Theology is everywhere!
I was director of alumni services and development at Southeast Missouri State University for 26 years and then retired. I also have my Master's in Religious Education from Midwestern Baptist Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. and have written for many religious publications.
I was born in Charleston, Mo., daughter of a Baptist preacher, and I am the mother of three grown children.
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Frederick Buechner and Wishful Thinking
Posted Wednesday, April 3, 2013, at 11:34 AMIf I had a favorite theologian, Frederick Buechner would be right up there. I have most of his books and they are in threads. I love "Wishful Thinking" if, for no other reason that it has one line in it! "All theology, like all fiction, is, at its heart, autobiography!" Later, in The Sacred Journey, he added, " The place God takes you to is where your deep gladness and world's deep hunger, meet!"... -
Preterition
Posted Monday, March 25, 2013, at 8:38 AMEvery day I have a "Dictionary" entry that comes up on my computer so that I can read new words to see if I have even a speaking acquaintance with them. Yesterday's word was "Preterition" and it means "the act of passing over or by; disregarding". In this world which calls for justice and equality, it is a good word. ... -
Oh, my aching back!
Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at 9:49 AMI have had a bad back which goes out at most inopportune moments since I was hurt in a carwreck when I was a senior in high school. I know it as well as I do anything. Today I came down to the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher, and bam, I was down for the count! I crept over to the couch and the heating pad and knew it was all over for me for a day. ... -
Love in Action
Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at 9:45 AMI read Mike Parry's Facebook entry Tuesday morning (Oct 16, 2012)and it struck a chord with me. All it said was, "For I was hungry and you fed me". These were words of Jesus in Matthew 25:35 but they have always been a standard for me in what Christianity was all about. It still is... -
My son comes home!
Posted Monday, September 24, 2012, at 8:42 AMMy son comes home! It has been a long time since Jim has been home and I sit waiting for Jim and Laurie to drive up. I have sat on the front porch and watched until I am worn out with watching. All day long I have thought of funny things that have happened in the raising of Jim. (who, by all accounts, was not an easy-raise at times.) He keeps calling from the road and each time I hear the rising excitement and I am certain he can say the same of me... -
Wrestling with God
Posted Monday, September 24, 2012, at 8:39 AMI love the story in Genesis 32 about Jacob wrestling with God. Jacob had spent his life trying to outshine and outdo everyone around him in order to get the big piece of the pie. Of course, he could always justify his own conduct in his own mind. He cheated his brother, Esau, out of his birthright and everything else that mattered. ... -
A Biblical View of Friendship
Posted Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 10:46 AMLast night I went to St. Louis to Southeast Salutes honoring distinguished St. Louis alumni. The alumni director asked me to attend and I thought that I had been gone away from the event long enough that it would be fun to attend. I kept thinking of people I wanted to see --people I had loved for so long and who were such a part of my 26 years as Alumni Director. ... -
Did Jesus Have A Wife?
Posted Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 10:42 AMThe theological controversy has hit all the major television stations as of yesterday. Dr. Karen King, of Harvard Divinity School, announced that she had located a 4th-century papyrus fragment of a special scroll referring to the supposed fact that Jesus had a wife... -
No Greater Love!
Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2012, at 8:56 AMI have always loved the verse found in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." It just took me many years to understand that we "lay down our lives" in many ways for the people we love. In the past few days, we have watched President Obama recite the verse as he took part in the transferral of remains ceremony for Ambassador Stevens and the three other men who were killed in the Libya raid. ... -
Anthea Butler gets Tweeted!
Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2012, at 8:53 AMI came home from lunch, flipped on the television and faced an interview program with Dr. Anthea Butler, religion professor at University of Pennsylvania. She had tweeted that the so-called Sam Bacille, who did the controversial trailer of the Mohammed portrayal on film, should be in jail himself. This brought her a whole new set of Twitter un-pals... -
Shunning is not just a word; its an act!!
Posted Monday, September 17, 2012, at 10:00 AMSunday, September 16, 2012Shunning is not just a word; it's an act! Shunning is an act of social or mental rejection. We think of the Amish or the Mennonites when we think of this being done in a religious setting. But it can and does happen in many churches and in many secular worlds. The Amish call is "meidung", the German word for avoidance...