The SEMI Winter 14.5

Saint Patrick Abolitionist Evangelist Bishop

THE SEMI †WINTER 2014.5

Semi-Coherent Editor’s Notes I can hear you now. “St. Patrick? Really?”

Interesting bit of church history: the Celtic monastic movement changed the face of Christianity. Monasteries sprung up organically, priests were trained locally, and the literacy rate of the surrounding population went through the roof wherever they ended up. In the post-Roman, barbarian-ravaged early Medieval Age, Irish and Irish-trained monks brought learning and Christianity back to Europe. It all started with God’s work in and through one man.

Padraig. Patricius. Patrick.

The Celtic monastic movement was stifled by Roman bishops when the latter enforced their ecclesial authority, centralizing the ordaining of Celtic priests and creation of new monasteries. Nevertheless, for a few hundred years, the legacy of Patrick and his compatriots had enormous influence on the faith and its survival. We celebrate them with this issue, and look to their examples for how our own faith might be impacted by theirs.

Our articles this issue include an examination of Patrick’s evangelistic and spiritual legacy by Dr. Richard Peace, Robert Boyd Munger Professor of Evangelism and Spiritual Formation. We also have a study of Celtic spirituality and John Muir by Fuller alum Ryan McKenzie, a look at the early Celtic mentoring system by Fuller Menlo Park student Kathleen O’Rourke, and a study of Patrick’s anti-slavery activity by yours truly.

We are also proud to feature the photography of Richard Min, a Fuller alum and professional photographer I had the pleasure of travelling with in Ireland. The whole thing has been assembled meticulously by our production editor, Jonathan Stoner, whose attention to detail never fails to create a beautiful magazine. Thank you, friends!

May this issue—and the examples of our Christian sisters and brothers past—help us to live out our faith in courageous and novel ways.

Reed Metcalf, Editor

The SEMI

Managing Editor Carmen Valdés Editor Reed Metcalf Production Editor Jonathan Stoner

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Wo r d P l a y It's that time of the quarter again. This is for those of you who are looking for things to do that don't rhyme with dome-twerk.

FINAL PAPERS E H B L A H W Y Q X H O S S K P M

A R O I A N R Z B J J N E N R T R

E P O K B A I E J O A T L O H H E

E N N M R L T G U T O O C I C E V

E U I B S O I R R U S R I T E S I

ARTICLES BIBLIOGRAPHY BLOCK QUOTES CITATION COFFEE DEADLINE EXTENSION FOOTNOTE GRAMMAR HOW MANY PAGES MORE? JOURNALS LIBRARY

Z E I L N E N O Q A A P T A Z A S

W L F T D A G K G S M G R T C U I

P S O F L A C A T R N M A I L R O

Y O N S O O E I P N A H A C L U N

F I L B L C N D V Y U P E R E S S

I P Q B H A T V Z Z N O H U P T I

E L T I T K E K N L B A C Y S B S

Y U O I C E R K T E G W M D G T E

E S N D A E R F O O R P P W R M H

X G A E X T E N S I O N I O O O T

S E C R U O S E R O M D E E N H W

N O W I K I P E D I A A Y Z U O K

NEED MORE SOURCES NO WIKIPEDIA PROCRASTINATING PROOF READ REVISION SPELL CZECH THESAURUS THESIS TITLE WORD COUNT WRITING CENTER

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INTO THE WOODS with John Muir & Celtic Christianity

by Ryan McKenzie “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."

John Muir from Our National Parks, 1901

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S THE DIRECTOR OF MINISTRY at a Christian Conference and Camping facility deep in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just south of Yosemite National Park, I live in a world that cannot escape the lyrical commentaries of John Muir. Here is a man who was able to craft together words in a way that still leaves his readers tasting and smelling the scenery he describes; words that capture the heart and imagination, beckoning us out of the cities and business of our lives to discover the grace a rhythm of a world out from which our very substance was taken and in so doing to discover something essential of the nature of God and of ourselves.

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IN MANY CHRISTIAN CIRCLES, however, Muir is not given his due. Instead he is often cast off as a mere romantic and coupled together with folks like Thoreau and Emerson as a transcendentalist. But as a subject that needs much more room to fully elaborate upon than is given here - Muir’s words and even theology often divert from the Transcendental agenda and instead find kinship woven together with an early Celtic Christian ethos. Let us explore a small example.

THE ABOVE QUOTE IS ONE OF MY favorites by John Muir in his landmark publication, Our National Parks. Far from

being a quick jot about the niceties of a day spent in the woods, Muir taps into something essential about humanity’s makeup. It is not surprising, nor is it anything new to suggest that time spent in nature contains massive benefits in lowering our stress levels and improving one’s over all health. Listening to wind running through the trees and feeling it brush past your skin or watching the effects of light playing through a canopy of aspen leaves while inhaling oxygen free of exhaust is something that we all long for - both young and old. But even more - as the ancient Hebrew poet(s) who wrote the creation accounts of Genesis understood - we share a connection with the basic elements that form all of creation.

