Learning and growing

Sunday School classes have resumed, the sounds of preschool children and parents fill our hallways, and school buses have resumed crowding cars off the relatively narrow street on which I live. A new program and educational year has begun. I become a little nostalgic at this time of the year. As a professor, I relished the potential of a new academic year. As a student, I anticipated the books to be read, the long-awaited class to begin, and the classes taken out of curiosity to reveal their secrets. The brain is a muscle. Without exercise, it dies. Learning keeps us alive. Learning also has a spiritual dimension. As Chaim Potok states in In the Beginning, "A shallow mind is a sin against God." The Gospel writers more eloquently call us to love God with all of our minds. So, what is our plan for learning, for loving God with our minds?

Adult followers of Jesus at MWPC have a variety of opportunities this fall. At the end of this month, Marcus Borg, perhaps the best known member of the Jesus Seminar, arrives for lectures here and at Christ Church Cathedral. Borg addresses primarily those who do not feel at home in traditional theological paradigms. He will offer those who resonate with him a possible path to travel and stimulate those who disagree to articulate what they hold to be true. Borg's Jenkins Lectures are merely one of our many offerings. Click on Adult Education under Learn Ministries on our website to discover other possibilities and varied topics.

Private study can supplement what we learn and ponder together. In addition to reading purchased and borrowed books, I regularly visit the Hartford Institute for Religion Research webpage for stimulating articles on religion in the United States and receive weekly blog or email postings from a few selected theological sources. Most of us spend considerable time online. We can approach loving God with all our minds by using some of it to challenge ourselves intellectually and spiritually.

Christians in the United States could become more biblically and theologically literate. It is not an urban legend that some Christians identify Joan of Arc as Noah's wife. Polls conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (another good website to visit) and other research organizations regularly show that a majority of Protestants do not know the role Martin Luther played in their traditions, that an astonishing number of Roman Catholics cannot articulate what their tradition affirms happens when a priest consecrates the loaf and cup, and that most Christians do not know that the Bible does not identify and list seven deadly or mortal sins. Following Jesus does not require a degree in theology, but those outside the church struggle to take us seriously when they discover that we cannot clearly articulate what the gospel is and who we are. Yes, my belief that what we do in Jesus' name matters more than what we believe about him draws close to or crosses the line into what the church considers heresy. That does not eliminate my responsibility to know something about what Jesus did and taught and what Christian scripture and tradition say about him.

Many of our professions require continued study. Many of us not only enjoy watching our favorite sports teams but also know something about the players and the team's heritage. We rush to internet sources to learn about the medicines our physicians prescribe. We love our careers, pastimes, and lives with our minds. God deserves that much and more.

Have a great program/educational year, MWPC!

LP