here. A resource for Orthodox exploring the relationship between our Faith and the Scriptures.
Ever wonder…
why so many of our kids can’t seem to read, write, or think in long sentences let alone paragraphs?
Read more here.
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I know, I know…
A recent study funded by Duke Divinity School found that, on average, ministers make up the chubbiest profession. But this is one of those good news/bad news deals: The good news is that a separate survey by the University of Chicago found that preachers also tend to be the most-satisfied workers.
Read more here.
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Music worth listening to…
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Worth considering…
… that kind of preparation is more important than ever before. We live in a complex and fast-changing world that will require a generation of leaders who are as well trained and educated as are the people in any other profession. It is a crime and miscarriage to require anything less. I often tell my students, “If you were laying in the operating room and some one bounded in and declared, ‘Hi, I’m Fred, and I don’t know a thing about anatomy or the practice of medicine, but I just love the idea of serving God through surgery,’ you would use your remaining moments of consciousness to roll off the gurney and claw your way down the hall. And yet it was Jesus who said, ‘Fear not those who can kill the body, but those who kill the soul.'” Churches that fearfully cast around for quick fixes to the training of clergy, give it scant attention, and then abandon their priests and pastors to the vagaries of forming themselves cannot expect to be a spiritual force in the world. Nor can they expect their clergy to be positive spiritual forces in the lives of others.
Read the rest here.
My own experience is that seminary talk me how to think and learn, which was good, but taught me nothing about being a pastor/priest. Very little of what was important in seminary, in my experience, was also important in the parish.
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An interview…
worth reading.
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Thoughts on technology…
Almost half of all young people surveyed said that they were already consciously trying to cut down on their use of technology, and 42 per cent of both adults and children said they had tried to cut back on the amount of time they spent on social networks.
Read the rest here.
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Couldn't Resist…
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Wisdom…
Courage does not consist in defeating and oppressing one’s neighbor, for this is overbearingness, which oversteps the bounds of courage. Nor again does it consist in fleeing terrified from the trials that come as a result of practicing the virtues; for this is cowardice and falls short of courage. Courage itself consists in persisting in every good work and in overcoming the passions of soul and body.
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Two thoughts…
on the current government shutdown in Minnesota and the pending Federal shutdown.
Good for us because maybe we’ll have to learn to do things by ourselves or reach out and cooperate with neighbors, friends, and family to take care of each other. After all, the government isn’t our “community” . A little empowerment and a lot less nanny state may be just the ticket to get us up and back on our feet. The truth is that the government needs the citizens much more than the citizens need the government.
Good for us, as well, because all these arguments and debates mean that freedom in some form is still alive and well. We may not like how things are working but at least we can gripe, moan, manuever, politicize, and argue all we want. Representative democracy, despite the fact that it often looks like making sausage, is actually a good thing. There are more than a few places in the world where people have simply given up on the give and take of it all and opted to have a single person or party make all the decisions (Iran, Chicago, etc…). Temporary fix perhaps but a long term desecration for sure. I’d much rather have the messy stuff that comes with freedom over the efficiencies of a dictator.
And, of course, the commutes are always easier…