OUR STORY, ANTECEDENT TO THE fall, relates God fashioning humanity from the substance of creation itself before

that time spent in nature somehow brings us home? What exactly is “home”? What does it suggest pertaining to where we come from and where we are ultimately going?

What is Muir getting at, and how does it run parallel to the assertions of early Celtic Christianity?

TO THIS WE TURN TO HISTORY. THE Celtic mission movement, started by St. Patrick, began on the isolated isle of Ireland on the outskirts of the crumbling Roman Empire in the early 5th century, far removed and sheltered from the chaos and violence spreading across the continent of western Europe. Against the pleas of his friends and family, Patrick pursued what he believed was his calling and returned to the people who had once kidnapped and enslaved him, setting to work imparting a New Story throughout the rough and barbaric Gaelic,

“OUR STORY, ANTECEDENT TO THE FALL, RELATES GOD FASHIONING HUMANITY FROM THE SUBSTANCE OF CREATION ITSELF BEFORE GENERATING LIFE WITHIN THE NEWLY FORMED VESSEL BY BREATHING INTO ITS NOSTRILS. THAT THE IMAGERY USED HERE IS EARTHY IS JUST A BIT OF AN UNDERSTATEMENT, AND IT STARTS A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW NATURE HAS SOMETHING TO TEACH US BOTH ABOUT GOD AND ABOUT OURSELVES." generating life within the newly formed vessel by breathing into its nostrils. That the imagery used here is earthy is just a bit of an understatement, and it starts a conversation about how nature has something to teach us both about God and about ourselves. But still, how does this suggest as Muir does,

pagan countryside. The story, however, wasn’t just new for the Irish, though. It was new - or perhaps renewed - for the collapsing Roman world as well.

HISTORIAN THOMAS CAHILL WRITES, “Patrick’s gift to the Irish was his

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Christianity - the first de-Romanized Christianity in human history, a Christianity without the sociopolitical baggage of the Greco-Roman world, a Christianity that completely inculturated itself into the Irish scene.” It was a Christianity that embraced the Irish acknowledgement of sacred landscape, where hallowed hilltops and sanctified oak groves, rather than any building made by man, set the scene for devotion and worship. The mystical bent of the Celt to whom Patrick and his followers would appeal was especially evident in the great love, respect and even fear of nature.

The Celtic evangelists knew this, embraced it, and utilized it to proclaim a gospel that nature has the power to reveal, giving the evangelists a platform to proclaim

God, himself. Therefore, using chapter one of John to frame their position, that in the beginning was the word and that through the word all things came into being, the Church asserted that Creation was fashioned out of the “substance” of God - Creatio Ex Deo. In this view the elements of creation are not, therefore, neutral, nor was creation set in motion by a distant deity. Rather, for the Celtic Christians, the universe is an expression of God, not only because God spoke it into being, but also because it was birthed from His very heart, and if you listen close enough, they would add, you may still very well hear the beating of that heart.

BUT HOW ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND this theology in light of the fact that we

PATRICK’S WAS A CHRISTIANITY THAT EMBRACED THE IRISH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SACRED LANDSCAPE, WHERE HALLOWED HILLTOPS AND SANCTIFIED OAK GROVES, RATHER THAN ANY BUILDING MADE BY MAN, SET THE SCENE FOR DEVOTION AND WORSHIP. Creation, Covenant, Community and New Creation while maintaining the centrality of nature’s position within the Irish religious consciousness.

EMBRACING THE TEACHINGS OF Irenaeus of Lyons, a second century Christian Father who notably integrated nature and the Sacred within his theology, the Celtic Church stood opposed to the doctrine of Creatio Ex Nihilo, the belief that God created the universe out of nothing.

Along with Irenaeus, the Celtic Church fathers asserted that there was something before the beginning - that something being

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live in a post Genesis 3 “fallen” world where God’s intentions for creation have been twisted by humanity’s sin, and our connection with the very ground from which we came has been severed? The Celtic Church very much maintained this position, and to answer it, they embraced the atonement theory of Recapitulation. Among the accomplishments of Christ’s life death and resurrection, Christ inaugurates New Creation. As the apostle John asserts, Jesus’ resurrection is his 8th miracle - symbolic for an 8th day - a new day - a new “first day” where Mary, in her confusion, doesn’t recognize Jesus and supposes him to be

the gardener. Well - in a very real sense that is exactly who Jesus is - the gardener, the renewed humanity, the new Adam, who recapitulates - restarts - creation by inaugurating God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven - a reality that will come to climax in Jesus’ reappearing.

THROUGH THE THEOLOGICAL LENS of the early Celtic Church, John Muir’s assertion that “going to the mountains is going home” takes on a deeper dimension than mere romantic sentimentalism, because Muir, whether he intends to or not, both unites us to our creation narrative while also pointing us to the telos of New Creation. We were pulled from elements that were perhaps pulled from God himself, and we will discover eternity not on some etherial distant cloud in the sky, but rather upon and throughout a renovated creation where the glory of Christ stands at the center. Therefore when we retreat into the

mountains, unplugging from the massive amounts of media that bombard us from day to day, disconnecting for a while from the careers that would seek to reorient where we find our very identities, we find time to hope and to pray, we find a place to meditate and reflect on scripture while striving to hear God’s heartbeat in the forest around us. We find home.

