The Ascension of Our Lord

"Since the message we have contradicts everything the world could possibly suppose, argument is guaranteed every time we show up-- unless we have forgotten ourselves."

--Robert Jenson, in "On the Renewing of the Mind:
Reflections on the Calling of Christian Intellectuals"

One wonderful thing about my theological education is the Seminary Partnership Program that I've been a part of. This puts parishes that are some distance from the seminary in touch with those undergoing the long, sometimes painful process of theological formation. These parishes include us in their prayers, support us financially and include us as much as possible in the life of their parish. Seminarians write, visit, and-- hopefully-- preach and worship at least a few times a year with our gracious sponsors. My partnership parish is in beautiful southwest Virginia, consisting of two congregations-- St. Mark in Floyd and Zion in Willis. My two trips there have been great fun. If anyone is in the area, go see an outdoor concert at St. Mark's outdoor pavilion.

I might also add that I have posted links to two blogs that have been recent finds for me-- Per Caritatem and the Theologoumenon. These weblogs are maintained by graduate students in theology & philosophy. I have been drawn to look at both of them because of their posts on St. Thomas and contemporary Catholic thought.

Cheers to those beginning a long overdue vacation. Weddings abound, there is good reading to be done, more sleep to be had, friendships to renew. May it all be done in Christ's peace.

Believe it or not, this is a beautiful album, and a good evangelical antidote to our contemporary allegorizing of personal evil. As Kevin Spacey / Kaiser Soze quips in The Usual Suspects: "The greatest trick the devil ever played was making people think he doesn't exist."

The Louvin Brothers are to be commended, as well, for providing their song "Satan's Jeweled Crown" for Emmylou Harris, which has got to be one of her most beautiful performances.

A new post by my old friend Kevin has psyched me up about philosophy, and he didn't even mention it. He is a student of philosophy, though.

Picking up a thread that's lain dormant for a while, I think I'd like to begin my summer reading (once I can finish my interminable exegesis of Romans 8) with a book one of my friends recommended-- Philosophy for Theology. (He actually reads long paragraphs of it when in our theological conversation we reach an impasse because of our philosophical ignorance).

Catholic seminarians really have it lucky in that they are trained in philosophy, which I think is essential if one is to really be engaging as a theologian (I might add that the Roman Catholic Church actually supports its seminarians financially, unlike the ELCA, which abandons its faithful future pastors to exorbitant debt-- I'm already at 26 grand and counting).

I think the history of Christianity has proven Tertullian's question: "what has Athens to do with Jerusalem" quite short-sighted. In fact, postmodernity is a particularly exciting time to engage philosophy since it opens up possibilities for Christian theology that high modern thought simply did not allow.

I remember from my literary theory class as an undergraduate finding the lecture notes of a theory teacher at Boulder very helpful:

http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/lecturelinks.html

The next few days are going to be grueling, I fear. All day Thursday with St. Paul, Friday escorting twenty children from the congregation I work at to what promises to be a long ceremony for our graduating seminarians, Saturday more time with St. Paul and a wedding!

All the best to those in the boat of finals, term papers and the like.

Longing for what's out of reach...