Quotation Excerpts from Learning in Wartime, by C. S. Lewis, woven throughout post. Reflection In my last post I argued that so long as Christians' talk about “finding one's calling” is held captive by the modern American idea that self-realization only happens by way of unfettered, individual self-expression, our talk of vocation will be far-removed from Christ's call to live lives of self-sacrificial love. This way of thinking about vocation is inherently self-absorbed and will, more often than not, be blind to our … [Read more...] about Vocatio Christ: The Contours of Our Callings Part 2 (Scholar’s Compass)
calling
Vocatio Christi: The Contours of Our Callings (Scholar’s Compass)
“Mission without spiritual formation and virtue is impossible. But spiritual formation without mission is solipsistic.” – Greg Thompson, heard by author Reflection In my last post I suggested that vocation is God's invitation for us to join Him in His mission of restoring the world's ecology of shalom by using our gifts, talents, credentials, resources, and opportunities to make culture that is rightly ordered by love of God and love of neighbor. If this is the case, how then should we think of our distinct … [Read more...] about Vocatio Christi: The Contours of Our Callings (Scholar’s Compass)
Missio Dei: The Context of Our Callings (Scholar’s Compass)
“Mission without spiritual formation and virtue is impossible. But spiritual formation without mission is solipsistic.” - Greg Thompson, heard by author Reflection What, if anything, does my spiritual life have to do with my work life? Better yet, what does my spiritual life have to do with my life's work? Is my specific vocation incidental or irrelevant to my spiritual formation? Or do these aspects of my life converge somehow? Similarly, are evangelical witness and the integration of faith and scholarship mutually … [Read more...] about Missio Dei: The Context of Our Callings (Scholar’s Compass)
A Spirituality of Graduate School: Mission and Formation (Scholar’s Compass)
Greg Thompson once said in my hearing, “Mission without spiritual formation and virtue is impossible. But spiritual formation without mission is solipsistic.” Head pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, associate fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, and Executive Director of New City Commons (a think tank devoted to exploring the intersections of the Church's mission and contemporary culture), Greg is the consummate pastor-scholar and generally when he … [Read more...] about A Spirituality of Graduate School: Mission and Formation (Scholar’s Compass)
Interruption Is Calling (Scholar’s Compass)
Interruptibility frees me to be cehccessible and to relate to specific people in the path of my day, not hoarding my attention and energy for building only those linkages I may have defined as professionally strategic. How willing am I to view this interrupting situation as potentially more important work than what I had scheduled and planned for this hour, this day, or this season of life? On a broader scale, how willing am I to set aside my predetermined professional aspirations to be with people who have experienced … [Read more...] about Interruption Is Calling (Scholar’s Compass)