So Much to Think About....

Well, we are headed back to Tennessee today and my mind is filled with things... some are the points, questions, and suggestions of the fine presenters who gave exegetical and historical papers (in this case circling around CFW Walther)... some are the thoughts and perspective of a ton of folks in conversations public and private... and some are the fruits of some journal articles and books that I am carting home to be read at a future date.

I like to think (if you want my perspective on this, search this blog for my thought book post).  I make no claims about their originality, eloquence, orthodoxy, or profoundness.  They are just thoughts.  Thinking back on days gone by, I recall how the teacher would sometimes catch me staring off into space with a glazed look -- the problem was not nothing on my mind but too much.

Sometimes I do have too much to think about but then, again, the Scriptures and the faith are bottomless.  None of us mines the vein clean but merely scratch at the walls, going a little further than some and remaining closer to the surface than others.  It is not that we are accumulating a bucket of wisdom about God and His ways that was unknown to the fathers of the church and the apostles and prophets before them.  We do not.  In some cases, we are merely trying to get back to where they were.  In other cases we are working within the confines of a very different culture and applying the truth of God's Word to situations that may, at least at first glance, seem far removed from the Biblical milieu.  The Scriptures are bottomless and the mind of God will never be fully mapped out for us.  We go where we can go, guided by that Word and the work of the Spirit, in an effort to say Amen to what God has said and done -- which is the ultimate goal of faith.

I am mindful of the wisdom, erudition, and commitment of those who were and are my teachers, some of which I am privileged to also count as friends.  They are like the tour guides who help me find my way and show me the paths of the fathers that I may follow in the way of wisdom.  So that is what Pastoral Meanderings is about... today and, God willing, for some tomorrows to come...