10 commandments for theology students

i found this today, posted on the blog of one of my profs at Briercrest Seminary. A very good read, kinda funny, and not just for those of us who call ourselves students...

My favorite? #6.. it addresses my growing confusion about people who think they 'own' god, and are the sole means of representing Him or defending Him on this earth.... and in so doing pervert and misrepresent the gospel and the person of Christ.

The one I'm most guilty of... well, all of them to some degree... but #10. If i go to a new friend's house, my gaze settles on their bookshelf and i cannot focus on polite conversation until I've thoroughly checked the books out. Our friendship with some folks in Hepburn developed because I found some intriguing books on their bookshelf and had to know more about our friend's interests and thinking...(yes, thats you, Wayne! - and yes, you are a theology student!)

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Having spent some 16 years now teaching theology at Briercrest College and Seminary, I offer the following “10 Commandments for Theological Students.” You might think of this as following in the spirit of the classic little book by Helmut Thielicke [pronounced "Tee'-lik-a"] entitled, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians.

1) You shall have no other god before God. I cannot bring myself to alter the substance of this first commandment. As Karl Barth put it in a famous article in 1933, the first commandment is in fact the first axiom of all theology. In other words, theological students must never forget that God is the central object of our study in theology. As important as Scripture, tradition, history, and ancient texts are, in the end, theological study that forgets that theology is about God has already lost its way. In short, the first commandment for theological study is to remember that God is a Subject who freely gives himself in Jesus Christ as an object of our study and reflection, but that a proper response must be finally one of worship–worship before the Incomprehensible, Immeasureable Holy One who cannot be captured in our words, sentences, and theological papers, and yet who condescends to be known by sinning humans. We dare not forget this most important of all axioms: The focus of study for theological students is–God. Yes, theological students will face the demands of long hours of poring over the biblical text, memorizing Greek conjugations, deciphering the difference between enhypostasis and anhypostasis, and learning how to do exegesis, homiletics, and administration. But a faithful theological student should never forget that all of this is for naught if theology is not ultimately concerned about–God.

2) You shall not create a theological idol. Anyone who engages in formal theological study for any amount of time realizes that one’s preferences for some authors, scholars, theologians, or exegetes tend to narrow significantly over time. This is, at least in part, the practical reality of the theological disciplines: No one can master or read the work of everyone even within a narrow sub-discipline. Consequently, we tend to have our favorites. Now, if you simply don’t know me all that well, you probably won’t know that my favourite theologian is Karl Barth. Yours might be N.T. Wright or John Calvin or Augustine or Walter Brueggeman. The point is, beware of allowing that favourite to become a theological “pin up”–an idol, to use the biblical parlance.
True, I have no problem confessing my great admiration for the work of Karl Barth, and I read him more than any other theologian. But I also have learned that the best way to avoid idolizing a theologian is to read the opponents as well. For all my disagreements with Brunner, for example, I think that at several crucial points he had things more clearly thought out than Barth. And that helps me to remember that for all his genius, Karl Barth, too, was a sinner and was, like us all, prone to error.
But most importantly, see commandment #1 above: theological study must finally be about God, not about Barth or NT Wright, or John Zizioulos, however thankful I am for these faithful scholars. Unfortunately, it is the case that sometimes theological students become “experts” on theologians and scholars and consequently miss the main point of all theological study: to know God and his benefits, and to proclaim him to others, like us, in need of his grace.

3) You shall not take the name of other sub-disciplines in vain. It is almost inevitable that theological students will eventually assume that their chosen sub-discipline (whether systematic theology, historical theology, biblical exegesis, pastoral theology, church history, ethics, liturgics, or some other sub-discipline) is in some way superior to all others. At such points, it can be easy for theological students to become contemptuous toward students in other disciplines; but this should not be so. For in the end, the compendium of theological disciplines is analogous to the Body of Christ: Every member ultimately needs the other, even if we might secretly think that some parts are more honorable than others. Theologians need exegetes, and exegetes need historians, and historians need ethicists, and ethicists need homileticians. Rather than peering/sneering down our noses at those in other disciplines and scorning their work, I would encourage you to learn to discipline yourself to read at least one book in a discipline not your own for every ten that you read in your own. You might be surprised that those in other disciplines have something to teach you!

