So I think I'm in love...with seminary that is. This semester is absolutely amazing. Although there is much more reading this term, I can't seem to get enough of what I am reading. I am enthralled, fascinated, and being challenged and stretched all at the same time.
New Testament Survey has been filled with learning the culture of the early Christian Church. It is amazing to hear so much about the nuances of the times in which Paul and the early Christian followers lived. Our professor and readings are certainly painting a vivid backdrop for us to read the Scripture against. We have begun with the earliest New Testament Scriptures, which were written by Paul.
Reformed Theology has been reinforcing much of the material we learned in Church History last semester. I am very driven to learn about the many fathers and the history of the Reformed tradition and to understand the greater concept of Reformed Theology. So far our readings have stemmed from the Book of Confessions (PCUSA), as well as focusing on the lives and theology of St. Augustine, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin. I must say that I am being stretched as I try to work through my own personal theology.
But my very favorite class is Preaching and Worship. The second day of class we were told that within the art of preaching, we must be able to stand in our own lives while standing in the text of Scripture and tell what we see (narrate) and believe (confess) as testimony even when it is beyond imagination. What a tall and difficult task this is! One of our textbooks on preaching is written by Dr. Tom Long, Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology (Emory University campus); this is an amazing book. His wife, Kim Long, is one of our Worship professors. Our main preaching professor, Dr. Anna Carter Florence, is stretching us beyond our imaginations.
Anna spoke courage to me through her book, "Preaching as Testimony": "Preacher can you describe this? Yes I can describe this indescribable place in which we live. Yes I can describe that indescribable place for which we yearn. Yes I can describe the hell we know and the heaven God promises. I am a preacher and I can describe it, even as I confess that I will never be able to explain the difference between the two."
So our preaching assignments this week led me to a great struggle. We were to read Mark 5:21-43. It entails the two enveloped stories of Jesus healing Jairus' daughter and the hemorrhaging woman. The assignment was five fold: day one included spending an hour reading and listening to the text. We were also to write it out by hand in order to process the text more slowly. Day two included reading the bible passage in a "dislocated" place, such as the MARTA train station and / or riding on the train, in an ER waiting room, at a park which many homeless neighbors congregate, a pharmacy near Grady hospital (main triage in Altanta) where people without insurance get their prescriptions, or at a high end mall. The requirement was that this location was to be unfamiliar to us and we were to read this text from our Bible within this public place.
You would not believe how incredible this experience was to many of my colleagues. The next time you have a passage of Scripture that you want to meditate on, I hope that you will do so in a "dislocated" place in your community. You will certainly see the passage differently. A side note is that the intent is not to bring great attention to yourself, but to allow a social landscape to bring a different perspective to the text.
Day three my preaching small group picked apart Mark 5:21-43 verse by verse. We had to look at the surrounding passages and chapters and all the while asking how and why this narration happened. We imagined, shared personal experiences, guessed the characters' motivations, and even acted some parts out. All this took two hours. We all left seeing the text with new perspectives and more questions. This experience taught me that when you think that you have the Biblical text figured out then you must have not looked hard enough!
Day four included to re-read the text of Mark 5 and begin to find a main focus for a sermon. There are so many things that could be drawn out of this passage. The most difficult aspect was that we were to keep in mind that the focus of the sermon was intended for our preaching class small group not the claim that we wanted to make. I wrestled for hours on this part of the assignment trying to reflect on what I knew about my classmates and how my sermon focus might speak just to and for them. So many of my colleagues are fresh out of undergraduate school and there is an age gap of at least ten to fifteen years between some of us. It was a late night and a lot to consider!!!
Day five was Friday as our preaching small group reconvened to share our focus sentence for our sermon. We spent two hours going around the circle and sharing what our foci were. Let me say that it is one thing to write a claim of a sermon and another thing all together to verbalize it to another. Needless to say, each of our focus sentences for our sermons changed significantly in directions we did not anticipate. It required so much of ourselves to dig deep on the spot, look at a classmate and say, "I want my sermon to say to you...." and "This is what I want my sermon to do to you in your life...." Many of us were teary eyed in hearing such richness being proclaimed from places we could not have imagined.
