Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Greetings everyone! I have been almost completely overwhelmed here in the last few days. I will hopefully bring everyone up to speed soon, but for tonight instead of telling everyone what has been going on, I will stay up until 1:00 or so and write a paper for Homiletics class. Maybe I will get a chance to write more tomorrow.

Blessings

Fly to Jesus...

Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. (John 1:32)

On our way home from church last Sunday, Karen and I received word that a close friend of our family, Amanda Burrell, only 22 years old, had been killed in a motorcycle accident on Saturday. This was especially hard on Karen because she had mentored Amanda through the confirmation classes in church and had served as her advisor in Rainbow, an organization that she was a part of. Amanda’s entire family has been close to ours for many years.

I believe that the main reason that I selected the topic of "When is it too late?"that I did for the mini sermon that I wrote about this week was because of the feeling of loss that occurs when someone so young with such a bright future is taken from us. Our prayers and sympathy goes out to Amanda’s family, her sister and brother and grandmother Norma, and to all of those who loved her and cared for her. I was especially saddened as I watched her four year old son Rylan at the funeral. It is only by God’s grace that we are able to get through these difficult times.

I would like to share with you something that happened at the graveside yesterday. Several of the recent funerals that I have attended have included the release of a single white dove. The dove release begins with the gathering of the family and friends, a prayer and the playing of the song “Come to Jesus” that I shared with you above. When the song reaches the climax and says fly to Jesus the dove is released starting low and circling higher and higher, ultimately finding his sense of direction and flying home, simply a beautiful moment.

The part that is most meaningful to me however, actually occurs after the ceremony concludes. After the people begin to move away toward their cars, the bird handler releases 3 or 4 more doves into the air who also begin circling until they meet up with the single dove who was released earlier and altogether they fly home.

I asked the funeral director about why he does this and he explained that even though the dove could probably find his way home by himself, when they are allowed to fly together, it is much less likely that they will become lost or attacked by predators on the way.

I think that this is the perfect example of how our lives touch each other. As I have thought about Amanda and the impact that she has had on our family I realize how important that each of us are to the well being of those around us. We may indeed be able to fly home alone, but that is not how God intended for us to be. God created us to rely on each other, to care for each other and to nurture each other.

It is my prayer for you today that you understand that you are never alone, and that when it is sometimes hard to find the way to go, and the predators are circling around you, know that God will always be there and that when you find yourself unsure of the way to go, simply do as the dove released at the graveside did and look right beside you and find the Holy Spirit ready to lead you through.

Blessings

Baaaad Theology!

Hello everyone, Sorry that I didn’t get around to posting yesterday. Between class in the morning, driving home from Ohio, going to Amanda’s funeral visitation, and the trip to Jeffersonville to visit Terri and pick up Odie, I had gone about as far as I could go yesterday.

When last I left you, I said that the response to my sermon was not a pretty sight. That was an extreme understatement. After each student had finished their mini sermon they were asked to sit down and simply listen to the responses of the others. We weren’t allowed to respond, only listen, although several classmates violated this rule and felt compelled to defend their sermons, I chose to simply hear what the class had to say. I wasn’t at all criticized on presentation, or delivery. I wasn’t critiqued because I didn’t make enough eye contact, or paced around too much. There was no complaint about talking too fast or too slow. The discussion about my sermon, at least the negative discussion was centered completely around one thing…… They didn’t like my theology.

Now I realize that I need to explain that, and I am not totally sure how to do so in a short concise way. Terri told me last night that my blogs were already too long, so I am not sure how I can explain the differences between liberal and conservative theology in just a few short paragraphs, but let me try.

The complaint was that I had the audacity to express the idea that each of us does indeed have an expiration date. The criticism was that there was no message of hope in my sermon. The complaint was that I shouldn’t suggest that perhaps there is a day of judgment which each one of us will face. Although if you read the sermon, you will see that I wasn’t talking as much about judgment as I was about our duties and responsibilities while we are still on this earth. There was even a suggestion that it was disingenuous of me to somehow suggest that people actually died in the flood of Noah. (Yeah I know, hard to believe isn’t it.)

Those who know me, and listen to me each Sunday will probably have a sense that my messages are overwhelmingly about God’s love and grace. The greatest preponderance of my sermons are messages of hope for those who are hurting or in need, or they are calls to arms for Christians to step outside of our comfort zones and reach out to those less fortunate around us, to help the strangers in our midst and to always be willing to help the weary sojourner who God has placed before us.

On the other hand, to presume that there is no judgment as my classmates suggested in their “theology” is totally ludicrous to me, to ignore the idea that we do indeed have an expiration date is unrealistic at best and laughable at the worst, and to say that we don’t know whether or not there is a time when it will be too late, is to totally ignore the majority of the Bible and, in my opinion, common sense.

I think that you should also know that I strongly believe that the Bible is a book first and foremost about salvation and redemption, even the story about Noah, to me, is not about God’s wrath, but about God's salvation of Noah, his family, humanity and God’s creation.

These are the things I would have said to the class if I were given the opportunity, and trust me I will get my opportunity in dining hall conversations and round table discussions. You may remember the post earlier where I was asked how could someone who was a seminary professor not even believe in miracles, well, you will have to trust me when I tell you that not believing in miracles is the tip of the iceberg of theological thought that most of us would simply not understand. But, as I said in the earlier post, I am grateful for the opportunity to get hammered by other people when I find what I would have considered to be a majority opinion to be suddenly thrust into a minority opinion. These experiences help me to be able to articulate not only what I believe, but perhaps more importantly, why I believe it.

Terri, sorry for another long post, I’ll work on that next time!

Blessings

Times Up....

I thought you might enjoy listening to this song while you read the mini sermon that I gave today in my Homiletics class. I will tell you tomorrow what the class had to say about it! It wasn't a pretty sight LOL

I remember as a child going to the doctor’s office with my Mom. It was certainly not my favorite place to go, but there was one thing that I did like about it. The doctor’s office had a book called “The Bible Story,” a children’s book of Bible stories with great pictures just perfect for a child to read. I remember spending hours just looking at the pictures. There was one picture however, that really bothered me. It was a picture of Noah’s Ark with the rain falling down and the flood waters starting to rise. In the water around the Ark were many people pounding on the door trying to get in. I remember asking my Mom, “Why do those people have to die? Couldn’t Noah just open the door and let them in?” My mom sensing my anguish said “Jim look at the picture, if Noah opened the door, the water would flow in and all the animals would drown. Those people all had a chance to help Noah build the Ark and instead they mocked him and laughed at him, and now it was too late for them.”