4) Remember to put to rest–temporarily–your critical theological skills while worshipping. Since the object of inquiry in theological study is ultimately none other than God himself (see Commandment #1), theological students must learn the discipline of worshipping God while temporarily suspending their newly emerging theological critical skills. This is especially important when the sermon is being delivered Sunday morning. Though you might see all your pastor’s exegetical fallacies, call into question his intertextual references, and be puzzled by the lack of good homiletical structure in his sermon, you must learn temporarily to put to rest your critical acuities, and try to remember that like everyone else gathed together in the Lord’s House on the Lord’s Day, the Person on display is God in Jesus Christ, not the pastor or the worship leader or the Sunday school teacher. You have, after all, come to worship God and to hear from him, not to assign a grade or write a critical review. Of course, your training will inevitably train you to see theological problems. That is a good thing. But remember that God has appointed pastors and teachers to have spiritual charge over us, and theological discipline includes the ability to learn from even imperfect preachers. Because after all, you may well be one of those imperfect pastors and teachers yourself someday as well.
Oh, and while I’m at it: Remember the exhortation from Hebrews 10:25: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” For some reason, theological students can be easily deceived into thinking, “I study Scripture and think about God all week long. I don’t need to be involved in a local body of believers on Sunday as well.” This is simply wrong, and I encourage you to resist the temptation to be a “Bedside Baptist” during the course of your theological study. If anything, regular involvement in a local church keeps our feet grounded in the community where the theologically educated are most needed. If there is a suspicion amongst the rank and file church goers of our day about formal theological education, it may in part be because of how often theological students account for so many of the empty spots in the pews on Sunday morning. The logic may be flawed, but it is hard to avoid the connection that so often, theological students are the least likely to be in Church, so therefore, theological education must be bad. Don’t contribute to that flawed logic. Be in Church next Sunday!

5) Honour your theological fathers and mothers. At one level, theological students simply need to learn to respect and honour the wisdom of their professors, even at times when it sounds like they might seem to be completely off-base and, indeed, theologically suspect in comparison with one’s pastor or mentor back home or favourite theological author. Don’t get me wrong here: I’m not saying that theological professors are perfect–by no means. I know too many of them myself, and I happen to see one in the mirror every morning when I shave! But beyond honouring your teachers (they, after all, have typically committed something like 8 or 12 years after high school of study to prepare for their role) be sure also to honour your theological fathers and mothers back home as well. It can be an awful show of disrespect, after a year or two of theological education, to begin to look down one’s nose at those pastors and elders back home who may not have had the same privileges you have had, and to begin to judge them harshly for their lack of theological and biblical sophistication. In such cases, never forget that it these same “simple” pastors and teachers and elders and parents back home who are truly your spiritual fathers and mothers. It is far too easy to become a theological critic; it is far more difficult (and, to be sure, the sign of theological maturity) to be able to appreciate and still learn from those from whom you may have already passed in theological sophistication!

6) You shall not verbally, intellectually, or rhetorically murder your theological opponent. For the most part, theological students seem to manage to avoid physically killing one another in the heat of a theological debate. (Although in the history of Christianity, there have been some exceptions!) But my experience tells me that almost all of us (including me) will not hesitate to pull out all the stops in the heat of a theological argument. We will use every resource at hand to squash (”metaphorically murder”) our opponents. It is during those intense moments of theological debate (which, by the way, I happen to think can be very healthy) that we needconstantly to check ourselves to make sure that it is the truth that we are after, and not simply the desire to win the argument at all costs. To paraphrase the Apostle, “If I decimate my theological opponent in the pursuit of truth, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging symbol.” (Cf. 1 Cor 13:1) Unfortunately, in 17 years of providin theological education, I have more than once seen Christian fellowship broken over what really amounted to either a trivial, or unwinnable theological argument. This isn’t to commend avoiding theological arguments at all costs: Indeed, we probably need more theological debate these days than less! But always remember that ultimately, the goal of a theological argument should be more often irenical than polemical: It is for the building up of the Body, not the utter destruction of our theological detractors.

