Stephen W. Hiemstra's Blog, page 19
March 23, 2025
Petition for the Holy Spirit
By Stephen W. Hiemstra
Spirit of God,
All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you sustain and provision all living things, live within us, and grant us all manner of spiritual gifts. Be ever near.
Forgive our lack of spiritual knowledge, unwillingness to practice forgiveness, and unbecoming haughty nature. Father of all holiness, create in us clean hearts.
Thank for teaching us the spiritual gifts of “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23) May we ever share these gifts with everyone we meet.
Grant us discerning hearts and minds that we might love the things that you love and hate the things that you hate.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen
Petition for the Holy Spirit
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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Oración del Espíritu Santo
Por Stephen W. Hiemstra
Espíritu de Dios
Toda alabanza y honor, poder y dominio, verdad y justicia son tuyos porque sustentas y provees a todos los seres vivientes, vives dentro de nosotros y nos concedes toda clase de dones espirituales. Estar siempre cerca.
Perdona nuestra falta de conocimiento espiritual, nuestra falta de voluntad para practicar el perdón y nuestra naturaleza indigna y altiva. Padre de toda santidad, crea en nosotros corazones limpios.
Gracias por enseñarnos los dones espirituales de: ¨Amor, gozo, paz, paciencia, benignidad, bondad, fidelidad, mansedumbre, dominio propio.¨ (Gal 5:22-23) Ojalá podamos compartir siempre estos dones con todas las personas que conozcamos.
Concédenos corazones y mentes perspicaces para que podamos amar las cosas que tú amas y odiar las cosas que tú odias.
En el precioso nombre de Jesús, Amén.
Oración del Espíritu Santo
Vea También:
Una Guía Cristiana a la Espiritualidad
Vida en Tensión
Otras Formas de Interactuar en Línea:
Sitio Web del Autor: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Sitio Web del Editor: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Boletín Informativo en: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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March 21, 2025
Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church
The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters.
(Gen 1:2)
By Stephen W. Hiemstra
My recent book, Image and Illumination (2023), asked the question—What does it mean to be created in the image of God?— with a focus on Christian anthropology. In the course of discussion, it became apparent that the image of God in the New Testament takes at least three forms: The person of Jesus, Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God with the parables, and the founding of the church on Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. Here I will focus on the image of the Holy Spirit as found in the church.
The Postmodern Dilemma
We live at a time when the institutional church has lost its appeal for many people, especially young people, who in their heart-of-hearts doubt the teaching of the church and find worship both pointless and boring. Part of this dilemma stems from insufficient attention in the church to spiritual formation and part is due to the rise of materialism as the dominant cultural motif.
Where Nietzsche was the son of a Lutheran pastor and knew what it meant to be a Christian, today we confront sons and daughters of Nietzsche who overlook his insanity, eagerly grasp his will-to-power teaching, and have no clue as to what Christianity is about. So, while social media screams for our attention and standards of living, life expectancy and fertility rates in the United States are all falling, cultural Christianity has proven itself to be sterile and the church mutes the still, small voice of God, distracted with other issues.
In the midst of cultural meltdown and churchly amnesia, ecclesiology—study of the church—remains fervently untiled soil.
Old Testament Images
While the church as we know it is a product of the New Testament, antecedents of the church can be found in the image and work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
The avian image of God’s spirit found in Genesis 1:2 shows a contrast between the primordial chaos and God as creator. While the word used, spirit, is poetic, the core idea here is that the Holy Spirit embodies God’s agency in the world. God is not passive—he is an agent of change through his word. God’s word creates the universe and it is later embodied in covenants written down in scripture and proclaimed by God’s faithful messiahs: Priests, prophets, and kings. God’s agency is both manifested in his footloose spirit and embodied through scripture, temple, and charismatic leaders. The object of this agency is the identification and formation of God’s elect.
The Holy Spirit in Acts
The Holy Spirit is footloose in the Book of Acts as named and unnamed disciples carry the church to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). At the council of Jerusalem, in spite of much opposition the Gospel is provisionally opened to gentiles (Acts 15:19-20). The Gospel reached the furthermost parts of the Roman Empire and beyond within a single generation. The purpose of the spirit in evangelism is to identify those called to be the church.
