LTSP Blogs

On Tuesday, February 7, 2012, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) concluded its “One Seminary/One Book” initiative on the book Exodus from Hunger (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010) with a convocation featuring the author, David Beckmann. Dr.

I am writing this response to a YouTube video circulating widely on the Internet in in which Eddie Long, the troubled pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta GA, is apparently crowned king with the ritual use of a Jewish Torah scroll.

Going to the beach in the winter is not something I had ever thought much about. In the best of circumstances I am not really a beach person.  I do not like the feel of sand in my clothes or between my toes. I do not drink tropical drinks with little umbrellas in them.  I am not a super strong swimmer and the rough surf beats my knees up. And I do not like to be in the sun too much.

Yesterday we saw a great new movie about Margaret Thatcher, called The Iron Lady. Meryl Streep is a tour de force in the role. The film is about England under the leadership of the first and only female Prime Minister in their long history. She is depicted in an interesting contrast to her public persona. In real life she was thought to be defiant, demanding, and difficult. The movie shows other sides to this powerful woman.

My family is made up of late arrivals to the Doctor Who phenomenon. We came to it backwards. We saw the Torchwood: Miracle Day series on STARZ last year and then watched the earlier episodes of Torchwood through DVDs from Netflix. That led us to try Doctor Who, the series from which Torchwood evolved. So now we are seeing some of the earlier incarnations of Doctor Who – played by other actors from the previous ten evolutions of the series.

I had a very interesting discussion at lunch today about prayer. I was eating with a group of Interfaith Clergywomen and the subject came up in connection to a family health crisis that one of our group members recently experienced. The subject of prayer was discussed from several different faith traditions, and it was interesting how we all viewed prayer as essential but also from very different perspectives, in some ways.

This weekend is full of traditions. We will ring in the New Year at home watching favorite movies and will eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day so we will have good luck. We will call our family and wish them a great year. We will stay off the roads and away from drunken revelers.

Christmas is an amazing time of year. It is filled with shopping trips and lists of things to do. It is filled with writing cards and spending time on line at the local post office. It is filled with family gatherings and craziness with relatives you seldom get to spend time with. It is filled with rich food and too many snacks sitting around to munch on.

I have heard of some pretty serious hovering parents – often called Helicopter Parents – in my life and I try not to be the same way. I protect my kid as best I can but I have to let him lead his own life. I cannot hover over him and/or force him to make the decisions I want him to make. I understand that sometimes he will make good decisions. And sometimes he won’t.

The other day I was asked by a pastor friend why some of his newer members sometimes ask “clueless questions” about worship. “They should know this stuff,” he said. It was an “aha” moment for him when I asked if these folks had grown up in the church. They hadn’t.