New ways to plumb the meaning of texts in a contemporary setting

One of the forms of worship content we are using in some of our contemplative lay led services is modelled on the format of wondering questions used in the pre-school church curriculum, Godly Play, or in the Unitarian context, Spirit Play.  Simply put, one reads a paragraph of text, in our case it was the Transcendentalists, someone re-phrases it in modern language, then someone else asks "wondering questions" that challenge the listener to make a personal connection with the message of the text.
Here are a couple of examples:

TRANSCENDENTAL WISDOM:

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food….Standing on the bare ground – my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space – all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I saw all; the currents on the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

MODERN RESPONSE:

If I open myself to an awareness of what is truly around me, I may sense a greater spiritual truth and feel a oneness with the Universe.

            WONDERING QUESTION:

What prevents me from seeing others and their concerns?  How could I begin to look at familiar faces and places in new ways?

(followed by three or four minutes of quiet music or silence)

TRANSCENDENTAL WISDOM:

I would not have any one adopt my mode of living on any account; for,

beside that before he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for myself, I desire that there be as many different persons in the world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his father’s or his mother’s or his neighbor’s instead.

- Henry David Thoreau, from “Economy,” Walden

MODERN RESPONSE:

Within ethical and healthy limits, we should consider valuing another person’s individuality instead of looking askance at people who choose to look or say or be what we might otherwise consider “unconventional.”

REFLECTION:

How can I find the “best” me, even if it’s not considered conventional? And how can I remove myself from judging people who seem “unconventional” to me: the street musician? the itinerant? the “other”?

(followed by quiet reflection in silence or with quiet music)

Clearly these are not ancient texts, but the 19th century language can be a challenge. This format can work, however with biblical texts or old forms of language. It is important NOT to pull things out of context, but rather use fully crafted paragraphs to give the most credit to the author of the text used.