RYAN MCKENZIE graduated from Fuller with a Masters of Theology in 2012 and is now the Director of Ministries at Calvin Crest Conferences, a Christian camping and Conference center located in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just south of Yosemite National Park. The ministry at Calvin Crest is centered on utilizing the incredibly beautiful grounds - complete with Granite domes, Giant Sequoia groves, dense Cedar forests, and alpine meadows - as a class room to study what the natural sciences can tell us about theology. Calvin Crest hosts guests groups, weekend retreats, seasonal Divine Office Prayer retreats, and Summer Camp for all ages.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” - John Muir

St. Patrick: Celtic Monasticism ✠Spiritual Formation for the 21st Century

By Dr. Richard Peace

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S ANOTHER ST. PATRICK’S DAY approaches we are reminded again of the saint who was credited with the conversion of Ireland. Not many saints’ feast days make it on to our cultural calendar but St. Patrick is one of the lucky (?) ones. Of course it is the idea of drinking green beer, partying all night, and celebrating one’s Irish roots (real or not) that gets the attention of the nation, not the missionary work of Patrick. But still there is something about Patrick that captures our imagination. We have a vague sense of the stories (not all of which are historical): his taming of the fierce Irish tribes; his ridding Ireland of snakes; his use of a shamrock to teach about the Trinity.

I THINK PATRICK INTERESTS US, in part, because his sensibilities seem to connect with our postmodern sensibilities. For one, he saw the created

be no small feat. He wrote: “every day I am ready to be murdered, betrayed, enslaved—whatever may come my way. But I am not afraid of any of these things, because of the promises of heaven; for I have put myself in the hands of God Almighty.” The fact that he died of old age in his late 70s is a vindication of this trust.

WHO, THEN, WAS PATRICK AND what can we learn from his life? What can we learn from Celtic Spirituality, which had its origin in Patrick, that will feed our spiritual lives?

LET ME BEGIN WITH A QUICK summary of the life of Patrick and then explore Celtic spirituality.

PATRICK WAS, BY ALL ACCOUNTS, your average 4th/5th century, middle-class, Romanized Briton from a

There is something about Patrick that captures our imagination.... his sensibilities seem to connect with our postmodern sensibilities. world as a place where God was alive and present. The sun, the moon, and the changing of the seasons were all opportunities for prayer to God. Patrick seems to have an eco-sensibility akin to our own. Then there was his eclecticism. He was not above taking Druid feasts and Christianizing them (rather than condemning them and those who celebrated them). It is said that Halloween and May Day were old Irish festivals that Patrick brought into the Christian calendar. His bravery touches us. He knew that the taming of the Irish would

Christian family. By his own account he was not very religious despite the fact that his grandfather was a Catholic priest (priestly celibacy was a later doctrine). However his life changed radically at age 16 when a fleet of Irish slave traders sweep down the west coast of Britain and captured him and hundreds of other young men. Patrick was taken back to Ireland and sold to a petty king who sent him off into the hills to look after his flocks. The long nights on remote hillsides, hungry and naked, made Patrick into a man of prayer.

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“TENDING FLOCKS WAS MY daily work, and I would pray constantly during the day light hours. The love of God and the fear of him surrounded me more and more—and faith grew and the Spirit was roused, so that in one day I would say as many as a hundred prayers and after dark nearly as many again, even while I remained in the woods or on the mountain.”

PATRICK’S LIFE AS A SHEPHERD went on for six years until one night

ing a cargo of Irish hounds to be sold in Europe). At first the captain refused to give him passage even though Patrick showed him that he had money to pay for his passage (where did a slave get money?). But as Patrick walked away, praying, the sailors shouted after him.

The captain had had a change of heart.

BUT THE STORY OF HIS ESCAPE is not over. Once the ship landed in Europe they found a devastated land, without human beings or food. Chanc-

Patrick is the ideal postmodern saint....With all his eclecticism, incorporating...care for creation into his religious worldview, he resonates with a New Age mindset. So Patrick is a good starting point for conversation with our spiritually curious friends.... who may discover that the church isn’t as bad as they think. when he had a dream in which a voice said to him: “Your hungers are rewarded: you are going home.” He sat up and the voice continued: “Look, your ship is ready.” The irony of this is that the farm on which Patrick lived was inland, nowhere near the sea. So Patrick got up and walked some 200 miles through territory he had never been in before until he arrived at an inlet in the southeast of Ireland (probably near Wexford) and there he saw his ship. That an escaped slave could have traveled undetected for 200 miles was itself miraculous.

SO WAS THE FACT THAT HE actually got on the ship (which was tak-

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es are that they arrived in 407 after the Germanic hoards had wreaked havoc on Gaul.