The Church in Paul’s Writing
The Apostle Paul’s work as an evangelist is mixed with the heart of a pastor in his letters to the churches. Listen to Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth:
“To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” (1 Cor 1:2)
The phrase—called to be saints together—suggests both that our purpose in being called is to become more holy (ἁγίοις) and that this process can only be attained jointly with others called by God. Paul’s favorite description of the church, which is used here, is the called out ones or those called out (ἐκκλησίᾳ). Spiritual formation is accordingly a primary role of the church.
Formed in the Image
The agency of the Holy Spirit works in the church to identify and form Christians. Much like heaven and earth are formed together, hearts and minds must be formed together, if the faithful are to believe.
This unity of heart and mind poses a special challenge in today’s world where heart and mind are frequently treated as separate with one or the other being emphasized. Neglect of the heart leads to a stale, distant faith while neglect of the mind leads to a superficial faith with little application to daily challenges. The image of a Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—reminds us that heart and mind are best taken together.
Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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Imagen del Espíritu Santo y la Iglesia
La tierra estaba sin orden y vacía,
y las tinieblas cubrían la superficie del abismo,
y el Espíritu de Dios se movía sobre la superficie de las aguas.
(Gén 1:2)
Por Stephen W. Hiemstra
Si la Biblia es un documento de alcance evangelístico escrito por y para misioneros (Schnabel 2004, 5-6), entonces el Espíritu Santo es el agente de ese llamado evangelístico. La Imagen del Espíritu Santo y la Iglesia examina la descripción que la Biblia hace del Espíritu Santo desde antes de Pentecostés y el llamado de la iglesia en vista de los desafíos actuales.
Mi libro reciente, Image and Illumination (2023), planteó la pregunta: “¿Qué significa ser creado a imagen de Dios?” centrándose en la antropología cristiana. En esta pregunta está implícita la cuestión metafísica: ¿Quién es Dios? El Nuevo Testamento aborda esta cuestión con tres imágenes de Dios: La persona de Jesús, la enseñanza de Jesús acerca de Dios Padre en las parábolas y la fundación de la iglesia en Pentecostés por el Espíritu Santo. En este libro, mi enfoque es en la imagen del Espíritu Santo y la iglesia.
El Dilema Posmoderno
Nietzsche era hijo de un pastor luterano y sabía lo que significaba ser cristiano, pero lo rechazó. Hoy nos enfrentamos a hijos e hijas de Nietzsche—el santo patrono del posmodernismo—que pasan por alto su locura, se aferran con entusiasmo a su enseñanza sobre la voluntad de poder y no tienen idea de lo que es el cristianismo.
La disminución simultánea de la esperanza de vida, del nivel de vida y de las tasas de fertilidad —problemas presumiblemente evitables— es paralela a una maldición por ignorar el pacto mosaico:
Te desposarás con una mujer, pero otro hombre se acostará con ella; edificarás una casa, pero no habitarás en ella; plantarás una viña, pero no aprovecharás su fruto. (Deut. 28:30 NBH)
Delbert Hillers (1964, 78-79) caracterizó estas aflicciones como maldiciones de futilidad. La religión de la nueva era actual podría llamarlos mal karma, pero la Biblia sugiere que la suerte no tiene nada que ver con ello: Son resultado de darle la espalda al Dios vivo.
Amar tanto las cosas equivocadas que se descuidan las prioridades naturales de la vida—salud, familia y trabajo—sugiere que hay un problema espiritual en el corazón de estas cuestiones aparentemente seculares.
En medio del colapso cultural y la amnesia eclesiástica, la eclesiología—el estudio de la iglesia— sigue siendo un terreno sin cultivar.
Imagen del Antiguo Testamento
Aunque la iglesia tal como la conocemos es un producto del Nuevo Testamento, se pueden encontrar antecedentes de la iglesia en la imagen y obra del Espíritu Santo en el Antiguo Testamento. La imagen aviar del espíritu de Dios que se encuentra en Génesis 1:2 contrasta el caos primordial con un Dios que trae orden. El Espíritu Santo encarna la acción de Dios en el mundo y pone orden a través de sus palabras en la creación, pactos con su pueblo y promesas a sus elegidos.
