It is time for the vacation to come to an end and to return to the writing of posts for this blog. I very much appreciated the time away – but – I am more than anxious to begin again! I hope you will join in the conversation.
I have recently been encouraged by our Senior Pastor to pursue consideration of learning what we believe and who we are by means of the practices we follow. My learning about this has been enriched by conversations and by reading a number of wonderful books that open the door of creativity for further consideration, thinking, and writing.
An important turning point in this journey has been Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation* by Dr. James K. A. Smith at Calvin College in Michigan. In the introductory portion of his book he poses this question: “What if education wasn’t first and foremost about what we know, but about what we love?” (18) Just a few sentences later he writes: “Based on the alternative model I will sketch in this book, how we think about distinctly Christian education would not be primarily a matter of sorting out which Christian ideas to drop into eager and willing mind-receptacles; rather, it would become a matter of thinking about how a Christian education shapes us, forms us, molds us to be a certain kind of people whose hearts and passions and desires are aimed at the kingdom of God.” (18)
The remainder of Dr. Smith’s book more than lives up to his introductory promises. I would suggest without hesitation that this is a book that should be required reading for anyone who has an interest in understanding discipleship and helping to form a Christian people.
For the next several weeks – likely the next several months – I will be continuing to explore these matters as I work to design a learning practice that points people toward living life in a manner intended by the Creator by participating in practices that form our beliefs and help us understand who we are and Whose we are!
In the next post, I will begin by telling a story of how much of my own life was shaped by participating in a daily practice that my mother insisted that I follow for a number of years. It was a practice that I did not want to follow, but, clearly, it was one where I can only say that my mother knew best, because it made possible some of the career opportunities that have been the most meaningful in my adult life.
All of this will be better if many of you decide to join in the conversation, telling your stories and revealing your learned insights as we continue the journey together as a community of disciples!
It is good to be back! Grace and peace
tmitchellmusic 