SEEING THEIR PLIGHT, THE captain challenges Patrick. “How about it Christian? You say your god is great and all-powerful, so why can’t you pray for us? We’re starving to death.” Patrick takes up the challenge. He declares: “From the bottom of your heart, turn trustingly to the Lord my God for nothing is impossible to him. And today he will send you food for your journey until you are filled, for he has an abundance everywhere.” Just then, they look up and see a herd of pigs. This was not

just food but the best of food, as Thomas Cahill wryly declares.

WELL PATRICK FINALLY GETS back home to his family. But he is restless and unsettled. He cannot forget Ireland. One night he has a vision: “We beg you to come and walk among us once more.” It is Ireland calling. To make a long story short, Patrick leaves home again, this time for Gaul where he gets a theological education. He is ordained a priest and then a bishop (the first missionary bishop in history) and he returns to Ireland to begin his fruitful ministry.1 THERE IS MUCH IN THIS STORY that resonates with us: how God uses the extremity of our situation to open our hearts to him; how God intervenes

times and hard choices. It is just the sort of story to share with friends on St. Patrick’s Day because Patrick is the ideal postmodern saint. At first glance he appears to be “safe,” uncorrupted by dogma and religion and not at all “church-y.” What with all his eclecticism, incorporating Druid sensibilities and care for creation into his religious worldview, he resonates with a New Age mindset. So Patrick is a good starting point for conversation with our spiritually curious friends since he is already a person of interest. Although we will have to point out eventually that Celtic spirituality is, in fact, very church-based with its emphasis on penance, the sacrifice of Jesus (think large stone Irish crosses), the Trinity (shamrocks), and the practice of compunction (tears shed

Patrick evangelized Ireland via the churches and monasteries he founded.... It was out of these churches and monasteries that one of the distinctives of Celtic spirituality emerged: prayers of everyday life. in our stories; how God answers prayer; how God calls us; how God uses our history to actualize that call; how God blesses us as we are faithful to his call; and much more. Patrick’s story has the power to enrich our stories by showing us God’s action in his life.

AND IT IS A WALLOPING GOOD story, filled with twists and turns, miracles and blessing, not to mention hard

over sin). And then there are all those Irish priests found around the world.

Your friends may discover that the church isn’t all that bad as they think.

WELL, ENOUGH OF PATRICK. What about the spiritual tradition that emerged from his ministry? Much could be said about the particularities of Celtic spirituality. For one thing, there is this whole idea of peregrinatio (which is re-

1. I have made liberal use of Thomas Cahill’s wonderful retelling of the Patrick story in How the Irish Saved Civilization (1995) p. 101ff. For Patrick’s words, see Celtic Spirituality in The Classics of Western Spirituality (1999), in particular “Patrick’s Declaration of the Great Works of God” pp. 67-83.

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lated to the English word peripatetic): a journey which God calls us to take even though we know it will be filled with hardship; a journey without a specific goal or destination; a journey on which Jesus accompanies us and out of which we get to know him and ourselves on a far deeper level. It was peregrinatio that motivated the Irish monks to return to Europe after the devastation of the barbarian hordes in order to re-Christianize the land. Is God calling us to such a journey?

AND THEN, AS A COUNTERPOINT to this idea of journey, there are all the Irish monasteries with their settled life. Patrick evangelized Ireland via the churches and monasteries he founded.

When he returned to Ireland as a Bishop

village where they set up a new church and so the cycle continued.

IT WAS OUT OF THESE CHURCHES and monasteries that one of the distinctives of Celtic spirituality emerged: prayers of everyday life. Here is an aspect of Celtic spirituality that has real potential for us today. Our problem, often, is staying alert to the spiritual side of life, bombarded as we are with the constant stream of input that makes up our digital life. Meant by God to live in two worlds, we settle for the one world, the created world, with all its allures.

But when we learn to baptize the acts of everyday life in prayer, we stay connected to that other world as well.

HOW ABOUT THIS FOR A PRAYER before you go to sleep?2

Meant by God to live in two worlds, we settle for the one world, the created world, with all its allures. But when we learn to baptize the acts of everyday life in prayer, we stay connected to that other world as well. he did not return alone. He came with a great company of others, both priests and laypeople. Together they would go into a village and ask permission to set up a church. Here they sang the Hours, celebrated the Eucharist, worshipped God, remembered the feast days and gradually the whole village aligned itself to their timetable, their calendar, and their way of life. In turn, people from the newly Christianized village went with one of Patrick’s priests to another

May your Holy Angels, O Christ, son of the living God, tend our sleep, our rest, our bright bed.

Let them reveal true vision to us in our sleep, O High Prince of the universe, O great and mysterious King.

May no demons, no evil, no injury or terrifying dreams disturb our rest, our prompt and swift repose.

May our waking, our work, and our living

2. This first prayer is from Celtic Spirituality, p. 289. The rest are from The Celtic Way of Prayer by Esther DeWaal (1997) with pages noted above.

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be holy; our sleep, our rest, without hindrance or harm.

