tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19785125.post7374095959718493128..comments2024-01-03T07:56:32.311-05:00Comments on quaker oats live: here's a quote for you...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07488876505679035140noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19785125.post-80167206980239779762007-06-08T07:20:00.000-04:002007-06-08T07:20:00.000-04:00I have to confess that this condemnation of "sacri...I have to confess that this condemnation of "sacrificing one's children" immediately reminds me of the story of Abraham and Isaac, which is the archetype in our Judæo-Christian tradition.<BR/><BR/>It also reminds me of Christ's words in Luke 14:26: "<I>If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and </I>children<I>, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.</I>" In the context, it seems evident to me that Christ intended "does not hate" in the sense of "does not thoroughly detach himself from" and/or "is not fully willing to sacrifice".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19785125.post-29542388338025955412007-06-06T18:32:00.000-04:002007-06-06T18:32:00.000-04:00This is a daily struggle for me as a pastor. The ...This is a daily struggle for me as a pastor. The huge expectations of a pastor by a meeting create a sense of obligation to that meeting even though lip service is given to the desire that pastors have the time and space they need to care for their families.<BR/><BR/>In this regard, many pastoral Friends Meetings have adopted the "super pastor" expectation from other denominations - much to the detriment of Friends ministry.<BR/><BR/>I have better boundaries now than I did when my kids were small; few days go by, however, during which I don't mourn to some degree the inappropriate sacrifices my children were ask to make (figuratively speaking) in the name of ministry.Thorny Quakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16200158243975249641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19785125.post-38916299762443802452007-06-05T21:08:00.000-04:002007-06-05T21:08:00.000-04:00One aspect of in the first century of Friends' his...One aspect of in the first century of Friends' history was that a parent could have a recognized call to go preach in some other region. When this happened, not only might their spouse be left behind with the children, but (given the high mortality rates of the American colonies) other members of the meeting would often be responsible for raising these children (as with other orphans of meeting members.)<BR/><BR/>These were, of course, people with an expectation that they themselves might be called on to sacrifice themselves in God's work. (And as George Bernard Shaw said, a person willing to sacrifice himself can be all too willing to sacrifice others.)<BR/><BR/>Is there such a thing as a "ministry of raising one's own children"? Why not? Not at all too easy or unimportant... If that's too narrow for many people--and it certainly can be--such people need to avoid making the task larger to fill their need for challenge. Children don't need someone to sacrifice themselves "for the children"; they need real parents with minds and lives of their own.forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03214745625847174676noreply@blogger.com