Notes from my Knapsack 7-6-23
Jeff Gill
While the days are still long
___
While I've not shied away from personal statements here in this space, I want to make a particularly personal plea. Or a number of them.
Yes, we've passed the summer solstice, and since June 24 days are getting shorter, first in seconds, then by minutes per day, to the shortest of all come December 21. Then from Christmas the days begin to lengthen again.
For now, though, the days are long. The sun rises around 6 am, our evenings still stretch with dusk past 9 pm. There are things we can do.
Friends, please, if you can at all, go take a walk. This is not a command to exercise, or a warning of losing muscle tone, though those all have their place. I'm just saying you need the air of the outdoors, the light of the sun (sure, hats, sunscreen, caution in exposure, but still…), the song of the birds. Please, take a walk. When it gets dark earlier, when the cold winds blow perhaps a bit too chill, you won't want to as much and I'll feel guilty about pushing you out the door. So do it now, please.
If you say "I'm not up to miles cross country" have no fear. Backpacking is a wonderful thing, but I've not done it for too long myself. This isn't about setting records. If you can walk around the block, but no more, do that. You're giving yourself a gift. Just to the mailbox and back? Good on you. Pause at the curb, breath it in, and back inside if you must.
And drink some water. Yes, hydration. No, not eight glasses or ninety-two liters or whatever the latest health craze is. Just drink some water instead of a bottle or can or jug of whatever. It's amazing, water is. I do put some lemon juice in my big bottle I take on the road, so I get wanting some flavor. But just consume a bit more water than you do now. Yes, you.
Finally, if you have someone you want to thank, or even more crucially, someone you have a grudge against, say something now. Maybe it has to be to a third party. But I'm in the middle too often of the sad situation of how a grudge can be one of the last things that leaves a failing mind. Sort it out, now, while you can both reason and perhaps be reasoned with. Do not wait.
Nor should you wait for that thank you; I am blessed to have been able to attend some special 90 and 95 birthdays and 40 or 50 and even 75th anniversaries. This summer, I'm missing the retirement celebrations for a number of friends and associates I'd really like to be present for, but pen and paper will have to do. And I have the memory of a thank you or two that I waited too long for, and now have to aim them at heaven for delivery.
One last such: Monsignor Paul Enke is retiring from Saint Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, and while I'm not one of his flock, I've been proud to count him as a colleague in ministry. He has built much in Granville, and I don't mean in architecture alone, but in human hearts turned towards heaven. Bless you, Paul, and thank you!
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's thinking about simple gifts and small wonders these days. Tell him what you're thinking at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
Monday, June 26, 2023
Faith Works 6-30-23
Faith Works 6-30-23
Jeff Gill
Traditional values and Biblical lifestyles
___
In Christian circles this summer we've been dealing with open splits and angry divisions both within church bodies and in a more ongoing sense between religious traditions. Many of the disputes have been framed as liberal perspectives versus conservative traditions, and the Southern Baptist Convention tension around women in leadership, or the United Methodist Church divisions over LGBT affirmation, have been intensified by political overtones.
I'll be honest. Both politically and theologically I'm a homeless moderate. A friend online suggested once there should be a "Homeless Moderate Party." That opens up the question whether such a movement would fill a stadium, a conference room, or a phone booth (old man, what's a phone booth?). It's an interesting question, and one I can't answer other than to say I run into a fair number of HMP sympathizers. But that could be observer bias.
What I can say is that I have tried in my stewardship of this space, aimed at a general audience as has been my editorial mandate since the beginning of this column, and in truth during my time as a parish minister in multiple church settings, to advocate something rather old fashioned, even traditional. I would speak up in favor of chastity, fidelity, and continence.
Chastity in that one should be chaste, which can be read in a number of ways. It has an association with purity, and there's a socio-political overtone that gives it an awkward ring today, but I'd like to restore it. Chastity simply means restraint, a simpler view of how one expresses oneself, emotionally or intimately.
Fidelity as in you keep your promises. Do people break promises? Between pastoral ministry and work in the court system, I'm pretty well aware of how common that is. But you try with all your might to let your yes be yes, your no be no, and your word is your bond. Trusting grace to carry you through the times you fail, and work to restore trust in your fidelity. But fidelity doesn't stop being a value when it is broken. Call it an aspiration worth fulfilling as much as you can.
