Lent day 35: A review: surprise at being here

After we told everyone to bring umbrellas, the sun's out. Our peers enjoyed Seattle's sunny spring fling between sessions of the SPS (Society of Pentecostal Studies).

This is the first year of four that I haven't presented a paper in the missions group. (I chose history this time around.) The three papers ahead of mine examined early Pentecostal pioneers. Mine reviewed the effect of Spirit baptism on missionary women of the early 1900s. As always, I learned a lot from the studies of others.

W's paper on the biblical text of 1 Cor. 14:34-35 (translated usually as 'women keep quiet in church') caused a stir. A good one. Several scholars came up afterwards, surprised and pleased by his work. No one refuted his conclusions. And a few people came to him after to say they'd heard about it and wanted more information.

"Please publish this!" some listeners begged him.

So we're done except for the wrap-up meetings (business and banquet). I'm tired out from all the ideas and people swirling around. Looking at the rooms full of well-intentioned learners, I'm hopeful that good things will come from these days. We heard a few shifts away from the Bible to PC culture (like rumblings of accepting homosexuality) but in general this conservative group tries to read the Bible as it is, not as they wish it would be.

So that's my wrap and recap. Short. Grateful. I'm always surprised to find myself among these smart people, who devote their lives to study. As I flip through a design magazine to unwind, I bet many of the others are scribbling notes and reviewing emails  to continue contact for future research. I'm such a little fish swimming near the shore in the big education ocean. Maybe I'm amphibian, since I like to crawl out sun on the beach as well as put my toes in the water?

Read more:
*The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation. Exodus 15:2

*I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws. … O LORD, your unfailing love fills the earth; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:59, 64 NLT

*As Jesus was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen. Luke 19:37 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Gracious God, may we fully and truly follow you today in the way of selfless and life-changing love. May our thoughts, words, and actions reflect the power of love: to forgive, change, accept, save, and to heal. Amen.