7) Do your utmost to stay out of bed with the “spirit of the age.” In 1 Tim 4:1, Paul warns, “the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” This is one of those commandments that is of uttermost importance to heed, but so easy to fall into breaking. Just as we live in an age where we are bombarded daily in the media with images and suggestions to follow our base sexual desires, so, too, theological students enter a realm where daily (or at least more often than the average layperson) there is a temptation to chase after the latest theological, philosophical, or cultural fads–all in the name of being “theologically relevant” or “up to date” or “theologically sophisticated.” Of course, it is not always easy to sort out which ideas are truly “things taught by demons” from “the truth of the Spirit.” Subtlety is, of course, one of Satan’s own tools of deception. Most of us are not caught off guard by the obviously false things, but all of us are, from time to time, tempted to get into bed with the spirit of the age, and to commit theological adultery.
So how do we avoid this falling into this temptation? Well, at one level, this is what theological education is all about–learning to discern truth from error, and to use Scripture properly to make those judgments. But in the end, keeping commandment #6 means, at least in part, learning whom we can trust, and that means listening to the wisdom of teachers whom you know have demonstrated a consistent walk with the Lord, and from whom you can also learn. Oh, and pray a lot, too! As the ancients used to say, “Lex orandi, lex credendi” [The Law of Prayer is the Law of Belief].

8 ) You shall not steal time from others which is rightfully theirs. You might have thought that the eighth commandment for the theological student might be a good place to mention something about plagiarism. As all students quickly learn, it is an academic sin, whether in Christian or secular settings, to steal ideas from others and to call them your own. That’s a good thing to remember. So don’t plagiarize!
But I think that far too often, theological students can easily end up stealing something other than just others’ ideas. What? Their time. Speaking from personal and painful experience, I did two theological degrees while married, and I can without any pride at all confess that sometimes, my theological work simply was an excuse to steal time from my wife–time that really was rightfully hers, but which I justified as being not as important as time spend studying theology. Fortunately, I have an awesome and forgiving wife who has taught me much (though I am still learning) about what it really means to give of one’s time for someone else. Practically, this means that even though you are doing something really, really important (I can’t think of many more things more important in life than to set aside a portion of one’s life in focused study of Scripture and of the knowledge of God), being a theological student does not give you license to steal time from your spouse or family. If you are married, it is better to end up as a “B” student with a strong marriage, than an “A” student and divorced. In short, be prepared to resist the temptation at times to steal time from your loved ones, even though the studies you are engaged in are all about God. Here I think of Malachi’s lament:
Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. (Mal. 2:13-14)
We may think we are pleasuring God with our wonderful theological papers and argument, and I want to affirm that indeed, God is pleased with such offerings when offered in faith. But such offerings can quickly become a stench in God’s nostrils when we break faith with our spouses in order to produce them. It is then that, fearfully, the Lord will act as a witness against us. Lord, help us!

9) You shall not misrepresent your opponent’s theological position. We all have theological opponents, and we seem to get more of them the more we engage in theological study. But theological students must learn the very difficult discipline of speaking and writing truthfully of the position of those with whom we disagree. The problem is that the opponents we most want to debunk are likely guilty of breaking this commandment themselves. The reason we are so adamantly opposed to them is because they have misrepresented us, or our favourite theologians or authors, in some way. So the temptation is to fight fire with fire. Rather than carefully showing where our opponents are indeed right on some accounts, and wrong in others, we have a built-in carnal desire to present their work as something reprehensible and utterly false. Philosopher’s call this “constructing a straw man.” Biblically, it simply is called “lying” or “bearing false witness.” While theoretically, it may in fact be possible that there are utter liars and heretics writing and teaching out there, those aren’t usually the one’s that concern us the most. Indeed, it is the ones who have elements of truth in what they are saying that we can be the most tempted to label and libel. On the contrary, the sign of theological maturity is the ability to concede and acknowledge the truth of parts of our opponents’ arguments, even while patiently recounting why the other parts of their argument are faulty. Unfortunately, such an approach takes great patience, lots of time, and a great deal of Spirit-enabled love–something that most of us are in all too short supply.

