In
graduating seminary and now applying for ordination I’ve managed to get the
whole life-condensing thing down to an art if not a science. To be honest, this is never as easy as it
sounds. Every culture has its
expectations and the more your life meets those expectations the shorter these
things tend to be. Why go into detail
over something everybody can already guess?
Of course, that has never been my problem. My own life experiences have been so far
outside the norm, the issue has never been trying to find filler but trying to
boil down the essentials and still convey it in a way that doesn’t sound
nonsensical.
With
that in mind, my name is Keven Johnson-Glassel.
I am a Bethel Seminary Graduate, married to Druid seeking to become a priestess,
and am currently in the ordination process to become a Christian pastor. See what I mean? Now of course I could close with that
statement, but likely you would either think me joking or insane. I assure you that the statement is quite
true, though it might seem incredulous.
As a student of faith and culture, my concentration at Bethel, I can
tell you what we all believe to be believable is based largely on cultural
perceptions – which unfortunately is the result of whoever in that culture happens
to be yelling the loudest at that particular time. The way we all understand the world around us
is fairly complex, but a very large part of it has nothing whatsoever to do
with reality but by various different groups trying to sell people their own worldview. As such, the first lesson I have learned is
if society insists that there are only two answers to a given question be it
republican or democrat, Christian or pagan, less filling or tastes great, be
assured that the truth lies with neither.
How
does a Christian pastor-to-be get hooked up with a pagan-priestess-to be you
might ask. Well, as you might suspect,
it’s a long story. The quick answer is
why do you think such a match is odd in the first place? As a Christian I believe in Universal Reconciliation
– a belief that has been around in the Christian church since its earliest
days, stating that eventually everybody will be saved. The question for us is not whether you will
be saved but how ugly do you want that process to be? Further, my theology is close to Evangelical
Clark Pinnock, who rightly points out that there are multiple instances in the
Christian Scriptures that clearly depict God at work in so-called “pagan”
religions and religious followers. That
God has one or any religion is a cultural presumption that I don’t share. Both these positions have strong pedigrees
within the Christian Church, it’s just that American Culture has managed to
keep them hidden. So why is a Christian
pastoral applicant married to a pagan druid?
Well, for one I love her (that helps), and two I see God at work in her
spirituality and my own and I don’t believe she is in any danger because of
it.
But why
would she be married to me? Would it
shock you to know there are Christian druids?
Would it be puzzling to discover that her own beliefs are actually quite
Biblical and that we both believe we worship the same Supreme Being? That religion must follow strict
institutional lines is another cultural presumption, one that neither one of us
shares. Religion is simply
expression. Our beliefs are actually
very compatible, it’s just that the expressions are
different.
So you
see about the whole needing to boil down core concepts while still being
understandable thing? Anyway, with a
little digging and exposure I think you will find that many things in life that
seem odd at first aren’t really once you get to know them. This, however, is kind of me in a
nutshell. If you want to know more about
me, tune in to my blog from time to time.
Or better yet, look up and do some reading on the things that interest
you here. Read about Universal
Reconciliation, Clark Pinnock, and Druids and read a lot. The best thing for the world right now is not
people who will listen and glom onto other people’s opinions but individuals
who have the tools to think effectively for themselves.
God Bless
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