Update on Sabbatical
As you can see from the photos above, the Tumaini Lutheran School projects are nearing completion. They have ordered and received all of their texts books, built most of their walls, and nearly finished their new library. They are very excited and grateful for all of the support and means to make these necessities come to fruition. So, thank you all!
I can’t believe it’s already June. Sabbatical feels like it’s flying by. I spent the first couple of weeks at Priest Lake studying (see photo of sunset). Then had a week at a conference in Tucson for Lead Pastors of Larger Churches (see photo with cactus). Then I had another two weeks at Priest Lake studying again. Finally, a week of vacation with the family (see family photo). This was our first all-family vacation in five years. We were suppose to have gone on a vacation in 2020, but of course that was canceled. Finally, we were able to go and enjoy some time together, and get some sun and warmth. Now I am home for a couple of weeks before leading a congregational trip to Israel on June 15. The time at home these two weeks is in part getting ready for the Israel trip, in part doing some much neglected projects around home, and in part more time reading.
My first few months of sabbatical was focused on reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I plan to write in August based on the reflections of these readings. My interest is in what this Lutheran pastor’s circumstance and theological reflections from Germany during WWII, as well as his imprisonment and martyrdom, can influence and inform our theological thinking and ethics in these challenging and troubling circumstances today. So far I have read the following:
Bonhoeffer on Resistance by Michael P. DeJonge
Bonhoeffer’s Theological Formation by Michael P. DeJonge
Bonhoeffer’s Reception of Luther by Michael P. DeJonge
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Letters & Papers From Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Worldly Preaching by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Vol. 2
And currently reading Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I read a couple of these books leading up to sabbatical. Before I finish reading and begin writing, I want to complete Ethics and Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer, and perhaps Vol. 1 of his collected sermons. Other books I have previously read will also contribute to this project including: Seculosity by David Zahl; Woke Racism by John McWhorter; How (Not) To Be Secular – Reading Charles Taylor by James K.A. Smith; Jesus & John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez; Karl Barth’s Emergency Homiletic – 1932-1933: A Summons to Prophetic Witness at the Dawn of the Third Reich by Angela Dienhart Hancock; and Martin Luther’s Theology – A Contemporary Interpretation by Oswald Bayer.
One would think/hope there might be something profound to say, and clarity to communicate, after all of this reading, but I must confess I have become more unclear about issues, and find less certitude within me as to ethics and guidance to offer. I pray for that clarity when it comes time to write. I pray for something to say. If what I discern from Barth and Bonhoeffer is somewhat accurate, perhaps prayer and the Word is where we all need to begin and end. So, in addition to all of the reading on Bonhoeffer, I have been reading one chapter in the O.T., two Psalms, and translating a portion from Romans every day, as well as spending time in prayer daily.
I keep you all in my prayers. I give thanks to God for you, and for your generous gift of this time. I pray for our ministry that it may be faithful and fruitful. I pray for our world – for peace, reconciliation, repentance (on all our parts), and for the forgiveness of Jesus to permeate our thoughts, our talks, and our actions as we try to live out our lives and faith in this world. Peace be with you all.
– Your brother in Christ, Pastor Jim