Culture-Making - A Response By Emilia Gore
Culture-making World’s waking A restlessness overwhelms The watchfulness That’s needed Heed seeds sown In patience And gratitude
--Emilia Gore
We all make culture. The question isn’t whether or not you’ll engage in culture-making, the question is what kind of culture you’ll produce and promote. Members of Charlottesville’s community heard Tim Keller speak these words at a national event, Q Commons, on a Thursday evening in October.
Recently, UVA culture has attracted national media attention. No headline or University response can fully capture our University’s nuanced culture. Still, as I read the articles, my heart sank. What kind of culture have we created? As I searched for an answer through discussions in class and conversations among friends, I felt both hopeful and discouraged. Some friends attacked our University culture and others defended it; but more importantly, the majority of us forgot about our collective ability to shape it.
Students left for thanksgiving break with heavy hearts and heated heads. Unrest still marks the grounds as we return from our gratitude-centered holiday. Conversations in the dorm revolve around the stress of finals and a readiness to return home. Currently, we foster a culture of comparing and complaining. Personally, I want to move our culture toward one of gratitude and thankfulness. It goes beyond not complaining; it’s “more than a mental exercise, more than a formula of words. We cannot be satisfied to make a mental note of things which God has done for us and then perfunctorily thank Him for favors received. To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us—and He has given us everything.” (Thomas Merton, Vintage Week 12) This advent season, what would happen to our culture if we sought to see God in everything he has given us?
Emilia Gore is a 4th year Political and Social Thought major from Washington, DC. Some of her interests include Mandarin, sustainable agriculture, ethics, and Cuban history. This year, Emilia will lead a Food and Agriculture Organization committee at UVA's Model United Nations and continue to manage the UVA Community Garden.
The Ethics Of Eating? - Salon Evening with Willis Jenkins - THIS THURSDAY
A salon evening with Willis Jenkins on The Ethics of Eating?
Thursday, December 4th | Doors open at 7pm.
Talk will begin around 7:45pm.
Common Grounds (480 Rugby Rd. parking behind Common Grounds and at Westminster Presbyterian).
With special guest: Jesse Straight of Whiffletree Farm
And a pop-up holiday market!
Brought to you by Theological Horizons in partnership with the Project on Lived Theology
Willis Jenkins is Associate Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Environment at UVa and the author of two award-winning books, Ecologies of Grace: Environmental Ethics & Christian Theology, which won a 2009 Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and The Future of Ethics: Sustainability, Social Justice, and Religious Creativity, which won an American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence. He’s from a Virginia farming family
A Hospitable Space for New Viewpoints - Christy Yates on the Thursday Evening Salons
I had the privilege of interviewing our Associate Director, Christy Yates, who facilitates our monthly Thursday Evening Salons. Each Salon takes a slightly different shape and I hope you enjoy hearing Christy's vision behind the series. Our next Salon will be December 4 at 7:30pm featuring Dr. Willis Jenkins on food ethics. Hope you join us!
- Anna Elliott
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Anna: Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Christy: My family just moved to Charlottesville this past summer. For the 8 years prior to moving here, I worked with college students through service-learning and community engagement. I believe strongly that our faith and sense of vocation develop best when we're exposed to differing viewpoints and serving in the 'real world'. Staying in the college bubble, especially with students just like us, is much more comfortable, but usually reinforces our own point of view. Pulling students out of that bubble is, to me, one of the most exciting journeys to take. I am also mom to four crazy kids, wife to a philosopher and writer, as well as a painter (www.christenyates.com) which is one of the ways I get to work out my own reflections on what it means to be human.
Anna: What is your vision for the Thursday Evening Salons at the Bonhoeffer House?
