In his book, Celebration of Discipline (pages 7&8), Richard Foster shares a meditation exercise that I’ve used often and find helpful. Foster says,

“In your imagination picture yourself walking along a lovely forest path. Take you time, allowing the blaring noise of our modern megalopolis to be overtaken by the sound of rustling leaves and cool forest streams. After observing yourself for a bit, take the perspective of the one walking, rather than the one observed. Try to feel the breeze upon your face as if it were gently blowing away all anxiety. Stop along the way to ponder the beauty of the flowers and birds.

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There was a large ecumenical gathering in Rome two weeks ago to pray for Christian Unity and to attempt to thaw out the ecumenical “big chill” that has grown as a result of recent Vatican statements. I found the following article about the event very hopeful.

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I remember congratulating a young man on his first sermon. The topic was prayer and he did very well for his first effort. Responding to my compliment on his performance, he replied, “Thanks, but I couldn’t loose. Who’s not going to agree that prayer is important?”

Despite his motives for choosing a “safe” topic to address in his first sermon, the young man was right, who doesn’t agree that prayer is important? Prayer is a “given” in the Christian life. It is foundational to continuing spiritual growth, including learning about the Christian life in formal educational settings.

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Ever get one of those phone calls that start out, “Are you ___________? You may not remember me, but . . .” I’ve gotten several of those over the years. Most of the time those voices from the past lead to a delightful re-connection with past acquaintances: long lost friends, former colleagues and students, old college roommates, maybe even a former girl- or boyfriend. This evening I got one of those calls, but it was one that left me with mixed feelings.

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This is an amusing and thoughtful prayer reflection that I’ve used to open my Fall teacher training workshops. I hope you enjoy it!

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As one who confessed that, after having met some remarkable role models, all I ever wanted to be was a great Sunday School teacher, how do I explain all the time and money invested in those later credentials in Sociology of Religion?  The sixties>happened, and they were pretty exciting, whatever else you may have heard about them.  For this young suburban pastor’s wife, mother of four, the sixties were an early taste of the change that swirls around us now, overwhelming many and bewildering most. 

From the early Women’s Movement I learned that the personal is political.  I learned that centuries of church history only told part of the Christian story, which is a nice way of saying that, if it didn’t lie, at least it didn’t tell the whole truth - - about women, about power, about institutional preservation.  From there it’s an easy matter of connecting the dots to the academic discipline that drew me in.  The sociologist’s fundamental question is, what is going on here - - not what do people say is going on, but what is really going on?  It is the relentless probing and sifting and connecting of human behaviors. 

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