WHAT ABOUT A PRAYER WHEN washing your child’s face: The palmful of the God of Life, The palmful of the Christ of Love, The palmful of the Spirit of Peace, Triune of grace. (p. 77) HERE IS A PRAYER TO BE SAID AT the dawning of the day with thanks for great gift of the sun: The eye of the great God, The eye of the God of glory, The eye of the King of hosts, The eye of the King of the living, Pouring upon us At each time and season, Pouring upon us Gently and generously.

Glory to thee, Thou glorious sun.

Glory to thee, thou sun Face of the God of life. (pp. 58-59)

THIS FINAL PRAYER REMINDS US that this tradition of writing prayers of everyday life is still alive. What about our lives? What daily activities might be bathed in prayer? In seminars and classes when I have asked students to write such prayers I have been amazed at the topics they address: a prayer before entering a book store; a prayer while kissing my wife goodbye, a prayer upon waking in the wee hours of the night, a prayer before showering, a prayer when driving in Los Angeles (a protection prayer!) and so on. Celtic prayers bless the seasons, ask for protection, praise the saints, confront the dark forces, and baptize the most mundane of daily tasks.

TRY PRAYER IN THE CELTIC STYLE: make it Trinitarian, make it earthly, make it real. Use it to stay alert to the world of Spirit in which you live. Let Celtic spirituality live in your life.

HERE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES, A prayer by “an old woman in the southwest of Ireland today” who wants to invite “the whole company of heaven into her cottage”: I would like to have the men of Heaven In my own house; With vats of good cheer Laid out for them . . .

I would like a great lake of beer For the King of Kings, I would like to be watching Heaven’s family Drinking it through all eternity.” (pp. 184-5)

Dr. Richard Peace (PhD., University of Natal) is the Robert Boyd Munger Professor of Evangelism and Spiritual Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. He ministered for eight years in South Africa as director of special projects for African Enterprise, Inc., an evangelism group he helped found. He has written, edited, or co-authored over 80 books, worked as a filmmaker, and currently serves as a media production consultant.

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Celebrating St. Patrick, Abolitionist

By Reed Metcalf

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ARCH 17, ALSO KNOWN IN the United States as Blind Stinking Drunk Day, is the Feast of Saint Patrick.

The celebration of the Patron Saint of Ireland slowly morphed over time from its ecclesial roots into an all-out culture celebration on the Emerald Island; all over the world it has become a heritage celebration for the Irish and Irish-descended in exile. We Americans party just as hard as anyone, and though only 30 million Irish-Americans were recorded in the last census, it seems everyone has a greatgreat-great-grandfather from Dublin or Belfast on St. Patty’s Day. I DO NOT COME FROM A HIGH church tradition, but my family always celebrated the Feast of Saint Patrick. After Fuller’s Experiential Courses in Ireland, however, I began to see a true reason to celebrate the life and work of a remarkable Christian. Patrick, roughly contemporary with Augustine, set in motion an evangelistic movement that converted almost all of Ireland, Scotland, parts of barbarian Germany and Scandinavia, and

the snakes out of Ireland, but various sciences have shown that there have never been snakes on the island—ever. One of the most bizarre myths was that Patrick had duels of supernatural power with the druid shamans who served the Irish High King; Patrick won these battles by setting his opponents ablaze and casting them into the stratosphere. Crazy, right? Not compared with what he actually did.

PATRICK, OR PATRICIUS IN HIS native Latin, was a son of a nobleman, kidnapped when Irish slavers raided the western coast of Roman Britain. He worked as a shepherd during his slavery, and eventually escaped when prompted by a vision from God, who more or less guided his steps back to Britain. After a reunion with his family and resettling into elitist life, a second vision from God called Patrick into ministry for the pagan Irish. He sought asceticism, education, ordination, and pushed for a missionary appointment to Ireland; he instead was attached to the first Bishop of Ireland, Palladius, who was sent to the small

His biblically-laced letter goes on to fight for the human rights of the Irish—1300 years prior to Paine or Jefferson’s writings on intrinsic human rights—and to call for the abolition of slavery and equal treatment of all humans, 1400 years before the heyday of the American abolition movement. revitalized the faith of nominal Christians across major sections of Britain, France, Switzerland, and even Italy.

PATRICK’S LIFE IS SURROUNDED BY legend. The most popular is that he drove

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Christian population on the southeastern coast. When Palladius died within a year, Patrick was made bishop and charged into the pagan territories with the Gospel in hand in 431. Within a few years, the Irish were being baptized in droves.

THIS LEADS TO ONE OF THE MOST amazing parts of Patrick’s ministry. One Easter morning, shortly after Patrick has finished baptizing and anointing a great number of new converts, the British (and supposedly Christian) warlord Coroticus raids a newly converted part of Ireland.

Irishmen are executed while the women and children are led off to slavery, many still in their baptismal garb. Patrick sends an emissary to plead for the captives’ re-

cause Patrick had just kicked one of the most powerful and ruthless men in Britain out of the good standing of the shaky and fragile Roman Empire. Instead of vindicating Patrick, the British bishops write to the pope and get Patrick recalled to a punitive tribunal in Britain.