Christy: Theological Horizons has a history of offering academics, artists and activists to share their thoughts on life and faith. What I love about these events is that they happen in the warmth and generous hospitality of a home with student, faculty and community members all present. The lines between these divisions get blurred. It's a safe place to ask questions and hear viewpoints that you might not normally hear in the classroom or even in a church or community setting. In that sense, it reminds me of my family dinner table, growing up with a seminary professor as a dad and various friends and students often present. From universalism to gender and sexuality issues to money and social justice to the arts and food ethics....everything is open to discussion!
Anna: What do you hope attendees will take away from a Salon?
Christy: My hopes for these monthly events are that people would experience the wonderful risk of looking at issues from another person's point of view, that they would meet folks they wouldn't normally meet, that they would have an invitation to step into new habits of being, and that, above all, they'd experience the radical hospitality and grace of God through a faithful and loving community.
Anna: Could you tell us a little about the upcoming Salon with Willis Jenkins?
Christy: We're really excited to host Willis who comes to us from Yale University. He grew up on a farm near here and did his doctorate studies at UVa and I just learned he won the 2014 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence for his book "The Future of Ethics: Sustainability, Social Justice, and Religious Creativity (Georgetown University Press, 2013) He'll be talking about the ethics of food and we're also excited to have a local farmer - Jesse Straight of Whiffletree Farm who happened to have Willis as a TA in undergrad at UVa - come and share about his work. Finally, we're hoping to have a few other local producers selling their goods whether it's food related or arts and craft. This will be a great opportunity to practice the implications of what Willis talks about and shop more ethically for the holidays. It'll be fun!
Patience: A Theological Experiment - Salon Evening with Paul Jones
Please join us for a salon evening with Dr. Paul Jones at the Bonhoeffer house Thursday, November 6th at 7:30pm.
Paul Dafydd Jones is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at UVa and Co-director of the Virginia Center for the Study of Religion. He is currently working on a book in constructive theology focused on patience — divine patience and human patience, but also divine impatience and human impatience. It explores creation and providence, the incarnation, atonement, the nature of sanctification, and, last but not least, the intersection between Christian thought and political activity. It draws on a wide range of figures and intellectual movements including Karl Barth, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Hans Frei and is an attempt to show how “classical” theology and liberation theology can be integrated.
Free parking is available at the Culbreth Road Parking Garage. Light refreshments will be provided. As always, friends welcome and encouraged. The event is co-sponsored by The Project on Lived Theology and Theological Horizons.
Harmony - The Lowland Hum House Show by Allison Wolf
On a drizzly Friday night, the Bonhoeffer House opened its doors to let a breeze pass through the small crowd of students, faculty, and community gathered together around chocolate, grapes, cheese, and cider. Charlottesville’s newly-local duo, Lowland Hum, was preparing the stage to sing to us, and I grabbed a seat right in the front, which was brilliant since half the show’s beauty was in watching the two interact. Daniel and Lauren are so truly harmonious and lovely, it wasn’t a surprise when Daniel let us all in on the secret that their music has changed for the better since the marriage of their lives and (luckily for us) the marriage of their voices. They opened up their lives to us – a crowd of strangers – in courage, honesty, and love. Sharing stories of their marriage, their tour, their struggles, their losses, Lowland Hum invited us to see the beauty of a pair of human hearts struggling to live and to use their voice in love.
Stomping on their self-designed tambourine stage, they sang to us about jealousy, loss, hope, and aching. From the honesty of the questions we ask God and ourselves, to the moments of loneliness that can sometimes only be said in the sounds of a harmonica, they sang to us in the beautiful tension of waiting for a God who already lives inside of us. The words of their songs are bound together in little booklets placed on every chair so that we, the no longer strangers, are invited to follow along. They asked us questions, ranging from silly to provoking, and led a time of thoughtful music and open communication.
Allison Wolf is a 4th year studying English at the University of Virginia. She is currently writing her major thesis on Virginia Woolf and aspires to be a Professor of English. Over the summer, she participated in a course at the UVa Rare Books School where she studied the technical and cultural contexts of typography and printing.