10) You shall not covet someone else’s library. I may be speaking only from personal experience here, but I suspect that a common temptation, especially among theological students, is to surpass your neighbor’s library, either in quantity (”I have more commentaries on John’s Gospel than George”) or at least in quality (”Henry may have a lot of books, but most of it is fluff! I only buy books of enduringvalue”). This isn’t to say that you ought not to buy books. In fact, I have a hard time understanding how some students (and even pastors) are proud of the fact that they have so few books! Books are, after all, the tools of the trade for those seeking to be engaged in the ministry of the Word. But those same necessary tools can so easily become a snare and a trap. We see our neighbor’s library shelf, or the latest theology text, or yet another book on Barth (guilty!) and we think we need to have it. Let’s face it, folks: This is the sin of coveteousness more often than we may care to admit.
So what am I commending here? I’m not saying stop buying books, but I am saying, get in the habit of counting to at least 10 (or 20 or 30!) before plunking down the cash for yet another book. I speak here of one who is guilty of having many too many books on my shelf that I have not yet read! Or better yet, see if you can borrow the book from a library instead of buying it. If after reading it you still think you need it, fine–go ahead and buy it if you can. But don’t get trapped into buying books for the sake of buying books. Take this from one who has been learning this lesson the hard way over the past years!

[Permission is granted to repost this text is granted, provided it is included in its entirety and proper attribution is given. D. Guretzki, 2009]

messy Christmas

Merry Christmas! it's great to have a few minutes to sit in the midst of a busy day.. do I spend it on research as I should? Of course not...!

We read the Christmas story this morning, and then a little commentary about it that talked about mess.

the shepherds, their sheepy smell, the manger, the fact that a more desirable lodging was nowhere to be found, Mary's pre-married state, strangers everywhere instead of anything familiar, a manger instead of a cradle, chaos and noise ... The reading talked about how much we wish the story was more like the front of a Christmas card and how little the images we often see actually resemble what the reality was...

Isn't that the truth!? We want our family's and our homes and everything around us to 'look right', and we're a little shy about folks seeing the mess underneath. We present a sanitized version... but God didn't, and it's pretty important that the story is just as it is.

As we prayed after reading the story, we prayed that we'd be more okay with mess.. that we wouldn't feel so ashamed or exposed when the stuff underneath shows through to the surface... that we could find ways to live more joyfully in the tension that is our neighborhood and our uncertainty about our own future. As Bren was praying, the idea of shalom meeting mess came into my mind as I imagined the scenes from the Christmas story.

God seems to work in the midst of mess, and trying to make things appear 'just right' is not only evidence of our desire to be our own God, it erects walls that we then need to maintain...

Maybe i should have tried to come up with some more fuzzy or nice thoughts to share on Christmas day.. but these are the 'messy' ones that showed up today!

We do wish you a merry, merry Christmas! Thanks for reading.

collaborative journals

sometime in 2008, a little movement of 'collaborative journalling' started in Hepburn.. the idea was encouraged by two women speaking at a retreat together. At one point, there were journals being exchanged in church foyers and offices, over coffee and playdates. I have no idea how many of those original journals continued, but I do know that I've continued with the 'original' collaborator and with several others.

As I read through the various journals I am part of during my 'turn', i am inspired by community, faithfulness, and vulnerability. These little glimpses of friendship are creative and they radiate warmth and joy, in spite of being pretty raw sometimes.

I hope that this wasn't just a little trend that came and went for a few of us! Just incase the idea inspires you, here is a little encouragement to go ahead and DO it for yourself ..... (it could be a 2010 project!)

• It is not as time consuming as one might think!


• Any journal, notebook or scribbler lying around the house will do.


• this is an AWESOME idea for staying in touch with distant friends - it only costs a few dollars to mail the journal within Canada-


• its also a great way for those of us who see each other lots to get a glimpe into whats going on below the surface..


• it is a great way to pray for each other or share what you're learning, what is making the journey interesting, challenging, or beautiful


• over time, it is a valuable way to inspire each other with evidences of growth and learning


• an entry or two each month is all that is needed..(or more if you have time is fun too!)


• creativity (color, sketches, images/words from magazines, snapshots, stickers or scrapbook-y stuff) makes it so much fun ... especially when your styles are different and the beauty of diversity is right there on the pages in front of you!


• multi-generational is good, i love the journal I'm sharing with a recent high school grad, I'm about to read about her new experiences at the U of S after I finish this post...

Creative ways to share and learn together are awesome. Community is good in all its shapes and forms...

Happy journalling!

burn out

The ethics class I recently took discussed the importance of self care for anyone in a care-providing role; teaching us essentially that we have an ethical responsibility to care for ourselves. This fits into the counselling ethic criteria of non maleficence - 'at the very least, do no harm'.

