A Word from Pastor Nathan

Dear Friends:

During February of each year, Brite Divinity School holds Ministers Week, a free, ecumenical continuing education opportunity for clergy and laity. The event doubles as a homecoming for Brite and Texas Christian University. When I served as the Admissions Associate at Brite, I would arrange a Brite display, staff the table, and share conversation with alumnae/i, guest speakers, and retirees. A critical part of any admissions display is showcasing the books faculty have written. At this past Ministers Week, I brought texts from my library, including Lance Pape’s The Scandal of Having Something to Say. Lance teaches preaching at Brite, and my copy of the text holds my notes, ideas, and wonderings scribbled along the thin margins.

Imagine my shock when that book went missing from the display table one evening. My heart was deeply grieved. No offer of reward enticed the book-taker to return it. Alas, the book and my notes were gone.

Last week, Derek Wilkerson, a current Brite student, contacted me, saying, “I am taking Dr. Pape’s preaching class this semester, and we’re using his book, which I bought used from Amazon. When I opened the book to the title page, I found an interesting stamp with your name.” Derek showed the book to Dr. Pape after class, and Dr. Pape told Derek that the book had gone missing at Ministers Week. I could not believe my eyes when Derek sent me a picture of the long-lost book.

Do you remember the second parable from Luke 15? A woman loses one of ten silver coins. She searches for it constantly. When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ I feel much the same about this book. What was lost has now been found and is on its way to Washington Avenue. Jesus concludes the parable saying, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Imagine that! The joy present in the midst of God’s angels is far greater than my joy about the return of a missing book, but the metaphor works.

May that which creates joy in the heavenly courts stir our hearts to celebrate.

Peace abundant,

Nathan