Tuesday Mornings On The Lawn_CJ Green
Tuesday mornings, sleepy eyes, hungry tummy. I head to the Lawn. The leaves are changing and the air is just cold enough to remind me that I am not eternal—followed quickly by the Discipleship Intensive to remind me that I am.
Theological Horizons’ Men’s Discipleship Intensive provides, on the surface, a safe environment for guys of all backgrounds to come, commune over bagels and orange juice (thank you Karen), and study the matrix of Christianity in Mr. Jefferson’s own Academical Village. The location becomes significant because so many of us arrived on these Grounds with an idol for academia; all our lives we’ve been the smart ones, the intellectuals. Conceptions of the mind’s power have been engrained in the very fabric of who we are—until, against Jefferson’s extra-rational will, we encounter God who has the hutzpah to rip down our pyramids of scholastic pride and remind us of our insufficiency in light of his glory and grace.
Enter Theological Horizons, particularly the Men’s Discipleship Intensive, where we find that God wants us to love him with all our heart, soul and mind (J.C.). Here, I can raise the most wild and heretical questions and, under Charlie Cotherman’s unwavering guidance, see what Scripture has to say. Charlie balances our off-the-wall proposals with Spirit-led discernment, while maintaining a free-flowing open-forum feel. This semester already we’ve delved into what it means to be a disciple, to make disciples, and to maintain a long obedience in the same direction. I recently derailed the curriculum and asked for an in-depth study of transformation—born again-ness. Charlie, with supernatural grace, responded by leading us through the life of Peter in the Gospels, Acts, and Galatians. Charlie encourages question-asking, giving us the opportunity to each pose a topic for the coming Tuesday. And all the while we grow deeper in our understanding of God’s design and our ability to actually get excited about it.
CJ Green is a 4th year studying English at the University of Virginia. He hopes to pursue a writer's lifestyle. He enjoys most postmodern art and has the privilege of dating Horizons sweetheart, Maddy Partridge.
Finding Purpose - Fellow Reflection by Anna Nott
September has come and gone, and the fellows program at Theological Horizons is in full swing. We got the opportunity to get to know the members of our group at both the kick-off dinner as well as at our first monthly Monday night gathering featuring Mike Guthrie. Mike spoke on the well-known parable of the lost son, a story told by Jesus in response to the Pharisees' grumbling, "this fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Lk 15:2). I think Jesus' following stories, first of the lost sheep, the lost coin, then the prodigal son and his brother, reveal His consistent pursuit of the lost because of His grace. Whether you are the one following the law, the one squandering your father's wealth in reckless living, or somewhere in between, Jesus is there to remind you, "you are always with me, all that is mine is yours" (Lk 15:31).
After discussing this parable as a group, Mike left us with a challenge. He first shared his purpose statement that he explained serves as a reminder of his mission for God, and then challenged us to think about doing the same. In beginning the process of writing my own mission statement, I have realized the complexity in trying to declare a purpose on life. So many questions exist, the ultimate one being: what does God expect from me? The only answer I can give confidently is I do not know. As the fellows program at Theological Horizons continues this school year, hopefully these tough questions can be explored in a thorough and honest way, as I have a feeling they will.
Anna Nott is a fourth year studying Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. She is in 2014-2015 Horizons Fellow and works part-time in the After School Enrichment Program for St. Anne's Belfield School. She describes herself as observant, creative, blunt at times, thankful, perceptive, proactive and resourceful.
Lowland Hum Concert - October 3, at The Bonhoeffer House
It seems we're at a particularly rich period in culture-making where innovation is abounding among people of faith. Lowland Hum is no exception. They are the 'multisensory artistic collaboration' of Daniel and Lauren Goans. This North Carolinian folk duo are re-imagining the concert experience by focusing on house concerts where audience members break local bread together, offer comments or questions in between songs and follow thoughtful lyrics in tiny hand-bound books. Participating in a Lowland Hum house concert blurs the line between performer and listener, allowing you to actively experience the music on many levels.