BETRAYED AND REALIZING HE risks his death by entering Coroticus’ territory without the protection of the church,

The man who was mad enough to evangelize the people who enslaved him, excommunicate a warlord, and walk unarmed through a country notorious for human sacrifice doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would run from the hostile tribunal bent on his destruction or capitulation. lease; when Coroticus laughs in his face, Patrick excommunicates him and plans a personal visit to the petty tyrant. The shepherd of the Irish writes to Coroticus, “I am not sure who I should pity more— the murdered, the captives you took, or you who have been enslaved by the devil.” The rest of his biblically-laced letter goes on to fight for the human rights of the Irish—1300 years prior to Paine's or Jefferson’s writings on intrinsic human rights—and to call for the abolition of slavery and equal treatment of all humans, 1400 years before the heyday of the American abolition movement. A whole lot better than getting rid of snakes, no?

WELL, PATRICK ALSO SENDS THIS “Letter to Coroticus”—one of two works of his still in existence—to the Bishops of Britain as well as the warlord. The bishops just about mess their pants, no doubt be-

Patrick writes his Confession, defending his work on behalf of one of the most barbaric peoples in Roman eyes as part of God’s mission to reach “the ends of the earth.” Patrick’s disciples continue on his work and create the Celtic monastic and evangelistic model that penetrates almost every corner of Europe in the 7th-9th centuries, but Patrick is never heard of again.

THERE ARE TWO SCHOLARLY camps in regards to what happened to Patrick. The first is that he died peacefully in Ireland of old age. The other is that he was killed when he obeyed the summons to the tribunal, whether he was intercepted by Coroticus’s troops or executed for disturbing the peace in the church. I lean towards the later; the man who was mad enough to evangelize the people who enslaved him, excommunicate a warlord, and walk unarmed through a country

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notorious for human sacrifice doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would run from the hostile tribunal bent on his destruction or capitulation. No, I do not think Patrick simply faded into the mist; his life had been dedicated to the Irish barbarians, and I think his death was as well.

LEGEND SAYS HE WILLED HIS bones scattered across Eire so his remains

die for the freedom of others. May we be flesh and blood reminders of the love of God for even the most despised. May we be the Body of Christ who acts in, through, and with the Holy Spirit for the sake of the world.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE BEST PARTS of Patrick’s career did not make it into the legends. His sacrifice of privilege on

Patrick was the exemplar of Christianity for the Irish, and his appearance in the 5th century was seen as a historical promise that the Irish were valued by God and would one day see his justice done on their behalf. would not become an idol to his followers. Regardless of where or how he died, his body is now part of the soil of Ireland.

His bones may not have become an object to cling to for the Irish, but his memory did. Can you blame them? Ireland would be pillaged by the British again, most notably in the 12th century; this time the Brits conquered the island and remained an occupying force until the 20th century.

Patrick, the one who had stood up for the Irish and demanded their freedom, became an unsurpassed hero in his adopted country during almost 800 years of disenfranchisement, racism, and oppression.

He was the exemplar of Christianity for them, and his appearance in the 5th century was seen as a historical promise that the Irish were valued by God and would one day see his justice done on their behalf. For the church as a whole, may we become such examples: not simply good preachers or writers of pristine theology, but courageous women and men who are willing to speak for the voiceless in the face of hopeless odds, who are willing to

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behalf of the detested, his fierce cry for abolition, and his steadfastness in the face of martyrdom make him sound more like Mohatma Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr. than anything or anyone typically toasted on St. Patty’s Day. He was a devoted follower of Christ, a radical exemplar, and defender of the oppressed. By all means, still raise a Guinness or Jameson on March 17th, but when you do, thank God for Brother Patrick. May his true memory live on.

Reed Metcalf (MDiv '13) is the Editor of the SEMI. His Irish ancestry shows up in his love for traditional Irish music, food, and the red tint of his beard. In an odd turn of events, he and his wife Monica were married on St. Patrick's Day, 2012.

The Church – Communities of Worship and Witness Moderator’s 3rd Colloquium on Ecclesiology #ModCE

Please join Moderator of the PCUSA General Assembly, Rev. Dr. Neal Presa, and President of Fuller Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. Mark Labberton, as we explore the connection between worship and mission for the Church today and in the future.

Date: March 17-19, 2014 Cost: $50 Location: Fuller Theological Seminary Payton Hall 101 Hosted by Fuller’s Office of Presbyterian Ministries Registration: www.fuller.edu For more info, call Barbara Hunsicker at 626.584.5582

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Anam Cara:

The Irish Soul

F r i e n d

By Kathleen O’Rourke

T

HE IRISH ARE A MYSTICAL PEOPLE. “Thin places” where the veil between the unseen and the seen drop away are part of the Irish landscape. Are there fairies in the garden or are they simply the Irish imagination “knowing” there is more than meets the eye? For Celtic Christians of old, when what is normally unseen flirts with the borders of our perception, it is no less than a caught moment of God’s glory. It is the hem of his robe as he passes by. It is the strong sensation and subtle manifestation of his presence.

there you are.” You are seen, you are known.

