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Fiction in faith formation: Stories that act as mirrors

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After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be killed, God sent the prophet Nathan to David. He said to the king: “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. … Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” Then David, feeling tremendous anger toward the man, said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.” Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” The prophet did not condemn David with a quotation from the Ten Commandments, accusing him of breaking the rules against murder and adultery. Instead, he told him a story which acted as a mirror, helping David to see himself clearly (2 Samuel … [Read more...]

Tagged With: reading

Pruning the vine

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Guest commentary by Jason Schiller I am an aspiring gardener. I love the idea of tending to and cultivating fruits, vegetables and flowers, relishing in the bounty that comes from hard work and good soil. Three years ago, I was determined to have a garden. I spent the spring getting the ground ready and planning the layout of the plants. I read books about organic gardening and companion planting while dreaming about fresh produce. Then July came. One high school mission trip and family vacation later, I returned home to weeds towering over the garden I had so carefully planned. The harvest was meager, and I abandoned plans for the following year. Tending to a garden is the oldest vocation of humankind. In Genesis 2:15 we find the newly formed Adam being placed in the Garden of Eden “to till it and keep it.” Jesus picks up on this imagery in John 15:1-11 with the final of eight “I AM” statements: “I am the true vine, and God is the vinedresser.” The People of Israel were very … [Read more...]

Aubade

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Who would give birth to the god of death? Not brought forth in light, as if from clouds, but squeezed tightly into the dark center of pain where over-worked organs once sought their toil in silence, now doubly, to turn out the precious stone that will spread her feet and churn her body into paste? Who would rise at dawn to feed the mortal one? To fill with gold the body meant to fill the tombs, that will not rest now, not for an hour, already anxious for the long graveyard nights when his mother's warm breast, warm beating heart, will be the Father's cold stone, cold chest. Who would leave the coffee, the sunny chair to worship the mother of beauty, patron saint of sleepless nights and bloody nipples; to dress the babe in white and give him milk only to drown him for breakfast? Who would wipe the ashes from the child's forehead? Who would hang flowers from the altar? While good men in wood-paneled rooms wring their hands about the dance who would light a … [Read more...]

Tagged With: poetry

The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

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Toni Morrison Alfred P. Knopf, 368 pages Reviewed by J. Stephen Rhodes Toni Morrison’s death leaves the United States bereft of a distinctive prophetic voice, for she engaged her readers with a remarkable blend of truth telling, nuance, artfulness and compassion that is currently in short supply in the public arena. In this, her last published book, she has assembled a collection of essays, lectures, speeches and meditations that forms an apologia for her life’s work, as well as a challenge to readers to engage with the world in all of its immediacies and complexities, tragedies and joys. She makes it clear that the kind of writing she undertakes seeks to unsettle, call into question and demand a deeper look: “Writers can disturb the social oppression that functions like a coma on the population, a coma that despots call peace … [because] truth is trouble. It is trouble for the warmonger, the torturer, the corporate thief, the political hack, the corrupt justice system, and for … [Read more...]

200 years of shaping the church — Dec. 23, 2019

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For 200 years, the Presbyterian Outlook and our ancestor publications sought to share news and shape the life of the Presbyterian Church. We spent this year looking back and learning from our past, marveling at the courage of some of our predecessors and lamenting the too many times our pages propagated theology that sought to justify the evil of slavery and discrimination. This issue is the culmination of events, lectures, prayers and reflection. We still have much to learn and we pray that these words and the ones yet to come glorify God and build up the Body of Christ. Click here to read the issue in the Uberflip reader Being the best church we can be in an ever-changing world Health Rada reflects on the legacy of the Outlook in the life of the Presbyterian Church. Navigating between “Amen” and “No” Theodore Wardlaw commemorates the first 200 years of the Presbyterian Outlook by reflecting on its witness. Flesh in the world At our 200th anniversary celebration, Brian … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Outlook200

The God of life and new life

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Guest commentary by Aaron Neff I sat at the bedside of a longtime member of my congregation, who was not very responsive, a couple days after she began to receive hospice care. I was with her family, and we talked to her, prayed with her and read Scriptures aloud to her. In many ways, it was a familiar routine in my ministry as a pastor: helping a family keep vigil for a loved one who was preparing to make the journey from life into death. However, that time was different, because that whole week I was also keeping vigil elsewhere for a different reason. My wife was in week 41 of her pregnancy, and she and I were becoming anxious and impatient for our new baby to arrive. In one moment, I was waiting and hoping for my child to take his first breath. In another moment, I was waiting for a parishioner to take her last breath. As I moved back and forth through these experiences of waiting, I was surprised and (at first) unsettled by how similar they felt. As I sat with my feelings, my … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Advent

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