My question is, when is it too late for us? I know that there are many of my colleagues in ministry that spend their entire careers preaching out of the Book of Revelation predicting the imminent second coming of Jesus. Well, my mother, God rest her soul, died waiting for two things to happen, the first was for the second coming of Christ and the second was for the Chicago Cubs to win a World Series. Neither of these happened in her life time, and I am pretty sure that the odds are good that neither one will happen in my lifetime either, although, I think that there is a better chance of the second coming of Christ.

There is however, a time when I do believe that it is too late. If you travel up I-65 just North of Seymour IN, there is a sign on the highway that says, “You have an expiration date.” This is the day that each of us must keep in mind. There is coming a day when we will no longer be able to help a neighbor in distress, there will be a day when we will no longer be able to feed someone who is hungry, there is a day coming when we will no longer be able to make that phone call that we have been putting off, or send that message that God has laid on our hearts.

We do indeed have an expiration date and then it will be too late. My prayer is that each of us is prepared for our expiration date, and when it comes we will find ourselves safely tucked inside of the Ark, warm and dry, and not flailing in the water pounding on the door begging to be let in.

Blessings

Preaching From The Soul

Today I would like to share with you a little bit about the newest book I am reading. When I first picked up the book, Preaching From the Soul by J. Ellsworth Kalas at the book store, I must admit that I had a preconceived notion of what I might expect to find inside. I was convinced that it was a book that would either be a compelling discussion of African American preaching or perhaps endorse some form of evangelical or evangelistic approach to preaching. Those notions were immediately wiped away after the introduction. What I was left with was an understanding of preaching that should be the bedrock of all preaching, no mater what ones ethnic or denominational heritage might be.

As someone who is a second career seminary student, I have had the opportunity to observe from the congregation hundreds if not tens of hundreds of sermons through the years. One thing that always struck me was the lack of passion (soul) demonstrated by the vast majority of preachers that I have experienced. This was evident not only in their sermon delivery, but even in the way which they read the scriptures. Several years ago, when I attended License to Preach School, (a United Methodist effort to fast track preachers) I was astounded at how passionate (soul filled) these new preachers were. At the time, I simply didn’t understand how I could be so moved and so greatly enjoy listening to these preachers that by the very fact that they were attending this school suggested that were very new to the art of preaching. Kalas addressed this observation in the very first chapter when he described that preachers sometimes suffer from the burden of familiarity, they can become more taken with problems of scholarship than with the wonders of God’s continuing power.

I am also aware that I am not the only one to notice the phenomenon of the highly educated, academically oriented preacher. When I first began seminary, I was inundated with parishioners challenging me to “remember your roots,” and to not let all of that “education” change who I was or how I preached. At the time I had no idea what they were talking about. Wasn’t that the entire point of attending seminary, to learn how to preach and in so doing, change my life forever? What these people were really trying to say is exactly what Kalas was describing about Soul Preaching. They had experienced too many preachers, who had, for lack of a better way of saying it, lost their soul. They no longer gave of themselves or exposed their soul while they preached. Preaching had simply become for them a routine, weekly exegetical exercise with no passion and no soul.

This book also reminded me of an experience in Field Education class. One of the students was bemoaning his cool reception when he preached his first sermon while filling in for a pastor who was vacationing. When he was asked what he preached on, he said that he had written a paper on the Doctrine of Christ for Systematic Theology which he had essentially shared with the congregation. No wonder his reception was cool. The advice given to him was to preach on something that he cared about, and to preach about something he was passionate for. The next week he returned much happier with the congregation’s response. This time instead of trying to teach the Doctrine of Christ from the pulpit, he shared with the congregation about his experiences in El Salvador working in a mission. As Kalas described, “most of the people to whom we preach don’t show a passionate longing for God: but on the other hand, they do have a God-shaped void.” It is our job as a preacher to try to connect with that void, and we simply can’t do that when we are not sharing from our soul.

This book has already impacted my preaching. Some of the ideas presented in this book I seemed to have an innate, but undeveloped understanding of, such as the importance of being in love with Christ, and the people in the congregation. The notion of being in love with the sermon, however, was new and very exciting to me, and it seemed to serve as a way to connect my love of Christ to my love of the congregation.

The area that had the greatest impact on me was Kalas’ discussion in chapter one about taking the Bible seriously. I was struck very hard by his words “No better thing can happen to our preaching than having a passionate love affair with the Bible.” Each of his five steps is a critical component of being in love with the scriptures, but the one that stood out the most for me was “Don’t be afraid to wrestle with the Scriptures.” These words are at the heart of preaching from the soul. Wrestling implies that one cares enough to spend whatever time is required in the scriptures to get every blessing possible, even if it means wrestling all night. One also runs the risk (or reward) in wrestling with the scriptures of being permanently changed, as illustrated in the story of Jacob.

As I have begun to travel down the path of discovery through this book of what it means to preach from the soul. I look forward in the next few chapters to learning more about what it means to awaken and sustain the people of God, and to find out what it takes to be willing to ask myself the difficult question of “who is the preacher?”
Blessings

The Simplest Things...

Have you ever had the feeling that God was trying to tell you something? I have definitely been getting that feeling here recently. For some reason this whole idea of taking things for granted has been coming up an awful lot. I first noticed it last week when we were without power for 4 days. I realized very quickly how I take the simplest comforts such as turning on a light or working on the computer, or even watching a program on TV for granted.

This morning I asked both congregations where they had the opportunity to see God this week, and both congregations related similar stories of spending long over due time with loved ones and neighbors, renewing old friendships and even enjoying a simple board game or card game. It was such a joy listening to the stories and realizing how many of these simple things we have lost in our culture today.

For the next few days Karen is attending a retreat for ministers wives. She had the opportunity to attend last year and really enjoyed the time spent with the other wives, and I am equally sure that she enjoyed shopping in downtown Nashville IN as well, one of her favorite places. We decided that since I am leaving in the morning to go over to Ohio for classes anyway, I might as well just go with her to Nashville, and then leave from here in the morning. I bring this up because we were talking on the way up here this afternoon, that this was the first time for several years that we have actually stayed in a hotel. This is unusual, because for the past 20 some years we have traveled several times a year with our favorite destinations being Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Myrtle Beach. Four years ago our lives changed dramatically when we made the decision to enter seminary and the ministry.

