Is it Friday? Already?

This has been a quick, different week.

I wrapped up the semester at Oakland City U. Gave the final on Monday and finished up all the grades on Tuesday. Only one person got an A; some got A minuses. Lots of Bs, a couple of Cs and a D. Not bad. It was a good semester. Beginning in January I will teach Introduction to Church History. Quite a few have signed up; should be good.

I had a funeral yesterday, and that seems to change everything. Death truly is a great interruption. It's also a wonderful opportunity to serve. I have often said that I much prefer funerals to weddings. Why? Nobody pays much attention to the theological significance of marriage, but at a funeral things are considerably different. It's where our hope becomes real. People are listening.

I read a couple of things this morning that struck me. First from Hebrews. The writer is talking about how the old covenant is inferior to the new. He is talking about how the priests in the old covenant were fallible (unlike Jesus). In the midst of that conversation (5:2) he says this about the priest:

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.

I find this convicting. Not sure I am always gentle.

The other thing that struck me was from Henri Nouwen in With Burning Hearts - A Meditation on the Eucharisitic Life.

The word creates what it expresses. The Word of God is always sacramental. In the book of Genesis we are told that God created the world, but in Hebrew the words for "speaking" and for "creating" are the same word.

Under the influence of post-liberal thought I have often said, "Words create worlds." These words from Nouwen line up with that really well. The words we speak and the way we speak them create worlds. Oh be careful little mouth what you say.

Running has been a challenge this week. I had severe scheduling conflicts on Monday and Wednesday, along with a little motivational problem. I had a good run Tuesday and plan to do several miles today and tomorrow.

Some of my running friends are heading to Huntsville today to run the Rocket City Marathon. I wanted to go watch/support them, but I just can't swing it. I think they will do really well.