What is “soul care”?

Soul Care: New Term, Same Ol’ Thing

Contemplative terms always seem to be changing. What is called one thing today may be exchanged for a new term tomorrow. A relatively new term for “Spiritual Direction” is “Soul Care.” In Biola University’s Masters program, Spiritual Formation and Soul Care , the program “trains leaders in soul care to be spiritual mentors, directors and teachers who will assist others in their journey of growth in Christ and His body.” This program incorporates contemplative experiences and “Soul Care Practicum.” Clearly Biola sees a relation between soul care and contemplative spirituality.

Where did the term Soul Care come from anyway? In the late nineties, contemplative and New Age promoter, David Benner, wrote a book called The Care of Souls, and then later wrote one called Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls. Thomas Moore wrote Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life , and there are other books with similar titles. Nearly all of them promote spiritual direction and contemplative spirituality.

More here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=451

Who else uses the term “soul care”?

*Eastern Mennonite Seminary:

Seminary Provides ‘Soul Care’ to Community
http://www.emu.edu/seminary/features/spiritual_direction.html

*Mennonite Church Canada:

Soul Care: How to Plan and Guide Inspirational Retreats
www.mennonitechurch.ca/resourcecentre/ResourceView/2/5876

*Willow Creek:
http://www.growingleadership.com/healthysoul/speaker.asp

These are only a few of the well known Christian organizations and seminaries who are using nice sounding new terms to cover up the muddy waters of contemplative spirituality as they lead blind, hungry and thirsty sheep over the bridge to Rome.

Book Six — Chapter Six Living With Jean Shepherd, Parsing Dostoevsky, Parsing Neo-Orthodoxy, Dorothy Day, Student Interracial Ministry, Fiona Is Born, Don Benedict, Henry Pitney Van Dusen Is Miffed

CONTENTS

So much things to say to say. Let’s get to it.

Adam and Ganya stayed in Hastings Hall until the pregnancy became gloriously obvious. Then they moved to a Teacher’s College apartment in Bancroft Hall. It was a half a block away. Ganya continued working at Youth House. Adam worked in a venerable Presbyterian church in Brooklyn.

Academically, Adam sank deep into Dostoevsky as he had at Williams. He tackled the novelist’s vision of God in “The Brothers Karamazov”.

Life with Ganya proceeded happily, mainly from supper on. It can be said they lived with Jean Shepherd. Jean Shepherd was on 45 minutes each weekday night on WOR radio. Ganya and Adam sat expectantly through fifteen minutes of news, awaiting the theme music. There it was! Then came Shepherd.

Ah!

Scenes of Chicago. Gary. Of rump-sprung chenille bathrobes. Parades. Kid fights. Parental conundrums. The great Midwest. Shepherd’s would string together evocations, memories, contemporary glosses with no effort. With a hipster edge barely audible but there. Oh, there. Nearly an hour. Off the top of his head. If one could imbibe attitude, it is likely that both Ganya and Adam drank deeply of Shepherd that year.

A deeper parsing of Dostoevsky added another element to Adam’s core understanding. Dostoevsky was seen as an apostle of freedom. A man will do anything at all to prove he is a man and not a piano key. The philosopher Berdyaev said the height of Dostoevsky’s celebration of freedom was “The Brother’s Karamazov”, most particularly Ivan Karamazov’s story of The Grand Inquisitor.

Adam knew the story. The devil appears to Jesus in the wilderness and tempts him three times. Turn stones to bread. Leap from a height. Bow to Satan and he will receive all the kingdoms of the earth. Mystery. Miracle. Authority. ations, he said, were the pillars of Roman Catholicism. To Adam these were not merely the pillars of religion but of society and culture as well. The Grand Inquisitor was for Adam very deepest description of reality itself. It was what Genet brought forth “The Balcony”. Ganya and he had gone to see it in New York. Beckett knew it in his novels and plays.

But freedom was not the end for Dostoevsky. Grace was. The mystical reality Adam already knew. When freedom was no longer enough to cross to a realm of wholeness and completion, an inexplicable and mysterious grace makes possible an affirmation in the very face of death itself.

Adam pounded away on his Smith-Corona. Out came “Dostoevsky’s Vision of God”.

Adam was disturbed by the dominant theology of the time. It went by the name neo-orthodoxy. Neo-orthodoxy was like a surreal lump of chewing gum on the pavement. Step on it. You can’t move.

The grand presence of neo-orthodoxy at Union was Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr was a product of the midwest and the Evangelical and Reformed church. He’d been a firebrand in Detroit, defending unions, fighting Ford, flirting with Marxism, an intellect with national reach. He proved his theological mettle in several books, including a magnum opus, “The Nature and Destiny of Man”. The book was a wise bulwark against illusions of all kinds.

Adam’s moment of shock with Reinhold Niebuhr came during a presentation at the seminary by a teacher of religion at Wellesley named Joseph Haroutounian. The presentation was amiable. Love in the situations of life. It would not move mountains at Union, but it was a nice change from the norm. A Saroyan play in the midst of an O’Neill festival, as it were. Reinhold jumped al over Haroutounian. “Joe, this sounds a little sectarian.”

In other words, Joe was being unrealistic, idealistic, naive. Adam knew on one level that Niebuhr was correct but he also knew that Niebuhr thought churches were trivial. Adam felt offered no outlet for energies that might change the established order. Our hero saw in his approach little possibility of movement, save in retreat from an unwise position or “noble acceptance” of an unjust status quo as the lesser of two evils.

Reinhold Niebuhr was approaching retirement. He had already suffered a debilitating stroke. He had a brother named H. Richard Niebuhr who taught at the Divinity School at Yale. H. Richard was hardly the public intellectual Reinhold was. But many thought him as, or even more, intelligent. A certainly more far-ranging in thinking about the future of the church.

Not long after the public skewering of Haroutunian, H. Richard came to Union. He delivered a scorching noontime lecture. Adam had never in three years heard such seraphic words. H. Richard said neo-orthodoxy was dead. He said theological liberalism was dead. He said he had no idea what would take their place. Adam immediately went to his Smith-Corona and batted out an adulatory article for the seminary paper which he now edited.

The year galloped along . As if to flaunt the stasis Panflick was protesting, Adam and Ganya joined the saintly Dorothy Day in a protest against fallout shelters. It was on the lower East Side. The police showed up. They arrested demonstrators. Adam got in line to get into the paddy wagon. As he drew near the door, he decided he was not going to jail. He kept walking forward, skirting the front of the vehicle. Not a hand touched him. He escaped notice.

An activist student from Illinois named John Collins encouraged Adam to join the Student Interracial Ministry that coming summer. Students would go South and form interracial teams with pastors of churches. This sounded good to Adam. He would think about it. Word of sit-ins was beginning to penetrate the country’s consciousness. It looked as though people could affect things. Adam thought for a day and told John yes.

Ganya maintained excellent spirits through the year and was literally gung-ho for natural childbirth. When the pains began they jumped into a cab and went East to the hospital and four hours later, after some lusty screams, Adam was looking at a little baby who showed utterly no effects of her noisy arrival. She was soon at her mother’s forthcoming breast and receiving the very love that to Adam remained unknown and lamented, save for a few moments with Pandora and Rachel.

One remarkable thing about Fiona is that her arrival caused virtually no change in the routines of the parents. They carried her about in a blue bag with a flat bottom and an open top and set her down wherever they happened be. Had she been a participant in a game called Make Believe I Am Not Here, she would have won hands down.

On the very heels of Fiona’s arrival, a stir was felt throughout the graduating class. Don Benedict was coming. Adam had encountered Benedict at Williams. He was, with James H. Robinson, a conspicuous presence in Harlem, in his case East Harlem. Then in Cleveland. In one of the most conspicuous signs of the times, he had been selected to lead an organization called the Chicago City Missionary Society. This Congregational outfit would have been a sleepy sort of backwater but for a curious legacy from a man named Victor Lawson, who had published the Chicago Daily News. Lawson’s bequest grew over time and the Society was now flush, with around $13 million in the till. Benedict had a powerhouse with which to alter the sleepy priorities of the American church. He wanted them turned urban and inner city. His body and face was bathed in the charisma of change. He came to Union in search of students who wanted to pursue new and experimental urban ministries.

Adam was among those who met with Benedict. It took all of five minutes to indicate that he had a talent for writing and journalism. And for Benedict to hire him, saying “Then you’ll do an experimental program in journalism for the Society.”

At the same time, Adam had by this time determined that, if he was in a seminary, he ought to try to be a pastor. But his applications around the country yielded no takers. He tried to work at a prominent church in Greenwich Village but they wanted someone to work in the arts, The someone turned out to be Adam’s friend Al Carmines.

So it was a Chicago or slim pickings. Immediately after that, John Collins told Adam that he had been accepted as part of the Student Interracial Ministry. This was perfect. Benedict wanted his exploratory ministers to start work in September.

One thing remained. Adam had a keen awareness of the pulse of life at the seminary. From his vantage point there was a depressing lack of real community.He remained steeped in the thinking of Robert Nisbet. He said as much in a longish piece in his paper, The Grain of Salt. The occasion was a protest against the treatment of one of Al’s close friends. He had been sent away from the seminary for a year for no apparent reason.

After the article appeared, Adam received an invitation to the palatial apartment of the President of the Seminary, Henry Pitney Van Dusen. Adam knew Van Dusen from his neighborhood on 86th Street. He had even played with his son. But none of this counted for much at this audience. Along with Adam, another student, the class president, who would later become an Episcopal bishop, was present, presumably to provide some balance and moral support, should the President need it. Adam had no recollection of what was said, save that he did not back off from suggesting that the Seminary had acted unjustly. He did not mention the cloud he had uncovered at Riggs.