WE LIVE IN A TIME OF INTENSE RELATIONAL input and output. “I feel over stimulated and under supported,” a friend once expressed. Despite the large number of people we each know, loneliness and depression are on the increase. Theoretically, intimacy is a good thing and could help this problem. Yet, it cannot be denied that intimacy requires trust and opens the potential for betrayal and intense pain. That is why the anam cara is not a relationship found overnight.

THE CELTIC TRADITION CARRIES THIS perception of God’s presence everywhere— not only into our natural surroundings, but also into our relationships. The anam cara is one of these. In Irish, “anam” means “soul” and “cara” means “friend.” Therefore, the anam cara is a “soul friend”. This is a special relationship and at times in Irish history was even widely recognized as a social category by members of the monastic community. “There goes Padraig’s anam cara,” could be uttered in a way similar to “There goes Padraig’s wife.”

CONTRARY TO THE SPEED OF OUR CULTURE, the friendship of the soul takes time to develop. Pretense, our external image, must be dropped. Egoism, how the other is useful to you, must be abandoned. The most daunting obstacle is the encounter with our shame, which is really the act of remembering and fear of judgment residing together. Even this deepest level of what we have done cannot be hidden from the anam cara. That is why the anam cara must possess spiritual elements of compassion, mercy and love. Not everyone

In a friendship of anam cara, we do the hard work of “becoming” and in the process find ourselves closer to God himself. We become more able to perceive him in our surroundings and, most importantly, in the people around us.

In the beginning, the relationship was a sort of spiritual mentorship with a bit of confessor thrown in. Your anam cara knew everything about you, both the glories and the shames.

Over time the relationship became more peerto-peer, a deep friendship. The objective was still spiritual mentorship, but done in the intimacy of partnered friendship. God and God’s purpose were like a breath of life between the two people. Other than marriage, the anam cara is an example of relational incarnation— it is a friendship where God dwells.

REFLECTING THE TRINITY, GOD IS AN important third person in the anam cara friendship. He helps us push beyond the human tendency toward pretense, egoism and shame. Because of these, most friendships reside in the realm of companionship and affection. The common interest shared, childhood memories or the stage of life one finds oneself are the glue of the relationship. This is not a bad place to be with friends. But, it is not the heart or soul level. The anam cara says, “Ah,

can be an anam cara. Even if we want to be these things for another, it is challenging. The very face of God’s love for us is reflected in the face of the anam cara and that is why He must be in the relationship too.

WITH GOD IN THE MIX, THIS TYPE OF friendship, in theological terms, is called ontological, which means it is a part of “becoming”. We are not static beings, meant to rest in sameness. God is always calling us to be something more, to be filled with more compassion, mercy and love for others. This is a rich life full of joy and purpose. In a friendship of anam cara, we do the hard work of “becoming” and in the process find ourselves closer to God himself. We become more able to perceive him in our surroundings and, most importantly, in the people around us. Being or having a soul friend is not a journey for the faint hearted, but it is tremendously worthwhile. Have courage. Dare to go deeper with those around you and ask God to reveal to you an anam cara.

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Bibliography I figured that some of you may be interested to discover our sources. There is an enormous amount of literature on St. Patrick and the rest of the Celts—and thus some serious academic debate as well—but the following are some of the texts that have influenced us in our readings.

-RM

1. Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. New York: Doubleday, 1996.

2. Davies, Oliver, and Thomas O’Loughlin. Celtic Spirituality. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1999.

3. Dearborn, Kerry L. “Celtic Spirituality and Theology.” Pages 143-144 in Global Dictionary of Theology. Edited by William A. Dyrness and Veli-Matti Karkkainen. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008.

4. Feldmeth, Nathan P. Pocket Dictionary of Church History. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008.

5. Freeman, Philip. St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.

6. Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity, Volume 1: Beginnings to 1500. Revised Ed. New York: HarperOne, 1975.

7. Patrick. The Confession of Saint Patrick and Letter to Coroticus. Translated by John Skinner. New York: Image Books, 1998.

"The one and only purpose I had in going back to that people from whom I had earlier escaped was the Gospel and the promises of God." -St. Patrick

Hey, Fuller!

CHECK THIS OUT!

Jobs Available!

COMMUNITY COORDINATOR & INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY COORDINATOR Residential Community is hiring individuals who desire to encourage residents to actively nurture Christ-centered, living-learning, intergenerational and intercultural communities through sharing their unique identity, culture, and personal history. Serving God and our neighbors as a Community Coordinator or Intentional Community Coordinator is one avenue for this type of intentional community development. Weekly hours worked vary between communities: 8 – 13hrs per week along with monthly rent credit ranging from $320 - $550.

Visit fuller.edu/employment/ for more information and to apply.