As I have thought about some of the more obvious changes in our lives, I have realized that some of the things that I thought I couldn’t live without, I no longer miss. We used to eat out at least 10 times per week or more, but now we enjoy the simple pleasure of sharing a home cooked meal frequently prepared by yours truly, who isn’t all that bad of a chef if I do say so myself (not that anyone else outside our family appreciates my cooking)

Another major change is that we have learned to depend on the grace and generosity of other people. I reflect frequently on my mentor Ron’s advice to me when he said that "at some point down the road when you are about to be Ordained and the Bishop places his hands on you, you will know that you didn’t do it on your own.” How true this has been, we have relied heavily on our family, our friends and our congregations for help and support as we have attempted to follow the call that God has placed on our lives. We simply could not have come this far on our own.

So, as I sit here this evening enjoying the beautiful facilities at The Brown County Inn, and prepare to head over to the pool and relax as soon as I post this, I just wanted to share with you not to take life so much for granted, and certainly don’t take those who you care about for granted. Oh, and just one more thing, never take the blessings God has given to you for granted. Sometimes it can be the simplest things in life that will bring you the greatest pleasure.

Blessings

And It Begins...

I have a bit of a strange admission to make today. You might remember that a couple of weeks ago I talked about receiving my packet of paperwork, it was actually a computer disc, for the Commissioning process. Well, I opened it up for the first time today. You might think that waiting so long is a little strange and perhaps it is. When it arrived, I put it right on top of my desk and every time I have walked into my office for the past two weeks it has been the first thing that I have looked at. I think, using the expression that I have heard the media using lately, it was like the two ton elephant in the room, I couldn’t help but notice it, but I tried to ignore it anyway.

The funny thing is that I mentioned this to one of my colleagues over at school, and he said that he had done the exact same thing, so maybe my response to this daunting task isn’t as unique as I thought. I finally opened it up because I knew that there was an October 1st deadline for a couple of items on the list. One reason that I chose to wait is because I was pretty sure that I knew what had to be done by October 1st and I thought that I already had those things accomplished. It seems that I chose unwisely.

There were several things on the list that needed to be done, and a couple of those items were a bit on the confusing side, so I made the second of what I am sure will be many calls to the Conference office to figure out exactly what they needed for me to have completed. I know that I shouldn’t say this, but just between you and me, I think that I had a better handle on what needed to be turned in than the person in charge. I asked about Form B that they needed and was informed that Form B was a Personal Data Inventory form. When I pointed out that my packed said that Form B was a financial disclosure form she was quite surprised.

Then as I went down the list of exactly what she needed by October 1st, she said, “don’t forget your Autobiographical information.” As I looked at my list I mentioned that there was no place that said that needed to be turned in now, but rather, it was not due until January 15th. She apologized and advised me that the entire process is in the middle of a massive change and that my list was correct. Oh my, are you beginning to understand why I didn’t even want to open the packet?

So, as I go down the list, I have already contacted the Buchanan Center in Indianapolis to schedule my psychological evaluation. I am sure that I will write much more about this part of the process, I went through this earlier and essentially I will spend about 6 hours in psychological testing, I hope they decide that I am sane! I have also contacted my family physician to schedule a physical examination. I have my picture all ready to send to them, I think I will use the one from my blog. Do you think that it makes me look ministerial? Now all I have to do is to fill out the nine pages of forms and get this all sent to Bloomington IN by October 1st. By the way, the nine pages of forms is just the tip of the iceberg of what is left to do over the next few months.

The one good thing is that since I already filled out the paperwork and paid the $50 for my criminal background check in July, that is one thing that I don’t have to do again. Thank goodness for small favors.

My mentor Ron keeps telling me to quit worrying, everything will work out just fine. I know that he is right, and I especially know that things will work out the way that they are supposed to, and that no matter what happens, God is guiding me in this process. However, at times, I think that I tend to take after my mother and that if I don’t have something actual to worry about, I will make something up. Maybe the psychologist can fix that for me:)

Blessings

Oh No! Don't Let the Rain Come Down...

Ok, I apologize in advance for doing this to you, but I was talking to a dear friend the other day and this old song came up, and with all of the storm damage that folks I know are suffering through, I thought that this little moment of light heartedness and humor might help just a bit.

The reason that I apologized is that because since I first listened to it, I can't get the silly song out of my head, and I hope that it doesn't have the same effect of you. (well actually I am hoping that it does)

So today, just sit back and enjoy this trip down memory lane, and if you are more the age of my kids, then enjoy a taste of what music was like when I was a kid:)

In case you were wondering, it was the "Serendipity Singers" in 1964.

For those of you from the Gutenberg Generation (see earlier post) click on the image twice to get it to work.

Blessings

The Presence of the LORD

Do you remember the old joke, “Where were you when the lights went out? .... In the dark!” I am very grateful to announce that we are no longer in the dark. Well, at least not in the electrical sense. Last night around 6:30 we came home from the church dinner and as we pulled in the driveway I asked Karen if she knew how I checked to see if the power was on, I reached up and pressed the garage door opener and for the first time in three days it started to open. What a tremendous relief that was. After doing the dance of joy, much to the amusement of our neighbors, we went inside to assess if everything worked.

This has been a long and challenging ordeal, but there were so many other people who were not just inconvenienced, but devastated by this hurricane. I first think about the people in the small islands of the Caribbean and Cuba who were first to feel the impact of this monster storm. These are people who really have nothing to begin with and then to watch what little they had blow away or wash away must have been horrifying.

Next I think about the folks down in Galveston and Houston Texas. I watched as the waves were crashing over the storm wall, devastating piers and flooding roads, all while the actual storm was still 200 miles off shore. I watched as the officials almost pleaded with people to leave, telling them that if you stay you will die. I awoke to the images of the tall buildings in Houston totally devastated, with broken windows and debris lining the streets. The sad thing to realize is that in our challenging economy, how many of these business will never reopen?

As I reflect on our own situation and assess our losses, the food in the refrigerator and freezer, and the wasted trip to Ohio, keeping in mind that the trip is no small thing as it takes a minimum of $100 to make that trip each week. I realize how truly blessed that we are. We didn’t loose a loved one, our home is still warm and secure, and we don’t have trees crashed through our roof or collapsed on top of our cars. We have no flood damage, and other than some minor inconvenience we are no worse off today than we were on Sunday when this all began.