El Espíritu Santo en Lucas-Hechos
El Espíritu Santo está libre como el viento en el libro de los Hechos mientras discípulos nombrados y anónimos llevan el Evangelio a Jerusalén, Judea, Samaria y los confines de la tierra (Hechos 1:8). En el concilio de Jerusalén, a pesar de mucha oposición, el Evangelio se abre provisionalmente a los gentiles (Hechos 15:19-20). El Evangelio llegó a los confines del Imperio Romano y más allá en una sola generación. El propósito del Espíritu Santo en la evangelización es identificar a aquellos llamados a ser la iglesia, a menudo llamada “El Camino” en el Libro de los Hechos (por ejemplo, 19:9, 19:23, 24:14, 24:22).
La Iglesia en los Escritos de Pablo
La labor del apóstol Pablo como evangelista se mezcla con el corazón de pastor en sus cartas a las iglesias. Escuchen a Pablo en su carta a la iglesia en Corinto: ¨A la iglesia de Dios que está en Corinto, a los que han sido santificados en Cristo Jesús, llamados a ser santos, con todos los que en cualquier parte invocan el nombre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, Señor de ellos y nuestro.¨ (1 Cor. 1:2) La frase—llamados a ser santos juntos—sugiere que nuestro propósito al ser llamados es volvernos más santos y que este proceso sólo puede lograrse conjuntamente con otros llamados por Dios. La formación espiritual es por tanto un papel importante para los “llamados,” que es el nombre preferido de Pablo para la iglesia.
El Espíritu en Juan y Apocalypse
La agencia del Espíritu Santo trabaja en la iglesia para identificar y formar cristianos. Parte de esta identidad es fundición de visión, como vemos en los escritos de Juan. Los escritos de Juan tienen al menos tres características distintivas con respecto al Espíritu Santo: una visión elevada de las Escrituras, imágenes de cuidado pastoral y múltiples imágenes de adoración inspirada por el Espíritu. Así como el cielo y la tierra se forman juntos, los corazones y las mentes deben formarse juntos, si los fieles han de realizar su fe.
Espiritualidad Cristiana
La unidad de corazón y mente plantea un desafío especial en el mundo actual, donde con frecuencia se trata a ambos como si fueran cosas separadas y se enfatiza uno u otro. El descuido del corazón conduce a una fe rancia y distante, mientras que el descuido de la mente conduce a una fe superficial con poca aplicación a los desafíos diarios. La imagen de un Dios Trino —Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo— nos recuerda que el corazón y la mente se combinan mejor.
Imagen del Espíritu Santo y la Iglesia es el segundo libro de mi serie Imagen de Dios. El primer libro, Imagen de Dios en las parábolas, estudia la imagen de Dios Padre que se encuentra en las parábolas de Jesús. Este libro se centra en el papel del Espíritu Santo.
Este libro está escrito en formato devocional con una reflexión, oraciones y preguntas para estudiar. Debido a que las preguntas se han desarrollado para mejorar la comprensión de la reflexión, algunos lectores han comenzado sus devociones revisando las preguntas.
Soli Deo Gloria
Imagen del Espíritu Santo y la Iglesia
Vea También:
Una Guía Cristiana a la Espiritualidad
Vida en Tensión
Otras Formas de Interactuar en Línea:
Sitio Web del Autor: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Sitio Web del Editor: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Boletín Informativo en: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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March 18, 2025
Guinness Enthralls the Called
Os Guinness. 2003. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra
A friend who knows me well, once remarked that my reviews are not so much reviews as commentaries. True enough—I do not fashion myself as a critic so much as a student of the authors that I read. Too many critics that I have known cannot write which, Kant aside, gives them little to work with as critics other than a haughty disposition. But because one must invariably read beyond one’s own talents as a writer, humility is a much more honest starting point. Such is the case for anyone reading Os Guinness’ book, The Call.
Introduction
Guinness states his purpose in writing with these words:
“This book is for all who long to find and fulfill the purpose of their lives.” (4)
Interestingly, even before setting out this mission statement, Guinness argues that life’s purposes are summarized in three perspectives: (1) the Eastern answer—forget it and forget yourself; (2) the secular answer—life has no meaning so invent one yourself; and (3) the biblical answer—we are created in the image of God and he calls us to himself. (viii-ix). While Guinness displays an encyclopedic understanding of all three of these perspectives, the center of the onion that he peels in this book is God’s call.