SO I left my preaching class today feeling that I had spent this past week wrestling an angel with this passage from Mark 5. And then to find out that our upcoming sermon, which we will be delivering over the next two weeks, can be on any passage except this one from Mark!!! I felt so ripped off because I wanted to hear all the different angles we reached today preached. But if I had to do it all over again, I would not have changed a thing. The ways I have struggled with Mark 5 this week are far more valuable to me than the sermon I was anticipating to write.
Thank you for staying with me this long. I am definitely being joyfully filled, challenged, and stretched...and some of it is even happening in the classroom!
Blessings to you and yours.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Moving Right Along
It is hard to believe another semester of study begins for me today at Columbia. I am moving right along. I had a condensed course on 'The Art and Practice of Theological Reflection' in the January term; it was an absolute joy. The class was offered by the Pastoral Care department and I really loved that the professor, also an Episcopal Priest and psychotherapist, was spiritually nourishing and focused on prayers for the class' well being. We met Monday through Friday for two and a half weeks.
Each day Professor Harkins set the mood for theological reflection with aromatic candles and about twenty minutes of scripture reading from the daily lectionary. Each day two students took a turn reading the Old Testament and Gospel lessons, while the rest of us listened for key words or phrases to speak to us through the reading. We then spent about fifteen minutes in silence meditating on those phrases or key words and listening for the still small voice of God. The professor then allowed us to spend about fifteen minutes sharing what our meditations revealed. It amazes me how Scripture speaks to each of us when we are open to it and have prepared our hearts and minds for the deep listening to God's Word. The name of this practice is termed Lectio Divina and is an ancient contemplative practice originally used by the monks of long ago. For more information on this form of meditative prayer go to http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html
My January term course also focused on writing short 1-2 page reflective papers daily. The goal was not only to have a blank canvas to write conversing with the assigned readings, but also to practice the art of narration in reflection. Our professor encouraged us to find comfort in the spaces of our life where there are no concrete answers; he called this being apophatic or being open to not knowing what God is saying. As you can imagine, there are many moments in life that we can not possibly be certain of a situation's meaning. And many of us, myself included, are quick to make a conclusion in lieu of taking the time to reflect and not feeling pressed to define one conclusion or assessment of a situation. A great example is that of the book, Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. I hope you will be intrigued enough to read it. It is a wonderful novel which I could not put down from the assigned reading.
I am most grateful that the January term class renewed my passion for meditating on Scripture. The fall semester had left my soul dry from the learning curve of juggling full time study, marriage, and family. It is a mystery to me how the meditation on Scripture often weaves words that correspond to what is happening to me in my every day life. Words jump off the page and proclaim my joys and my sorrows, comfort me, or help me to feel that I am not alone in the struggles I go through. It is my hope that you have similar experiences in your own daily quiet time.
I am very excited about my spring semester. First and foremost, I am taking Preaching and Worship. I can not tell you how thrilled I am to have the opportunity to learn the art of sermon crafting and the practice of delivering it effectively. I am also taking New Testament Survey, Reformed Theology, and a required course called Intersections. I believe Intersections will deal with the ways our faith intersects culture and the global church. I am also excited about taking Reformed Theology and learning more about the great reformers of the early church and 16th century, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, and Calvin.
And lastly I am trying to get involved with some aspects of church leadership again. Doug and I attend Clairmont Presbyterian in Decatur and have loved their Sunday night service for young adults (20-30 somethings) called Last Call. It is a candle lit contemporary service that incorporates an intimate setting with a genuine format of worship. I am planning to help lead worship through Scripture Reading; I love the aspect of helping to bring the Biblical text to life.