Tuesday, over at school, I attended the chapel service at the outdoor chapel. It was truly a wonderful experience which was totally organized and planned by the students. The people who were in attendance were given an opportunity to share their experiences and as compared to the grumbling and complaining that was happening on the radio call in programs as people were venting about not being able to watch Monday Night Football, or arguing that the service trucks weren’t in their neighborhoods soon enough, these people were sharing about the kindness of those around them, those who were willing to share their flashlights or batteries, those who were willing to throw extra hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill for anyone who wanted to come out and join them, and those who went out of their way to check to be sure that their neighbor was safe, just to name a few.

I pray that this is the lesson from Hurricane Ike, I hope that I don’t forget the kindness of those around me, or their willingness to help out in a difficult situation. I am just not of the theology that says that this huricaine is an example of God’s wrath, nor do I believe that God is trying to teach us a lesson, although there are many lessons that we do indeed need to learn. Instead, I believe that God is, without a doubt, good all the time and that it is in these catastrophic events that God can indeed prove His love to us all.

The LORD said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. (1 Kings 19:9-13)

May we use these times of tribulation and devastation to remain open to God’s voice. May we not look for God in the hurricanes, the floods, the earthquakes or the fires, but in the whisper of the Gentle Shepherd calling us to be His own.

Blessings

In The Dark:(

I have always heard that if you live long enough you could see just about anything. Well, I have lived in the Midwest for the greatest majority of my life, and although I have seen the remnants of many hurricanes move though, I have never experienced anything like what we have been though with Ike.

It all started on Sunday after Crothersville UMC’s 140th birthday celebration in our new Fellowship Hall. The wind began to blow harder than I have ever experienced in my life, at least for any extended periods of time. I knew that it was bad when I walked out of church to the sound of a plate glass window breaking across the street. Ben, Crystal and the kids had come down to watch the football game, but instead they came over to the church because we didn't have electricity at the house. Of course this greatly disappointed Ben, because he was missing his Colt’s game and it didn’t help when he realized that it would probably be prudent for them to stay with us since they live in a trailer. Despite the desire to watch the game, they decided to come and weather the storm with us.

By the time we went to bed Sunday night power had been restored to approximately half of Crothersville, unfortunately we were in the half that was still in the dark. Monday morning I got up and headed over to Ohio to Seminary. On the way I talked to Terri and found out that Louisville had over 280,000 people without power, including them and Southern IN was out as well, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. Then as I got closer to Cincinnati I heard that 600,000 people in Southern Ohio were without power and that the Columbus area had been hit even harder than they were. Uh oh, this didn’t sound good at all. Then as I got closer to Columbus I found out that the reports were correct and that they were without power as well. I have never seen a storm with such a wide impact.

When I got to school, I discovered that they didn't have power so I spent Monday night in the dark, got up on Tuesday morning and talked with the president of the college and several other students and officials. The bottom line was that no one knew anything and that the word on the street was it may be Wednesday or even next week before power would be restored. So in the middle of Tuesday afternoon, not wanting to drive home in the dark, especially traveling through areas without power, I decided to head for home regardless of the decision about school for Wednesday.

When I got home, I found out that we were still without power here as well so last night was the third night that we spent in the dark. But, there was a glimmer of hope, BJ and Trina from Cana UMC stoped by with a gift from God, A GENERATOR!!!! Whoo hoooooo! We had light again. We only used it for about 30 minutes last night because we didn’t want to disturb the neighbors, but this morning I am able to get back on the computer and get back in contact with the world. I realize that there are those among you that will question my priorities such as, With all of the things that you could plug in, you chose your computer first? Well that isn’t exactly true, I plugged in the fish aquarium first, those poor little guys were looking pretty sickly without air and filtration.

So I am sitting here in a dark house, with my computer plugged into the generator and I am finally able to be back in contact with the world. We have now been without power for almost 72 hours which is probably 3 time longer than I have been without electricity in my life, well except for the times that Ben and I went fishing up in Canada, but that was different, we did that on purpose, (and Karen wasn’t with us). I am sure that I will be able to reflect theologically on all of these experiences soon, but for right now, I just want a cold Pepsi, light to read by, TV to watch, (I can’t believe I missed the first episode of "Biggest Looser Family" last night) and my computer back.

Well, one out of four isn’t bad.

Blessings

Happy 150th Birthday Crothersville!

Last night I had an opportunity to attend the Crothersville Sesquicentennial Historical Program. I was very impressed with the performances of so many of our community’s young, and not so young, people. The program was actually a rewrite of the program used 50 years ago for the Crothersville Centennial Celebration. It was really quite wonderfully done and I congratulate everyone who was involved.

There were several moments that I thought were just really exceptional in the presentation. There were two moments in particular that were especially significant for me. The first was a reading of the Gettysburg Address by a young man dressed as Abraham Lincoln with a Union soldier on his right and a Confederate soldier on his left. I think what made this especially poignant was the Battle Hymn of the Republic playing in the background. As someone who has always been fascinated by the Civil War and the lessons which we should have learned with regard to the way that we treat our fellow man, I must say that I was very moved by the way that this was portrayed.

The other moment which had the greatest impact on me was near the end when the narrator began to talk about the turning point of our community. It was really very remarkable that a town that was founded because of the progress and prosperity brought by the railroad would be ultimately devastated by a different form of transportation, the Interstate Highway. When the last of the heavy equipment left and the workers moved further up the road, the town of Crothersville found that it had been bypassed and cut off by the New Interstate Highway. People could go further and faster on I 65 and the old Highway 31 was no longer the best, and only, way to go. It was at this point that our town began a long painful decline. The car dealer left, the hardware store, the grocery store and shoe factory closed. The future looked very bleak indeed. But then Aisin Manufacturing came to town, and other factories started looking at Crothersville as well. New eating establishments opened, and yes, even Dollar General came to town.

What will our future bring? Will our new industries and businesses be enough for our community to not only stop our decline but to begin to grow and thrive again? What will our Celebration look like when we hold the Bicentennial Celebration in 2058? I won’t be here to see it, but perhaps those young people that I saw in tonight’s performance will be. What stories will they have to tell? What will our community look like in 50 years?

You know, I bet that these same types of questions were asked 50 years ago, and if this generation is as strong and dedicated as the last one, then I think that our future is in good hands and that we will be just fine!

