A Passionate Summer
July 7, 2010 by Stephen Schneider
In her wonderfully engaging book, Jesus Freak, Sara Miles, the Director of the Food Pantry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, writes about Paul, her priest colleague:
“. . . Paul . . .understood how to wake up people steeped in the habits of church, who found it impossible to believe that they had the power Jesus breathed on them. His practice began with asking questions: What do you want? What do you love doing?”
Miles goes on to say.
“In this Paul was following the teachings of Gregory of Nyssa, who pointed out that we are most like God in our desire. Everybody desires something: even if you’re shy or cynical or convinced that nothing will ever change, there’s almost always something you want more of—just as God wants more of us.”
What do you love doing?
This is good question as we face the summer season which will soon unfold before us.
I find that summer is an appropriate time to go a little deeper into the adventure of what it means to be fully alive. Summer is a time to regain momentum and reawaken passion.
As for me, I hope to be doing this in several ways—by stretching the mind and by exploring God’s creation.
On my reading list for the summer are: Wolf Hall, a novel by Hilary Mantel about the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell at the time of Henry VIII; A Secular Age by McGill university philosopher Charles Taylor; and, since this is the 400th anniversary of the death of one of my favorite painters, Helen Langdon’s biography, Caravaggio: A Life.
I also expect to take to some familiar—and always renewing—day hikes in the Columbia Gorge, as well as to pursue a few new trails that I’ve wanted to try out.
Here at Grace during the summer months we will be doing some stretching and exploring as well, as we seek to become more fully a church for the 21st century.
Summer is a time for passionate people.
I hope during the months ahead you will take some time to nurture your passions.
And I also hope that you will also find a way during these days to allow the passionate adventure of faith to draw you more deeply into a life of service.