Sunset over the Mississippi River

Sunset on the Mississippi River - August 27, 2011

You can find remarkable things about the creation just about anywhere you happen to go. My wife and I took this photo last weekend on the banks of the Mississippi River at sunset. (Click on the image to see a larger version of it.) We had gone after having supper at a local pizza cafe to Mud Island, a peninsula of land jutting out into the river near downtown Memphis. It seemed like it would be a nice evening for a stroll with our daughter. It was that, and we ended up being treated to a spectacular sunset as well.

If you aren't familiar with rivers this large, you can be forgiven for thinking this is a photograph of a good sized lake. But no, that's the main channel of the Mighty Mississippi. We're standing in Tennessee, and the tree line silhouetted on the far shore is in my home state of Arkansas. I grew up less than an hour and a half from this spot and have traveled to Memphis all my life. But I don't think I've ever gotten to see the way the setting sun plays off the river quite like this before.

My goodness, life is going by too fast.

At the Still Point

I've got a new book alert for all of you who enjoy reading good literature and would like to have a beautiful guide to prayer and spiritual contemplation. And yes, I think the correct word is beautiful. For as this work demonstrates in spades, words can be as beautiful as images when they are put together with extraordinary skill and profound insight.

The book is At the Still Point, compiled by my friend (and Generation Rising contributor) Sarah Arthur. It is a great read - the kind of book I tend to use along with my daily Scripture reading for purposes of meditation.

At the Still Point is a compilation of the words of novelists, poets, theologians, and spiritual writers arranged to be read in daily prayer during Ordinary Time (the 7 months of the liturgical calendar between Pentecost and Advent). The readings are divided into 29 weekly segments, and each week's readings comes with suggested Scripture passages for daily meditation.

The book is prefaced by an introduction written by Sarah that explains its structure and offers helpful advice about how to use it for benefit. I think it should be noted that the selections and arrangement of the material are superb, a real testament to Sarah's own wide reading as well as her discernment in organizing the writers contained within.

Sarah's new book is the kind of thing that needs to be savored, read slowly and meditated upon throughout the day. It's the kind of book that can slow us down - something we all need - and remind us of the goodness of God and of his creation. I think you'll also find that reading it is akin to sitting at the feet of spiritual masters and literary giants. You can order At the Still Point directly from Paraclete Press at this link, and you can order it from Amazon as well. I hope you'll check it out!

Bonus tip: See Sarah Arthur's personal website at this link.

A new chapter begins!

We're just a few days away from the beginning of the fall semester at Memphis Theological Seminary. I joined the faculty here at the beginning of August, where I'll teach courses in church history and Wesleyan studies.

Memphis Theological Seminary (or "MTS") is the official seminary of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It is also one of the approved seminaries by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church. That means UMC students can pursue their Master of Divinity studies here in preparation for ordination. And in fact, MTS has more Methodist students than students from any other denomination.

As the Wesleyan studies professor at MTS, I will be one of the chief contacts for Methodist students at the seminary. For instance, this fall I will teach the required course in United Methodist history, doctrine, and polity. I will also be connecting with the annual conferences that have a student representation at MTS in order to foster that crucial Methodist-Presbyterian tie.

This is an exciting time for my family, and it is an exciting time for me in ministry. May the Holy Spirit lead the way!

Keen insight into Generation Rising

One of the interesting things about reading the various book reviews of Generation Rising has been the different approaches the reviewers have taken.

The most recent review to appear is by Dr. Rebekah Miles, a professor at the Perkins School of Theology (SMU) and a clergy colleague of mine in the Arkansas Conference. Her review appeared recently in the United Methodist Reporter, the Dallas-based publication for which I am a regular columnist.

Dr. Miles focuses on a certain tension in the book, represented on one side by Eric Van Meter's description of Gen X leaders in the church as "sentinels of a border country" and on the other side by the fact that these same rootless outsiders are those who are now expected to take up the reins of ecclesial leadership. In this, she offers a keen insight into the reality that I think the book represents.

