The daybreak of freedom...
Okay, so applying Martin Luther King, Jr.'s signature phrase to the end of my divinity school career may be a bit dramatic. But knowing that I don't have to write another paper anytime soon makes me feel like the shackles have been lifted!
I don't have much to write at this time. This is partly because I am still busy with preparations to get married, move, and start a full-time ministry job. But also this is partly because I'm simply tired of writing. It's good to have a break from outlining, citing, and pontificating. Believe me, I'll get back to the pontificating in due course. Now is not the time for it, though.
In my reading I am trying to turn towards more materials that relate directly to the practices of ministry in which I will be fully immersed in the near future. While I do believe that all good theology should relate to what happens "on the ground," it is obvious that some resources are more immediately applicable and require less "translation" work on my part. With that in mind, I started a "Transition to Ministry" wish list on Amazon.com.
I ordered the first book myself because it was offered really cheap by individual sellers on the site. It's entitled Enjoy the Silence: A 30-Day Experiment in Listening to God. The husband-and-wife coauthors are youth ministers who leave no ambiguity about the purpose of the book: they want to teach lectio divina to evangelical teenagers. The book is designed for youth to read themselves and not for someone like me to read and then filter as I see fit. After an introduction explaining the discipline they list a Scripture passage for each of the thirty-day cycle and offer a structure for contemplation. Naturally, I didn't order 25 copies of the book, so I may xerox a few exercises or I can use their overall pattern as a guide for my own introduction to lectio divina as a practice of spiritual formation. Enjoy the Silence is a simple, elegant and helpful guide for reading Scripture that draws upon an ancient tradition while communicating its concepts in a way that keeps it from sounding too strange to the unaccustomed. I hope my own communication skills will be comparable that I may lead youth into closer fellowship within the life of the Triune God.
Labels: Ministry
I picked this up a few years ago for our youth ministry library (small but growing). Seems to be a good gift idea for students.
Posted by
Casey Taylor |
Friday, May 02, 2008 9:09:00 PM
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