Blessings

Let's Here It For The Small Towns!!!

Yesterday, for me, was a day of reflection that was marked by two significant events. The first was the remembrance of the attacks of September 11th 2001 and the second was the beginning of Crothersville’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. I must say that the folks who worked on the organization committee have worked so very hard. They have been in countless meetings for 18 months, spent thousands of their own dollars, struggled with vendors and workers and yes, sometimes even with each other which will sometimes happen when people who are passionate about a project work together.

As Karen and I began to get a feel for the festival last night by helping to judge the Senior Queen Pagent, participating in the cake walk in the rain, eating an excellently fried fish sandwich by BJ and the fire Department, enjoying a pork burger and simply sharing life with the people of our community. I realized how blessed I was to be a part of this small town. It seems like small towns have sure been getting hit pretty hard in the press here lately. I think I will leave that particular thought where it is and let you take from it what you will, since I really don’t want to have political conversations on here. But, the truth is that most of the people that I know were born in small towns, most of the people I know still currently live in small towns, and probably as John Melloncamp points out that most of them, including me, will probably die in a small town.

To all of these small town people with small town values across our great nation, I salute you. Especially on this special day for my small community of Crothersville IN, I want to congratulate you on your Birthday of 150 years and it is my prayer that 150 years from now as the cities of Louisville, KY, Indianapolis, IN and Cincinnati, OH all merge together about this point in Jackson County to form the megalopolis of Indi-LouCincy, it will be my wish that the small town values of Crothersville continue to be an example for others to follow.

Blessings

Nearly Perfect….. But Not Quite

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

This notion of perfection is one that we as United Methodists certainly spend a great deal of time studying. This summer in my United Methodist Doctrine class, we spent a couple of days reading about and discussing what perfection means in the Wesleyan tradition. I have to admit that I am far from perfect. I am sure that Karen would be more than happy to echo that thought. But, I don’t believe that there is any place that my lack of perfection is as obvious as in my punctuation, spelling and grammar challenges.

I remember in 9th grade being confronted by my English teacher. “If you don’t improve your English skills young man, how do you ever expect to get ahead in this world?” I still remember those words as clearly today as when they were said to me thirty some years ago. The reason that I remember them so well is not because of her question, because to be quite honest, I knew that English wasn’t my best subject, but because of my uncharacteristic answer. Perhaps I was having a rough day, perhaps she caught me at a bad time, I suppose that it was possible that I really didn’t like this teacher very much (I really didn’t) or perhaps I was just being a smart-alecky teenager, but I looked her square in the eyes and said, “I will just hire someone to do it for me.” Trust me when I tell you, that was a big mistake.

Through the years I have reflected on that answer many times, and I am not sure that I ever really reached the place in life where I had people to correct my English for me, although, when I first started seminary I did have a wonderful person, Brenda, who single handedly got me through my first year, helping to edit and correct my papers until I had the confidence to do it on my own.

There was one gift from God that my 9th grade English teacher wasn’t able to foresee and that was spell checker and grammar checker on the computer. This one thing alone has enabled me to be successful in seminary, had it not been for Bill Gates, I would have been in real trouble.

I really would like to improve my spelling, grammar and punctuation. I still struggle with spelling a great deal. Unfortunately, I misspell “Unfortunately” every time I use it. I always struggle knowing when to use lie or lay or laid, I have a difficult time knowing when to use effect or affect and one of these years I am going to figure out what the line means in one of Karen’s favorite movies, “Two Weeks Notice,” when Sandra Bullock says, “Aside from the split infinitive that was somewhere in the middle, that speech was actually quite perfect, wasn't it?” Actually, not that I know what a split infinitive is, but as I was looking up this exact quote I found out that Hugh Grant didn’t actually use a split infinitive in his speech. No wonder I get so confused about these things.

Anyway, I bring this up today to let you know that yes, I am aware that I have a few, maybe a lot of mistakes in my blog, and considering that often times I write them either very late at night or early in the morning, I am surprised that I don’t have more of them, and yes I do proofread my seminary papers significantly more than I do my blogs.

So for anyone that I have offended by my grammatical and spelling challenges I want to apologize to you from the bottom of my heart… I’ll try to do good from now on so my writing doesn’t have a bad affect on you.

Blessings

OVERWHELMED!!!!

I have one word for this week, OVERWHELMING! I can’t believe that I am only a couple of weeks into this semester and I am already reaching a state of overload. I think my class Monday night put me over the top. After three years of seminary I usually have an idea of what is expected and how much work I can expect to do in each class, even before the first class begins. Monday night everything changed.

I went to my “United Methodist Polity” class for the first time. Now I would imagine that most everyone that I know, who would read this blog, would immediately say, WOW that sounds dull, and you could possibly be correct. But, one thing that I know for sure is that it is going to be the hardest, most involved seminary class that I have ever had, and that is saying an awful lot.

To begin with, the professor, who happens to be the retired president of the seminary, gave everyone a name tag. Well that is a first in 3 years of seminary. He then passed out to each person a name card to put on the table in front of them, I guess that’s in case we can’t read the name tag.

He then explained to us the requirements for the course which includes a significant amount of reading which is normal, and here is where the challenge comes, we have 43 pages of writing to do for this class. Yes that is correct 43 pages. Now to put that into perspective, as a procrastinator by nature, I have gotten pretty good about figuring out how long it takes me to write a paper. I have found that it takes me somewhere around 1 ½ hours for every page I write. This includes writing, bibliography and footnotes. So just using basic math I can assume that I will be spending around 65 hours writing for this one class over the next couple of months. If that isn’t enough, I also have 2 ten minute oral presentations to prepare for and give. Of course if that was my only class I would be fine, but I also have major writing to do for three other classes. And then there is the little thing of a sermon to prepare for Sundays and that one little thing that I had mentioned in an earlier blog, the Commissioning paperwork that I would imagine will be at least thirty pages or maybe more.

Ok I know, I am whining. The truth is that I am rather stressed out with seminary, the sesquicentennial celebration, our upcoming charge conference, the commissioning process, my upcoming Cross Cultural Emersion trip to El Salvador, and then in addition, trying to figure out how to pay for all of these things. Are you tired of listening to me whine yet?

