I was leading a discussion in class this evening (intro to theology) about the loss of theology as teaching or pastoral in the life of the church and merely an academic enterprise. I discussed enlightenment epistmology's pedastalizing of reason to the detriment of more holistic interpretations of truth. Surprisingly enough several of them were into it. Of course by November they had heard me say such things a few times, as well as the need for theology to be relevant and plugged into the vitality of the church.

All of a sudden, one of the women in the class asked if there would be time in the semester to discuss prosperity gospel issues. She mentioned how in one of her classes a foreign (South American) professor had pointed out that prosperity preaching would not fly in his homeland (I don't think he used the word "fly"). So she wanted to talk about prosperity and the roots of the theology in our culture.

This sparked more conversation in the class about what it means to be North American and be aware of other contexts. What does it mean to be part of a culture that is so affluent? How do we rectify that with what we see to be true with the Church throughout the world? I am looking forward to further dialogue with my students even as the semester is wanes. They are coming to see that a proper definition of theology does have something to say about who they are in this world and what they are becoming. That it is not just right statements, but theology is right hearts, right faiths, right action all rolled up into one- something about integration.

This is not to say I have had anything to do with this. I have muddied the waters as much as anything. Its as much a desire to live right on their part as anything.

I was thinking earlier today about the whole issue of theodicy, or the justice of God (which also deals with the problem of evil) when I received a phone call. I was preparing a lecture on the subject over the past week for my class, so I was sorta forced to look at the issue. It was quite disheartening really. The more I look around at stuff, the less I have answers that make sense of it. The way lives around me have turned out were unanticapated to say the least.

About the time I was going to sit down and type this out I received a phone call as I mentioned above. It was my Mom telling me my brother had received early leave from the Army and was home. He had spent the last year in Iraq, and we knew he had returned to the states. We did not expect him for another week, so this came as quite a surprise. So I met up with him at Waffle House, his usual haunt, and proceeded to spend the day with him and my family.

Considering that my reflections on question of theodicy and the problems of this world revovled around so much of the past year, including the absence of my brother in that year was not an insignificant part of that year, I found it ironic that my reflection and his return coincided as they did. The justice of God is incomprehensible, and so much of life is without explaination. But even in inequity there is grace, a grace that ultimately is sufficient.

This is the first attempt at blogging for me. I am not the most adept at technology so it is interesting to have gotten this far. I also carry around some level of paranoia about writing about myself. Don't get me wrong, I am plenty self absorbed, just guitly about it occasionally.