Item One: Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (LPTS) recently announced that beginning in 2015 it will not charge tuition for students in its master's degree programs in divinity, marriage and family therapy, and religion. Current tuition is a little more than $10,200. This change addresses the rising amount of debt students have when they matriculate from seminary and the ways that debt forces them to make compensation the primary concern as they accept calls to ministry. Some even return to "secular" employment despite having trained for ordained ministry. Thanks be to God for this bold action by LPTS and those whose generosity makes it possible.
Item Two: Nancy and I have taken advantage of the recent good weather to work on a path from our back door to the creek behind our house and to build a small deck near the end of it. We presently have only one grandchild old enough to walk, but visions of grandchildren scampering up and down that path and playing on the deck dance in our heads. We have also started college funds for our grandchildren. They will need more than we can provide, but every little bit helps and interest adds up as years pass.
Item Three: At some point next year session will receive two major recommendations. One will address audio and video improvements to our sanctuary and gathering area. The other will address replacing our rapidly failing pipe organ. The technological improvements could enhance worship and other ministries AND help us to welcome a generation that cut its teeth on instant and visual communication. The organ could support our existing worship services and musical ministries AND welcome the increasing number of young people who prefer traditional worship. Yes, traditional worship appears to be resurging.
Now a quotation. In Life Is a Miracle, Wendell Berry posits: "No individual life is an end in itself. One can live fully only by participating fully in the succession of generations... Some would say (and I am one of them) that we can live fully only by making ourselves as answerable to the claims of eternity as to those of time."
Finally a question. How far do our vision and hope extend? We cannot know precisely what the next generations will face, but we can try to serve them as faithfully as those who preceded us served us. When we keep those who will follow us in mind while we make decisions today, we provide an intentional (rather than accidental) legacy. Extending our vision and hope into the future will assure our descendents that we had them in mind (Even if some of our legacy makes them wonder what we were thinking!) AND will offer us the blessing of being people who give as well as take.
Enjoy the day, MWPC saints, AND think about how to bless those who will walk in faith long after us. In the mystery of the ways of God, living in mindfulness of a tomorrow we will not see makes us more alive today.
Grace and Peace,
LP
Related to the quote, I've thought of it this way: We can no more disconnect ourselves from those who follow us, than we can from those who preceded us. In other words, it is undeniable that the generations before us have affected who we are and how we live. The same will hold true for the effect we will have on the generations that follow us. It's a fact of life and a fact which we must view as a responsibility- Tim Gibson
ReplyDeleteThank you, LP, for this and all your Beacon Lite articles. I appreciate the time and thought that go into writing these weekly insights you graciously share with us. What a welcome mid-week connection to MWPC the Beacon Lite provides!
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