An Old Emergence

This week is Holy Week , a time in Christian tradition where we focus on the final week of Jesus' life as portrayed in scripture. I grew up in the Southern Baptist faith tradition. As a Southern Baptist, we really didn't observe much of greater catholic (little "c") liturgy. Every few years we would get the liturgical bug and observe some form of Advent, but even that was a stretch. More often than not, the celebration of Advent stemmed from some Lifeway or Southern Baptist Convention material. It wasn't until I got to college that I first encountered the Lectionary . Even then, my early encounters with the Lectionary were purely speculative, as the churches I attended, much like while growing up, did not follow or use the Lectionary in weekly spiritual life. Much like other liturgical practices, my being Baptist at the core (something I've only recently come to accept) kept me from engaging the Lectionary purely by accident and circumstance. It wasn't unt...

I've been thinking about my body a lot lately. It is not an exceptional body, mainly because I haven't done a very good job of taking care of it over the majority of my nearly twenty-two years of life. I've been pondering what it means to be created, in essence a part of the created order. In light of these thoughts, I started working out again on Monday. There's this program called P90X that is a very holistic daily workout routine that pushes your body to the edge of the abyss. Yes...that's a bit melodramatic. However, the pain stretching across my body has me constantly aware of my efforts to get my body in a healthy shape. This morning when I looked out my window I saw the overcast skies and saw the dreary rain. While I actually love rainy days, I decided that I didn't want to succumb to the feel of the day. I put on a bright pink shirt and stark white jeans and left my house feeling full of life. Clothes do not make a person, but just like being true to you...

Yesterday I found myself having multiple conversations about the future. In fact, lately I've found that subject matter to be inescapable. Perhaps it comes from being near to graduation...or at least sort of near. Many of my friends will soon be graduating, and I have begun turning my eyes toward December and my own graduation. As I do this, one pervasive question continually comes up: What's next? I can assure you this is only the first of what will most likely be many writings on the future by me. As a senior in college, the future has started to loom menacingly on the horizon. However, this concept of looking toward the future is not reserved for college seniors. One of my conversations yesterday was with my friend Grant, a freshman at Belmont. We were both struggling with the same question. What's next? About this time of year as winter struggles in its death throws and spring begins to emerge, I believe many of us look for newness, for refreshment. Grant later asked, ...

I have spent the last ten days traveling. I've seen Berkeley, CA. I've spent time in Seattle, WA. I have become well acquainted with the Salt Lake City airport on 3 separate occasions. All this time I have had the opportunity to spend time with some amazing people in my life. This is spring break, a fantastic invention of the academic world for undergraduate students. This is the first of my four years in college that I have actually taken my spring break instead of working. It has been a much-needed respite from my undeniably hectic weekly schedule. Over the last week, I had the opportunity to visit with my sister and brother-in-law as well as my cousin Brian. As I live in Tennessee and they live on the west coast, it is rare for me to get to see them often. My time spent with all of them was wonderful, and it made for a perfect break. But the reason I'm writing here, is to think more intentionally about how relationships and spiritual peace can go hand-in-hand. While i...

I like to think that I do my part when it comes to creation care. In fact, I can say that I recycle, try to keep my energy use low, and generally enjoy communing with nature. Many people who balk at global warming frustrate me. This is not because they do believe global warming is an issue. It is, in fact, because they support their positions with ridiculous "evidence." Recently, snow storms sprang up across the United States. There have been many who have pointed to this as evidence that global warming is a non-issue, thought up by "liberals" and "tree-huggers." This article from EthicsDaily.com is a great response to this mindset.

So here it is, my new blog. I've created this space to provide a location for me to seriously blog about serious things. A little more intentional than stream-of-consciousness...So we'll see how this plays out. I find myself whining about how no one takes my other, personal blog seriously. However, upon reading many of the entries, I can understand why that is. As fun as stream-of-consciousness writing is, it is hard to be taken too seriously when any legitimate thoughts one may have are jumbled amongst painfully hysterical YouTube clips. That's why I have created this place. I wanted to have somewhere I could post my own thoughts, and occasionally the thoughts of others, in relation to an increasingly broad range of theological topics. The title of this blog is "An Old Emergence." I chose this title and web address to highlight a few things about me and about what I will be saying here. I have a new appreciation for the connection of church history with contempor...