Guinness’ encyclopedic understanding is possibly an inherited trait. Guinness recounts the story of one eighteen year-old Jane Lucretia D’Esterre, Guinness’ great-great-grandmother, who distraught over the death of her husband in 1815 in a duel, gave up the thought of suicide through drowning as she stood on a riverbank because she noticed the son of a neighbor plowing a field. “Meticulous, absorbed, skilled, he displayed such as pride in his work that the newly turned furrows looked as finely execute as the paint strokes on an artist’s canvas.” (184) Mind you, this young man plowed with a team of horses that have a mind of their own!
The Splendor of the Ordinary
While I might attribute this distraction as a divine intervention, Guinness describes the incident as demonstrating how: “calling transforms life so that even the commonplace and menial are invested with the splendor of the ordinary.” (185) Soon after this incident, his eagle-eyed, great-great-grandmother came to faith, suggesting that she also saw God in this incident. Much like God drew the Prophet Jeremiah to the work of a potter (Jer 18:1-6), this young woman saw God’s hand in a plowman’s furrows.
Arthur Burns’ Prayer
The onion peeling characteristic of Guinness’ prose arises because he examines aspects of God’s call through narratives of famous people. One example that, as a recovering economist, I will not soon forget begins with story of Arthur Burns, a former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Burns began attending an informal White House prayer group, where he was routinely passed over in leading prayer because he had a Jewish background. When finally asked to pray, he prayed:
“Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ, Amen.” (101)
Three Lessons
Guinness sees at least three lessons to be learned from this incident:
“…calling by its very nature reminds us that we are only followers of Christ when in fact we follow Jesus…
a calling reminds us that to be ‘a follower of the Way’ is to see life as a journey, which, while we are still alive on the earth, is an incomplete journey that cannot be finally assessed…
calling reminds us that, recognizing all the different stages people are at, there are many more who are followers of Jesus and on the Way than we realize.” (105-108)
These are, in fact, tough lessons that, in my experience, need to be learned over and over again, and that, reflecting back on Guinness, bear the markings of both patient scholarship and personal travel.
Deeper than Most
As someone working on the third edit of a memoir devoted that task, I found myself spending more time in refreshing my memory of this book than I would spend reading other texts. For me, Guinness’ tying of the call to finishing well was especially meaningful.(227) He makes three points:
“…calling is the spur that keeps us journeying purposefully…
a calling helps us to finish well because it prevents us from confusing the termination of our occupations with the termination of our vocation…
calling helps us finish well because it encourages us to leave the entire outcome of our lives to God.” (228-231)
Assessment
Os Guinness’ book, The Call, is a fine read for any Christian, but especially those struggling with the meaning of their own call. Be prepared to be enthralled.
If you do not believe me, read his account of spending six months traveling the “hippy trail” visiting “Kabul, Goa, Benares, Rishikesh, Katmado, and Thailand” (146). One would need to be rather dense not to learn something in such as trip about Eastern philosophy.
Guinness Enthralls the Called
Also see:
The Christian Memoir
Karr Voices Memoir Clearly
Books, Films, and Ministry
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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March 17, 2025
More than Green Beer 2
We put no obstacle in anyone’s way,
so that no fault may be found with our ministry…”
(2 Cor 6:3)
By Stephen W. Hiemstra
In the late fourth century, Celtic pirates kidnapped a sixteen year old boy named Patrick and sold him into slavery in the Irish wilderness where he worked for six years herding cattle. Forced to depend on God, Patrick learned to the Celtic language and to love and pray for the Celtic people. In response to a dream, he escaped his master and returned to England where he studied to become a priest. He was later commissioned as bishop and returned to Ireland as an evangelist.
Saint PatrickPatrick and his colleagues planted so many churches in Ireland that they later turned their attention to the continent of Europe and began revitalizing the church on the continent (Hunter 2000, 13-25). When people say that Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, it is not a clever tale but a biblical allusion:
The LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Gen 3:14-15)
Christ himself was the offspring of the woman that Patrick introduced the Irish to. Patrick’s walk with the Lord, like that of Joseph (Gen 39), began with a life of hardship, but it also yielded a rich harvest.