One weekend Adam took off in the Chevy wagon with Denis Loo and Joe Carter. Denis was a seminarian. Joe was a student from Brooklyn. Their destination was Black Mountain College near Swanannoa in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

They drove straight through.

The event was more momentous than Adam realized at the time. One of the main resource folk at the orientation was a man named Will Campbell who was based in Nashville. By whatever chance was involved, Adam was assigned to a church in Nashville. We shall be there soon, in the next chapter in fact. His relationship with Will Campbell would spell many things over time.

CONTENTS

I am exactly seventy days into my seminary career. That’s approximately two months and two weeks (give or take a few days on either side – don’t judge me for my math skills). I am two and a half weeks away from finals (16 days to be exact) for the long Fall term.

I have a confession to make.

For the past seventy days (give or take a few days on either side) I have been bored.

Really, really bored.

I have, in large part, done this to myself. I entered seminary with an undergraduate degree in theology. There is not a required intro survey class available to me that would not have, to some degree, had a strong element of “been there, done that” to it. During the first week of orientation, I made the decision (that would later prove to bite me hard in the butt) not to advance place out of said survey classes. On top of that, I opted to take the Survey of Medieval Church History course as well, which was on the recommended Junior schedule on the PTS website, despite having taken a class with its exact title and two classes whose materials overlapped the subject matter and time period during undergrad.

Why, oh why, did I do that to myself?

One: I wanted to take the same classes my fellow Juniors were taking, that I might further connect to my incoming class.

Two: I wanted to go easy on myself for what I imagined would be a difficult transition into life on the east coast and seminary life in general.

Three: I seriously underestimated my ability to be really freaking bored.

As a direct result of me being really bored, I have become extraordinarily boring. Something has switched off in my brain here and I am no longer actively seeking ANYTHING. I do not learn – I have ceased trying to learn.

This? This is my “I am not ok with this state of affairs” face. (I have many faces.)

So internet, I am changing things.

Be on the lookout.

An adventure has begun.

Upcoming posts on: the so-called feminization of the church, the dominance of gender issues over theological issues (ie, can we talk about something other than my uterus for once, PLEASE?), and photo-posts from my east coast explorations (of which there will be MANY).

—

Is R. Scott Clark truly Reformed according to his own reasoning? Or is it according to his own standard of the Confession, a caricature and a wannabe of the “Reformed” faith?

This is my comment over at his blog and Scott’s comment.  The only addition from the original is my own comment here in RED.  I’ve hyperlinked some of my comments to show that I’m trying to use his words and ideas.

Someone at my church has given Dr. Clark’s book “Recovering the Reformed Confession” as an early Christmas gift, so I do want to see his ideas flesh out more.

******

SLIMJIM, on November 28th, 2009 at 1:29 am Said:

Dr. Clark,

How do you respond to a theocratic confessionalists who read your comment:

“As you know the mainstream of confessional Reformed Presbyterian and Reformed churches have revised the WCF and the BC to eliminate the theocratic language. Of course you may not agree with those actions but they are historic facts.”

And then argue that you are not REFORMED in the following manner:

R. Scott Clark has no right to misuse the term “Reformed”. When exactly did the word “Reformed” come to denote both “believes in the historic Reformed view of the Establishment Principle vis a vie the Civil Government & Church” and “denies the historic Reformed view of the Establishment Principle vis a vie the Civil Government & Church”? If we, who have the original lease on the word since the 1540s, don’t consent then how is it not theft?

There is a connection between the word “Reformed” and a certain set of doctrines and practices. I don’t think that folk who reject those doctrines and practices are entitled to re-define that word.Just because there are 490,000 revisionaries in this country the fact of numerical superiority doesn’t give them a right to redefine us or the adjective “Reformed.”

R. Scott Clark, on November 28th, 2009 at 7:52 am Said:

I anticipated this criticism and answered it in the book, Recovering the Reformed Confession. The short answer is that there were internal tensions between our confession of the uniqueness of the Israelite state and implicit claim that post-canonical states could fulfill the same theocratic role. The collapse of Christendom gave us an opportunity to re-think theocracy. The same thing happened with geocentric astronomy. The collapse of geocentrism gave us opportunity to re-think how we understood the intent of Scripture.

In neither case has the actual THEOLOGY changed. The substance of the Reformed faith is unchanged but we are more consistent now. Our approach to astronomy is more consistent now with our confession of the condescension of God in revelation.

On this see Machen’s essay on “Creeds and Doctrinal Advance”

http://genevaredux.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/your-weekly-machen-fix-the-creeds-and-doctrinal-advance/

There’s are several sections in the book on this.

Look, we get it in the neck from the biblicists for being static. We get it in the neck from theocrats and fundamentalists (on geocentrism) for maturing.

This isn’t proof that we were right about these issues but given the quality of the criticisms, I can live with the tension.

SLIMJIM, on November 28th, 2009 at 12:35 pm Said:

Dr. Clark,
Thank you for your response as it gives me more of an idea of where you are coming from. I must admit it’s rather intriquing but I must also be honest that I do have some questions about all of this.

Assuming the theocratic confessionalist position, I can see how someone from that camp respond to you in their defense using the same line of reasoning as you have employed, and insist that Dr. Clark is not truly “Reformed”:

1.) “I anticipated this criticism and answered it in the book, Recovering the Reformed Confession. The short answer is that there were internal tensions between our confession of the uniqueness of the Israelite state and implicit claim that post-canonical states could fulfill the same theocratic role.”

A Theocrat Confessionalist Response: I appreciate this, of course, but it doesn’t really advance the discussion much except to suggest that mainstream Presbyterians have tried to hide from what the Confession really says. Is it a legitimate observation that there were internal tensions within the confession? Sure, and so we get it in the neck from some who use the label “Reformed” who are not theocratic for being static. This isn’t proof that we were right about these issues but given the quality of the criticism, I can live with the tension. Afterall, the Confessions themselves contain that tension. If you don’t like someone’s tension don’t go change it and say you are one of them.

2.) “The collapse of Christendom gave us an opportunity to re-think theocracy.”

A Theocrat Confessionalist Response: But does that grant people to throw out any concept of theocracy out of someone else’s confession and then squat on being “Reformed” when they are not?

You can claim historical development til you’re blue in the face but those of us Theocrats are truly Reformed since we still confess the SAME FAITH we confessed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Popular abuse of an ecclesiastical term doesn’t change the essential meaning of that term.

3.) “In neither case has the actual THEOLOGY changed. The substance of the Reformed faith is unchanged but we are more consistent now.”

A Theocrat Confessionalist Response: This is the most interesting part of your response. You state that actual theology has not changed (from the Confessions?) in the first sentence then the next you state that the you and those in your camp are more consistent (consistent to what? to the Confessions? internally consistent within your own beliefs?) now. And in what ways are you more consistent, in faith (theology) and practice? Do note that your theology has changed from those who are truly Reformed by the absence of theocratic doctrines. Theocratic beliefs are theological in character, so to change this belief and call yourself Reformed is actually making a change away from the original Confessions that is theological in nature (unless you have a different taxonomy of theology than I am assuming). You state that “we are more consistent now,” but are you assuming “we” (including you) to be those who are Reformed? Surely this seem to be question begging, for how can you be Reformed if you do not hold to the first through the last articles? You are right that “the substance of the Reformed faith is unchanged,” even though 499,000 people hijack the term “Reformed” but now we (the 1,000 theocrats) are more consistent with rediscovering the rich heritage of our Reform Confession.

4.) “Look, we get it in the neck from the biblicists for being static. We get it in the neck from theocrats and fundamentalists (on geocentrism) for maturing.”

A Theocrat Confessionalist Response: Doesn’t this dilemma arise from the fact that those of your camp have set up quite an arbitrary choice of calling yourself Reformed and then decide what stays and what goes from the confession? You selectively are static with some aspects of the Reformed Faith but then deviate from it in some areas. Can you be arbitrary and pick and choose what you want to believe and not believe from the Confessions? Sure, don’t misrepresent me I believe you are entitled to your own beliefs but that does not give you the right to call yourself “Reformed”.

It bears restating, though, even if I have already said it here.  :)

It’s truly amazing that as I (or anyone, for that matter) seem to gain knowledge, all that knowledge boils down to is the realization that I don’t know much at all.  Hardly anything, actually.

As we study the story of the wicked King Noah and the prophet Abinadi (See Mosiah 11-17.), a scene out of an ’80’s movie comes to mind. From the Star Wars Saga, in Return of the Jedi, one of the opening scenes takes place at the palace of Jabba the Hutt. One of the Rebel freedom fighters, Han Solo, had been frozen and preserved as a prized wall decoration by Jabba. Jabba lived a life of glutton and greed. His palace was the very site of festive parties, with the intoxicating effects of loud music, exotic dancing and disgusting delicacies being devoured. Jabba himself sat in the midst of this scene of gluttonous degradation, passing judgement upon those brought before his court, from around the galaxies, for sentences of punishment.

In the middle of such a courtroom debauchery, the once lightsome, innocent Rebel hero, Luke Skywalker, appeared in front of Jabba, only this time in disguise – under the dark hood of his Jedi cloak. Relying upon The Force, Luke makes his heartfelt appeal to Jabba to free his friend, Han Solo. He also stood there to predict the destruction of Jabba’s evil realm if he would not shun the dark side of The Force, and to change his ways from evil to good.

Just like young Luke Skywalker, the prophet Abinadi had come among the people of Lehi-Nephi to prophesy about the destruction that would come upon the land and people if they didn’t change their ways and turn back to the Lord. After being run out of town the first time, Abinadi returned two years later, in disguise and relying upon his faith in the Lord, to deliver the same message again to the same people. Maybe it wasn’t a hooded Jedi cloak, but Abinadi was in disguise in order to preserve his life long enough to get in front of King Noah. Noah’s predecessor, and father, Zeniff had led the people in righteous living. Upon his passing, his son took over the kingdom and immediately threw out all of the good that his father had established.

