THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, October 14, 2010
METHODIST CHURCH, WEIRS-1889
by Rev. Victoria Wood Parrish Contributing Writer
I found a series of note-
books on the book shelf this week that I didn’t rec- ognize. Taking one down, I realized that there were notes taken in class dur- ing seminary in 1973. At that time, I was a young woman, just out of music school and learning the new language of theol- ogy. In the section for the
class “Sermon on the Mount”, there is a list of theologians and their con- nections to different theol- ogies – dispensationalism, pre-dispensationalism, eschatology, Harnack, Sweitzer, Darby, Scofield, Kagawa, and others. In a side bar, I had writ-
ten, “I am getting these all messed up.” I can remember those
days – even though I had come to graduate school with the faith I had learned in Sunday School and church, there was so much more to learn. I came with the basics and I had faith, but opening before me was a world that tied Christ to the world and the God in much deeper ways. I learned that there were many sources for scrip- ture, and that in translat- ing ancient words to mod- ern languages and mod- ern times, we sometimes lose a bit of humor or the meaning of an obscure word. Even if we had the ability to read in original languages, the world view was different in the past than it is today. But, like all seminar-
ians, I sat through class and struggled to learn. Now it is almost forty
years later. Concepts that were difficult then seem so clear now. But I have to remember that the concepts which I think are clear, may not be clear to
COMMUNITY CHURCH MEDITATIONS LEARNING AND RELEARNING
new learners. I have to remember that my trans- lations and understand- ings may be different than those of another person. I have to remember that there is always more to learn. Faith is a very personal
part of our lives. The Christian church is divid- ed into many denomina- tions because we interpret our holy book and our holy history in different ways. If you are not Christian, we have the same problem – Muslims are divided into various sects, Buddhists and Hindus follow differ- ent paths within their own faith systems. Each of us think our
way is the best way, if not the only way. Yet, as a teacher, I know
that students learn in dif- ferent ways and at differ- ent speeds. Some can only deal with a small amount of information at a time and others can grapple with multiple levels at the same time. Some re- fuse to move beyond their comfort level, so they stay on an elementary plane. Others will fly off in differ- ent directions on different days and have trouble
settling down to follow one path. If God is so much greater
than I am, would not God understand that we are each students learning in our own ways? Christ’s disciples were
a diverse group with vari- ous expectations of him and of their world. They had faith in God and they learned to be faithful to Christ. But he taught them in many ways – ver- bally, through example, by sending them out to put actions into practice. Still, it wasn’t until after his death and resurrec- tion that they began to understand – and even then, they had to work out their understandings together. They debated the rela-
tionship between the old laws and the holiness code in the light of the new covenant and God’s grace. They had to decide what resurrection meant and who they were in this new faith order. I can’t imagine what it was like to birth a new understanding of God and a new faith! And yet, every time each
of us learns something new, we go through that
Proverbs Moment “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn
Shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” Proverbs 4:18
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same process. We may be excited or we may feel like our faith is shaken. Just remember, through
our struggles of faith, God is there, calling us, chal- lenging us, supporting us, teaching us. We don’t cre- ate God; God creates us.
Rev. Victoria Wood Par-
rish is the pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Gilford, NH, located on Route 11-A. It is a congregation of open
hearts, open minds, and open doors. We invite you to worship with us on Sundays at 10:30 AM Children’s activities and nursery are available dur- ing the 10:30 morning wor- ship. We also invite you to the United Methodist Church in the Weirs, 35 Tower St., which worships at 9:30 AM. There are also many other local congrega- tions who would welcome you to worship.
23
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