -- biblical, apocryphal, and so on -- and not in the least bit be concerned with history. It should be obvious should I succeed with a project like this that the writings are symbolic.
Any thoughts or ideas on something like this are welcome. I originally posted about this topic in the Gnostic forum as I had heard some Gnostics ancient and modern wrote their own gospels. I came across one on this forum some years ago who claimed he did just that, although he had since converted to Catholicism. It would be interesting to read something like that and see where people went with it. Right now I'm thinking of consulting different gnostic texts for inspiration along with the lectionary I was working with, although unlike some of the gnostic scriptures, I do not at all have a negative view of the body, matter, or embodiment. On that score I'm pretty much in line with my mainstream Anglican sacramental tradition -- the cosmos is holy.
