Sheepy Seminarian’s

Yes, the Seth Mokitimi Seminary got me thinking about certain dynamics of education. The fear of being ‘institutionalized’ versus the ‘independent spirit.’ It no doubt has its roots in my own fear of being boxed into things I am not. I heard Lawrence Anthony speak yesterday in Howick. He wrote “Babylon Zoo” and the “Elephant whisperer.” His one comment was, “Why do we like to think out of the box? Isn’t it better to be out of the box?” So here are some more unboxed thoughts on the subject of Seminarian’s in training.

Yesterday I touched on seminarian life being born rather out of ‘Presence’ versus ‘Vision.’ This may tie in with the difference between being ‘Driven’ versus being ‘Called’. The ancient image of the shepherd and the butcher comes to mind. The butcher is behind the flock pushing them and the shepherd is leading them from the front. The latter shows a different attitude in the sheep. The sheep are happy to be in the presence of the Shepherd, who calls them by name and thus they follow even if they don’t know where. The former part of the illustration the sheep are disquieted and are being driven by forces unknown to places they don’t know. In both cases the myopic sheep are unaware of their destination but their temperament is different.
I think this is another model for ‘presence’ in seminarian education. The art of helping seminarians (what a word?) hear their names called rather than be driven and packaged into the ‘perfect’ seminarian. I have a feeling SMMS will help this process more than our previous models of education.

'Companions in Christ' - A winner programme

We have run the first part of this programme in three of our Fellowship Groups so far.
It is a wonderful experiential way of engaging the Christian faith in a small group. The content is excellent, the methodology is taken from years of Christian history and the theology is particularly Wesleyan. The group in the picture just finished sharing their life journey through the eyes of prevenient, justifying and sanctifying grace. They also looked at the life journey's of people like St. Augustine, Martin Luther, Mother Theresa and Evelyn Underhill as examples of different ways we experience the grace of God.

It was a privilege to hear the narratives of each persons spiritual journey and to listen to the pain and hardship many had faced. let me close by quoting from the preface of a book I have just started reading, "Man's search for meaning" by Viktor Frankl:

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. If there is a purpose in life at all, there must be a purpose in suffering and in dying."

Everyday resurrection meals

“Our Sunday worship is important. The bible studies we attend are important. The retreats we make are important. But over a lifetime, the unnoticed and unrecognized presence of the risen Christ at our meals may be more formative of the life in Christ in us.” E. Peterson (Living the Resurrection).

It is important to note that some of the most critical spiritual moments of teaching and spiritual experience happen around meals – the Passover meal, the Emmaus meal, the beach in Galilee. It raises all kinds of questions as to how we go about our Eucharist meal and how we ought to meet more often around the common daily meal in Christian Fellowship. It also asks the question – how often we meet around the table as a family and recognize in our discussions that Christ has been with us in our daily recap stories and in our laughter.