Friday, March 9, 2012

Erosion, Shifting - Holy, if not Wholly

My seminary experience has had a way of slowly shifting my theology.  Prior to seminary, I had come to develop a collection of what I once thought were original questions, home brewed on the premises!  But many a new encounter with a writer from the past erodes that sense of originality.  Most recently, I have been reading Rudolph Bultmann who – in 1941 – was struggling with how to reconcile the “modern”, scientific mindset with a New Testament which some had come to think as more akin to mythology.  How do you preserve Christianity with intellectual integrity?  Can you?  Bultmann’s answer is “yes.”  So, I read on, somewhat humbled to realize that one of my questions might be seventy years behind the times.

That might seem like a fairly typical insight coming from a student at a liberal seminary like United.  But, as with parenting, how a student’s ideas mature isn’t always predictable.   Perhaps more surprising for me is to find my thinking about the Trinity changing.  Besides the in-depth (read: labyrinthine) analysis that Karl Barth gives of the Apostle’s Creed, I have also been reading (second hand) about Jurgen Moltmann.  Not only does he share my concern for preserving the physical environment but he frames his concerns in Trinitarian terms. 

Had enough talk of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost yet?  I have!  But, get this – though I’m a bit overwhelmed, I’m also starting to actually get a little interested and (dare I say) inspired by that way of looking at things!

My twice-weekly visits at the hospital continue and I find my theological views changing there too.  I have come to see my primary function during visits with patients as one of guaranteed listening – often following them whenever they want to go.  Conversations can range from high school hockey to intractable disagreements with siblings or children to fear of dying to a shared appreciation of the afternoon sun.  Of course, since I’m a chaplain intern, there is also a tacit acknowledgement that what matters most – something holy – may be at play in all that they are dealing with.  For some patients, they feel most complete with a visit when we close with prayer.  Rather than assuming, I always ask what they would like to pray for.  Not surprisingly, some of those requesting prayer are evangelical patients.  In those instances, I do my best to pray in a way that is natural for me and works for them.  After months of such visits, I have been surprised to discover a change in my own prayer life.  I have begun to think of the Spirit as actively moving among us all.  Something holy is expressed through the care we attempt to offer each other.  From time to time, we arrive at a peace that passes all understanding.

Imagine that!

-Karl Jones, MDiv student

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