When Abinadi appeared in front of Noah and his priests, he made a fervent appeal for them to change their wicked ways and to return to the righteous ways taught by Zeniff - to follow the Lord, to set aside their riches and pride, and to again set their hearts upon caring for each other. When Luke made a similar appeal to Jabba, he was dropped into the pit below to battle the ferocious Rancor. Abinadi was not lowered to the beasts, but was persistent in remaining in front of Noah’s court, rehearsing the dealings of God and His people unto Noah and the priests, and doing everything in his power to bring them to repentance and turning away from their evil ways.

This week, as we continue with the story of Noah and Abinadi, we will see that Abinadi’s missionary success seemed almost disastrous. As he approached his fiery fate, there seems to have been only one who believed his words. Abinadi saw him being chased away by Noah’s guards, and one might assume that Abinadi figured that he, Alma, had been tracked down and also put to death. Little did he know that that one believer of his preachings…that one priest of Noah whose heart was indeed turned from evil to good…that Alma would bring so much good from Abinadi’s teachings, empowering him to establish the Church of Christ in and around the lands of Lehi-Nephi and Zarahemla, and later around many of the other cities of the Nephites and Lamanites.

Abinadi had planted a seed that almost didn’t take root. Yet, because of the faith and light inside of one man’s heart, a nation was preserved for many, many generations. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves about some of the seeds that we have planted:  “Why didn’t my friend want to hear more about the church?” “Am I being a good example to my neighbor?” “Do I talk about the Gospel enough at school…or at work?” If we will but open our mouths, we may be able to plant one of those small seeds, as did Abinadi in Alma, and witness many waves of bringing joy to others in our own community. As it is stated in the scriptures, “And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!” (See Mosiah 15:16.) Go ahead, plant a seed…or two…or three…or more.

We tried to have a little fun to make the chore less of a bore:

Canon Robert Wills

Four people completed the 24-hour course, “Unity of the Bible,” which was taught at St. Michael and All Angels Church in Thomaston, GA. The class was taught by The Rev’d Canon Dr. Robert Wills who is the Canon Theologian for the Mid-South Diocese and is the Vicar or St. Luke’s Church in Manchester, GA.  While a number of people attended the classes, those completing the course and receiving certificates were: Father Robert and Patricia Roethel (St. Michael’s Church), Deacon David Hoffman (St. Michael’s Church) and Joey Topper (St. Luke’s Church).

I wakened early this morning, much earlier than usual, especially on a holiday weekend. It was still dark outside, with the sun not expected for a couple of hours. I sprang from my bed, unlike my typical, more gradual approach to greeting the day. My agenda was set, and with my list in hand, I set off with great anticipation, envisioning success in accomplishing my goal. I was psyched! Where did you go, you might ask? I will tell you that it was NOT to any retail establishment. I am avoiding such places today! No, I am in the midst of my own Black Friday “madness” – working on final papers and projects, packing, and reading (or skimming!) materials for my trip to Nova Scotia. I am really looking forward to this opportunity to join with other women in ministry to talk about leadership in a global context. I will admit, though, that the timing of the trip is not the best for me as it falls at the end of the semester and I will miss the final week of classes. When I return, I will have only a few days until all my final semester coursework is due. I want to get as much done today as I can – to relieve the pressure of schoolwork “hanging” over my head so that I can be fully present on this trip. Perhaps now that I have articulated this – again! – my head will be clear enough to get back to the task at hand.

On a side note, though, I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, visiting with several of my parishioners. My congregation is my “family” here in Ohio and I am grateful for that. In anticipation of my trip, I didn’t go home to Indy this year, but my parents were here to visit me two weeks ago, and we celebrated our Thanksgiving together then.

OK, now I am really going back to the task at hand. J Until next time, peace …

Next 25, as promised!

26.  Traveling!  We have had the opportunity to see some of the most incredible places on earth in the past few years, and now we have the opportunity to live in one of those places.  It has its ups and downs, but it is an undeniably life-altering experience, and we are so grateful.

27.  Walking!  This may sound odd, but we have been walking more in these last few months than we have… probably ever.  We walk everywhere, and nothing makes you more attentive to something you have taken for grated than suddenly having no other option but to do that thing.  I mean, we could take the bus (so I guess there is an option), but walking is free.  And, man, are we getting in some good shape!

28.  Reading!  It’s hard to be thankful for something when it is forced upon you (i.e. being required to read certain texts for, say, seminary).  But we are both at a point when we largely have control over what we read, and it is such a delight to have that control.  There are some masterful groupings of sentences out there.  Who knew!

29.  The Office!  We have been downloading the new episodes of The Office from iTunes every week, and we are so relieved to live in a day and age when we could do such a thing.  Because: life without Thanksgiving is tough enough; life without John Kraskinski?  Impossible.

30.  Our flat!  We live in a tiny, one-bedroom flat in the middle of an incredible city in the UK.  When we were frantically searching for a place to live, we came across this flat, and, immediately, we both knew: this was the place for us.

31.  Sunlight!  Nothing makes you appreciate the sun more than living in a climate that rarely sees it, during a time of year that bids it goodbye in the middle of the afternoon.  Oh how we love the sun!

32.  GREAT COFFEE!!!  I know we already mentioned food and beverages, but coffee deserves its own category as a guarantor of our happiness.

33.  Laughter!  Anne Lamott, that modern prophet, says that laughter is “carbonated holiness.”  We like to drink up.

34.  Cobblestone roads.  It’s killer for high heels and clumsy people, but there’s still something poetic about these paths.

35.  Ice!  Euro-peoples underestimate the awesomeness of ice in a drink.  We bought a little star-shaped ice cube tray, and, darnit, we love ice.

36.  Our warm bed!  See the pic above.  Is there anything more wonderful than a cozy bed after a long day?

37.  The Internet!  God bless Al Gore, or whoever it was that came up with this wackadoodle invention.  It keeps us connected, informed, and entertained, and it’s hard to imagine life without it.

38.  Our Princeton Seminary community!  We know and can list the extensive problems with PTSem.  And yet, we are so grateful for it in our lives.  It has changed us, shaped us, and provided us with a community that we know will last a lifetime.  Even here in Scotland, we can’t escape that community, and for that, we are grateful.

39.  Project Runway!  I (Peter) have a thing for Heidi Klum; I (Megan) tire of her easily.  Still, we are mesmerized by this show.  What talent some people have!  We find it awe-inspiring, and we are so thankful that we get the show over here.

40.  This commercial.  Delights us every time.  Taking all our parenting tips from this woman.

41.  Our musical instruments!  Peter saith: My guitar keeps us company when we’re lonely, and helps us to sing songs in a strange land…

cf. Psalm 137:4-5: How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!

Megan saith: My keyboard (which is securely awaiting my return in a storage unit in Princeton) has breathed life back into mine time and time again.

42.  Megan’s cooking (says Peter):  Tasty, filling, homey.

43.  The park next to our flat!  It has children playing and rejoicing in all sorts of weather.  And it has a basketball court, which has inspired us to get a £2 basketball and improve our game.

44.  Starbucks’ winter drinks!  We know, we know.  It’s commercial, it’s not that great a quality coffee, etc., etc.  BUT!  Who can resist a drink in a red cup?  Not us.

45.  Warm showers!  We were pretty certain that we would end up in a flat that had low water pressure and cold water (just seems befitting of Britain).  But we have been pleasantly surprised by our steamy showers every morning.  Warm, refreshing, and robust!

46.  Simple living!  We came to the UK with little more than three suitcases, a guitar, and three boxes full of clothes.  Most of our stuff is either being used by friends or is in storage somewhere.  And you know what?  We’re realizing that we really don’t need all that much in life to be happy.  We’re thankful for this lesson.

47.  The book of Genesis.  Tonight, we finish reading through Genesis, which we began when we first arrived in Scotland.  We figured it was a fitting saga to read as we began our own saga together, pilgrims in a foreign land who have to rely on the promises of a God that can seem hidden– or even altogether absent, at times.  The Hebrews are now in Egypt, God has protected them and provided for their progeny, and their stories are resonating in our hearts and lives like seldom before.

48.  Peter.  I (Megan) am so thankful that I have–miraculously– been granted the privilege of living my life with and alongside Peter Kline’s.  His humility, gentleness, and sense of humor are like a compass, guiding me toward my best self, day after day.

49.  Megan. I (Peter) am so thankful to have been given such a wonderful woman. Megan’s compassion and tenderness combined with her inexhaustible  spunk and wit make every day an adventure worth living. Also, she keeps me well fed, which is just about the best gift anybody could receive.

50. We are thank for God’s faithfulness and constancy. There have been days here when God has seemed absent, but the small reminders of His Spirit we receive (sometimes unexpectedly) teach us that God is never absent, only sometimes hidden.

This is a great article by Joeseph Busenitz of 9Marks ministry about The Masters Seminary, the history, the mission and why it differs from other seminaries.

TMS being a church based seminary was one of the reasons I chose this seminary.

LINK: http://www.9marks.org/CC/article/0,,PTID314526|CHID598014|CIID2463328,00.html

Change was in the air indeed. Holy crap has my life changed since October 29, when I wrote my last post. I wrote that post half feeling like God was getting ready to change things, and half hoping things would change, because I was drowning in life at that point. Well…here’s what I got.

When I wrote that post, I had sent off a resume to a church in the Valley applying for an open youth pastor position. I had talked with the pastor and it seemed like a perfect fit, except for the fact that there was another couple coming in town to meet with the pastor and staff, and the pastor wanted to follow through with that before talking to me further. So as I wrote, I was praying that that guy was not the fit. I knew God was saying change was coming, this had to be it right?