Charlottesvillians are lucky: Lowland Hum has just made their home with us and we're excited to be hosting them for one of their first house concerts at the Bonhoeffer House (1841 University Circle), Friday, October 3rd. Doors open at 7:30pm with snacks and the concert will begin at 8. Parking is available at the Culbreth Road parking garage, just a short walk from the house. Go to lowlandhum.com where you can also read their feature on NPR's All Songs Considered and watch their Tiny Desk Concert.
Meet The 2014 Horizon Fellows
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Josiah Cha is a pre-med fourth year Religious Studies and Biology double major. He currently serves as the president of Grace Christian Fellowship and also leads a Bible study and an evangelism ministry for GCF. Josiah grew up as a missionary kid in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for ten years and has a heart to be a missionary neurosurgeon. He loves to play basketball, piano, watch movies, or eat unhealthy servings of McDonalds and Chipotle. He is very excited for the fellows program and a chance to delve deeper into theology and vocation.
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My name is Jewel Crosswell and I am a fourth year with a double-degree in Global Development Studies and Religious Studies. Within those studies, I spent a semester abroad in Argentina researching the relationship between the Catholic Church, women, and sex trafficking. While at UVA, I am the co-editor of a weekly newsletter and participates in a local anti-trafficking initiative called the Charlottesville Justice Initiative. This past summer, I interned at International Justice Mission, an international human right agency dedicated to protecting the poor from violence. I love to travel, run, hike, read, and spend time with friends.
EmiliaGore
Emilia Gore is a 4th year Political and Social Thought major from Washington, DC. Some of her interests include Mandarin, sustainable agriculture, ethics, and Cuban history. This year, Emilia will lead a Food and Agriculture Organization committee at UVA's Model United Nations and continue to manage the UVA Community Garden. She's particularly excited to be a Resident Advisor in a first-year dorm!
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My name is Frances Grimball. I am a biology major from Charleston, SC and hope to attend dental school when I graduate from UVA. I am the youngest of three children, and this year has been pretty exciting for my family. I am about to become an aunt because my brother and his wife are expecting a child, and both my sister and I are engaged and will get married next year. I love to run and very excited to be training for my first full marathon this fall. My other favorite ways to spend time include doing anything outdoors, especially hiking, and playing with our Norfolk Terrier puppy, Moultrie.
charlie hill
I'm Charlie Hill and I am fourth year economics major from Atlanta, GA, and I love playing basketball, reading, and studying Chinese. Outside of class, I spend almost all of my time working as the Co-Chair of Pancakes for Parkinson's, and as the Vice President of my fraternity, SAE. Last summer, I spent 5 weeks in Valencia, Spain, and 6 weeks in Shanghai, China, and I am very interested in living abroad (probably in China or South America) sometime after graduation.
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My name is Kaylee Lucas and I'm an M.S. Commerce student from Richmond, VA. I studied Religious Studies in my undergraduate career here at UVA, where I learned from the distinguished Professor Marsh. I also spent a lot of time at the Bonhoeffer House, attending the morning Bible study and Vintage, where I was able to bridge my theological interests with investing in a community. Last summer, I traveled to Kenya and worked at a microfinance loan hub. I'm interested in learning how to integrate a concern for human flourishing with my more practical business studies this year.
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Carly Misenheimer is a fourth year from High Point, North Carolina. She is a Religious Studies Major, and she is writing her Distinguished Majors Thesis on the language of naming God in Feminist Theology. She hopes to attend Divinity School after graduation. She leads Young Life College at UVA, and she enjoys singing, hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains, Cheerwine and spontaneity.