The hardship of the Irish has a long history. In 1976 in graduate school at Cornell University, I had an Irish officemate whose wife was famous for her ability to play the harp. I loved to hear her play and would travel with him to see her perform whenever I could. When my officemate learned that my mother’s maiden name was Deacon, he informed me that we were not really Irish, but Scots, who the English resettled in Northern Ireland and who, together with the Irish, were encouraged in the second half of the nineteenth century to immigrate to the New World under difficult circumstances.[1]
The Deacon FamilyThe oldest Deacon that I ever knew was Richard Henry Deacon, my grandfather.[2] Grandpa Deacon, as we called him, was born in 1895 and as a young man helped settle the Canadian west. Later on he was sent to Europe in the first World War, but thankfully arrived too late to be sent into combat. He later returned to Guelph, Ontario where he managed the boiler at the University of Guelph.[3] In spite of his lack of education, he rescued textbooks from the boiler fires which he read on his own. He particularly enjoyed reading a good “murder book”, as he used to call them.
Grandpa Deacon was a live wire and a constant joker. He once told the story of visiting a graveyard only to find two men buried in the same grave—“the tombstone read: here lies a lawyer and an honest man.” He used to drink and smoked two packs of cigarettes a day until his doctor told him that his emphysema would kill him if he didn’t give it up. That day he quit smoking and he never smoked again. Still, the rest of his life he wheezed constantly and walked with a limp, having fallen off a ladder out repairing a roof.
Working with Tools and Making ThemGrandpa was always handy and he always came to visit and help us when Dad had a big home-improvement project, like finishing off a basement. Grandpa was also extremely pragmatic and he used to tell me that “if you don’t have a tool; make one”. When I was in grade school, for example, he built me a working cross-bow using only the scraps of wood and metal that we had lying around the house. At that point in my life, I did not appreciate how uniquely talented he was, but later in my career as a financial engineer when I was given undoable projects, having only “scraps” to work with, I followed his example and built my own tools. Like Grandpa, I learned to work with the tools at hand.
Living in PovertyGrandpa was also fun to visit because he shared my youthful passion for fishing. When I visited, he early on took me fishing and later on took me to visit in-laws who lived on the farm, knowing my fascination with farming. On one such visit, I remember walking in on a family sitting down to lunch which featured soup bones—potatoes and turnips were also in ample supply, but the bones stood out to my youthful eyes.
The Deacons ate better than farm folks, in part, because grandpa had a regular paying job; he was an expert fisherman and hunter with a freezer full of his trappings; and he was an avid gardener who planted a large garden out back complete with fruit and nut trees. It also did not hurt having the corner store was just down the hill from the house at 123 Granger Street. Still, the threat of poverty was never far off, something I never forgot.
Grandpa died in 1980 following complications due to a prostate operation. At his funeral, when they lowered Richard Henry into the grave[4], was the only time I ever saw my mom cry. Later that day my aunt, Judy, took me aside and gave me Grandpa’s gold regimental ring, which Maryam wears to this day.
My GrandmotherMy grandmother, Marietta Salter Deacon,[5] was a social butterfly and a devout Baptist who led my mother to get involved with mission work at a young age. When Marietta died from stomach cancer in 1941 and was buried in Wingham, my mother was left to take care of her younger siblings even while she was herself just a teenager. My own “mission work” with Hispanic day workers is a tribute, in part, to Marietta.
A Bit of PerspectiveHaving a bit of Irish in me once meant little more than green beer on Saint Patrick’s Day. However, the more I learned about Saint Patrick, who some credit with saving the Christian faith from fourth century decadence, the more I realized that I inherited more than just a full head of hair from the Deacon family.
ReferencesFreeman, Philip. 2004. Saint Patrick of Ireland: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Hunter III, George G. 2000. The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity can Reach the West…Again. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Marx, Karl. 1887. Capital A Critique of Political Economy: Volume I Book One: The Process of Production of Capital. Edited by Frederick Engels;Translated by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Cited: 11 November 2016. Online: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx....