The only point in her review that I would push back a little bit is in Dr. Miles' suggestion that Generation Xers do not represent the "younger generation" in church leadership. Consider this stat from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership: in 2005, the average age of clergy elders in the UMC was almost 52 years old. And I believe the average age of laity (in the U.S.) was even older. That means that - statistically speaking - Generation Xers are indeed the younger generation in the sense that every single Gen Xer is younger than the average age of either clergy of laity in the church. But of course, those very demographics may well point to one of the church's biggest challenges.

I appreciate the time Dr. Miles took to write such a lucid and insightful review of the book. I hope you'll check it out, and I hope it will make you want to check out Generation Rising as well!

Multiple Choice Test

Does this object in this photograph represent:

A) A nice clock for the living room wall

B) A harmless piece of sentimental kitsch

C) The gospel truth

D) A dangerously seductive form of idolatry


[Answer: D. But you already knew that, right?  Bonus question: Then what is the center of life's meaning?]

Back in the saddle

So, it turns out moving 750 miles to a new city with your family, your cats, and all your household possessions takes a lot of energy. Who knew?

I'm writing this from my office at Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tenn., where I will start teaching later this month. We're starting to feel settled, and the community here at MTS has been wonderfully hospitable. (I've also already gotten a chance to start connecting with Methodist folk in the area, which has been nice as well.)

I'm really not sure how I'll move forward with this website in the coming months. Things will be busy with me getting my teaching sea legs under me. But thanks to all my faithful readers, who have kept checking in even when I haven't had a lot of new posts this summer. I'm going to do my best.

For your reading enjoyment, here are a few tidbits of note:

1) My friend Adam Butler is one of the writers of a blog that focuses on politics and Arkansas sports called the Blog Hawgs. Last year I sent Adam a list of questions about Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett, which he answered in the form of an outstanding pre-season look at the 2010 Razorbacks. I followed that up earlier this year by sending Adam some more questions about this year's team, and he has once again answered the challenge.

This is no joke: If Adam hadn't decided to practice law he could have become a nationally known sports writer. In fact he was a sports writer - in high school. And I don't mean for the high school rag. I mean for a local newspaper in our hometown of Paragould, Arkansas. While the rest of us would be running around like idiots on the weekend, Adam would often be up at his desk filing stories. So if you follow the Hogs at all, you'll want to check it his recent season preview. And for that matter, check out all his stuff on the Blog Hawgs site. With all the buzz about Texas A&M possibly jumping to the SEC, Adam and his partners-in-crime have kept their site hopping.

2) Our chaplain here at MTS, the Rev. Tiffany McClung, publishes a blog called Miriam's Tambourine. She sent something to the faculty and staff about it this week and it made me think that I should let you all know about it. So check it out at this link!

3) My most recent column in the United Methodist Reporter can be found here. It takes a look at the recent "State of the Church" report by the Connectional Table of the UMC. As with most such documents that the connectional church hierarchy produces, I found it very helpful and illuminating. The rigor and thoroughness with which the church produces self-study and evaluative reports is always impressive, even when the light that such reports shed on our ecclesial life is not always intended. (The Call to Action report and "Four Areas of Focus" are two good recent examples, both of which factor into the "State of the Church" report itself and which I take up in my column.)

I've made it a personal policy to read these types of things with an optimistic eye, and as a result that has helped me to write about them in a way that aims at drawing positive elements out of them. I don't think that means I should shy away from a critical engagement either, of course. So trying to strike a balance between praise and constructive critique is what I tend to try and achieve. We're all in the same church, after all, trying to live faithful lives and learning what it means to be members of one another. And that's always important to remember.

4) Finally, this has got to be the quote of the week:

"[T]hese riots were not about tension but boredom; not driven by anger but by a teenage nihilism that is the gray malaise of modern democracies."

- Sion Simon, writing about the recent youth riots 

in England in Newsweek (August 22/29, 2011)