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I'm Anna Nott and I was born and raised in Richmond, VA. I love my family, cooking with spices, my cat Emily whose 14 years old, good tunes, reading about people who do ridiculous things, poetry, kids, and being out in the fresh air. I'm a religious studies major, French minor, and work part-time at the After School Enrichment Program at St. Anne's-Belfield School here in Cville. I'm hoping to work on a ranch post graduation, then maybe move to France to teach! I grew up being taught about Jesus and now want to investigate my perceptions of him versus the real him. I would describe myself as observant, creative, blunt at times, thankful, perceptive, proactive and resourceful. Most of all, I'm pumped to be a fellow for this 2014-2015 school year at the Bonhoeffer House with Theological Horizons!
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My name is Justin Reeves and I am a fourth year student here at UVa studying Chemistry. I have always been interested in the sciences and how I would be able to use science to help people. This led me to wanting to pursue a career in medicine or pharmacology. I am an only child but have several friends that I consider the brothers I never had. I have a passion for missions work as I have been to Uganda and the Dominican Republic for service trips. I love the Spanish language and consider myself very proficient but not quite fluent yet. I love God and have been serving faithfully in church for as long as I can remember. I am currently involved in OneWay Christian Fellowship here on Grounds where I serve as a small group leader. I love helping out wherever I can and love being a part of things so I'm excited to see where this takes me!
Keith
Keith Wilson is a fourth-year student from Louisville Kentucky. Studying Leadership and Public Policy at the Batten School, Keith has been exposed to a wide variety of coursework and problems to solve. While coursework is fun, Keith's college experience has mainly been defined by what goes on outside of class. Living to learn and learning to live all in accordance to The Lord's will can often be a tricky thing. Therefore, Keith has filled his life at UVA with wonderful faith guides and spiritual leaders. During his time as a Horizon Fellow, Keith hopes to better understand the idea of vocation and how God shepherds his people to the right places. Keith is eager to enter the workforce in the fall of 2015 and hopes to begin his career in sales. Keith's hobbies range from singing with his a cappella group, brewing a nice pot of tea, playing squash, and artisanal sandwich making/eating. It is Keith's goal to one day own an upscale gas station/convenience store and teach at his alma mater, Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky.
"Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer" by Charles Marsh
In his new book, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Knopf, 2014), Charles Marsh powerfully brings to life the struggles, triumphs, and transformations of Dietrich Bonhoeffer—German pastor, dissident, and conspirator in the resistance against Hitler and the Nazi party. No other theologian has crossed as many boundaries as Bonhoeffer while remaining exuberantly, generously Christian.
Charles Marsh is the cofounder of Theological Horizons and Commonwealth Professor of Religious Studies at UVa, where he directs The Project on Lived Theology.
News and Reviews
Read the Wall Street Journal review by Christian Wiman
Watch "A Martyr for Our Century: Dr Charles Marsh on Dietrich Bonhoeffer", an interview with Bishop Michael Curry of the Diocese of North Carolina (this one will make you smile!)
Read the Christianity Today review by Timothy Larsen
Read German Ambassador Dr. Peter Wittig's introductory remarks at the Book Salon in Washington, DC.
A Goodbye from Assistant Director Saranell Hartman
In the Fall of 2010 I began working at Theological Horizons in the Bonhoeffer House. I had already become familiar with the mission & vision from attending Vintage on Fridays during the 2009-10 Academic Year. It whet my appetite for the rich ministry of hospitality that takes place here. Even as an employee, I have been nurtured by the grace that defines this place. I am so thankful to the Breakfast Bible Study for becoming a space in which our exploration of Scripture led me (as well) into deeper understanding and experience of God. I trust Jesus more today because of you. I live more intentionally in the way of Jesus because of you too. We confronted our doubts and fears, and together held them up to the Light of Jesus Christ. Theological Horizons is a ministry that is rooted in Jesus, open to the work of the Spirit and participating in the work of God in the world.
I agree with Don Postema who describes what it means to live a life in the way of Jesus in Space for God,
The world doesn’t need more busy people, maybe not even more intelligent people. It needs “deep people,” people who know that they need solitude if they are going to find out who they are…The world needs people who want their lives not only to be filled, but to be full, and fulfilled. If we are to be artists of our lives, we need to be in touch with the One who is a “greater artist than all other artists…” The world needs people who will allow time for God to recreate them, play with them, touch them as an Artist who is making something beautiful with their lives. (18)
I am grateful to the Theological Horizons staff, board, students and community for their roles in helping me become a deeper person.
I am grateful to Karen Marsh, Executive Director. She is the most gracious ‘boss’ one could ever have- she has flexed with child care needs and has made space for the unique expression of my gifts. She knows how to get the job done and never asked me to do more than I could. Theological Horizons is growing deeper and wider under her wise and gracious leadership.
I have loved being a part of the team and will miss it greatly!
Golden Eggs and J. Crew Sales: Easter Weekend
I had always thought that Easter was the untouchable holiday. Christmas is increasingly about shopping and buying presents – the innocent giving of gifts to children on Christmas morning is now a billion dollar industry that businesses and the service industry count on to sustain the winter economy. But I thought Easter was different! Aside from a chocolate bunny and some Peeps, Easter was never a holiday that I associated with presents. And yet, joyful and unassuming Easter has proven to be a holiday in which sales are running rampant and stores vehemently encourage consumers to, well, consume. One of my favorite boutiques sent me an email telling me to buy their dresses so that all eyes could be on me on Easter Sunday. The email made me feel two things. First, I felt a twinge of disgust – certainly Easter is not a time for attention to be on me and the way that I look. Second, I felt giddy because I saw that the sale was 60% off and free shipping. And then I may have acquiesced and taken a quick peek.
What can I say? I attend a big Baptist church in the South – Easter means white gloves and big hats. While I may skip those fashion must-haves, keeping up appearances isn’t optional.
Yesterday I got even more of those types of emails, which was particularly frightening considering that it was Good Friday. I spent a lot of time staring incredulously at my email yesterday, thinking, This is not the Easter I remember! Sales and shopping were not activities my family ever did on Easter weekend! Not this untouchable holiday, too!
Though I suppose those Easter egg hunts we went to as kids prepared us for this – rifling through bushes looking for the golden egg surely helped me learn to rifle through racks of clothing in search of that glorious, half-price J. Crew tunic in my size.
But how do we bring it back? I’m not saying sales are bad – those fingertip length shorts for my camp counselor uniform have to be purchased some time – but is this the place for it?
I think we need to revisit the idea of Lent. The Lenten Season is our journey toward the Easter holiday in which we must continuously deny ourselves a worldly temptation. It feels funny, in that light, to end the journey by digging into the money you saved not buying all those iced mochas for the last 40 days. I think it’d be a shame to end the 40-day stretch by succumbing to a different temptation that distracts from the sentiment, depth, and holiness of the weekend.
Perhaps the sales should take a back seat. Christmas seems to have that covered, and even if the resurrection of Christ doesn’t make the importance of the weekend salient, the Lenten Season with which some of us have been struggling, I hope, does.
But cheer up. There’s still Memorial Day sales.
-Rhody Mastin
Marketing Intern, UVA 2015
Intern Anna
We asked our Major Donors Relations Intern, Anna, what the biggest perks of being an intern were. She said:
1. Unlimited access to gum in the TH Headquarters
2. Cute stationary and office supplies at your fingertips!
3. Direct contact with the Executive Director (i.e., Karen the Great)
4. If you work on Friday mornings, Vintage lunches are waiting for you downstairs!
5. Renovated office (thanks, Charles!)
6. Two words: Sun. Roof.
7. You get personalized experience working in the development of nonprofit organizations!
If YOU want to be an intern for Theological Horizons, contact Karen at karen@theologicalhorizons.org!
Intern Rhody
We asked Rhody Mastin what she took away from her experience working as our Communications Intern this year. She said,
"I learned a lot about how God is present in any part of your work life that you let Him in. Whether I was mailing letters, writing blogs, or contacting a future guest speaker, I knew that my work for Theological Horizons was a practical application of God's love."