Yesterday at lunch one of my fellow students, who is a couple years behind me, said that he wanted to thank me for the words of encouragement that I had given to him last year when he had first started seminary. I asked him what I had said that was so memorable to him, and he reminded me about our conversation where I had told him what a privilege it was to be in seminary, and even though the road was long and arduous and at times there would seem like there was no end in sight, that there was no place on earth that I would rather be, and there was nothing on earth that I would rather be doing than spending my time studying about this great God that we worship…..Goodness, I hate it when someone uses my own words against me.

But he was right, I remember saying those words, and feeling those feelings and I think that God just knew that I needed a little reminder. I will also say that this blog has a way of allowing me to express what I am thinking, the good, the bad and the ugly, and sometimes that is important. Especially, when I can look back and realize how God has seen me through all of those difficult times.

So tonight I am going to bed early and get caught up on some rest, and tomorrow is another day to follow the path that God has set for me.

Blessings

Humble Pie

I am afraid that I started judging my pie baking contest a week early. Unfortunately, it was a very large, bitter piece of humble pie. I knew when I wrote the words last time that, “The only thing that could go wrong now is if the Colts bus broke down on the way to the stadium, other than that, it’s in the bag!” I was making a big mistake. You would think that someone of reasonable intelligence, and who has been on this earth for almost a half a century would know better than to tempt fate with a statement like that.

It wasn’t more than fifteen minutes after I posted those words that the phone rang. It was Terri, apparently she and Josh decided to come up and surprise us for our Colts Party. Unfortunately, they had a problem. Just before they got to the Scottsburg exit, their right front tire blew out causing the car to spin 180 degrees on the Interstate slamming the car up against the guardrail. Ben and I immediately jumped in the car and headed that way, but we had to go past them down to the next exit, so it seemed like it took forever to get to them. Both Josh and Terri were fine, just a little shaken up, unfortunately, their car didn’t fair as well. So, after the wrecker hooked up their car, we brought them back to the house. They were two very lucky kids, it could have been so much worse. The officer just kept saying how glad he was that no one was injured. I got the feeling that even as young as he was he had seen more than his share of death and destruction out on these highways.

Once we were back at the house, it was time to turn our attention to homemade bread, my World Famous Chili and of course the inevitable Colts victory. No matter what else had happened, I knew that the night would end on a good note. I mean, the Colts haven’t lost a game in September or October for two years. They had pretty much all of their main starters healthy, and this was the first game in their new multimillion dollar stadium. Everything was set for a perfect game! Well, “Houston, we have a problem.” Someone forgot to tell the Bears that it was supposed to be the Colts night. They totally dominated the Colts, making for a very long, sad night. I think poor Ben was pretty much beside himself. It was not a banner night around our house.

All in all, I must say how thankful that I am that Terri and Josh are fine. I have a very dear friend that received a call a few months ago that her daughter, the night before her wedding, had been involved in a serious car accident and all they would say over the phone is that she needed to come to the hospital immediately. She made the very long trip to the hospital with no idea of what was waiting for her when she got there. I can’t even begin to imagine how awful it would have been to have received that call. When she arrived at the hospital, she found that her daughter was barely clinging to life, it took several weeks before she would even regain consciousness. Since that time, her recovery has been excruciatingly slow and she will probably suffer from the effects of the accident for the rest of her life.

How quickly life can change, in a flash events can happen that alter our lives forever. You know, I think I can live with the Colts loss, there will always be another game next week. I am already planning to fix another pot of my World Famous Chili and the Bread Machine is ready to go, but next week I will also remember what is most important and I am not going to make the mistake of thinking that nothing can go wrong. God always gives us opportunities to learn from our mistakes, and I have learned a great deal from this one.

Blessings

Go Colts!!!

Another Higdon family, fall tradition gets under way this evening. As often as possible during the Indianapolis Colts football season, Ben and his family come down to our house and we cheer on the Colts to victory. Actually I think that Ben lives for this time of year. I am afraid that he is just about as disappointed when the football season is over as I am when the NASCAR season is through.

Of course our tradition is more than getting together to watch the game, although that is an important part. I have been busy this afternoon putting together the finishing touches that should assure victory for the Colts over the Bears (sorry Bear fans, their fate is sealed) I have made a pot of my World Famous Chili and I have homemade bread baking in the Bread Machine. This should pretty much guarantee a Colts victory.

Now Terri and Josh come up for the games once in awhile, but Terri doesn’t really pay too much attention to football until the playoffs, and I think that Josh would rather do anything else other than watch football. Well, that isn’t entirely true, I think that the one thing that he likes less than football is NASCAR. But that’s ok, I am still working on him.

The only dilemma that I have today is that I really should be doing homework, but hopefully I will have some time tomorrow afternoon when I get to Ohio and if not then, I guess I will be up late Monday night, which isn’t good because by 10:00 PM I have usually gone about as far as I can go.

Anyway, I hope that your evening will be as good as the one that I have planned. The only thing that could go wrong now is if the Colts bus broke down on the way to the stadium, other than that, it’s in the bag!

Blessings

The most important things in life, I learned from TV...

I believe that you could make a legitimate argument that, at least in the past, I have watched way too much TV. It seems like I am always quoting one of my favorite television shows or movies. I used to be able to tell you in detail about every episode of Gilligan’s Island within ten seconds of the beginning of the program. I don’t think that this is something that I should necessarily be proud of.

You may have noticed in my posts that I like to use stories from some of my favorite movies as well as from television in order to illustrate a point. One of my all time favorite TV shows to use in this fashion is Andy Griffith. If I am flipping through the channels and run across Andy, I simply don’t have to flip any futher. There is just something naturally right about Andy Griffith. The stories are funny and interesting and the lessons are especially relevant even after all of these years. There is even a Bible Study series out which is based upon watching episodes of Andy Griffith and then discussing them in theological terms. You just can’t beat Andy!

Unfortunately, I don’t always learn my lessons from watching these programs. There is an episode where Andy is roped into judging a beauty contest for the city of Mayberry. Almost immediately, people begin to bother Andy with a never ending parade of their sisters, daughters and cousins in order to demonstrate to him that they would be the perfect selection for Miss Mayberry. Ultimately, knowing that no matter which way he would go, he would end up making people mad, he decided upon the out of the box decision of selecting the elderly woman who had been so kind and helpful to Andy throughout the episode. Of course this decision didn’t keep him out of trouble, but it did make peace between Andy and the pretty druggists, Ellie Walker, and I think that we all understand the significance of that decision..

