Ordinand Retreat - Day one

Its a crisp November afternoon here in Fairfield Pennsylvania and in a sense, it feels like a bit of a homecoming as this was my stomping ground for seven years. In a sense, time seems to have been held in abeyance here. One hundred miles away from the ever present noise of Suburbia Majora, the silence is palpable and only occasionally punctuated by a passing automobile on the road outside. This is a far cry from the road traveled this morning. The hardwood foliage seems to have peaked here and is dimmed by a November overcast.

The retreat began with introductions and a light lunch. Following Bishop David Bena led us in a Devotion centering on the 1st chapter of Jeremiah. Jeremiah clearly didn't read "Your Best Life Now". Prosperity preachers would likely, after meeting him on a blind lunch appointment, write him off as an abject failure. The most godly servant, given their druthers would likely pass on the ministry given to the "weeping prophet". With the possible exception of King Josiah, Jeremiah preached to a hostile crowd, did hard time in both the royal dungeon and a well, and was ultimately carried off to Babylon. His end is known only to the Almighty and the company of saints.

Though his writings are melancholy and heavy to the point of sorrow, there's much to be learned from the character Jeremiah. The words "Politically Correct" are not found in his vocabulary. The man had the brass assets to speak truth to power, and society when the PC thing to do was to simply shut up and color. Our friends on the left seem to imagine this to be something one only does when the "adults" are running things. Sorry guys, the time comes and is coming when we've got to lay off the bong hits and hand Barry, Nancy and Harry the news.

There is one critical point to consider here. Jeremiah was neither copy editor nor cudgel. The prophet spoke the truth without adding his own color commentary. Too, though the truth hurt, he would neither sugarcoat, nor slam down the message on his hearers.