Pastoral Thought--September 7

 On my first day of Reformed Dogmatics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary my professor walked into class and began his introduction as I expected. Sitting before us, Andrew never moved from his chair. He crossed his leg and began to introduce the topic before turning to his co-teacher, Charles, and asked what he’d like to add. 

Back and forth they went discussing and reflecting on the direction that cause would take. It was so informal and like nothing that I experienced before. 

For someone who thrives on taking notes and writing down what is written on the white board, this was hard. 

Andrew told us that the study of Reformed Dogmatics, or Reformed theology, was a lot like living in Pittsburgh (at this point I was clueless). Having spent only about 2 hours in Pittsburgh by this point, I wondered what could he possibly mean—theology is like living in Pittsburgh??

Then he smiled, and in a thick Scottish accent, while trying to mimic a Pittsburgh accent, said: “Yinz can’t get there from here.” I had no idea what he was talking about but chuckled as everyone else did. Only years later do I understand what he means. His words were true. . . you can’t get there from here.  

Then this morning I read Patrick Keifert’s book, We are Here Now, and Andrew’s words came back to mind and I smiled again. Keifert says: 

An Old Irish tale goes, “A man decides he wants to go to a very special place in the west of Ireland. Being a total stranger to Ireland, he decides to ask for directions. He asks the first knowledgable looking stranger, someone who looks local, ‘Can you tell me how to get to this place?’ The local responds, ’Never heard of it. But if I were going there, I wouldn’t start from here.’ “

Often we think that we know the destination, but upon reflection we don’t have a clue how to get there together. 

And that is the challenge for the church that we are called to live into. Can we get there. . , together? Can we be bold enough to ask for help? To listen? To wonder and to ask questions that move the conversation onward? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek