"Without Facts, We Cannot Make Wise Choices by the Rev. Nurya Parish

The Rev. Nurya Parish

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.   – Ephesians 5:8-10

Our diocese was founded in 1874. In the 138 years since, laity and clergy have continually praised God, led people to discipleship in Christ, and ministered in His name. Half the state of Michigan has been blessed by the ministry of this diocese.

As a member of the search team for our next Bishop, I’ve been studying the data about our diocese. When our profile is published early next month, our major findings will be shared with the world... including our next bishop, whomever he or she may be. At this point we’ve completed our analysis, pending independent confirmation that all our calculations are correct.

Our data includes some challenging facts about our life together.  Just about half of our churches struggle to afford a full-time priest, if they can afford one at all.

One in five congregations reported that they had no church school students in 2011. Even our largest congregations are not the size that church consultants generally consider “resource parishes” - large enough to have resources to share. Bringing these facts into the light can make us feel anxious.

Our data also includes encouraging facts. Despite the recent financial downturn, average giving to annual operating budgets of churches held steady across the diocese. Most of our congregations have at least six months of operating funds in savings. Some of our congregations have endowment funds; of those that do, a majority are using them in a way that is sustainable for the long term. Bringing these facts into the light can give us hope.

As I’ve studied and analyzed this data, I’ve been asked if I am a “numbers cruncher” or a “NT” on the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am an unabashed sensitive soul who weeps in movies and avoids even fictional accounts of violence. I haven’t taken a math class in twenty-five years; I structured my college education to avoid all exposure to the hard sciences (and lived to regret it).

But I am also a disciple of Jesus Christ, who asks us to walk in the light and speak the truth. It seems to me that figuring out facts about our life together is part of following that call.  All of our congregations have numbers... in the operating budget, in the parochial report data, in the balance sheet.  When these numbers are tracked and reported accurately, they are facts.

Facts matter, because without facts we cannot make wise choices. It is by wise choices, “pleasing to the Lord,” we may thrive to minister for years to come. Facts serve us well when we see them in their proper place: as servants of our mission to make disciples of Christ and minister to the world in His name. We may not always like the facts before us, but as disciples of Christ we cannot fail to acknowledge them, recognizing that no fact - indeed, nothing at all - can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

The Rev. Nurya Love Parish is Associate Priest at St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids and Communications liaison for the Bishop Search Team.  She blogs for buildfaith.org, an online Christian education community, and at her own blog, www.plainsongfarm.com. She welcomes your thoughts in response to this article at nuryaloveparish@gmail.com.

How Many Therapists Does it Take? The Wit and Wisdom of Psychotherapy by Kenneth Reid

A Note to the Reader
 

How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer – only one but it takes a long time – and the light bulb really has to want to change. All my professional life I have loved jokes about therapists and psychotherapy. For me they typically lighten the atmosphere, tickle the funny bone, help emphasize a point and ridicule the self-important. But, therapy jokes also do something extra – they echo back the uncertainty and incongruity of our day-to-day lives.

I began collecting jokes and funny anecdotes about therapists – many included in this book – in the 1960s while a graduate in social work. Funny stories, jokes, puns, quips, word play, and urban legends came from old joke books, cartoons, late night talk television, and more recently, the internet. Others came from my professors, fellow clinicians, and patients in the hospital where I trained. Interestingly, the jokes told by professionals were often the same ones told by the patients.

This genre of humor called psychiatrist jokes, with the stock caricature of the mad psychiatrist – a bald, bearded Viennese analyst, who himself needed a psychiatrist – was inadvertently set in motion by Sigmund Freud and his followers in the 1930s. Added to the mix were confusing stereotypes of the confusing mental hospital that made its patients crazy, and the laughable behavior of highly resourceful patients.

Over time, psychiatrist jokes gave way to therapist jokes reflecting the growing number of helping professionals – psychologists, clinical social workers, nurses and counselors – practicing psychotherapy. Characterized by folly and exaggeration, therapist jokes have come to provide a fractured mirror reflecting the human condition – and the light-hearted funny side of life.

The collection of humor in this book is about the psychotherapeutic industrial-complex so enmeshed in American culture. These are the stories and jokes therapists tell each other during team meetings or over a beer after a long day. They are about stereotypes of therapists in ludicrous situations; folks facing outrageous predicaments of daily living; and overwhelmed hospitals and clinics confusing staff and patients alike. In short this book is about irony, madness, and the outright comedy that undergirds the mental health establishment.

To laugh at ourselves and the world around us is truly a gift. It is in this spirit that this volume was compiled.

Dr. Ken Reid, a clinical social worker, coordinates the diocese's Pastoral Care and Counseling Program, which was established in 1970. Initially the program was created to address the needs of the clergy. Over the years it has evolved into an outreach ministry of the Diocese. Individual, group, premarital, marital, and family counseling are offered. In addition, pastoral care consultation is available to clergy. Ken has been with the Program since 1976. His book can be purchased by clicking here on Amazon. It is also available by clicking here on Barnes and Noble.

