For multiple reasons I have been AWOL when it comes to new posts on here in the last few months. The reasons for that are complicated: multiple health issues which have caused a loss of energy to do anything that is not absolutely necessary to just maintain our home; normal slowing down of being 77.5 years old; a sense of hopelessness and depression over those personal losses; a painful family conflict that has been going on for months; and finally just being overwhelmed by the scope of the socio-political issues hanging over everything else.
As one who preached regularly from 1969-2018, a time which included some pretty trying days – civil rights, Aids and LGBT persecution, Viet Nam War protests, Watergate, and the arms race of the Reagan years, Iran Contra, 911, U. S. Attacks on Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the Clinton impeachment trial, the epidemic of mass shootings in schools and other public places, and the divisiveness of the Trump brand of politics – I find myself reflecting on how I preached the Gospel in a relevant and authentic way that addressed current social realities that we all have to navigate.
That task was informed and made more urgent by my PhD research on narrative rhetoric and moral and faith development, as well as 20 years of teaching preaching classes to seminary students as a part-time Adjunct Professor. The basic ingredient of the way I was taught to preach and how I taught is grounding sermons on biblical texts, normally by choosing a text from the four texts for each Sunday listed in The Revised Common Lectionary. That lectionary is a three year cycle of texts chosen to correspond with the liturgical seasons of the church year. My reflection on my current silence also reminded me that I started this blog in 2011 to offer reflections on lectionary texts for the weeks coming up in the church calendar. So, as often happens, I am circling back to my roots and will see what wisdom for our current season of life might emerge from studying the lectionary texts for the next week or two.
The timing seems right to do this as I am recovering from some surgery and have extra time to write. Stay tuned.
Peacefully Harsh 