No. November 11 I found out they had decided to bring the other couple on as their youth pastors. Bummer.

November 13 I found out my pay was being reduced at church. Bummer.

Now I faced a problem, I could not keep working the same hours, getting paid less, and make the bills. I prayed to God to either give me wisdom or change my situation, and that I was giving our financial situation to Him, then proceeded to melt down for 3/4 of a church service, crying and praying out all my frustrations and confusion. I told God I didn’t think I could do a good job at church doing something that I did not love.

The next day I was told November 30th would be my last day on staff at church.

My response surprised both my pastor and me, at the end of being told why (which was nothing negative, it was just clear I was not the right fit for the position) I just said, “Ok, Sweet”

And I meant it, completely. I was free to work one job, serve the youth ministry fully, and spend more time with my wife. I just was concerned about which direction to go as far as pursuing ministry, and was a little concerned about if I really was hearing God about being in ministry.

Then last Friday the admissions director from Phoenix Seminary called me and requested a meeting with the dean of students and myself. Cue the stomach turning and stress.

Today I had my meeting. Where I found out that I have been accepted to pursue an M.Div with an emphasis on Biblical Communication. They said their only concern was how busy I was working two jobs. I explained how that was not an issue anymore.

HIS timing is perfect. HIS will is perfect. HIS plan is perfect. Me and my plans are not.

So no, I am not a youth pastor right now, instead God has placed me in a community of wise counsel and like-minded people where I can grow, learn, and prepare for what God has for me.

Change has happened, and I am diving right in.

Check out the course description and required reading for the Theology & Pop Culture class I’m about to begin at Fuller:

DESCRIPTION: This multi-disciplinary course will strengthen students’ cultural literacy by helping them understand the ways pop culture is created, marketed, consumed, received and critiqued. The course will examine pop culture artifacts as works/texts, consumer products, and pervasive agents of spiritual formation. Students will develop biblical/theological, historical, and economic understandings of music, film, TV, radio, periodicals, books, advertising, and the Internet.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: In this course students will reassess pop culture’s relevance to their lives, their ministry, and the church’s engagement with mainstream culture.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Pop culture is pervasive and influential. Students successfully completing this course will:

1. Develop a theology of culture and pop culture that helps them analyze their own culture consumption, prepare them for meaningful and effective ministry in a media-saturated age, and address culture’s role in their own spiritual growth and that of those for whom they care;
2.  Understand how pop culture products are created, disseminated, used and abused;
3. Evaluate the varied economic, social and spiritual impacts of mass media and products;
4. Assess evangelicals’ historic responses to popular culture in order to develop more effective ways of impacting and engaging both culture and those who create it.
5. Develop strategies and activities for teaching cultural literacy to others.

REQUIRED READING:

• Beaujon, Andrew. Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock. (DeCapo Press, 2006), 291 pp.
• Hipps, Shane. Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Faith and Culture. Zondervan, 2009. 208 pp.
• Lewerenz, Spencer and Nicolosi, Barbara, eds. Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film and Culture. (Baker Books, 2005), 216 pp.
• Lynch, Gordon. Understanding Theology and Popular Culture. Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 2004, 195 pp.
• Schaeffer, Francis. Art and the Bible (InterVarsity Press, 1973), 63 pp.
• Vanhoozer, Kevin, Charles Anderson, and Michael Sleasman (editors). Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. Baker Academic, 2007. Introduction and two case studies. (roughly 250 pgs)
• You must also purchase, read and bring to class a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine. Selected articles, videos, audio recordings, and other materials to be distributed in class.

This is in addition to the film class I’m hoping to get into at City College of San Francisco.

Right up my alley I tell ya! I love it!

I truly believe every Jesus-follower is called to be a missionary regardless of where they live.

These words of Jesus come to mind. When praying to His Father He said:

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18

Followers of Jesus have been ”sent into the world” for a reason, and it’s not to hide.

If you really want to influence culture, learn to engage it.

Constantly throwing rocks is the easy way out, and it’s often not very helpful.

There was once a young and gifted woman who set herself the almost impossible task of setting up a printing press so that she could translate and distribute the Word of God to the people.  Yet such a job would require a great deal of money, and so, almost as soon as she had conceived the idea, she sold the few items that she possessed and went to live on the streets, begging for the money that she needed.
Raising the necessary funds took many years, for while there were a few who gave generously, most only gave a little, if anything at all. But gradually the money began to accumulate.  However, shortly before the plans for the printing press could be set in motion, a dreadful flood devastated a nearby town, destroying many people’s homes and livelihoods.
Without hesitation the woman used all the money she had gathered to feed the hungry and rebuild lost homes. Once the town began to recover, the woman silently went back to the streets in order to start all over again, collecting the money needed to translate the Word of God.
Many more years passed, with many cold winters that caused great suffering to the woman. Then, shortly before the target amount was reached, disaster struck again.
This time a deadly plague descended like a cloud over the city, stealing the lives of thousands.
By now the woman was herself tired and ill, yet without thought she spent the money she had collected on medicines and care for the sick and orphaned.
Then, once the shadow of the plague lifted, she again went onto the streets, driven by her desire to translate the Word of God.  Finally, shortly before her death, this woman gathered the money needed for the printing press and completed the project she had set herself many years before.
After she had passed away, it was rumored by some that she had actually spent her time making three translations of the Word, the first two being the most splendid of all…
… What language are you translating the Word into?
Our mandate is double-edged: “We should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” Does not the whole of the gospel hinge on that one word, “and”? Believe… AND love.
I don’t know about you, but this terrifies me. Not only do I have to do more than think the right things (hard enough) or say the right things (sometimes easier), but I have to live rightly, in truth.
And I don’t even get to decide what that truth is – it’s love. And it’s not up to me what that action is – it’s love. Given freely, radically, generously, as long as there’s need for it… love’s circumstances might be flexible, they are likely surprising, but the mandate itself is not a puzzle.
We can stop asking what the “right” thing to do is… Which cause is the best? Where can I be the most effective? What if our resources run out? What happens when it floods, or the plague comes, Or (have mercy) institutions fail usand we have to start over, from the foundations?
God’s pretty clear on this one. We keep loving. In truth, and action.
We silently went back to the streets in order to start all over again.
You’re not here to be effective or successful.
You,… I,… am here to be faithful to the Word made flesh.
Because what we believe is a fabulous mystery, that we’re commanded to bring about the Kingdom when it’s already here… that we’re to reveal it and that’s all we’re to do.

This goal is already fact, God’s fact, the fact of grace and promise. No gap divides what God says from what God does. God’s Word is God’s action. And it, God, is waiting for us to see him in ourselves, here all along…
Truth and action… called to live in such a way that the Way, Jesus’ way, is read in the very fabric of our relationships to one another, to our fellow human beings, to Creation.
The sacraments, too, as Augustine says, are the “visible word” of God. They are the Word, enacted… and when we receive them, when we claim them, when we are saying we’re ready to welcome Jesus in his many disguises, that our hearts and doors and arms are open, that we’re gonna live out being bread and juice, that we too are the Word enacted, lovingly revealed, truthfully shared with all the world, not just talking about it, not even just theologically reflecting on it, translating it into just more speech, more words… but living it.
Then, then, we’ve finally translated the glorious Word in truth and action.
May it be so for you, and for me, and for all the world. Amen.

Last night I went to my final “worship committee” meeting to plan Sunday’s service at our church. It’s the last one where I’ll lead worship.

We’ve already seen our last beautiful colorful breath-taking fall up here.

I’ve *probably* already attended my last Wives’ Small Group meeting – which started in my own 500 sq ft apartment 3 years ago.

When I went to the grocery store, I thought “I may not have to buy this again before we move.”

I hung out with one of my closest seminary friends on Saturday night – and I told myself that would NOT be the last time we hang out.

I know when my last day of work will be.

My last Tuesday of leading worship at our Seminary Chapel service will happen next week.

We’ve already got plans to spend a bit of time with a few of our favorite seminary couples. My calendar shows our last dinner date with them… Ugh.

And, then, there’s the going-away party, which we can’t skip………

The “lasts” are upon us.

So. Help me here. How do you handle moving and packing and stressing and goodbyes? What can I do to get through this?

As I’m making it through the last few wks of my History of Christianity class, I’ve been reading about how the Reformation made a way for women once again to assert their spiritual gifts. The Quakers were one of the first small communities to come out of the Reformation that allowed public speaking for women. These people were tired of being told what to do by the centralized churches. They wanted to experience true community as a ‘priesthood of believers.’ As I’ve been preaching on Gender Justice at my church this Fall, this sermon and apology on women being able to preach is just what I needed to read and pass on to my congregation. The woman who’s sermon you are about to read would say the same thing to the Southern Baptist Convention about their stance on women as Jimmy Carter did. And she’d say the same to fundamentalist churches, seminaries and others like them today who limit women’s gifting on the basis of gender.

Margaret Fell (1614-1702), “Women’s Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures, All such as speak by the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus” (ca. 1666 or 1667)

Women’s Speaking

Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures, All such as speak by the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus. And how Women were the first that Preached the Tidings of the Resurrection of Jesus, and were sent by Christ’s own Command, before he Ascended to the Father, John 20. 17.

Whereas it hath been an Objection in the Minds of many, and several times hath been objected by the Clergy, or Ministers and others, against Women’s speaking in the Church; and so consequently may be taken, that they are condemned for medling in the things of God: The ground of which Objection is taken from the Apostle’s Words, which he writ in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, Chap. 14. Vers. 34, 35. And also what he writ to Timothy in the first Epistle, Chap. 2. Vers. 11, 12. But how far they wrong the Apostle’s Intentions in these Scriptures, we shall shew clearly when we come to them in their course and order. But first let me lay down how God himself hath manifested his Will and Mind concerning Women, and unto women.

