God and Nature

Which class is fed by steady doses of U2, Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, and Smashing Pumpkins? God and Nature when taught by Brian Walsh. Although we really missed not having Sylvia here, Madeline and Lydia brought a youthful spirit to the Nab and sketching and watercoloring with Irene in the afternoons provided an always encouraged creative escape. Brian is inclined to provocation and he didn’t disappoint. First morning Brian swiftly disabused us of the cherished notion that the gospel is primarily about going to heaven when you die. In so doing, he helped us see how our reading of Scripture can be, and often is, distorted by alien categories we impose on the text. Armed with his “hermeneutical rules” (such as “Read the New Testament with Old Testament eyes” and “What is the therefore there for?”), Brian gave us the tools with which to read Scripture on its own terms so as to begin a reconstruction of our worldview that is more faithful to the biblical witness. Hopefully we came out of the class with new eyes with which to read the Bible and to see the world, with imaginations renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit, and with wisdom about the art of living well as agents of shalom in God’s good creation. Oh, I almost forgot. We also shared bedtime stories each night, another indispensable part of the art of living well. Milk and cookies were a nice added touch the last evening.