Seeking Authentic Voice

When I was in seminary I was “invited” by one of my theology professors to partake in a tutorial. The purpose of this tutorial was to teach me how to write as an academic. I was not the only student given this opportunity -   several other, older, women students were also invited to tutorials. I agreed and was assigned to work with a kind, brilliant, slightly younger male student. He taught me the essential components of academic writing comprised primarily of never using the word “I” and always writing in a formal, technical manner that made no reference to personal experience. After a few sessions I grasped the gist of this genre of writing and proceeded with my seminary career, earning mostly A’s and a few B’s. Nonetheless, writing in that formal academic style has never been my forte. I am a person grounded in the experiential. I process life through my feelings, my body, my instincts, and my learned knowledge. I need to engage all my sensibilities to assess life and faith...

I remember the first time I really heard the Passion of Jesus and the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Up to that point I am certain I only knew that part of the story as the Gospel of Luke tells it, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” And, as the Fourth Gospel says, “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ “ I was so familiar with the unsuffering Jesus that I had no idea how to understand the Jesus who cried out in despair. I was a grown woman, hearing this for the first time. Since that day I have wrestled with what it means to think of Jesus as a human being that suffered, that loved, that cried, prayed, hoped, and died. In Jane Redmont’s summer course/retreat Soelle Summer, we are reflecting this week on Jesus/Christ as Soelle understood him. We are also pondering: “Who is Jesus for me? And, how and why do I have this understanding of Jesus/Christ?” Throughout my life I have struggled with the “person” of Jesus. Part of this struggle is grounded in m...

Our retreat with Jane Redmont “SoelleSummer” is now in its second week. We are reading and learning much about the complex reality that formed and informed Dorothee Soelle (pronounced ZUH-lah with “u” pronounced as in “duh”). Soelle, paraphrased from her book, “Creative Disobedience”: A theological lexicon of the 1950s speaks of obedience as the "central point and key thought of the entire Christian message." Of course the meaning here is theological, that is, obedience in relationship to God. For centuries the notion of what a good Christian ought to be was shaped by this virtue. But it has its sociological and psychological consequences. What does it mean when obedience is given the central position? What are the social implications of such a theology? Jane summarizes the characteristics Soelle offers regarding the “ Tradition of obedience”: Blind obedience in which people surrender their reason and conscience to someone else is not limited to spec...

Another beautiful day. I was with a group of new clergy colleagues whom I am slowly coming to know. The sun spackled trees and lawn revealed birds and flowers, soaking up every little bit of warmth they could. When spring first arrived, and the trees were filled with their floral bouquets, I hoped for a pleasant summer of just enough sun and warmth.  Not like last summer, when the relentless heat and rainless days burned through the crops in my little garden. The early spring hinted of this possibility. It was a long, lingering spring for this region, over a month the trees and flowers held their blossoms. Then, they submitted to a late season frost, three nights in a row, followed by days and days of heavy rain. Summer has now arrived, the solstice less than a week ago. And with summer, a sudden thrust of intense heat and humidity. With this heat come a string of heavy rain storms, popping up unexpectedly, the risk of tornadoes is a constant threat. Bu...