Continence has all sorts of complicated associations in the modern era, not the least being better known in relation to incontinence. Perhaps it's too archaic; like fornication, auto-complete and spell check are momentarily baffled by those two words on some platforms. Again, I'd like to renew and restore continence as a value worth affirming: it means self-discipline in all things, not being seized by impulse or compulsion, but knowing the right time or place to speak or act. There is perhaps a reason why the word now is only used about a very narrow aspect of bodily life. We are too used to incontinence as a norm in how we say what we think or feel in the moment the thought occurs. To stop and wait for a better moment is not what society teaches, but it might be a good idea all the same.
I'm interested in how we as people of faith can best affirm what I would call Biblical values: chastity, fidelity, and continence. Really, there's nothing moderate in speaking up for those values, and they challenge all of us, single or married, female or male, LGBT affirming or traditionally oriented.
Gospel means good news, and my faith says that good news is the proclamation of God's love for each and all, made known in Christ Jesus. I believe chastity, fidelity, and continence are tools that make us better able to share that gospel in a world that needs hope and healing.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he trusts in grace for many things, including from his readers. Tell him what you can't forgive at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
Jeff Gill
Traditional values and Biblical lifestyles
___
In Christian circles this summer we've been dealing with open splits and angry divisions both within church bodies and in a more ongoing sense between religious traditions. Many of the disputes have been framed as liberal perspectives versus conservative traditions, and the Southern Baptist Convention tension around women in leadership, or the United Methodist Church divisions over LGBT affirmation, have been intensified by political overtones.
I'll be honest. Both politically and theologically I'm a homeless moderate. A friend online suggested once there should be a "Homeless Moderate Party." That opens up the question whether such a movement would fill a stadium, a conference room, or a phone booth (old man, what's a phone booth?). It's an interesting question, and one I can't answer other than to say I run into a fair number of HMP sympathizers. But that could be observer bias.
What I can say is that I have tried in my stewardship of this space, aimed at a general audience as has been my editorial mandate since the beginning of this column, and in truth during my time as a parish minister in multiple church settings, to advocate something rather old fashioned, even traditional. I would speak up in favor of chastity, fidelity, and continence.
Chastity in that one should be chaste, which can be read in a number of ways. It has an association with purity, and there's a socio-political overtone that gives it an awkward ring today, but I'd like to restore it. Chastity simply means restraint, a simpler view of how one expresses oneself, emotionally or intimately.
Fidelity as in you keep your promises. Do people break promises? Between pastoral ministry and work in the court system, I'm pretty well aware of how common that is. But you try with all your might to let your yes be yes, your no be no, and your word is your bond. Trusting grace to carry you through the times you fail, and work to restore trust in your fidelity. But fidelity doesn't stop being a value when it is broken. Call it an aspiration worth fulfilling as much as you can.
Continence has all sorts of complicated associations in the modern era, not the least being better known in relation to incontinence. Perhaps it's too archaic; like fornication, auto-complete and spell check are momentarily baffled by those two words on some platforms. Again, I'd like to renew and restore continence as a value worth affirming: it means self-discipline in all things, not being seized by impulse or compulsion, but knowing the right time or place to speak or act. There is perhaps a reason why the word now is only used about a very narrow aspect of bodily life. We are too used to incontinence as a norm in how we say what we think or feel in the moment the thought occurs. To stop and wait for a better moment is not what society teaches, but it might be a good idea all the same.
I'm interested in how we as people of faith can best affirm what I would call Biblical values: chastity, fidelity, and continence. Really, there's nothing moderate in speaking up for those values, and they challenge all of us, single or married, female or male, LGBT affirming or traditionally oriented.
Gospel means good news, and my faith says that good news is the proclamation of God's love for each and all, made known in Christ Jesus. I believe chastity, fidelity, and continence are tools that make us better able to share that gospel in a world that needs hope and healing.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he trusts in grace for many things, including from his readers. Tell him what you can't forgive at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
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