Strong Marriages/Successful Ministries SPRING GROUPS NOW OPEN! Enrollment is open for the Strong Marriages/Successful Ministries groups for the Spring 2014 Quarter. Strong Marriages/Successful Ministries is a small group psycho-educational opportunity to enhance your marriage. Groups meet one evening per week for 9 weeks starting week two of the Spring quarter (week of April 7).

The groups fill up quickly as there are only four couples in each group. Groups are filled on a first come, first serve basis. Receipt of payment will reserve your spot in the group. Total cost is $40 per couple. Contact Melinda Talley at melindatalley@fuller.edu to sign up.

Spring quarter Strong Marriages/Successful Ministries groups:

MONDAYS 7-8:30PM Led by Sharon Hargrave TUESDAYS 6:30–8PM Korean-speaking group led by Sarah Jin TUESDAYS 7–8:30PM Led by Rick Jackson

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Field Ed Announcements pt. 1 Orientation to Theological Reflection - Spring 2014 FE501 and FE533 students are required to attend the Field Education: Orientation to Theological Reflection in their “A” Quarter of their internship. All FE500 students are required to attend during the quarter they are doing their practicum.

This Spring 2014, Field Education will hold one session: FRIDAY, APRIL 4TH, 2014 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm Payton Geneva Room

Field Education Announcements pt. 2 CHAPLAINCY INTERNSHIPS SPRING AND SUMMER 2014!

The following hospital and hospice chaplaincy internships* are being offered during the Spring and Summer Quarters of 2014.

Two-unit FE546 Hospital Chaplaincy internships are being offered at Glendale Adventist in Glendale, St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Children's Hospital of Orange County and Providence Holy Cross in Mission Hills.

Two-unit FE548 Hospice Chaplaincy internships are being offered through Roze Room Hospice and Mission Hospice.

These courses emphasize spiritual care training in a hospital or hospice setting. Students will learn how to be present to patients and/or their families during a crisis, as well as the preliminary steps in performing a spiritual care assessment.

Before registering for a chaplaincy course, interns must be interviewed and accepted by the prospective hospital or hospice chaplain. Start the process early! Depending on the site, the approval process can take from 3 to 8 weeks. *These are not CPE internships. If you are looking for CPE internships, you may find that information on our Field Education website.

Contact FEMF at 626-584-5387 or fielded@fuller.edu for more information.

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PAY T ON L E C T U R E S 2014 Fuller’s School of Theology Presents

WORLD FAITHS & GLOBALIZATION: A CHRIS T I A N P E R S P E C T I V E

APRIL 30 & MAY 1, 2014 10 a.m. to 12 Noon

First Congregational Church of Pasadena

464 E. Walnut St., Pasadena, CA 91101 (corner of Los Robles Ave. and Walnut St.) For a complete schedule of all related events please visit fuller.edu/paytonlectures

#Payton2014

Dr. Miroslav Volf is the founder and director of Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology, Yale University Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut.

Semi-Responsible The All-Seminary Council Column

What's it like to be

SIS President?

AS

SIS Co-Presidents we have had nothing short of a lively year. Our hope was to continue as leaders who served the SIS community as a family, not an institution. Some of our favorite memories have been seeing the community come together. In our events called “Fireside Chats,” we have had the opportunity to laugh, cook, pray, listen to words of wisdom, and come together as a community.

(Anica) One of my favorite Fireside Chats this year was when Korean students from the KSIS program taught other students how to make kimchi. As we stood around the table, we were able to learn from each other and celebrate culture. This celebrating was done through participation, which is so often hard for us in our busy independent lives. In this I was reminded that part of the beauty of a family is they come together not through obligation but by choice.

(Gwen) For me, this year has been defined by planning events that meet the needs of community. At these events it’s been fun to meet new people and help facilitate new friendships. At Fuller, many struggle to find community and it was special to help some in that search. At our January Fireside Chat, one woman said

to me “this is the first Fuller community event that I’ve been to since being here!”

She had been at Fuller since the fall and had yet to meet other SIS students at any kind of event. It was great to help her engage more with the community.

My favorite event this year was our February Fireside Chat when we ate spaghetti and heard from Dr. Myers and Dr. Resaicher. Each gave their testimonies and how they ended up at Fuller, all wrapped around the idea of calling and purpose post-Fuller. It was a blessing to hear the unique ways God has worked in their lives and gave us all hope for our futures.

The true value of serving with ASC has been the relationships formed with other students and working with faculty and staff. We have enjoyed getting to know our friends in the dean’s office, as well as many of our professors and faculty in other offices on campus. We encourage those interested in serving next year to grab lunch or coffee with us to talk about what serving on ASC could look like for you. Also, we extend an invitation to all students to our Fireside Chats, held in the Catalyst. Our next event is March 10th and will be about SIS Practicums.

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ART CALL FOR

a collaborative project between the SEMI and Fuller Arts Collective

ACCEPTING ALL FORMS OF VISUAL AND LITERARY ART submission deadline March 31st

submissions may be emailed to semi@fuller.edu For more information see fullerartscollective.tumblr.com