[1] Details of the Irish story are treated at length in Marx’s Capital, Vol 1.
[2] Richard Henry Deacon (August 18, 1895–February 1, 1980). Richard was the son of Richard Deacon (July 4, 1845; Lanark County, Ontario) and Jane Chamney (1858-). Richard was also the grandson of Richard Deacon (Feb 1802- June 8, 1886; Kilkenny, Ireland; Church of England) and Sarah Jane Wellwood (September 1805-June 24,1890; Kilkenny, Irelandl; Church of England). Jane Chamney was the daughter of Richard Chamney (1826-1904; Wicklow County, Ireland) and Euphemia
Mason (1832-1881).
[3] Formerly, Ontario Agricultural College. Framed certificates state that Granpa Deacon was a Certified Stationary Engineer, Second Class dated 1943 and again in 1962 (framed one under the other). Apparently a Stationary Engineer holding this certificate was qualified to: (a) act as chief operating engineer in (i) a high pressure stationary steam-plant not exceeding 600 registered horse-power (ii) a low pressure stationary steam-plant, compressor or refrigeration plant of unlimited registered horse-power, (iii) any portable compressor plant, or (b) act as the shift engineer in any plant of unlimited registered horse-power.
[4] Grandpa was buried in a family plot in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Guelph.
[5] Marietta Jean Salter Deacon (August 1905–January 7, 1947). Marietta was the daughter of Frances Jean Eastwood Cooper and William George Salter.
More than Green BeerAlso see:A Roadmap of Simple FaithChristian Spirituality Looking Back A Place for Authoritative Prayer Other ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net, Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/Lent-2018
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Karr Voices Memoir
Mary Karr. 2015. The Art of Memoir. New York: Harper Perennial.
Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra
Writing a memoir evokes a special brand of fear. No matter how you approach the topic, the fear is that your life story is not worthy of being told and the mere attempt to tell it is to be guilty of exaggeration and pride. No matter how good the writing, the fear is that you do not stand in the company of presidents, kings, and celebrities. Against this fear, one can only aspire to write clearly with distinction and to seek out a good book or two to aid in this vain enterprise.
IntroductionIn her book, The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr points to other motivations, somewhere between the writer “trying to make sense of the past” and “readers thirsty for reality” (xiv). Memoir invites the reader into the private life of the author in a verbal strip-tease, undertaken for catharsis or paid therapy (xxi). Something anyone can aspire to writing memoir, even if the readers may be limited to an immediate circle of friends and family. The primary requirement is having memories that you are willing to analyze against a particular theme and to share with readers. These memories need not be absolute truth, but they need to be spoken with an authentic voice.
Author VoiceKarr emphasizes voice as the authenticator of good memoir, writing: “Each great memoir lives or dies based 100 percent on voice.” (35)
The truth of memoir is not absolute—sworn on a Bible—truth, but rather a more interesting subjective truth—truth told with an authentic voice. It is subjective, in part, because we lie more often to ourselves than we do to other people. Karr validates her own accounts with the people she writes about (5). It is interesting, in part, because an authentic voice embeds the veils that we use to cover our inadequacies. Uncovering the veils and exposing the lies they cover up is painful, as Karr explains: “You have to lance a boil and suffer its stench as infection drains off.” (12) Yet, this catharsis liberates our true selves, a necessary step in healing and in personal growth, as Karr admits: “I often barely believe myself, for I grew up suspicious of my own perceptions” (22).
Part of authentic voice is admitting your motivation in writing. Karr argues: “Unless you confess your own emotional stakes in a project, why should a reader have any?” (97) While this advice might seem to be a terribly female observation to make—why can’t I just lay out my hypothesis, you say?—communications professors often admonish their students that complete communication requires both an idea and an emotion. Authenticity requires complete expression—why is that hypothesis so important that you spent at least a year or more examining it in great detaiI? Chances are good that the emotional stake is already substantial and its substance needs only to be recognized in your writing. A novelist might refer to this stake as an emotional hook to grab the reader.
Mary KarrKarr’s voice shows ironic tension. She is consciously literary—dropping great quotes from famous memoirists and dotting her work with cutesy new ways of expression. The tension arises when you see her photographed wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots more fitting of her Texas upbringing. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” as Shakespeare writes in Hamlet. Voiced tension is a source of conflict and, as such, is interesting.