And first, when God created Man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he them, Male and Female; and God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply: And God said, Behold, I have given you of every Herb, &c. Gen. 1. Here God joyns them together in his own Image, and makes no such Distinctions and Differences as Men do; for though they be weak, he is strong; and as he said to the Apostle, His Grace is sufficient, and his Strength is made manifest in Weakness, 2 Cor. 12. 9. And such hath the Lord chosen, even the weak things of the World, to confound the things which are mighty; and things which are despised, hath God chosen, to bring to nought things that are, 1 Cor. 1. And God hath put no such difference between the Male and Female, as Men would make.

It is true, The Serpent, that was more subtle than any other Beast of the Field, came unto the Woman with his Temptations, and with a Lye; his Subtlety discerning her to be the weaker Vessel, or more inclinable to hearken to him, when he said, If ye eat, your Eyes shall be opened; and the Woman saw, that the Fruit was good to make one wise: There the Temptation got into her, and she did eat, and gave to her Husband, and he did eat also; and so they were both tempted into the Transgression and Disobedience; and therefore God said unto Adam, (who hid himself when he heard his Voice) Hast thou eaten of the Tree, which I commanded thee that thou should’st not eat? And Adam said, The Woman which thou gavest me, she gave me of the Tree, and I did eat. And the Lord said unto the Woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the Woman said, The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Here the Woman spoke the Truth unto the Lord. See what the Lord saith, ver. 15. after he had pronounced Sentence on the Serpent, I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy Seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy Head, and thou shalt bruise his Heel, Gen. 3.

Let this Word of the Lord, which was from the beginning, stop the Mouths of all that oppose Women’s Speaking in the Power of the Lord; for he hath put Enmity between the Woman and the Serpent; and if the Seed of the Woman speak not, the Seed of the Serpent speaks; for God hath put Enmity between the two Seeds; and it is manifest, that those that speak against the Woman and her Seed’s Speaking, speak out of the Envy of the old Serpent’s Seed. And God hath fulfilled his Word and his Promise, When the fulness of time was come, he sent forth his Son, made of a Woman, made under the Law, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons, Gal. 4. 4, 5.

Moreover, the Lord is pleased, when he mentions his Church, to call her by the Name of Woman, by his Prophets, saying, I have called thee as a Woman forsaken, and grieved in Spirit, and as a Wife of Youth, Isai. 54. Again, How long wilt thou go about, thou back-sliding Daughter? For the Lord hath created a new thing in the Earth, a Woman shall compass a Man, Jer. 31. 22. And David, when he was speaking of Christ and his Church, he saith, The King’s Daughter is all glorious within, her Cloathing is of wrought Gold, she shall be brought unto the King; with gladness and rejoycing shall they be brought; they shall enter into the King’s Pallace, Psal. 45. And also King Solomon in his Song, where he speaks of Christ and his Church, where she is complaining and calling for Christ, he saith, If thou knowest not, O thou fairest among Women, go thy way by the Footsteps of the Flock, Cant. 1. 8. c. 5. 9. And John, when he saw the Wonder that was in Heaven, he saw a Woman cloathed with the Sun, and the Moon under her feet, and upon her Head a Crown of twelve Stars; and there appeared another Wonder in Heaven, a great red Dragon stood ready to devour her Child. Here appears the Envy of the Dragon, Rev. 12.

Thus much may prove, that the Church of Christ is represented as a Woman; and those that speak against this Woman’s speaking, speak against the Church of Christ, and the Seed of the Woman, which Seed is Christ; that is to say, Those that speak against the Power of the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord speaking in a Woman, simply by reason of her Sex, or because she is a Woman, not regarding the Seed, and Spirit, and Power that speaks in her; such speak against Christ and his Church, and are of the Seed of the Serpent, wherein lodgeth Enmity. And as God the Father made no such difference in the first Creation, nor ever since between the Male and the Female, but always out of his Mercy and Loving-kindness, had regard unto the Weak. So also his Son, Christ Jesus, confirms the same thing; when the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, if it were lawful for a Man to put away his Wife? He answered and said unto them, Have you not read, That he that made them in the beginning, made them Male and Female; and said, For this Cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother, and shall cleave unto his Wife, and they twain shall be one Flesh; wherefore they are no more twain, but one Flesh? What therefore God hath joyned together, let no Man put asunder, Mat. 19.

Again, Christ Jesus, when he came to the City of Samaria, where Jacob’s Well was, where the Woman of Samaria was, you may read in John 4. how he was pleased to preach the Everlasting Gospel to her; and when the Woman said unto him, I know that when the Messiah cometh, (which is called Christ) when he cometh, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. Also he said unto Martha, when she said, she knew that her Brother should rise again in the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet should he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth, shall never die. Believest thou this? She answered, Yea, Lord, I believe thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Here she manifested her true and saving Faith, which few at that day believed so on him, John 11. 25, 26.

Also that Woman, that came unto Jesus with an Alabaster Box of very precious Ointment, and poured it on his Head as he sat at meat; it is manifest that this Woman knew more of the secret Power and Wisdom of God, than his Disciples did, who were filled with Indignation against her; and therefore Jesus saith, Why do ye trouble the Woman, for she hath wrought a good Work upon me? Verily, I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole World, there shall also this that this Woman hath done, be told for a Memorial of her, Mat. 26. Mark 14. 3. Luke saith farther, She was a Sinner, and that she stood at his Feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his Feet with her Tears, and did wipe them with the Hair of her Head, and kissed his Feet, and annointed them with Ointment. And when Jesus saw the Heart of the Pharisee that had bidden him to his House, he took occasion to speak unto Simon, as you may read in Luke 7. and he turned to the Woman, and said, Simon, seest thou this Woman? Thou gavest me no Water to my Feet; but she hath washed my Feet with Tears, and wiped them with the Hair of her Head: Thou gavest me no Kiss; but this Woman, since I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my Feet: My Head with Oil thou didst not annoint; but this Woman hath annointed my Feet with Ointment: Wherefore I say unto thee, her Sins, which are many, are forgiven her; for she hath loved much, Luke 7. 37. to the End.

Also, there was many Women which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministring unto him, and stood afar off when he was Crucified, Mat. 28. 55. Mark 15. Yea even the Women of Jerusalem wept for him, insomuch that he said unto them, Weep not for me. ye Daughters of Jerusalem; but weep for your selves, and for your Children, Luke 23. 28.

And certain Women which had been healed of Evil Spirits and Infirmities, Mary Magdalen, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s Steward’s Wife; and many others which ministred unto him of their Substance, Luke 8. 2, 3.

Thus we see that Jesus owned the Love and Grace that appeared in Women, and did not despise it: and by what is recorded in the Scriptures, he received as much Love, Kindness, Compassion, and tender Dealing towards him from Women, as he did from any others, both in his Life time, and also after they had exercised their Cruelty upon him; for Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of James, beheld where he was laid; And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of James, and Salom, had brought sweet Spices, that they might annoint him: And very early in the Morning, the first Day of the Week, they came unto the Sepulchre at the rising of the Sun; and they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the Stone from the Door of the Sepulchre? And when they looked the Stone was rolled away, for it was very great, Mark 16. 1, 2, 3, 4. Luke 24. 1, 2. and they went down into the Sepulchre, and as Matthew saith, The Angel rolled away the Stone, and he said unto the Women, Fear not, I know whom ye seek, Jesus which was Crucified: He is not here, he is risen, Mat. 28. Now Luke saith thus, That there stood two Men by them in shining Apparel, and as they were perplexed and afraid, the Men said unto them, He is not here, remember how he said unto you when he was in Galilee, That the Son of Man must be delivered into the Hands of sinful Men, and be Crucified, and the third Day rise again; and they remembred his Words, and return’d from the Sepulchre, and told all these things to the Eleven, and to all the rest.

It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the Mother of James, and the other Women that were with them, which told these things to the Apostles, and their Words seemed unto them as Idle Tales, and they believed them not. Mark this, ye despisers of the Weakness of Women, and look upon your selves to be so wise: But Christ Jesus doth not so; for he makes use of the weak: For when he met the Women after he was risen, he said unto them, All Hail! And they came and held him by the Feet, and worshipped him; then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me, Mat. 28. 10. Mark 16. 9. And John saith, when Mary was weeping at the Sepulchre, that Jesus said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? what seekest thou? And when she supposed him to be the Gardner, Jesus said unto her, Mary; she turned her self, and said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master; Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my Brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God, John 20. 16, 17.

Mark this, you that despise and oppose the Message of the Lord God that he sends by Women; What had become of the Redemption of the whole Body of Mankind, if they had not cause to believe the Message that the Lord Jesus sent by these Women, of and concerning his Resurrection? And if these Women had not thus, out of their Tenderness, and Bowels of Love, who had received Mercy, and Grace, and Forgiveness of Sins, and Vertue, and Healing from him; which many Men also had received the like, if their Hearts had not been so united and knit unto him in Love, that they could not depart as the Men did; but sat watching, and waiting, and weeping about the Sepulchre until the time of his Resurrection, and so were ready to carry his Message, as is manifested, else how should his Disciples have known, who were not there?

Oh! Blessed and Glorified be the Glorious Lord; for this may all the whole Body of Mankind say, though the Wisdom of Man that never knew God, is always ready to except against the Weak; but the Weakness of God is stronger than Men, and the Foolishness of God is wiser than Men, 1 Cor. 1 25.

And in Acts 18. you may read how Aquilla, and Priscilla, took unto them Apollos, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly, who was an Eloquent Man, and mighty in the Scriptures; yet we do not read that he despised what Priscilla said, because she was a Woman, as many now do.

