I am teaching a class in pastoral care and counseling at seminary. I decided to roleplay a hospital visit. I had one student to roleplay having a back injury with uncertain prognosis. Then I roleplayed a rather poor pastoral visit. I am pretty good at poor pastoral visits--- I just have to do what comes …
Month: November 2019
The 13th Pig
My wife's family raised pigs. One year their sow had a litter of 13 piglets. The sow could feed 12 simultaneously. So, not surprisingly, it was the smallest one, the runt, who was left out. Without intervention the 13th pig would starve and die. But my wife's family did intervene, periodically the largest piglet would …
Religion as Societal Parasite?
Religion has an important role in society. Emile Durkheim among others have recognized that one of the roles of religion in a society is to safeguard it. It provides the support and underpinnings of a culture's worldview. As such, it provides the norms for behavior as well as interpretation of experience. In a sense then …
Fulfilling Culture
H. Richard Niebuhr wrote a book that has become a seminary classic: "Christ and Culture." Actually, it was a series of lectures that were compiled into a book. Niebuhr suggested five major philosophies or categories as to how Christ can interact with human Culture. The five are: Christ Against Culture Christ Of Culture Christ Above …
When a Hobby has Become a Job
I wrote on my personal blog on some of the soul-searching I am going through in my role in trying to write books and helping some people in Asia and Africa in writing books. You can find it at When a Hobby has Become a Job.