Cowboy boots aside, Karr writes prescriptively in 24 chapters, each with its own theme. A particularly important theme in her writing comes in chapter 6: Sacred Carnality. One’s mind naturally runs to carnal, as in carnal knowledge. But, Karr uses carnal to mean sensual in description, as in the five senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling (71). For those of us more comfortable in non-fiction, analytical writing, this carnality is necessarily forced, as she readily admits (75). By utilizing carnal description to move the action, dialog can be used more like a spotlight.
AssessmentMary Karr’s The Art of Memoir is helpful addition to any writer’s library. Karr’s cites from numerous famous memoirists (check out the appendix listing) aptly makes the point that memoir is a wider genre than the usual political and celebrity autobiographies. The creative potential in memoir is also greater than the usual A-B-C chronologies. A favorite film of mine, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) was, for example, a memoir by William Herr: Dispatches (1977). Karr’s book has already encouraged me to purchase a memoir that she recommended; it has been a great encouragement in my own memoir project; and I have already gifted this book to a friend. Great book; read it.
ReferencesAngelou, Maya. 2009. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” New York: Ballantine Books.
Herr, William. 1977. “Dispatches.” New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Footnoteshttp://asfaculty.syr.edu/pages/eng/karr-mary.html; www.MaryKarr.com; @ArtSciencesSU; @MaryKarrLit
@MaryKarrLit
Angelou (2009).
Karr Voices MemoirAlso see:Niebuhr Examines American Christian Roots, Part 1 Friedman Brings Healing by Shifting Focus from Individuals to the Family Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, SignupThe post Karr Voices Memoir appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.
March 16, 2025
Image Prayer
By Stephen W. Hiemstra
Almighty and Sovereign Lord,
All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours, because you share all aspects of your character with us and lead us to reflect them.
Forgive us when we obsess on one attribute of your character and neglect the others in the attempt to mold you in our image when we should model yours.
Thank you for not giving up on us in our weaknesses and sin.
In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us the strength to reflect your image more closely, the grace to extend your image to others, and the peace that passes all understanding.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
Image Prayer
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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Oración de Imagen
Por Stephen W. Hiemstra
Señor Todopoderoso y Soberano,
oda alabanza y honor, poder y dominio, verdad y justicia son tuyos, porque compartes con nosotros todos los aspectos de tu carácter y nos llevas a reflejarlos.
Perdónanos cuando nos obsesionamos con un atributo de tu carácter y descuidamos los demás en el intento de moldearte a nuestra imagen cuando deberíamos modelar la tuya.
Gracias por no renunciar a nosotros en nuestras debilidades y pecados.
En el poder de tu Espíritu Santo, concédenos la fuerza para reflejar tu imagen más de cerca, la gracia de extender tu imagen a los demás y la paz que sobrepasa todo entendimiento.
En el precioso nombre de Jesús, Amén.
Oración de Imagen
Also see:
El Rostro de Dios en las Parábolas
Prefacio de La Guía Cristiana a la Espiritualidad
Prefacio de la Vida en Tensión
The Who Question
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/sprng_2025, Signup
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March 14, 2025
Image of God
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds,
and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
(Luke 11:9–10)
Stephen W. Hiemstra
What is the image of God pictured in Jesus’ parables? While the Bible makes clear that God is not stingy with his love, love is not his only characteristic. God revealed himself to Moses as: “A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Exod 34:6) These five characteristics could be compared mathematically to a five-dimensional figure, not limited to the four dimensions—height, width, depth, and time—that describe the universe we inhabit.
God’s transcendence works like this fifth dimension, and it is more complex than many envision. God inhabits a dimension beyond ours that opens us to see the world with new eyes. For this reason, we can never fully comprehend God, but he invites us to try. When we do, the forms that lead us to him, like the parables and worship, no longer constrain us. They simply launch us into this new dimension available only through faith.
Mercy
The nature of God’s mercy is clarified in several parables.