And now to the Apostle’s Words, which is the Ground of the great Objection against Womens Speaking. And first, 1 Cor. 14. Let the Reader seriously peruse that Chapter, and see the end and drift of the Apostle in speaking these Words: For the Apostle is there exhorting the Corinthians unto Charity, and to desire Spiritual Gifts, and not to speak in an unknown Tongue; and not to be Children in Understanding, nor to be Children in Malice; but in Understanding to be Men. And that the Spirits of the Prophets, should be subject to the Prophets; for God is not the Author of Confusion, but of Peace: And then he saith, Let your Women keep Silence in the Church, &c.

Where it doth plainly appear, that the Women, as well as some others that were among them, were in Confusion: For he saith, How is it Brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a Psalm, hath a Doctrine, hath a Tongue, hath a Revelation, hath an Interpretation? Let all Things be done to Edifying. Here is no Edifying, but Confusion speaking together: Therefore he saith, If any Man speak in an unknown Tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three, and that by course, and let one Interpret: But if there be no Interpreter, let him keep Silence in the Church. Here the Man is Commanded to keep Silence, as well as the Woman, when in Confusion and out of order.

But the Apostle saith farther, They are commanded to be in Obedience, as also saith the Law; and if they will learn any thing, let them ask their Husbands at home; for it is a shame for a Woman, to speak in the Church.

Here the Apostle clearly manifests his intent; for he speaks of Women that were under the Law, and in that Transgression as Eve was, and such as were to learn, and not to speak publickly, but they must first ask their Husbands at home; and it was a shame for such to speak in the Church: And it appears clearly, that such Women were speaking among the Corinthians, by the Apostles exhorting them from malice and strife, and confusion, and he preacheth the Law unto them, and he saith, in the Law it is written, With Men of other tongues, and other Lips, will I speak unto this People, Vers. 2.

And what is all this to Women’s Speaking? that have the everlasting Gospel to preach, and upon whom the Promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and his Spirit poured upon them according to his Word, Acts 2. 16, 17, 18. And if the Apostle would have stopped such as had the Spirit of the Lord poured upon them, why did he say just before, If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace, and you may all Prophesie one by one? Here he did not say, that such Women should not Prophesie as had the Revelation and Spirit of God poured upon them: But their Women that were under the Law, and in the Transgression, and were in Strife, Confusion and Malice; for if he had stop’d Womens Praying or Prophesying, why doth he say, Every Man Praying or Prophesying, having his Head covered, dishonoureth his Head; but every Woman that Prayeth or Prophesieth with her Head uncovered dishonoureth her Head? Judge in your selves, Is it comely that a Woman pray or prophesie uncovered? For the Woman is not without the Man, neither is the Man without the Woman in the Lord, 1 Cor. 11. 3, 4, 13.

Also that other Scripture, in 1 Tim. 2. where he is exhorting that Prayer and Supplication be made every where, lifting up Holy Hands without Wrath and Doubting; he saith in the like manner also, That Women must adorn themselves in modest Apparel, with Shamefacedness and Sobriety, not with broidered Hair, or Gold, or Pearl, or costly Array. He saith, Let Women learn in Silence with all Subjection; but I suffer not a Woman to Teach, nor to usurp Authority over the Man, but to be in Silence; for Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived; but the Woman being deceived was in the Transgression.

Here the Apostle speaks particularly to a Woman in relation to her Husband, to be in subjection to him, and not to Teach, nor usurp Authority over him, and therefore he mentions Adam and Eve: But let it be strained to the utmost, as the opposers of Womens Speaking would have it, that is, That they should not Preach nor Speak in the Church, of which there is nothing here: Yet the Apostle is speaking to such as he is teaching to wear their Apparel, what to wear, and what not to wear; such as were not come to wear modest Apparel, and such as were not come to Shamefacedness and Sobriety; but he was exhorting them from broidered Hair, Gold, and Pearls, and costly Array; and such are not to usurp Authority over the Man, but to learn in Silence with all Subjection, as it becometh Women professing Godliness with good Works.

And what is all this to such as have the Power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus poured upon them, and have the Message of the Lord Jesus given unto them? Must not they speak the Word of the Lord, because of these undecent and unreverent Women, that the Apostle speaks of, and to, in these two Scriptures? And how are the Men of this Generation blinded, that bring these Scriptures, and pervert the Apostles Words, and corrupt his Intent in speaking of them? And by these Scriptures, endeavour to stop the Message and Word of the Lord God in Women, by contemning and despising of them. If the Apostle would have had Womens speaking stop’d, and did not allow of them; Why did he intreat his true Yoak-Fellow to help those Women who laboured with him in the Gospel? Phil. 4. 3. And why did the Apostles join together in Prayer and Supplication with the Women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with his Brethren, Acts 1. 14. if they had not allowed, and had Union and Fellowship with the Spirit of God, where-ever it was revealed, in Women as well as others? But all this opposing, and gainsaying of Womens Speaking, hath risen out of the Bottomless Pit, and Spirit of Darkness, that hath spoken for these many Hundred Years together in this Night of Apostacy, since the Revelations have ceased and been hid. And so that Spirit hath limited and bound all up within its Bond and Compass; and so would suffer none to Speak; but such as that Spirit of Darkness approved of, Man or Woman.

And so here hath been the Misery of these last Ages past, in the time of the Reign of the Beast, that John saw when he stood upon the Sand of the Sea, rising out of the Sea, and out of the Earth, having seven Heads and ten Horns, Rev. 13. In this great City of Babylon, which is the Woman that hath sitten so long upon the Scarlet colour’d Beast, full of Names of Blasphemy, having seven Heads and ten Horns. And this Woman hath been arrayed and decked with Gold, and Pearls, and precious Stones; and she hath had a Golden Cup in her Hand, full of Abominations; and hath made all Nations drunk with the Cup of her Fornication; and all the World hath wondred after the Beast, and hath worshipped the Dragon that gave Power to the Beast; and this Woman hath been drunk with the Blood of the Saints, and with the Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus. And this hath been the Woman, that hath been Speaking, and usurping Authority for many Hundred Years together: And let the Times and Ages past testifie how many have been murthered and slain, in Ages and Generations past; every Religion and Profession, (as it hath been called) killing and murthering one another, that would not join one with another: And thus the Spirit of Truth, and the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ, hath been quite lost among them that have done this. And this Mother of Harlots hath sitten as a Queen, and said, She should see no Sorrow: But though her Days have been long, even many Hundred of Years; for there was Power given unto the Beast to continue forty and two Months, and to make War with the Saints, and to overcome them: And all that have dwelt upon the Earth have worshipped him, whose Names are not written in the Book of the Life of the Lamb, slain from the Foundation of the World.

But blessed be the Lord, his time is over, which was above Twelve hundred Years, and the Darkness is past, and the Night of Apostacy draws to an end, and the true Light now shines, the Morning Light, the bright Morning Star, the Root and Offspring of David, he is risen, he is risen, Glory to the Highest for evermore; and the Joy of the Morning is come, and the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife, is making her self ready, as a Bride that is adorning for her Husband; and to her is granted, that she shall be arrayed in fine Linen, clean and white; and the fine Linen is the Righteousness of the Saints; the holy Jerusalem is descending out of Heaven from God, having the Glory of God; and her Light is like a Jasper Stone, clear as Chrystal.

And this is that free Woman, that all the Children of the Promise are born of; not the Children of the Bond-woman, which is Hagar, which genders to Strife and to Bondage, and which answers to Jerusalem, which is in Bondage with her Children; but this is the Jerusalem which is free, Which is the Mother of us all. And so this Bond-woman and her Children, that are born after the Flesh, have persecuted them that are born after the Spirit, even until now: But now the Bond-woman and her Seed is to be cast out, that hath kept so long in Bondage and in Slavery, and under Limits; this Bond-woman and her Brood is to be cast out, and our holy City, the new Jerusalem, is coming down from Heaven, and her Light will shine throughout the whole Earth, even as a Jasper-Stone, clear as Chrystal, which brings Freedom and Liberty, and perfect Redemption to her whole Seed; and this is that Woman and Image of the Eternal God, that God hath owned, and doth own, and will own for evermore.

More might be added to this purpose, both out of the Old Testament and New, where it is evident that God made no difference, but gave his good Spirit, as it pleased him, both to Man and Woman, as Deborah, Huldah, and Sarah. The Lord calls by his Prophet Isaiah, Hearken unto me, ye that follow after Righteousness, ye that seek the Lord; look unto the Rock from whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the Pit from whence ye were digged; look unto Abraham your Father, and to Sarah that bare you; for the Lord will comfort Sion, &c. Isa. 5. And Anna the Prophetess, who was a Widow of Fourscore and Four Years of Age, which departed not from the Temple, but served God with Fastings and Prayers night and day; she coming in at that instant, (when old Simeon took the Child Jesus in his Arms) and she gave Thanks unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them who looked for Redemption in Jerusalem, Luke 2. 36, 37, 38. And Philip the Evangelist, into whose House the Apostle Paul entred, who was one of the Seven, Acts 6. 3. he had four Daughters which were Virgins, that did prophesie, Acts 21.

And so let this serve to stop that opposing Spirit that would limit the Power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus, whose Spirit is poured upon all Flesh, both Sons and Daughters, now in his Resurrection; and since that the Lord God in the Creation, when he made Man in his own Image, he made them Male and Female; and since that Christ Jesus, as the Apostle saith, was made of a Woman, and the Power of the Highest overshadowed her, and the Holy Ghost came upon her, and the Holy Thing that was born of her, was called the Son of God; and when he was upon the Earth, he manifested his Love, and his Will, and his Mind, both to the Woman of Samaria, and Martha, and Mary her Sister, and several others, as hath been shewed; and after his Resurrection also, manifested himself unto them first of all, even before he ascended unto his Father: Now when Jesus was risen, the first Day of the Week, he appeared first unto Mary Magdalene, Mark 16. 9. And thus the Lord Jesus hath manifested himself and his Power, without Respect of Persons; and so let all Mouths be stopt that would limit him, whose Power and Spirit is infinite, who is pouring it upon all Flesh.