We are currently looking for interns for the 2014-2015 school year! Contact Karen (karen@theologicalhorizons.org) to hear more about this opportunity!
Horizons Fellow Carolyn Harris on God's Path
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. – Thomas Merton
Ever since I heard this beautiful and humbling prayer at Vintage one Friday during the spring of my second year, my perspective on finding God’s will for my life changed. I have realized there is not just one “right path” for our lives and if we miss it, oh well! Too bad! However, at the time, I did not have much “soul searching” to do. I was solidifying great relationships at UVA, settling into my classes and extracurriculars, and had just been accepted into the Commerce School. From my perspective, I had nailed down my future and “figured it out”. I was feeling great.
Then came 4th year. How quickly I forgot the lesson that God had taught me just a year and a half ago. I had real decisions I had to make about the ever-looming life after college. Where should I work? How can I love God in a job where I would mainly be sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen all day? How do I show the love of Jesus, directly or indirectly, to my co-workers? Should I turn down a job that I know would have bad hours? How picky should I be about the job I take? In order to tackle these questions, I quickly fell back into the mindset of attempting to seek out “the one right path” God had for my life.
However, thanks to many more Vintage lunches, encouragement from fellow 4th years, and conversations with my Theological Horizon’s mentor, I was slowly reminded that God did not task us with the job of uncovering the mysterious plan He has for our lives. In the questions above, my thinking was “me” oriented (see how many times I mentioned “I” in the paragraph above) instead of God oriented, which can be confusing, fruitless, and exhausting. In The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard reminds us that God’s will is being done despite what we do. By taking myself out of the picture, I was reminded that God just wants us to love him with all of our heart, soul and mind.
As Thomas Merton said, sometimes we don’t know where we are going or if we are even following God’s will, but this is okay! All of the little questions seem to fall away as we desire to know God, keep his commandments, and slowly orient ourselves in right relationship with Him. As I move through life, I hope to be able to make decisions to the best of my ability but at the end of the day still be able to say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Carolyn Harris, Comm 2014
The Bonhoeffer House does Lent -- a checkup
"Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in my steps." -- Luke 9:23 We have about three weeks left of the Lenten Season, and the Bonhoeffer House is continuing to remind us of the importance of the 40 day commitment (or the 46 days commitment for those of you that are hardcore and don't take Sundays off) through Vintage lunches and e-devotionals.
I know that I sometimes forget that the purpose of Lent is to deny ourselves an earthly temptation so that we can more clearly reflect and focus on the meaning of Jesus' life in the weeks prior to Easter. My giving up something feels quite trivial in many instances, especially when I fail to remember the reason for which I am giving it up (this year I am trying to give up complaining... this paragraph doesn't count as complaining, right?).
But today in Vintage we're going to discuss the intellectual God language: those who commune with God through study of doctrine and philosophy and love God with their mind. I think this will be particularly relevant to our ongoing conversation on Lent in that both practices harness the power of the mind to love God and overcome temptation. I hope today's lunch will help me to remember that there are important and real reasons why the practice of self-denial exists this month. Namely, so that our minds are clear and our intellect is unclouded in order to increasingly love God and understand Jesus.
Happy Friday, friends!
-Rhody Mastin, UVA 2015
Theological Horizons Communications Intern
WATCH IT NOW: the Capps Lecture on Millennials & the Future of Faith
Asked about their religious beliefs, one-third of Americans describe themselves as being atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." Acclaimed author Diana Butler Bass, a scholar of American religion and culture, addressed this growing trend in the 2013 Capps Lecture in Christian Theology : "Leaving Church? Generation Next and the Future of Faith" on November 1 at 6 pm in The Dome Room of University of Virginia's Dome Room.
Bass's lecture explored the changing role of the church in the lives of "millennials," who often claim to be "spiritual, but not religious."
