Wednesday’s thoughts on the sermon
Several things were interesting to me as I have done research on the life and thinking of the Process Theologian Henry Nelson Wieman. One of the problems he faced as a young man was the issues that come with being a preacher’s child. The fact that his father was a Presbyterian preacher meant that he had to move from one location to another at a particularly difficult time in his life and there were five boys who picked on him. I’m guessing he was Junior High age when this happened. He received no support from the other kids and his teacher was the sister of one of the bullies who beat him up regularly.
It has a very negative effect on his life. In fact Wieman said, “For years a nameless, unreasoning fear would at times come over me in small groups where everyone else was happy and convivial if the group was small enough to be at all comparable to the group of boys in that desert town. I think it always hindered the freedom and spontaneity of my association with groups.”
In Virginia a college student who was mentally ill and who had experienced rejection and bullying picked up a gun and killed 32 people. Henry Nelson Wieman, who experienced some of the same kind of abuse, picked up his life and developed an idea that any person can make a difference and that all people are supported by the creative and transforming process that is alive in the world.
It kind of comes down to the fact that we each have a decision to make. Will we bent to the forces of destruction or will we lift ourselves beyond the world as it is to work to make the world a better place?
Wieman is convinced we do no work alone. He believes there is God in our world asking us to become co-creators.
Have you ever felt rejection?
Have you ever experienced the pull of something beyond yourself that seemed to be inviting you to work toward the transformation of your world?
If you relate to any of this would you write me about it? My email address is charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to let others see your response click the “comments” box.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles
