John Donne

Today is the feast day of John Donne, seventeenth century poet and clergyman.  In honor of him, and in observance of the season, I give you his Crucifying:

Crucifying


By miracles exceeding power of man, 
Hee faith in some, envie in some begat,
For what weake spirits admire, ambitious, hate;
In both affections many to him ran,
But Oh! the worst are most, they will and can,
Alas, and do, unto immaculate,
Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a Fate,
Measuring selfe-lifes infinity to'a span,
Nay to an inch. Loe, where condemned hee
Beares his owne crosse, with paine, yet by and by
When it beares him, he must bear more and die.
Now thou are lifted up, draw mee to thee,
And at thy death giving such liberall dole,
Moyst, with one drop of thy blood, my dry soule.

-John Donne

Wednesday Prayers: Ugh

Seminary is mildly depressing some weeks.  There's good stuff, but then there's ugh. Pray for that however you feel led.

How about in your world?  Anything I can be praying for?

Wednesday Prayers: Running Buddies

Yesterday, I ran with a classmate who is in far, far better shape than I am. It was the fastest I'd run in a year. The quick strides felt great, and I shocked myself by keeping up.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to the track with another classmate, one who's just starting to run. We switch between walking and running, and our pace is mostly dictated by our conversation.

Maybe it's my evangelical background talking, but it feels like that's exactly what we should be doing in communities of faith. Both women encourage me, and I am able to support each of them. We're making each other stronger, but not running the weaker partner too hard.

Where does this happen in your life? Where COULD it happen? That's what I'm praying about this week.

Lutheran Question: Salvation

For those in the know: is there room in Lutheran (ELCA) doctrine for salvation theologies OTHER than substitutionary atonement?

Sisterhood

In the spirit of International Women's Day, I've got sisterhood on the brain.  Here's a little Dar Williams on the subject while I think about all the women I've admired.




So many to be grateful for:
all-the-sarahs amy anne beth caroline charlotte cori danielle debbie diane emily hannah heidi jennifer julia julie karen kate kristy lane laura lillian lynn margaret meghan mindy nancy robin stephanie vicki .... and on and on.