Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Preventing Grace

Home
Evangelical
7 Saving Takes

7 Saving Takes

Last updated on: November 9, 2018 at 9:39 am by Anne Kennedy

7 Saving Takes 2018-11-09T09:39:02-04:00 Anne Kennedy

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

You survived the week! So did I, barely.

One
Yesterday, as you no doubt saw, the Pelican Project launched, and in one day gathered up over a thousand twitter followers. Here is the CT article I meant to come back in and link, but never managed to. I’ve just spent ten minutes trying to excerpt it and honestly, and I just can’t pull out any single line that stands out against the rest—they are all That Good. You’re going to have to go read the whole thing.

Two
Like any thrilling and necessary idea that starts out as a germ and then is properly drafted, and then redrafted, and edited, and redrafted, and then fixed upon, and then reconsidered, and then just tweaked one or two more times for good measure, getting to work on this project with so many interesting and diverse personalities and backgrounds has made the last two years a delight. If there could ever be an encouragement to the church, it should be that in a single day our commitments were written down and agreed upon whole heartedly. Of course, we reworded everything a hundred times, but those commitments are there in their first complete essence. Someone asked on some thread or other if there isn’t too much that divides us, if our different theological view points won’t be too big and how can we possibly “amplify” that about which we cannot agree. The answer to which is, go look at our commitments. That which is orthodox is substantial, complete, and compelling. And that which is non-essential has been made to take up all of the oxygen of most of us Christians for several decades. To be able to say, ‘this is essential, this is what we’re doing together,’ was such an obvious and easy thing that only God could have done it. Which he did. And I’m so grateful I feel like crying.

Three
But I won’t. I’ll save it for Sunday afternoon for the opera, because now whenever Suor Angelica collapses, dying in the most divinely clear tragical soprano notes, around the neck of my child, I do weep every time. I can’t believe I didn’t even know this opera existed a month ago, and that now the music is embedded in my very dreams.

Four

Truly, what I like best about this operatic experience has been watching the child who generally runs all her words together, who whispers, who seems prepared to apologize for her very existence, who is always bullied by her two inch taller little sister, is now standing at the door of her dressing room, triumphant, ready to climb into the exalted realm of heaven on the hand of a gloriously singing nun-chorus member, back straight, vowels clear, lisp gone, and who, to my great satisfaction, looked her enormous baby sister square in the eye yesterday and, voice dripping with condescension, told her where to get off. So many beautiful things are coming together in this one moment. To behold the triumphant put down of the bully with the glorious words, “Salvami, Salvami” ringing in our spiritual background has made life truly worth living.

Five
This article by David French is really good though discouraging. And confirms for me again the critically necessary work of thoughtfully and methodically and unrelentingly building up the local church. My church is in a neighborhood filled with all kinds of desperation and despair. So many people walk through our doors who are right on the edge, who are grasping for sanity and hope with everything they have, but who are wary, sure that probably Jesus isn’t the way to anywhere they want to go. But you stick there, one by one, offering that single way, offering to pray, offering to listen, until your feet hurt. We don’t really need more twitter and facebook—although finding support and encouragement on social media is totally fine, especially if it is in the form of the Pelican Project—we need more people strengthened in their spiritual core, more people standing long and prayerfully, quietly and unrelenting articulating the gospel to one person after another, offering the mercy and grace of Jesus to those who are, now every week, literally perishing. This is the work that will last, that will silently overturn the desperation of individual people who matter and who don’t know where to go or who to be or what to do.

Six
One thing I have discovered about raising children over the last decade and a half is that most children need, and long for more than anything, the satisfaction of competency. I had read this in books when surrounded by babies and cheerios ground into the carpet. But I didn’t really know, even for myself, how important it is to be able to do something, and do it well. Most of us know what it feels like to do a job all the way from its beginning point to its ending one, and we know the relief and satisfaction. But we also know the pain, the struggle, the discouragement. And often those three loom over and obscure the sense of relief and joy that come from hard won success.

Looking into the face of a child, I always whisper to myself, ‘It’ll be easier if I just do it myself.’ And that is certainly true. But it isn’t right or good. It is better to let another person struggle along doing something badly, giving him room to figure it out, giving her space to struggle and sort it out on her own terms, to help when asked, rather than to leap in and do for another person something he will ultimately be happier doing alone. I say this as a way of trying to come to terms with the exuberant self-confidence of a teenager who used to be a lot more apologetic and check in with me a lot more and who I thought was one kind of person but turns out to be a completely different kind of person.

Seven
Well, there you are, better go read some real takes. I will arise and go stare at my children in a baffled silence while they organize their lives and yell at each other. You can find me on twitter scrolling along, obsessively looking at the number of Pelican twitter followers. It’s the right thing to do. I hope you’ll join me.

In conversation with children

Work and the Christian

Previous Post

November 8, 2018

The Pelican Project

Next Post

November 11, 2018 The Word Never Says What You Want To Hear

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Children in Conversation culture watch Daily Devotions Demotivations with Anne faith alone for the grandparents GAFCON In conversation with children In the News Kitchen Notes Lambeth Learning Notes Life Going On Men are Human Notes from Home Pictures Reading the Bible Saturday Links Sermons Signs of the Apocalypse The Bad Word Association The Prayer of Jonah Travel Notes Uncategorized Witless Wednesdays Work and the Christian

Select a Month June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What king was known for writing many proverbs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hezekiah David Saul Solomon

Books by This Author Books by Anne Kennedy

See All Titles »