Well, I share this with you because I have been asked to judge a beauty contest next Thursday for the Crothersville Sesquicentennial Celebration. “How on earth did you get roped into that?” you might ask. That is a very good question, one which I will certainly have to question either the level of my sanity or perhaps the current overloaded state of my mental faculties. I am afraid that I won’t even have the ability to pull an Andy Griffith and select the elderly kind woman who helps with the pageant, because they are all going to be kind elderly ladies. Yes, that is correct, not only is it a beauty pageant, but it is a senior pageant. Yes, I know that it was stupid of me.

Oh and one other thing, I am also judging the pie baking contest. In this endeavor I feel a little more confident. In reality, to quote the movie Rudy, "I have been ready for this my entire life." I just so happen to know a little something about pies. But, not to be overconfident in my approach I have watched a recent episode of Little House on the Prairie in which Reverend Alden was judging a pie baking contest. I watched carefully how he handled the mine field of possible challenges, masterfully using just the right superlatives and adjectives to describe the pies, ultimately settling on just the right balance of smoozing and common sense in order to extricate himself from what could have been a very difficult situation.

So, next week, as I enter the lion’s den of judging, I will take with me three sources of moral direction, the Holy Bible, Andy Griffith and Reverend Alden. I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Blessings

Out With the Old… In With the New…

This is perhaps a strange time of year to talk about, out with the old and in with the new. Most of the time when we hear these words it is in relation to the start of a brand New Year. We hear them as we are gathering with family and friends on December 31st to eat those little wieners served with barbeque sauce in the crock-pot and toast the start of an exciting New Year with our glasses of Pepsi held high. Of course, I am sure that when we get closer to the New Year I will tell you my real feelings about New Years Eve and New Year celebrations, but for now at least you get the picture of what I mean.

This week actually is the beginning of a New Year, at least in one way. When I first began preaching, my best friend and Mentor Ron introduced me to the book “The United Methodist Music & Worship Planner. This is an excellent resource. As a matter of fact, it is probably second only to the Bible as far as the reference that I use every week in preparation for the worship service. This book has all four of the recommended Scripture readings listed for the week, a list of recommended hymns along with many other suggestions on ways to make the worship service more meaningful. It also indicates the appropriate liturgical color for that Sunday (this Sunday is green as it has been since Pentecost) and the liturgical name for the Sunday such as this Sunday is the 17th Sunday after Pentecost.

Anyway, I am sure that you are wondering what on earth all of this information has to do with, out with the old and in with the new. Well, last Sunday was the last Sunday of the old book and this Sunday starts the beginning of the new book. The new one is so nice and sleek and unmarked, no pages dog eared and no pages highlighted. It is like beginning a new year on a fresh slate. As I flip through the pages I begin to think about sermon topics and what hymns I might want to use. I begin to think about Thanksgiving, and Advent. I wonder what will be happening in the church as these pages are turned one by one.

This changing of books is a reminder to me that each day is a new beginning; each day is a day where you are allowed to make a choice to follow the path which God has set before you or choose a different road. Each day we are presented with new options, and opportunities. Today is a day of new beginnings for you, don’t let the opportunities pass you by.

Blessings

A Defining Moment...

Today is a defining moment for my Blog. I had made a commitment to share my journey with who ever was interested and wanted to come along with me. I promised to share with you the good the bad and the ugly. Up to this point with only a few notable exceptions I have mostly been sharing with you the good. To be honest, this is always my preference. I want you to know how God is working in my life, I want you to understand that God is working in your life as well, even if we can’t always see the effects. If given the choice between sharing a challenge with you and a joy, I will tend to pick the joy every time. If I have to choose between preaching the love of Christ or the consequences of sin, I tend to choose the love of Christ.

But, that just isn’t right, there must be a balance. Even though Christ spoke significantly about love, He also spoke about sin and it is impossible to appreciate the view from the top's of the mountains if you first haven’t first gone through the valleys to get there. So today is a defining moment, the moment when I choose to share with you not only the positive ramblings that flow through my brain, but also the fears, sorrows and challenges that are squarely entrenched in front of me.

So, with that part of my thought process placed before you, let me share that this has already been a difficult week. My classes this semester are going to be major challenges. Each of them is going to require a significant amount of reading, thought and writing. In addition I received an email from the Annual Conference letting me know that my packet for Commissioning will be arriving soon. This process of thought, reflection, consultation, writing and interviews is beyond a doubt going to be one of the greatest challenges of my life to this point, and after 48 years on this earth, I have faced a lot of challenges.

This morning I also received an email from the conference which set a date for some initial information to be submitted and I couldn’t help but notice all of the names who had received this email, quite a few of which I know to be wonderful pastors, brilliant scholars and terrific people. The problem for me started when I counted the names, there were 29 people who had received this email, 29 people who are in the process with me, and if last year was any example there may be as few as 12-13 chosen. That means that it will be possible that some where around 16-17 wonderful, brilliant, terrific people won’t be selected to continue in the process toward Ordination.

As the reality of those numbers settled in with me, it was a little bit like getting kicked in the stomach. I know that there are more important things in the world, and that my problems pale in comparison to many people that I know, and I also know that I have been truly blessed in this process. I find my mind wanting to go to the idea that, "This isn’t fair!” “I have worked so hard, they wouldn’t prevent me from going on now would they?” And what about the others who I know that are so qualified, I certainly don’t want to do anything but cheer for them because I truly love each of those people that I know on that list.

So, What do I do? The answer comes in the quiet still moment, the moment that I stop asking the question, “Hey what about me?” and start asking the question, “Hey what about God?” What is God’s plan? What is best for God’s kingdom? and Where do I best fit in? Now that last question is important, notice it’s not about where I want to fit in, but where does God plan for me to fit in?

Let me share with you a prayer written by John Wesley, I have recently rediscovered this prayer and it is the prayer that I cling to as I move forward in this uncertain time.

John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;

put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by you or laid aside by you,

enabled for you or brought low by you.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

you are mine, and I am yours.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Blessings

Paddle Faster, I Hear Banjo Music…

I couldn’t help but notice all of the kayaks on the top’s of cars as I journeyed to Ohio on Monday. For some reason, just seeing them makes my spirit just a little bit lighter. Perhaps it is because of the joy that I experience when I am out paddling, maybe it is just the thought that someone certainly must have enjoyed their day. Whatever the reason, just seeing those little boats go by brings a smile to my face.

