Dear Friends in Christ, I was talking with a friend recently who was complaining that his data bank was so full, he was starting to forget things. Sometimes we call it a senior moment. I call it a middler moment. The truth is - even children have difficulty remembering. Dr. Davis Chappell
I consider myself a life-time student and I have a hunger for knowledge. With our technology it is possible to get access to just about anything we care to know. Knowledge is important. But knowledge is not necessarily the same as wisdom. Knowledge is about information. Wisdom involves reflection and application. Knowledge enables us to construct, create and build. Wisdom enables us to know what to build, and when. Margaret Bendroth has written a book called The Spiritual Practice of Remembering. In it she talks about our inattention to tradition. "At its heart," she says, "a religious tradition is a long conversation." Jaroslav Pelikan writes, "we will never understand our faith by progressively sloughing off more and more of our tradition, as though insight would be purest and deepest when it has finally freed itself of the dead past." A creative, insightful conversation builds on what has been said before, exploring nuances and suggesting different interpretations but never assuming that the people who began it have nothing more to say and can safely be ignored. The living don't own the conversation any more than those in the past, nor those yet to come.
As Christians in the Wesleyan tradition we value tradition. Traditions are formed by remembering and reflecting. We are not traditionalists, in the sense that we are held captive by the past. But we appreciate our faith customs and practices particularly as we understand their origins and meanings. They connect us and at the same time give us wings. Last Saturday, Sherre and I attended the 60th birthday of the Robert I. Moore Sunday School class. We were privileged to hear stories of the past. They began in 1954 as a young adult class. The pictures and anecdotes reminded them (and us) of who we are as the church. There were laughter and tears. It occurred to me as we listened that we don't do that enough. We don't stop to remember, reflect and give thanks. Tradition is a good word. It is an act of remembering. And it usually leads to a renewed sense of doing. The Hebrew word for remember is zakar. It means imprint. The word is used over and over in the Scriptures. Remember the rock from which you were hewn. Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Remember me, when you come into your kingdom. Do this in remembrance of me. It's vital to life and faith. As I write this e-Note today, I remember you in my prayers. I am thankful for a faithful past and a promised future. Finally, it was good to welcome new members Brett Nelson, Al and Lynn Spaw, Melissa and John Lynch Jr., Amy, Tripp, Mary Ely and Brock Lodge Jr., Jeff, Gigi, Sydney, Avery, and Virginia Johns, Bruce and Jessica Miller, and Phil, Jan, and Mark Jamieson at our Brentwood campus. We also welcome Bruce and Jessica Miller, Chip, Anne, Carter, and Eva Belle Patterson, and Elijah Grones to our Trinity Church campus. Welcome to our church community. Yours in Christ,
Davis