The following piece is a devotion I wrote for parent information evenings we recently had in our college:

​It is impossible to be the perfect parent. To give our kids the perfect life and a perfect education, a perfect experience of school. We know in our minds that perfection doesn’t exist. But it still doesn’t stop us, as humans and particularly as parents, of putting ourselves under immense pressure to be the perfect parent, the supermum and überdad, successful at everything, trying to give our children only the very best.
 
Way back in 2017, a post from a Facebook page about how to be Mum went viral. In one hundred words the author, a mother called Bunmi Laditan, wrote this; 
 
How To Be A Mom in 2017:
Make sure your children's academic, emotional, psychological, mental, spiritual, physical, nutritional, and social needs are met while being careful not to overstimulate, understimulate, improperly medicate, helicopter, or neglect them in a screen-free, processed foods-free, GMO-free, negative energy-free, plastic-free, body positive, socially conscious, egalitarian but also authoritative, nurturing but fostering of independence, gentle but not overly permissive, pesticide-free, two-story, multilingual home preferably in a cul-de-sac with a backyard and 1.5 siblings spaced at least two year apart for proper development…also don't forget the coconut oil.  

​She then finished her post by saying; How to be a Mum in literally every generation before ours: Feed them sometimes.(1) 
 
This post revealed vividly how impossible and laughable so much of modern parenting has become. Being a perfect parent is unrealistic. It’s bound to fail, to end in a miserable mess of sad tears. But that’s OK, because it is only by acknowledging and embracing our failures that we can begin to see how incredibly perfect the healing love of our perfect parent in heaven is. God’s grace silences all our false expectations, and pressure and guilt we put ourselves under. It us at these times that we are directed us to the only true help we have as parents.
 
My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
 
Prayer; Loving God, teach us to fail. To fail as parents so that we are directed outside of ourselves, to you for strength, hope, and wisdom. Give us your grace, love and freedom when we put ourselves under the pressure of being the perfect parent. Teach us the blessings that flow from our imperfections and weakness. Help us to learn from our failures as parents and for our children to learn from this wisdom too. Give us a strong relationship with our children, their teachers and our school community. We commit into your hands our children, their education, their wellbeing, their lives. May we trust in you in all things, especially in our parenting. Amen.

(1) This quote and the inspiration for this devotion came from the book Upside-Down Spirituality; The 9 Essential Failures of a Faithful Life by Chad Bird.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17

Lutheran Christians believe that the human being consists of body and soul. This is not a separating of body and soul like the ancient Greek philosophers did but a holistic view of humans that is deeply embedded in the Old and New Testaments. In the Freedom of a Christian Luther also phrases it as the flesh and the spirit, or the outer and the inner person. Contrary to some philosophies of our time this means that the Lutheran school provides education for the whole student body, mind and soul. Our wholistic approach for the development of children and young people always involves the spiritual, giving time for the growth of the interior life of the person. This interior life or spirituality in which we experience the struggle between what our body wants to do and what our mind wants to do at times.
 
The section of the Freedom of a Christian that we are about to read outlines what is needed for the soul, the inner life of a person. Luther is convinced that one thing alone is necessary for the Christian and for their freedom, that is the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our interior life can lack everything except the word of God, nothing else satisfies the soul as the word of God which brings life, truth, light, peace, joy, wisdom, power grace and every imaginable blessing. For Luther this word of God is so much more than an individual reading ink printed on the page of a bible. The word of God is a living active dynamic thing when one person speaks it or proclaims it to another person and primarily that word is the gospel, the promises of God in scripture which deliver Christ to us. When we hear this word and it sinks into our soul, faith is produced in us by the Holy Spirit and we learn to rely on what God has done for us rather than our good works. What makes us right with God is not the good works our bodies can do but faith in what Jesus has done for us. Faith alone, in Christ, justifies, makes us righteous.