And thus much in answer to these two Scriptures, which have been made such a Stumbling-block, that the Ministers of Darkness have made such a Mountain of: But the Lord is removing all this, and taking it out of the way.

M. F.

A further Addition, in Answer to the Objection concerning Women keeping silent in the Church: For it is not permitted for them to speak, but to be under Obedience; as also saith the Law, If they will learn any thing, let them ask their Husbands at home, for it is a shame for a Woman to speak in the Church: Now this as Paul writing in 1 Cor. 14. 34. is one with that of 1 Tim. 2. 11. Let Women learn in silence with all Subjection.

To which I say, If you tie this to all outward Women, then there were many Women that were Widows, which had no Husbands to learn of; and many were Virgins, which had no Husbands; and Philip had four Daughters that were Prophetesses; such would be despised, which the Apostle did not forbid. And if it were to all Women, that no Women might speak, then Paul would have contradicted himself; but they were such Women that the Apostle mentions in Timothy, that grew wanton, and were Busie-bodies, and Tatlers, and kicked against Christ: For Christ in the Male and in the Female is one, and he is the Husband, and his Wife is the Church; and God hath said, that his Daughters should prophesie as well as his Sons: And where he hath poured forth his Spirit upon them, they must prophesie, though blind Priests say to the contrary, and will not permit holy Women to speak.

And whereas it is said, I permit not a Woman to speak, as saith the Law: But where Women are led by the Spirit of God, they are not under the Law; for Christ in the Male and in the Female is one; and where he is made manifest in Male and Female, he may speak; for he is the end of the Law for Righteousness to all them that believe. So here you ought to make a Distinction what sort of Women are forbidden to speak; such as were under the Law, who were not come to Christ, nor to the Spirit of Prophecy: For Huldah, Miriam, and Hannah, were Prophetesses, who were not forbidden in the time of the Law, for they all prophesied in the time of the Law; as you may read in 2 Kings 22. what Huldah said unto the Priest, and to the Ambassadors that were sent to her from the King, Go, saith she, and tell the Man that sent you to me, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and on the Inhabitants thereof, even all the Words of the Book which the King of Judah hath read; because they have forsaken me, and have burnt Incense to other Gods, to anger me with all the Works of their Hands: Therefore my Wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the King of Judah, that sent you to me to ask Counsel of the Lord, so shall you say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Because thy Heart did melt, and thou humbledst thy self before the Lord, when thou heard’st what I spake against this place, and against the Inhabitants of the same, how they should be destroyed; Behold, I will receive thee to thy Father, and thou shalt be put into thy Grave in peace, and thine Eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.

Now let us see if any of you, blind Priests, can speak after this manner, and see if it be not a better Sermon than any of you can make, who are against Women’s Speaking. And Isaiah, that went to the Prophetess, did not forbid her Speaking or Prophesying, Isai. 8. And was it not prophesied in Joel 2. that Hand-maids should Prophesie? And are not Hand-maids Women? Consider this, ye that are against Women’s Speaking, how in the Acts the Spirit of the Lord was poured forth upon Daughters as well as Sons. In the time of the Gospel, when Mary came to salute Elizabeth in the Hill-Country in Judea, and when Elizabeth heard the Salutation of Mary, the Babe leaped in her Womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit; and Elizabeth spoke with a loud Voice. Blessed art thou amongst Women, blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb. Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as thy Salutation came to my Ear, the Babe leaped in my Womb for Joy; for blessed is she that believes, for there shall be a Performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And this was Elizabeth’s Sermon concerning Christ, which at this day stands upon Record. And then Mary said, My Soul doth magnifie the Lord, and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour, for he hath regarded the low Estate of his Handmaid: For, behold, from henceforth all Generations shall call me blessed; for he that is mighty, hath done to me great things, and holy is his Name; and his Mercy is on them that fear him, from Generation to Generation; he hath shewed Strength with his Arm; he hath scattered the Proud in the Imaginations of their own Hearts; he hath put down the Mighty from their Seats, and exalted them of low degree; he hath filled the Hungry with good things, and the Rich he hath sent empty away: He hath holpen his Servant Israel, in remembrance of his Mercy, as he spake to his Father, to Abraham, and to his Seed for ever. Are you not here beholding to the Woman for her Sermon, to use her Words, to put into your Common Prayer? and yet you forbid Women’s Speaking.

Now here you may see how these two Women prophesied of Christ, and preached better than all the blind Priests did in that Age, and better than this Age also, who are beholding to Women to make use of their Words. And see in the Book of Ruth, how the Women blessed her in the Gate of the City, of whose Stock came Christ: The Lord make the Woman that is come into thy House like Rachel and Leah, which built the House of Israel; and that thou may’st do worthily in Ephrata, and be famous in Bethlehem, let thy House be like the House of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the Seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young Woman. And blessed be the Lord, who hath not left thee this day without a Kinsman, and his Name shall be continued in Israel. And also see in the first Chapter of Samuel, how Hannah prayed and spake in the Temple of the Lord, O Lord of Hosts, if thou wilt look on the Trouble of thy Hand-maid, and remember me, and not forget thy Hand-maid. And read in the second Chapter of Samuel, how she rejoyced in God, and said, My Heart rejoyceth in the Lord; my Horn is exalted in the Lord, and my Mouth is enlarged over my Enemies, because I rejoyce in thy Salvation; there is none holy as the Lord, yea, there is none besides thee; and there is no God like our God. Speak no more presumptuously; let not Arrogancy come out of your Mouths, for the Lord is a God of Knowledge, and by him Enterprizes are established; the Bow, and the mighty Men are broken, and the Weak hath girded to themselves Strength; they that were full, are hired forth for Bread, and the hungry are no more hired; so that the Barren hath born seven, and she that had many Children is feeble. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; bringeth down to the Grave, and raiseth up; the Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich; bringeth low, and exalteth; he raiseth up the Poor out of the Dust, and lifteth up the Beggar from the Dunghil, to set them among Princes, to make them inherit the Seat of Glory: For the Pillars of the Earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the World upon them; he will keep the Feet of his Saints, and the Wicked shall keep silence in Darkness; for in his own Might shall no Man be strong: The Lord’s Adversaries shall be destroyed, and out of Heaven shall he thunder upon them; the Lord shall judge the ends of the World, and shall give Power to his King, and exalt the Horn of his Anointed.

Thus you may see what a Woman hath said, when old Eli the Priest thought she had been drunk; and see if any of you, blind Priests, that speak against Women’s Speaking, can preach after this manner; who cannot make such a Sermon as this Woman did, and yet will make a Trade of this Woman and other Women’s Words.

And did not the Queen of Sheba speak, that came to Solomon, and received the Law of God, and preached it in her own Kingdom, and blessed the Lord God that loved Solomon, and set him on the Throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel for ever, and made the King to do Equity and Righteousness? And this was the Language of the Queen of Sheba.

And see what glorious Expressions Queen Hester used to comfort the People of God, which was the Church of God, as you may read in the Book of Hester, which caused Joy and Gladness of Heart among all the Jews, who prayed and worshipped the Lord in all places; who jeoparded her Life contrary to the King’s Command, went and spoke to the King, in the Wisdom and Fear of the Lord, by which means she saved the Lives of the People of God; and righteous Mordecai did not forbid her speaking, but said, If she held her Peace, her and her Father’s House should be destroyed. And herein, you blind Priests, are contrary to righteous Mordecai.

Likewise you may read how Judith spoke, and what noble Acts she did, and how she spoke to the Elders of Israel, and said, Dear Brethren, seeing ye are the Honourable and Elders of the People of God, call to Remembrance how our Fathers in time past were tempted, that they might be proved if they would worship God aright: They ought also to Remember how our Father Abraham, being try’d through manifold Tribulations, was found a Friend of God; so was Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, and all they pleased God, and were steadfast in Faith through manifold Troubles. And read also her Prayer in the Book of Judith, and how the Elders commended her, and said, All that thou speakest is true, and no Man can reprove thy Words; pray therefore for us, for thou art an holy Woman, and fearest God. So these Elders of Israel did not forbid her speaking, as you blind Priests do; yet you will make a Trade of Women’s Words to get Money by, and take Texts, and preach Sermons upon Women’s Words; and still cry out, Women must not speak, Women must be silent: So you are far from the Minds of the Elders of Israel, who praised God for a Woman’s speaking. But the Jezabel, and the Woman, the false Church, the great Whore, and tatling and unlearned Women, and Busie-bodies, which are forbid to preach, which have a long time spoke and tatled, which are forbidden to speak by the true Church, which Christ is the Head of; such Women as were in Transgression under the Law, which are called a Woman in the Revelations.