We can actually wreak havoc in others' lives if we end up burned out, numb, or overwhelmed....we can do significant harm. If we are in a position of power or authority, we will likely abuse it or mis-handle it when we are in burn out or acute stress.

A lesson life is teaching me is that we can confuse self care and self protection. Genuine self care requires genuine community.

Caring for one another is a continuous circle, and I am seeing the importance of nurturing and preserving that circle, giving priority to restoring the smallest of gaps because of the high price of inattention or avoidance.

2009 was the year of learning about burn out from so many sources and so many contexts that my heart aches for the many sadnesses.

May 2010 be the year of learning about renewal, refreshment, invitation, healing, and wholeness.

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel;

In returning and rest you shall be saved

amazed

Yesterday, our family received the best gift we've ever gotten. No joke. Someone could give us a new car or a cruise in the tropics and it would not compare.

We've made a friend in our neighborhood, I'll call him Sam.

Sam lives across the street from us in a building on Jarvis and Main. He mustn't spend much time in his suite though, because he is always around. I see him often when I meet the kids at the bus stop, or if we go for a walk, he sometimes joins us, because he's just hanging around.

Sam knows everything that is going on around the neighborhood, he'll tell you who the police were talking to, when they were at a certain location, .. he can almost always tell you who was doing what, and when they were doing it. He won't normally tell you why though, he's a facts only kind of guy!

Sam's story is a sad one. He was assaulted with a metal pipe many years ago, right on Main street, and suffered extensive brain damage. His memory is full of holes.. but is amazingly sharp at the same time. He doesn't forget an appointment or a date; if we say we're all going out for lunch in two weeks, he doesn't need to be reminded! (In fact he reminds us!) Or if we invite him to an event, like the coffee house we had last week, he just remembers and comes... right on time! But, if I ask him if he knows our names... not so much. He just gets this twinkle in his eye, scratches his head and says.. 'I forget'. He is coming for breakfast on Christmas morning, and I already know the doorbell will ring at exactly 10am... and he'll be wearing a new shirt, because we told him it's a special occasion.

Yesterday, at drop in, Sam brought our family some Christmas presents. A pair of socks for Owen, a scarf for me, a Christmas stocking with soap for Syd, and gloves for Bren. ohh... and sweets. He always gives us sweets!

I will wear my new scarf often, thankful most of all for the gift of this friendship.

C'est ma fete!

I've had a great birthday today. The best gift of all? I'm tempted to say family and friends, because they are wonderful and i did spend time with some of each today! I treasure the amazing people in my life. And I saw my daughter in the Jr. band and choir concert - that was also a great treat.

But the gift on my mind right now? TIME. or maybe GRACE.

Time heals deep, deep wounds. Grace causes us to remember who we once were and recognize when our old self comes back from an extended vacation.

there's this awesome blue rodeo song called 'til i am myself again' - (are there any un-awesome blue rodeo songs?) the song talks about confidence just disappearing one day ... as soon as the song comes on, i start to cry... If I listened to it now, I might still cry, but I think it would be a thankful cry.

Narrative

Some themes just pop up over and over it seems.

'Narrative' is one. Sometimes i hear about it in the theology context, reclaiming the whole redemption story as just that.. a story...

sometimes in the therapeutic setting, where we practitioners are supposed to be skilled and curious conversationalists.

I am excited to be learning narrative therapy! I read about narrative all over the place.

Here is a new blog I found today, so I linked it to the blogroll on the left. The linked post is about narrative practice.

enjoy.

advent thoughts

for advent, I've been contemplating Isaiah 30. I was looking and reflecting in November for something to focus on for advent and this passage felt like the place to park for a while. Some other Flatlanders have been trying to read this chapter, too. On sunday night, a few of us lit some candles and went around in a circle reading sections, then we talked about it together.

Two other advent thoughts that have really been meaningful this season;

• the various ways and contexts in which people have sung, prayed, or even cried out: "Come, Lord Jesus". When I think it, pray it, or sing it, I see images - faces, stories - from the last few months and it means something totally new. And I FEEL these words so much more than I ever have.
• Expectancy. Sometimes it is celebratory and almost carefree to wait upon the Lord. We are full of trust and hope. Sometimes, it feels like 'lament' is all we know. We remember the hope, but can't regain it. Expectancy.

