Seven Things I have Learned in Life
Pr. Weedon, who's blog I really like, tagged me for Seven Things I Have learned. Well, here they are:
1) When I looked at other communions, I always found the same or worse problems than I find in the LC-MS. This is how God taught me that the Church is under the cross, and though she is his spotless bride today, we are likely only to see her warts if we look with fleshly eyes, and every confession has warts.
2) Watching Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox argue over the fathers looks a lot like Protestant arguments about the Scriptures. In both cases, it comes down to first principles, and a Lutheran's first principle is Christ--i.e. we do not seek to set up an elaborate epistemology to justify our beliefs after the fact: papal infallibility, apostolic succession, hermeneutic assumptions etc. The starting point is faith in Christ and his promises, and his promises are as clear as we can expect.
3) Having your child greet you with a big smile when you come home from work more than outweighs the difficulties.
4) When I sin and seek forgiveness, the Sacrament of the Alter is very, very comforting. I mean, it is Christ giving himself to me again, even though I rebel against him.
5) Arguing with atheists can be dangerous to my faith. Not because their arguments are so powerful, but because the sinner in me likes tidy arguments, and these can subtly encroach on simple faith in the promises of God. I can sometimes place reason above faith ans the Scriptures.
6) "Better to remain silent and have the world think you a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt" is a really good proverb. I should think before I speak, and read before I post. I get better at this all the time because I have learned from painful experiences.
7) When we moved and sought a local church, we learned that it is not always about our wants and needs, God sometimes has other ideas. The "best fit" for my life situation may not be where I am supposed to be.
So, who do I tag?
Chris Jones at http://pleroma.typepad.com/
Pastor Fleischmann at http://resqrev.blogspot.com
2 comments:
Hey! You tagged two of my favorite people in all the world. I love Chris, his gentle spirit and keen insights. It was a real joy to meet him and Iris last year - they stopped in for service (which was at an usual time, and so they missed it, but we enjoyed a wonderful visit all the same).
And Pr. Fleischmann! How do you know him? He and have been friends since Bronxville days. I have always loved spending time with him. He is such a good poet and musician. His setting of "Little Lamb" written under very trying circumstances is one of my all time favorite pieces of music.
Hey Fr. Weedon,
Thanks for stopping by. I have never met Chris in person, but from what I read by him on the Internet I am very impressed. I read his blog when he updates it, which i wush he would do more often.
I know Pr. Fleischmann because he is the pastor of a church in my former congregation's circuit. He is another "catholic" minded Lutheran. I went to do some chants at his congregation a while back, and it was pretty interesting.
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