This Advent, Nan Thomas will share four Sunday reflections with us on these themes: hope, prepare, watch, and rejoice. Nan is deeply thoughtful about spiritual formation, a topic she pursues as an InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries staff member and as Associate Director of Faculty Development at Union University. In addition, Nan was part of the founding team that imagined the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) and made it a reality. We’re grateful for her ongoing advice and encouragement, and for this Advent series. [Read more…] about Watch: Third Week of Advent (Scholar’s Compass)
henri nouwen
Book Review: The Return of the Prodigal Son
On a handful of occasions, a work of art has riveted my attention. As a college student, a painting in the Butler Museum of Art titled In Flanders Fields Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow by Robert Vonnoh had that effect as I pondered young girls picking scarlet red poppies in what had once been a killing field. For Henri J.M. Nouwen, it was a portion of Rembrandt’s painting of The Return of the Prodigal Son that had this same effect. Eventually he spent several days meditating upon the original and out of this and reflection on the parable of Jesus, he wrote The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming.Â
He looks at the painting and parable in light of the three principle figures–the younger son, the elder son, and the Father. Many authors have explored what it means to be the younger son lost in profligacy and the elder son, lost in his rectitude and resentment and Nouwen does this also. But he does two other striking things. [Read more…] about Book Review: The Return of the Prodigal Son
College Christian Humanitarianism: Part 4
Is there a real danger to the creep of utilitarianism in humanitarian thinking?  Has the modern humanitarian world been reduced to little more than a competitive arena for non-profit interests?  Last year, the Susan G. Komen Foundation imploded over scandals and bitter dissension over funding disputes with Planned Parenthood.  The split took place on a number of levels – financial, ideological, and political – and took place between two technically secular organizations, but it was also complicated (and perhaps even initiated) by conservative Christian concerns over abortion funding and ethics.  Several days ago, Austin Ruse, president of C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute) and self-described intermediary in the dispute, released an “insider’s story” of the shocking and tabloid-worthy collapse.  It’s a horrifying account (assuming that it is true) primarily because of the vicious back-biting and politicking around the seemingly neutral and relatively uncontroversial cause of breast cancer screening:
For years pro-lifers pounded Komen for its support of Planned Parenthood. It made no sense to pro-lifers that Komen, a breast cancer charity, would fund an organization whose essential work in performing abortions that can increase the risk of this deadly disease. And it was an increasing frustration for the millions of pro-life Americans who “raced for the cure†but could not in good conscience continue. Campaigns against Komen by pro-lifers were running all over the country. When Komen President Liz Thompson first came to my office she said, “fully 50% of my time is spent in dealing with†pro-life boycotts of Komen fundraising…
Handel and Thompson said repeatedly to me that they wanted out of the culture wars. They said they did not want to enter into the pro-life side but they wanted to become neutral and focus their time on saving women’s lives. I told them the pro-life world would not need Komen to join the pro-life ranks but that becoming neutral would be welcome and that the boycotts would almost certainly end.
At the time, Komen provided 19 grants to various Planned Parenthood branches, which over the years totaled into the millions of dollars. They believed their donations went to cancer screenings. Little did they know that Planned Parenthood had been lying to them and was only doing referrals since they did not do mammograms… [Read more…] about College Christian Humanitarianism: Part 4
Beyond Ordinary and Proper
“There is something wrong with you,” she said, her face twisting in genuine disbelief and horror. “You are crazy.”
I laughed, but comments like these were starting to get to me. At work, I’ve been sharing more and more about what my life in the city is like. By this I mean telling the fun and juicy stories: nearly getting jumped, waking up to gunshots, living next to pedophiles & sex offenders, finding gas leaks and mice in the kitchen. I should have known that focusing on these more dramatic & exotic elements would surprise people, but I was unprepared for the responses. At first they were polite incredulity: “Oh, that’s . . . different.” “That’s noble of you.” “Wow, I could never do that.” “That’s interesting.”
Then, when it began looking like I intended to stay, the comments became forceful and sharp. “You’re just not right in the head.” “You need to get out of there. . . . I am going to drag you out myself.” “You’re expendable.” “What’s wrong with you?”
The most hurtful of all these comments:
“The people there deserve it. Why should you live with them?”
I still struggle to answer this last question. Anyone who knows me knows that I am hypercritical when it comes to myself, and working through my motives and heart issues has been a difficult process. I have a vague sense of what I hope to gain through life in community, and I have seen my many biases and prejudices begin to change. But I still have trouble articulating exactly why I am here, even though I am more accustomed and deeply satisfied by this way of life. I used to think that simply sharing my stories would enable others to understand, so I started a blog to describe the experience. Here is one of my first entries on moving into the “inner city”: [Read more…] about Beyond Ordinary and Proper
Best Christian Book: What Have You Added to Your Reading List?
Thank you, Andy, for your amazing breakdown of the advanced metrics of the Best Christian Book of All Time Tournament. One of Andy’s findings was that the Tournament seedings came much closer to an ideal seeding than the most recent NCAA Men’s Basketball tournaments. (However, I do note as a proud UofL alumnus that this year, at least, the #1 overall seed justified its ranking. Go Cards! #L1C4) Perhaps this represents my in-depth understanding of ESN members’ voting tendencies — or, more likely, I was simply quite lucky.
One of the few books that well outperformed its seeding was Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich, the #11 seed in the Memoirs, Devotionals, & Spirituality bracket. I confess that I seeded Revelations where I did based on its reputation, not on a direct comparison between it and all of the other books in the bracket. Obviously, it’s held in much higher esteem by ESN members than I expected. To see what I’m missing, I plan on downloading it from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and adding it to my reading list.Â
Confession time: I have not read all 64 books included in the field. As best I can figure, I have read 28 of the selections, as well as portions of an additional 13, which means I’ve read (in part) around 64% of the 64 books under consideration. Maybe that’s good, maybe it’s not, and maybe it confirms all of your suspicions about the tournament. For the ones I’ve not read, I relied on the nominations from ESN members and outside resources.
In addition to Revelations of Divine Love, I’m adding these to my reading list as well:
- The novels Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and Silence by Shusaku Endo (not “Shusako” as I erroneously wrote earlier)
- Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
- Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion and Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, though these will likely be volumes I dip into occasionally rather than attempt to read straight through
I’d love to hear from you. How many of the books from the tournament have you read? What books have you added to your reading list as a result of the tournament? Leave your additions in the comments.