Here are a couple of verses from Isaiah 30 .... (NRSV)

"For they are rebellious people, faithless children, children who will not hear the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, "Do not see", and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophecy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel."

....

"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength. But you refused and said, 'No, we must flee upon horses.'

...

'Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therfore he will rise up to show mercy to you. for the Lord is a God of Justice; Blessed are those who wait for him.'

...

What is meaningful for YOU this advent season? What new things are you learning about waiting.. arriving.. expecting.. hoping... Emmanuel?

The Ethic of Dishes

Class last week was about Counselling Ethics. Amid studying counselling contracts and various associations' codes of ethics, we also centred our time each day around the 'Ethics of the Kingdom.' (It's good to be in a counselling program at a seminary!) This was accomplished by spending 60-90 minutes reflecting on the Sermon on the Mount - individually and in groups. It was a wonderful exercise, and I know it'll help me in practice far more than the many case studies about all the creative ways clients might someday find to sue me.

In our discussions, we referred often to 'a righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees.' (Matthew 5:20) We kept going back to it as we realized that in our future work - as in life - it all centers around something more than adherence to rules. (or codes of ethics) Those rules/codes are important, (not abolished) - but if thats all there is, then there is very little indeed.

This post could be about the theological insights and counselling application found in the Sermon on the Mount; but instead, its about an issue of communal living that tops the list of things that irritate people.

Do dishes in your house pile up? They do here. Not every day, but some days, everyone just takes a stance of 'I didn't use it; I'm not washing it!' - it has actually happened that everyone goes on strike until all the dishes are dirty. You think I'm kidding. Not so.

It is easy to think that all we need is to apply rules.

Rule #1: If you use a dish, wash it.

thats basic, right? Should make everything go swimmingly, if only everyone would JUST DO IT!!

But then, what about the dryer rack of clean dishes that need to be sanitized? (We have commercial sanitizers, not dishwashers, in both kitchens)

Rule #2: If you put the dish into the rack that makes it 'full', load them all into the sanitizer.

But, what about when the sanitizer is finished the cycle? Whose 'job' is it to put those steaming hot dishes away?

Rule #3: Wait for the sanitizer to be done and then put them away.

But what about when I've done it the last 10 times and all anyone ever seems to do is wash their one dish?

Rule #4: Talk about sharing the load with others. Ask for help if no offers are forthcoming.

But what about ....

Its ridiculous how long that list could get, and its just about DISHES, for goodness sake?

And we didn't even mention so many other situation arising from the task of dishes; what about when a dish wasn't specifically used by you, or when everyone is sharing the leftovers from last night's supper and no one feels like the utensils, pots, and bowl are 'their' dish? And what about cleaning out the sink, especially the gungy stuff that collects around the drain? Should we parcel that out as a special role too? Maybe we could make a rule about how much grubby stuff should be left on your plate after eating, so that not too much of same grubby stuff ends up clogging the drain. And what about the crumbs and spills on the counter? Everyone claims that its not their mess, so it can sit there for a long time...

It can get complicated if we only have rules to tell us how to live together. And the thing about rules is that there are always exceptions. You're sick, you're busy, you've already fulfilled many obligations today... If all we have is rules, we may be able to create an illusion of community, but its superficial... hingeing on constant obedience or the next time someone breaks a rule.

Conversely, if we have no rules, chaos reigns.

So, what can we do?

This is where the ethic comes in.. the ethic of the dishes. (or the ethic of the kingdom :)

Notice those around you. They're blessed, they're loved. Pitch in! Be a light, don't add to the darkness. (or the messiness) Be an example. Don't just put up with people, go farther than that. And don't do any of this for your own exaltation; it's NOT about YOU! Be generous, this is holy. Overlook some things in order to see other things more clearly . Go on, it doesn't hurt!

One more class reflection. We read more from a man called Michael White, from Australia.

He speaks about the ethic of control vs. the ethic of collaboration. (specifically in the therapy setting)

But I think there is something unique about that that makes it applicable to far more...

With rules, we're seeking to create a controlled environment.

With something higher, different than rules, we're seeking to collaborate with the people and realities before us.

Michael White also links an emphasis on the ethic of control to burn out. Whereas an emphasis on the ethic of collaboration? Refreshment, a sense of purpose, an invitation...