And see farther how the wise Woman cryed to Joab over the Wall, and saved the City of Abel, as you may read, 2 Sam. 20. how in her Wisdom she spoke to Joab, saying, I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel, and thou goest about to destroy a City and Mother in Israel: Why wilt thou destroy the Inheritance of the Lord? Then went the Woman to the People in her Wisdom, and smote off the Head of Sheba, that rose up against David, the Lord’s Anointed: Then Joab blew the Trumpet, and all the People departed in Peace. And this Deliverance was by the means of a Woman’s speaking. But Tatlers and Busie-Bodies are forbidden to preach by the true Woman, whom Christ is the Husband, to the Woman as well as the Man, all being comprehended to be the Church. And so in this true Church, Sons and Daughters do prophesie, Women labour in the Gospel: But the Apostle permits not Tatlers, Busie-bodies, and such as usurp Authority over the Man, who would not have Christ to reign, nor speak neither in the Male nor Female; such the Law permits not to speak; such must learn of their Husbands. But what Husbands have Widows to learn of, but Christ? And was not Christ the Husband of Philip’s four Daughters? And may not they that are learned of their Husbands speak then? But Jezabel, and Tatlers, and the Whore, that deny Revelation and Prophecy, are not permitted, who will not learn of Christ; and they that are out of the Spirit and Power of Christ, that the Prophets were in, who are in the Transgression, are ignorant of the Scriptures; and such are against Women’s Speaking, and Men’s too, who preach that which they have received of the Lord God; but that which they have preached, and do preach, will come over all your Heads, yea, over the Head of the false Church, the Pope; for the Pope is the Head of the false Church, and the false Church is the Pope’s Wife: And so he and they that be of him, and come from him, are against Women’s Speaking in the true Church, when both he and the false Church are called Woman, in Rev. 17. and so are in the Transgression, that would usurp Authority over the Man Christ Jesus, and his Wife too, and would not have him to Reign; but the Judgment of the great Whore is come. But Christ, who is the Head of the Church, the true Woman, which is his Wife, in it do Daughters prophesie, who are above the Pope and his Wife, and a-top of them. And here Christ is the Head of the Male and Female, who may speak; and the Church is called a Royal Priesthood; so the Woman must offer as well as the Man. Rev. 22. 17. The Spirit saith, Come, and the Bride saith, Come; and so is not the Bride the Church? and doth the Church only consist of Men? You that deny Women’s Speaking, answer: Doth it not consist of Women, as well as Men? Is not the Bride compared to the whole Church? And doth not the Bride say, Come? Doth not the Woman speak then, the Husband, Christ Jesus, the Amen? And doth not the false Church go about to stop the Bride’s Mouth? But it is not possible; for the Bridegroom is with his Bride, and he opens her Mouth. Christ Jesus, who goes on Conquering, and to Conquer; who kills and slays with the Sword, which is the Word of his Mouth; the Lamb and the Saints shall have the Victory, the true Speakers of Men and Women over the false Speaker.

http://www.qhpress.org/texts/fell.html

As you know, I was at the seminary this weekend. It was a great time getting to know the seminarians there and participating in prayer with them. The weekend started off with participating in the evening prayer of liturgy of the hours, something I pray on my own nearly every day but never have done as a group. Let me tell you, it was awesome. I’ve never experienced prayer quite like it. We also had some holy hours during which we practiced lectio divina. That was probably the best part of the weekend. I could go on and on about how the Word of God struck me, but I don’t have enough space. I will just share the two verses that hit me during our two holy hours and I will perhaps elaborate on them later.

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.”

-Luke 1:38

“And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

-Luke 5:11

We spent a lot of time also doing a lot of physical activity, like capture the flag, soccer, and dodgeball, you know, the regular stuff. One of the great things was just spending time with the seminarians, watching them, listening to them, seeing that we had a lot of similar things going on in our hearts. Being back at NDSU makes it all the much more real to me that I should go to seminary.

One of the things that happened this weekend though was not pretty. I got this constant and nagging feeling that I was not holy enough to be there. As many similarities as there were between the seminarians and me, there seemed to be this unattainable holiness that they had. This voice somewhere kept telling me to stop conning myself into thinking I could be there, that I could take this step, that I could someday be a priest. It kept saying that the Lord knows better than to be taken by me, as I am really a confidence man, pretending to be on God’s side, to be holy, and then just disappoint God and then run. ‘Tis better to run now, then run later and disappoint the One I claim to love.

Yet, I know better than to listen to that voice. Of course I’m not holy enough. Nobody is, but God will give me the graces necessary to do the work he has called me to. St. Phillip Neri said:

Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if he wants anything of you, he will fit you for the work and give you strength.

And that goes hand-in-hand with what Fr. Jasinski said this weekend. He told us not to worry about all the things that priest do right now. Nobody is asking us to go say Mass tomorrow, to perform a wedding, or bury someone’s family members. We ask for those graces when the time comes. The only grace we need to pray for right now is the grace to say ‘yes’ to whatever it is God is calling us to. That is the best lesson I got this weekend.

Lord, give me the strength and the graces I need at the moment, which is the grace to say ‘yes’ to whatever you call me to. I know that the graces I need later will be given to me when I need them. I ask this in the name of Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.

In the opening chapters of Mosiah, we learn some very valuable teachings from the humble, obedient King Benjamin. There are his often-cited discourses on service, being sons and daughters of Christ, and putting off the “natural man”. Each of these lessons merits the time to read and ponder upon Benjamin’s powerful words, and I would encourage you to do so. However, there was yet another lesson that resonated between my ears this time around. In the fourth chapter, besides my wife’s favorite scripture (Mosiah 4:9), I found a verse - actually a word – that caused me to ponder more than I did upon the other verses.

In verse 13, King Benjamin said, “And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.” This week, the word “due” has caused me to think quite a bit. Initially, I felt that the scripture meant that if I would simply continue to perform well at work, I should eventually be paid as much as I feel that I deserve. Unfortunately, “my due” may not yet ”be due”, although it certainly seems to be “overdue.”.

In baseball - the greatest sport ever! – if a batter “is due”, then according to the generally accepted percentages in the statistics of the game, he should get a base hit in this very at bat. A pregnant woman is given a “due date” for the anticipated birth of her new baby. A book is “overdue” after it has been retained beyond the return date determined by the library. A bill is “past due” if it wasn’t paid by the agreed-upon date. We pay “dues” to belong to a club or organization.

In the above examples, “due” can be subjective, against the odds, or it may even be precise. So, then, was King Benjamin speaking in the subjective form, or was he being quite precise? Was he speaking to the employee, or was he speaking to the employer? I think that the answer to all four of these questions is the same – “Yes!” So, in order for us to be rendered our due, we certainly need to be worth our due. Even if we feel that we’ve been paid less than our due on this Earth, it is a great comfort to know that we will at last be rendered our due when we are brought to that great day of judgement in front of the bar of Christ. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if He were to also render judgement on our behalf during our mortality?  Then maybe we would finally be treated  fairly – if that’s indeed what we want. Am I truly worth my due?

It has been a very long week, but I am grateful that we have all of next week off. It seems like the last reading week was a decade ago, and I was trying earlier this week to recall what classes I was taking at BC last fall and I honestly cannot for the life of me remember… I can’t even believe it was only a year ago!

A few weeks ago there was a wonderful guest lecturer in my liturgy class talking about preaching. (He is also one of the several preaching professors on the faculty at YDS, and he is just phenomenal as a preacher and as a teacher.) While the entire lecture was wonderful, the thing that struck me the most was when he preached a mini-sermon about the need for us to remember to pray for ourselves. That struck me. I pray for everyone else under the sun, but so often forget me. Forget that I should be praying about my frustrations and disenchantment with BDS, forget that it is okay to pray for my “stuff” too. So a few weeks ago, I added myself to my prayer list–I know it sounds obvious, but really… it just never occurred to me. My prayer hasn’t been complex, just simply the repeated mantra, God, please let something give… give me a break here…

This week, something gave. I finally caught a break and was able to see a crack of light through the “jail cell” as I’ve so often thought of this place as. When I arrived in August, BDS handed all first years a “grid” outlining the classes we’d have to take and when to take them for the next three years. The grid gives us little to no choice and is a very heady, academic education. I am all for academics, but as I’ve said before… I need the connection to social action, to activism, to engagement with the world. I need my intellectual activity to connect to the world. The “grid” doesn’t really allow for that– Patristics, Medieval Theology, Early Modern Theology, Reformation Theology, Systematic theology 1 & 2, and so on… the academic stuff.

I have noticed that the other YDS M.Div’s (that is the non-Episcopalians) have a lot more freedom, a lot more choice. They are taking the social action/social justice related courses… heck, I didn’t even know YDS had these courses since I wasn’t really at liberty to look! I have been advocating for myself for a couple weeks now, and have finally succeeded in going “off grid” for next semester, and the majority of the rest of the three years. It’s not really mentioned that you can do this, but in fact, you can. It’s taking a little bit of extra work to make sure I fulfill the requirements of the M.Div, and have what I need for GOE’s, but it means I can stop banging my head against the ivy wall… at least for now.

I also sat down with my Hebrew professor and talked to him about working something out for next semester so that I wouldn’t have to drive four hours round trip for a 50 minute class every week on Fridays. He is allowing me to take the weekly quiz early and then video chat in to the remainder of the class. (Isn’t technology wonderful?)

I’ve created a schedule that means I will only be on campus three days a week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday and Wednesday will be very long, very full days, but its okay. I am excited about the classes I am taking… Ministry and the Disinherited as my elective and Trinity in the World instead of Medieval Theology. I might even take the second half of New Testament instead of the second half of Old Testament. We are only given room for four bible classes, and second year Hebrew (which, despite the fact that I have hit a hebrew roadblock lately, I really want to take) counts as two of those classes, so I want to make sure I get some New Testament in there somewhere… you know, Jesus and all of that…

I have a line on what seems like it might be a good internship site for next year that is only 30 minutes away in Westerly, and am hoping to finish my CPE application in the next week for this summer, at what looks to be a great site just 35 minutes away from here in Providence.

It’s still too soon to tell, but I think maybe, perhaps, just a little bit, things are getting better. I might be able to stay at BDS and make it work. I’m less anxious to jump ship. It’s still too soon, the course titles, descriptions and syllabi look great for next semester, but first of all I have to survive this semester, and secondly, it’s just a matter of wait and see… the Patristics syllabus looked pretty good, too, after all!