I must admit that I haven’t had any time at all this summer to go kayaking. Karen told me that I should take the kayak along when we went up to Indiana Dunes State Park this summer, but we wouldn’t have had enough room for it, and in addition, there is absolutely no place in the park to launch a kayak, so my kayak didn’t make the trip. Terri and I had a plan earlier this summer to go, but it rained that day and we decided that we really didn’t want to be out in the middle of the lake soaking wet with metal paddles in our hands when the lighting strikes.

I have had some excellent adventures kayaking in the past several years. There was the time that I just about drowned in Tennessee, that trip ended with three words, “Search and Rescue.” That is a great story, if you haven’t heard it, maybe sometime I will write about it. Another great time was the trip that Ben and I made on a river down in Kentucky. Once again that was really a great adventure, and Ben showed that he was a much better kayaker than I was, even if he hasn’t had nearly as much experience.

One memorable trip, in particular, was the trip that Terri and I took down the White River in Indiana. It was a beautiful day and the river was flowing at a perfect pace. There was a Blue Herron that kept us company for quite a bit of the journey. He would watch us and wait until we got close and then lift off and fly another 100 yards or so down the river. I am not sure if he couldn’t figure us out, or if he just enjoyed our company. The trip wasn’t without its share of challenges, there were a couple of embarrasing moments when we got stuck on sandbars. It was all that we could do to get up and get unstuck due to the fact that we were laughing so hard.

I think the reason that I smile when I see a kayak pass by on top of someone’s car is that it brings back all of those great memories, well except for the one where I almost drowned. I think that maybe I should make sure that sometime in the near future I get my kayak out, dust it off and create some new memories. Terri? Ben? Josh? Wanna go again?

Blessings

The Family of God

For the past couple of weeks, Donna, our organist at Crothersville has been playing one of my favorite songs as the members of the congregation rise to greet each other. The title of it is, “The Family of God,” and the chorus goes like this:

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,

I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!

Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,

For I'm part of the family,The Family of God

I love this song because it stresses that we are all part of a family, a very large family, we are a part of God’s family. Unfortunately, we don’t always treat each other that way. I often think about how society has changed just in my life time. When I was growing up, people were part of organizations, boys joined Boy Scouts and girls joined Girl Scouts. Moms were part of the PTA and Dads joined Lodges, and everyone, at least most everyone attended church. We all sat together at the meal table and participated in something almost unheard of today, conversation. We talked about school, politics, work, and a thousand other topics. In the evenings, we kids would go outside to play, and when the streetlights came on, we knew it was time to go in. People would come by the house and in return we would go visit others.

It used to be that people would sit out on their front porch and they would wave and talk to friends and neighbors who passed by. Karen and her family had this great front porch, I could always count on Karen’s Dad to be sitting out on the porch with his 7up and his fly swatter. Now compare that to today where they don’t even build front porches on houses any more, all houses come with back decks and privacy fences surrounding them.

You will have to forgive me for being a little nostalgic, it is my prayer for you today, that perhaps for a minute you have had an opportunity to reflect on a little simpler time and that even though families have changed, the family of God never does!

Blessings

Too Many Big Words…

I had to laugh the other day. My son Ben paid me a complement in one way, but also observed something that I took very seriously in another way. “You sure seem to like to use a lot of big words, it sounds like you write your blog with a thesaurus sitting next to you.” I took his compliment/criticism very seriously because I have always prided myself on using words and illustrations that were accessible to everyone. Back in my days as a Chiropractor, I truly prided myself on not using the big ten dollar medical words and instead, tried to use the most basic of language to help my patients understand why they were experiencing the pain that they were having. The only time I ever used expressions like, “You have posterior movement of the vertebral body caused by a defect in the pars interarticularus which is resulting in neurothelipsis and sciatic neuralgia,” is when I had to write reports for insurance companies, and too be honest I am not sure that they understood either, but the bigger the words the more likely they were to pay the insurance claim.

I was always much more comfortable explaining to a patient that they had a bone in their low back that had slipped backward slightly and was pinching on the nerve that went down their leg. I always liked using the illustration which compared the pressure on the nerve to someone standing on a dogs tail, the dog is going to yelp and bark and make all kinds of noise, and although you can certainly put a muzzel on the dog, that won't take care of the cause of the problem, or you could give the dog a shot so that he won't feel the pain, but that won't solve the problem either, the only way to fix the problem is to take the foot off the tail, and the only way to fix the pain in the leg is to take the pressure off of the nerve in the back. This always seemed easier for people to understand than the neurothlipsis/sciatic neuralgia stuff.

Anyway, sometimes words can be a challenge for me. I really do live in two different worlds, the world of seminary/ academia and the real world with all of the people that I care about. Let me try to give you an example of the difference between the two worlds. I mentioned in an earlier post about the emphasis on Spirituality that my classes seem to have this semester. I just finished writing a one page response to the question, What is Christian Spirituality? which I have shared below. In that response is a quote that I have higlighted and would like you to pay attention to by Sandra M. Schneider, who is a prominent expert in the area of Spirituality and I think that you will see that she puts my neurothlipsis/sciatic wording to shame.

Definition of Christian Spirituality
On the surface the assignment seemed so simple, “Provide a brief definition of Christian Spirituality.” How difficult could that possibly be? As I began to filter though the readings as well as outside sources, I quickly discovered that there is no single, simple, all encompassing answer to this question. Contained within the definitions of Christian Spirituality is a rich treasure trove of theology, meaning and history. There was one person, however, who seemed to stand out as authoritative in my initial search for a definition and her name was Sandra M. Schneider. She defined Christian Spirituality this way:

[Spirituality] “is the experience of conscious involvement in the project of life-integration through self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives. In Christian spirituality these formal categories are specified by Christian content: the horizon of ultimate value is the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ, and the project involves the living of his paschal mystery in the context of the Church community through the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Studying Christian Spirituality, David Perrin, p31)

In essence Christian Spirituality is all about the transformation of the human-divine relationship as personified through our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is cultivating a relationship that is “revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition vivified by personal experience and confirmed by reason.” (UM Book of Discipline, p 216) It is the life-force which animates our faith, brings life to our relationship with the divine and illuminates and elevates our awareness of this relationship to the very core of our being.

In the future I will try a little harder to make sure that I sound more like me and less like Sandra M. Schneider, not that I wouldn’t want to be as smart as she is, but I think that if given the choice between sounding smart and being understood, I will go for understood every time.

Blessings