The Spiritual Journal by Charlene Allen

I did not set out to keep a spiritual journal. The practice of serious “spiritual journaling” came about as the result of reading Morton Kelsey’s book Adventure Inward. I had inquired at the library what books it might have by the theologian and prolific writer, Merton Kelsey; and Inward Journey was among the titles available through inter-library loan. At the time, I was unaware of the subtitle, “Christian Growth through Personal Journal Writing” and requested the book as one of a couple by Kelsey.

Although I had kept a prayer journal from time to time, written short essays on Bible verses and participated in Bible and theological studies, I had never consistently kept a daily spiritual journal. Adventure Inward changed that. After reading only a few pages, I became inspired and motivated to start a journal, and, consequently, committed to daily journaling. In sharing my personal experience with spiritual journal writing, I will attempt to summarize Kelsey’s reasons for journaling and his experience with such as well as the “how to” or mechanics of journal writing. One perhaps cannot read Adventure Inward without becoming excited about the prospect of spiritual transformation and growth through the daily practice of keeping a journal.

Kelsey states that the purpose of journaling is to become closer to God and to enter a personal relationship with God. He carried on a dialogue with God within the pages of his journal and Adventure Inward encourages the reader to do such.

I have been diligently journaling daily for several months now, and it has become habit, as I have not missed a day. My past experience with journaling ten years ago lasted a short time, in that it perhaps it was only the recording of the day’s events, and not, a sacred ritual of seeking understanding through writing. Kelsey emphasizes that a quiet time and place is required, and although he choose the day’s end, I have chosen the day’s beginning, before the sun rises. It is when I think best, feel refreshed and unencumbered. Although perhaps, anticipatory of the day ahead, I am not caught up in the day. I may reflect on the previous day, but the purpose of my journal is not to record my activities, but my inner experience. The daily ritual is a time for me to record my thoughts, inspirations, and interpretation and application of Bible readings. The writing is many times prayerful. I have not yet “progressed” to dialoguing with God which Kelsey describes in his book. Journaling causes me to be quiet and reflective and to listen. This is what perhaps Kelsey means by his title, Adventure Inward.

The journal itself is special in that I journal in is a leather-bound book with lined pages and a ribbon marker.
I placed into service a gold-filled personalized mechanical pencil, a gift of twenty-five years ago and it is used exclusively for writing in my journal. Previously, I had recorded on sometimes loose sheets of notebook paper or in spiral notebooks which did not provide a feeling of “permanence.”

Kelsey instructs the reader to date every entry, so that the journaler may return to a previous time and review change and growth. I think that it was fortuitous that I read Kelsey’s Adventure Inward when I did. My mother had died suddenly, and I was dealing grief and loss at the time. Journaling helped me to become grounded in that I could focus my thoughts and feelings and express them on paper. By doing such, I became peaceful and reflective. It changed me in that my grief became suddenly an opportunity for growth. I recorded the reading of the Psalms that uplifted me, and I felt inspiration from them, because I was journaling my interpretation of them, while reflecting on the agony or ecstasy of David at the time.

Currently, I continue my daily Bible reading (the commitment to read the Bible in a year) and again record verses which jump out at me. My experience in journaling is somewhat different from what I perceive Kelsey’s to have been, but I imagine everyone’s experiences are different. I do not know if I have been transformed by journaling, but I doubt if one can recognize one’s own transformation. What I do know is that I wake up each morning with a purpose to sit and reflect and write in my journal. I do not even know what I will write. Kelsey warns about “automatic writing”, but the writing is not “automatic” but reflective of where I am at the moment. I write now in my journal in conjunction with my Bible reading. They seem to go hand in hand.

I do feel changed in that I see journal writing as way to deepen my commitment to growing spiritually. It is a tool for such. At first, journal writing required discipline, but now it is a habit for me. However, it is important, perhaps, for it not to become too automatic. The freshness and excitement of journal writing can be exhilarating, since it many times provides the writer with unexpected insights.

While Kelsey carried on a dialogue with God, I express thoughts, praise, and thanks. I copy and examine scripture of which I am reading. This sounds somewhat simplistic, but I believe that the journaling has made an impact on my spiritual life.

I agree with Kelsey that journaling is a learning experience. It is a discipline. I had previously written thoughts about scripture and prayer which could be considered sporadic journaling. After reading Kelsey’s book, I became excited about journaling and it did become something to which I looked forward and it has become a joy as Kelsey said it should become. Even when things seem very busy, I do not neglect writing something every day. Writing in my journal in the morning gives me the opportunity to anticipate and prepare for the day. I cherish and value the time I set aside for it.

The impetus for me to again attempt to keep a journal was the reading of Adventure Inward, and the impetus for reading the book was the sudden death of my mother, and the grief I felt. However, any time is the “right” time to begin keeping a spiritual journal. I would attest that the act of journaling is an act of expanding one’s spiritual