Bass is the author of eight books, including Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening. Bass blogs for the Huffington Post and is a commentator for USA Today, Time, Newsweek, and the Washington Post. She holds a PhD in religious studies from Duke University and has taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Macalaster College, Rhodes College and the Virginia Theological Seminary.
***Watch the video of Dr. Bass's Capps Lecture here.***
***Listen to the audio of Dr. Bass's workshop at the Bonhoeffer House here***
The Capps Lectures in Christian Theology are endowed by Dr. and Mrs. W. Jerry Capps through Theological Horizons. More about the Capps Lectures.
SAVE THE DATE! Renowned author Philip Yancey will deliver the next Capps Lecture in Christian Theology on Sunday, March 22, 2015, at 5:30 pm in Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia.
Horizons Fellow Mary Lansden Brewbaker on God's Calling
I have loved being a part of the Theological Horizons Fellows Program. To be honest, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was signing up for last August. I heard something about a mentor, a retreat, free books, and good food (Karen is involved, so there is always the assurance of good food) – so I thought, “Well, it can’t hurt.”
I was wrong.
The Fellows Program isn’t composed only of food, retreats, books and people; it comes with hard and sometimes painful questions. I have had to ask what it means to have faith in a God that loves me enough to begin to show me that His idea of a meaningful, successful life might be different from mine; faith in a God who doesn’t want half of me, but wants everything. I have had to talk, and listen, to a God who wants to rid me, and everyone He loves, of any loves that come before him because He actually cares about my life and my actions. This God is real, powerful, and active. At times, talking to this God has been terrifying (What if he asks me to sell everything I have? What if he isn’t just asking for my possessions, but for my time, my dreams, my desires, my loves, and my future? What if He figures out how awful I am?), and sometimes the reality of what He is asking of me has hurt.
At the Fellows Retreat in January, we spent some time contemplating the image found in John 15 of God pruning us, his people, so that we might bear more fruit. This is what God has done, and is doing, in me through the Fellows Program. Conversations I have had with my mentor have laid bare desires that I didn’t know I had. Books I have read have caused me to reconsider what it means to be a Christian leader. People I have met have caused me to think about the uniqueness of my calling and theirs. The food I have eaten has been incredible. The God I have encountered is awesome.
I have felt God strip away some of my loves this semester. There is little that is more painful that being pruned and molded, but, at the same time, there is nothing that is more freeing. I want to encourage you to approach this God. Along with fear and trembling, approach this God with faith and hope in his promises and his love. God has used the Fellows Program to show me that He offers me more than I could ever imagine and that He is asking for more than I want to give.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the father but is from the world. And the world is passing way along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17
Mary Lansden Brewbaker
Economics & Religious Studies ‘14
Apply for the 2014/15 Horizons Fellows Program
Attention all current UVa Third Year Students! Applications due APRIL 1, 2014. Have you ever wondered: What are my values? How do I live them? What does it mean to be successful? What does it mean to walk humbly, do justice and love mercy? Is the pursuit of financial wealth & power a Christian value?
As you look ahead to your final year of college, you are invited to apply for an innovative mentoring program---the HORIZONS FELLOWS PROGRAM: Vocational Discipleship Training at Theological Horizons.
The Vision: Vocational training for 4th year students at UVa. In the context of a year long intentional relationship with a mentor from the Charlottesville community, fellows will wrestle with how their faith, thought & life influence their vocational choices and direction.
The Mission: To provide fellows with tools: spiritual practices, resources, strategies & frameworks for making decisions to navigate the transition from college to post-college adventures.
Read the Horizons Fellows Program Description
Applications are due by midnight on Monday, April 1, 2014.
Theological Horizons Fellows Program Application
Want to know more? Read posts by current Horizons Fellows browsing the archives of this blog!
Do you have questions? Contact Rev. Saranell Hartman at saranell@theologicalhorizons.org