In the Good Samaritan, we learn that mercy requires a visceral reaction: Our hearts lean into mercy more than our heads. God is emotionally involved in our lives and our salvation. In the Unforgiving Servant, we find that our forgiveness comes with the obligation to extend mercy to those who sin against us.
In the Barren Fig Tree, we learn that God’s patience has limits. A good heart needs to be cultivated. Such cultivation takes a lifetime, so it should not be delayed. In the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we find a sovereign God who favors humble believers.
While the Hebrew word for mercy is only used to describe God, Jesus’ parables describe God’s characteristic within a human context.
Grace
The nature of God’s grace is displayed in several parables.
While God’s grace is an undeserved blessing, Jesus’ parable of the Hidden Treasure suggests that our response to grace is important (Matt 13:44). A gracious blessing is of little use if we hide it away and make no use of it.
Responding to God’s grace is important in understanding the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Lost sheep are more likely to be found if they listen for the shepherd’s voice.
In the Parable of the Doctor and the Sick, Jesus graciously treats sin as an illness (Luke 5:31–32). This re-imaging of sin removes sin’s guilt, shame, and curse to heal our hearts and our relationships.
The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16 displays grace in life and in the afterlife. The fault of the rich man is that he failed to give thanks to God for his blessings in this life and fails then to prepare for the afterlife.
In each of these parables God uses grace strategically to encourage, lead, and grow us in the context of relationship, as in the Parable of the Two Sons (Luke 15:11–32).
Patience
The importance of God’s patience is obvious from several parables.
In the Parable of the Two Builders, we find patience associated with good planning and expert workmanship. Likewise, in the Parable of the Sower, we see that farming requires patient planning and a willingness to invest time and effort in a crop that is hidden from the outset.
In the Parable of the Talents, we learn to take risks to advance the Kingdom of God while we wait patiently for the Lord’s return. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, we again see the need to plan patiently for every contingency.
The importance of patience and planning for the future in the faith suggests why Christians have always valued and invested more in education than other groups.
Love
God’s love has many facets that are the focus of several parables.
Jesus introduces the Parable of the Good Samaritan as an example of offering love to an enemy (Matt 5:43–46). The parable pictures love allegorically as reconciliation of the long-divided, Davidic Kingdom under the umbrella of God’s love.
If the Parable of the Good Samaritan shows love as a conduit to reconciliation, the Parable of the Two Brothers displays love as a catalyst for adolescent growth and maturity. This is a context reminiscent of God’s request of Abraham: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Gen 12:1).
In these two parables, love is not a static description of adoration so much as a dynamic strategy for growth, reconciliation, and restoration.
The reckless love of the Shepherd for the Lost Sheep is most meaningful when we realize that we are all lost sheep. The fish illustrated in the Parable of the Dragnet highlights the cost of such reckless love and serves to shock us out of complacency.
In Christ, love is an open-handed affection with an eye on the future.
Faith
The divine image of God lends stability to our lives that cannot be obtained any other way. In the Parable of the Two Builders, God is the rock on which our foundations are made secure. The rock of our salvation is a metaphor both for a disciplined lifestyle and for scientific study. In the Parable of the Callous Judge, we are advised to study the wisdom of the world.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector reminds us that God is both transcendent (the object of our prayers) and immanent (able to hear our prayers). Even though God is beyond our comprehension, he loves us enough to always remain available.
The Parable of the Physician takes the form of a proverb and simply describes the role of a doctor in healing the sick.
Seekers Find
Jesus’ parables reveal a God who is intentionally available to those who seek him. The parables invite the listener to enter the narrative and engage with God one-on-one to expand our understanding of faith. My Old Testament professor, who studied poetry, described scripture generally as laconic, offering descriptions with a bare number of words (Niehaus 2019, 97).
Laconic stories trigger our imaginations as we fill in missing details with our own experiences, like the husband and wife who constantly complete each other’s sentences. The parables work this laconic magic better than any other part of scripture, pointing us to our transcendent God in new ways with each additional reading. Still, it comes as no surprise that we cannot easily summarize God’s characteristics with any one parable or synthesis of several.
References
Niehaus, Jeffrey J. 2019. God the Poet: Exploring the Origins and Nature of Poetry. (Kindle) Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Image of God
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:
Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com
Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Market_2025, Signup
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