Father Weedon finds it amusing to put me on the spot. I'm just listing the four that came immediately to mind. Spiritual shapers in my own personal life: terribly predictable, I'm afraid.
What five people - past or present - inspire your spiritual life??
Hmmm...
OK, we know that our Lord Himself has to be at the top of the list, so He is assumed. Your five simply follow Him. In Lutheran circles, we will also presume "Fr. Martin of Wittenberg" as well. :-)
So the five would be additional people who (humanly speaking) have greatly impacted your life of faith and love on this earth.
1. My Own Husband. So true a model of integrity, longsuffering, and duty that I still can't figure out what he's doing with a duplicitous, whiny slothbag like me. Furthermore, there's no one whose sermons I'd rather hear every week. Book bonus: Gerhard's Sacred Meditations, which I found lovingly buried in a pile of stuff in his car one day when I had a doctor's appointment and needed waiting room reading material.
2. My Own Father. The man is pious. The man prays. I grew up knowing how Christians live because I saw it every day. (And mom, of course, but we all know no one notices moms and no hard feelings. ;) ) Book bonus: Pia Desideria. He told me that Pietism certainly deserved to be knocked around, but that I should read the book before engaging in knocking myself so as not to violate the Eighth Commandment in relation to our brother in Christ, Philipp Jakob. Good advice.
3. The Rev Dr Nagel (how do you like that, WW?). If not the prime mover, the heavyweight behind the other major paradigm shift in my life. I am forever grateful. Book bonus: This Is My Body, required text for S-413 at Concordia Seminary, Winter Quarter 2001.
4. Father Confessors past and present. That would be two regulars and two drive-bys (as is occasionally necessary in the life of someone for whom getting out is difficult). Theirs are the voices which ring with Christ's Words in my ears when my hours are heavy, and I still ponder and treasure their own words of counsel. Thank you, if you're reading. I remember. (No book bonus as everything these gentleman have given me is in the aural tradition.)
I tag Reb. Mary and Gauntlets in the comments. It's fun to think about while you're feeding the baby (or gestating the baby, as the case may be). Also Pam although she doesn't technically have a blog at the moment, with the intention of inspiring her to get that party started for the greater good. ;)
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3 comments:
Nagel rocks. I have his baptism sermons on CD.
Good list. I'll think on it...
I'll squeeze this in before the post gets bumped from the page.
1. My husband. He who knows better how to tame a shrew, let him now speak. And I don't know if I would have survived this long if he hadn't been around for those 3 a.m. conversations that always began, "BUT HOW DO I KNOW THAT I'M SAVED!?!"
2. My mother. I can only think of one better female model of Christian submission and humility. I only hope that, while I'm promised an eschatological resemblance to the greater, I might yet grow up to temporally resemble the lesser.
3. Rev. Dr. Scott Murray. His sermons changed everything.
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