I am also trying to get back into leading a small group, something my heart has been longing for the past 7 months. I will begin leading a Lenten Small Group for Clairmont Presbyterian's young adults soon. The pastors will be writing a lenten study on the Gospel of Mark. I am equally excited about leading this since my New Testament Greek Exegesis class was on Mark. Although I certainly am not a scholar on Mark's Gospel, I am excited to have the opportunity to share some things I have learned in the process of hearing others share their insights and questions about the study. It should be great!
As always, we appreciate your continued prayers and support of our seminary endeavors. We miss you dearly and hope that if you have the chance to travel to Atlanta that you will stop by for a visit!
Each day Professor Harkins set the mood for theological reflection with aromatic candles and about twenty minutes of scripture reading from the daily lectionary. Each day two students took a turn reading the Old Testament and Gospel lessons, while the rest of us listened for key words or phrases to speak to us through the reading. We then spent about fifteen minutes in silence meditating on those phrases or key words and listening for the still small voice of God. The professor then allowed us to spend about fifteen minutes sharing what our meditations revealed. It amazes me how Scripture speaks to each of us when we are open to it and have prepared our hearts and minds for the deep listening to God's Word. The name of this practice is termed Lectio Divina and is an ancient contemplative practice originally used by the monks of long ago. For more information on this form of meditative prayer go to http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html
My January term course also focused on writing short 1-2 page reflective papers daily. The goal was not only to have a blank canvas to write conversing with the assigned readings, but also to practice the art of narration in reflection. Our professor encouraged us to find comfort in the spaces of our life where there are no concrete answers; he called this being apophatic or being open to not knowing what God is saying. As you can imagine, there are many moments in life that we can not possibly be certain of a situation's meaning. And many of us, myself included, are quick to make a conclusion in lieu of taking the time to reflect and not feeling pressed to define one conclusion or assessment of a situation. A great example is that of the book, Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. I hope you will be intrigued enough to read it. It is a wonderful novel which I could not put down from the assigned reading.
I am most grateful that the January term class renewed my passion for meditating on Scripture. The fall semester had left my soul dry from the learning curve of juggling full time study, marriage, and family. It is a mystery to me how the meditation on Scripture often weaves words that correspond to what is happening to me in my every day life. Words jump off the page and proclaim my joys and my sorrows, comfort me, or help me to feel that I am not alone in the struggles I go through. It is my hope that you have similar experiences in your own daily quiet time.
I am very excited about my spring semester. First and foremost, I am taking Preaching and Worship. I can not tell you how thrilled I am to have the opportunity to learn the art of sermon crafting and the practice of delivering it effectively. I am also taking New Testament Survey, Reformed Theology, and a required course called Intersections. I believe Intersections will deal with the ways our faith intersects culture and the global church. I am also excited about taking Reformed Theology and learning more about the great reformers of the early church and 16th century, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, and Calvin.
And lastly I am trying to get involved with some aspects of church leadership again. Doug and I attend Clairmont Presbyterian in Decatur and have loved their Sunday night service for young adults (20-30 somethings) called Last Call. It is a candle lit contemporary service that incorporates an intimate setting with a genuine format of worship. I am planning to help lead worship through Scripture Reading; I love the aspect of helping to bring the Biblical text to life.
I am also trying to get back into leading a small group, something my heart has been longing for the past 7 months. I will begin leading a Lenten Small Group for Clairmont Presbyterian's young adults soon. The pastors will be writing a lenten study on the Gospel of Mark. I am equally excited about leading this since my New Testament Greek Exegesis class was on Mark. Although I certainly am not a scholar on Mark's Gospel, I am excited to have the opportunity to share some things I have learned in the process of hearing others share their insights and questions about the study. It should be great!
As always, we appreciate your continued prayers and support of our seminary endeavors. We miss you dearly and hope that if you have the chance to travel to Atlanta that you will stop by for a visit!
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