Lent: The Teacher

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Blessing #18 - Dr. Nathan R. Kerr

There is not a day that goes by without Nate Kerr having some influence on my life.  It's not like I'm thinking every day, "Oh, Nate Kerr taught me that," but, every now and then I stop to reflect, and I realize how much he has shaped my world view.  Today, it was twice that I had that moment - where I realized that I never would have been saying that things that I was saying if it wasn't for my four years of tutelage under him.

Philosophy for Theology I, October 2009

I want to share some of the parameters of my world view, as shaped by Nate Kerr:

1. "[G-d] is so high among the highest, and I am low among the lowest, a mean thing." (Augustine)  G-d is beyond our intellectual capacity.  Understanding of Him can only be brought by divine revelation, but there will always be mystery (and lots of it) surrounding Him.  It takes extreme amounts of faith in our science-driven world to accept that.
2. We are much more connected to those other than ourselves than we can possibly know.  The human experience is one of joined-ness, and, as such, all human life is sacred.  It is not our place to take it.  Those who do so must first be ordained by G-d.  
3. The world doesn't like those who think outside the presented norms.  The world especially doesn't like those who are correct in thinking outside the presented norms.  This doesn't mean that you should conform; it simply means that you need to re-enter The Cave in the full awareness of what you are doing.
4. It's harder to receive a good thing when you were expecting a bad one than it is to receive a bad thing when you were expecting a good one.
5. Love never fails.

I certainly have more, but I think those are my Top Five.  What are yours?