A Reading from the "Freedom of a Christian"
Every human being consists of two natures: a spiritual and a bodily one. According to the spiritual nature, which people label the soul, the human being is called a spiritual, inner, and new creature. According to the bodily nature, which people label the flesh, a human being is called the fleshly, outer, and old creature… This distinction results in the fact that in the Scripture these contrary things are said about the same person, because these two “human beings” fight against each other in the very same human being, as in Gal. 5[:17], “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the spirit, and what the spirit desires is opposed to the flesh”
 
The Spiritual, New, and Inner Person
In looking at the inner person first, we grasp how someone may become righteous, free, and truly Christian, that is, “a spiritual, new, and inner person.”
 
What Christian Freedom Does Not Consist In
It is evident that no external thing at all, whatever its name, has any part in producing Christian righteousness or freedom. Nor does it produce unrighteousness or servitude. This can be proven by a simple argument. How can it benefit the soul if the body is in good health—free and active, eating and drinking and doing what it pleases—when even the most ungodly slaves to complete wickedness may overflow in such things? On the other hand, how could poor health or captivity or hunger or thirst or any other external misfortune harm the soul, when even the godliest, purest, and freest consciences are afflicted with such things? Not one of these things touches upon the freedom or servitude of the soul. Thus, it does not help the soul if the body wears the sacred robes set apart for priests or enters sacred places or performs sacred duties or prays, fasts, abstains from certain foods, or does absolutely any work connected with the body. Righteousness and freedom of the soul will require something completely different, since the things just mentioned could easily be done by some ungodly person and since such efforts result only in producing hypocrites. On the other side, the soul is not harmed if the body wears street clothes, goes around in secular places, eats and drinks like everyone else, does not pray aloud, and fails to do all the things mentioned above that hypocrites could do.
 
The Word of God Is Necessary for the Soul
Moreover, so that we may exclude everything—even contemplation, meditation, and whatever else can be done by the soul’s efforts—all of this has no benefit. One thing and one thing alone is necessary for the Christian life, righteousness, and freedom, and that is the most holy word of God, the Gospel of Christ. As John 11[:25] states: “I am the Resurrection and the Life, whoever believes in me will never die.” And John 8[:36]: “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” And Matt. 4[:4]: “One does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Therefore, we may consider it certain and firmly established, that the soul can lack everything except the word of God. Without it absolutely nothing else satisfies the soul. But when soul has the word, it is rich and needs nothing else, because the word of God is the word of life, truth, light, peace, righteousness, salvation, joy, freedom, wisdom, power, grace, glory, and every imaginable blessing.
 
David in Psalm 119
This is why the prophet throughout Psalm 119 and in so many other places [in the Psalter] yearns and sighs with groans and cries for the word of God.
 
God’s Cruelest Disaster
Again, there is no crueler disaster arising from God’s wrath than when it sends “a famine of the hearing of his word,” as stated in Amos 8[:11], just as there is no greater grace than whenever God sends forth his word, as in Ps. 107[:20]. “He sent out his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction.” And Christ was not sent into the world for any other office than the word. Moreover, the apostles, bishops and the entire order of clerics have been called and established only for the ministry of the word.
 
What the Word of God Is
You may ask, “What is this word and how should it be used, when there are so many words of God?” I respond as follows. Paul explains what this word is in Rom. 1[:1, 3]: “The gospel of God . . . concerning his Son,” who was made flesh, suffered, rose, and was glorified through the Spirit, the Sanctifier. Thus, to preach Christ means to feed, justify, free, and save the soul—provided a person believes the preaching. For faith alone is the saving and efficacious use of the word of God. Rom. 10[:9] states: “If you confess with your heart that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” and again [in v. 4]: “For Christ is the end of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” And Rom. 1[:17] states: “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”
 
Faith Alone Justifies
For the word of God cannot be received or honored by any works but by faith alone. Therefore, it is clear that the soul needs the word alone for life and righteousness, because if the soul could be justified by anything else, it would not need the word and, consequently, would not need faith. Indeed, this faith absolutely cannot exist in connection with works, that is to say, in connection with any presumption of yours to be justified at the same time by any works whatsoever. (1)

Discussion Questions:

1. Can you think of any contemporary equivalents of “good works”? What modern practices and beliefs do people use to earn the approval of God, their peers or even themselves?
2. According to Luther, what role do good works play in the life of a Christian? Why does he say that the Christian is saved by faith alone yet also required to do good works?
3. How would you describe to a person unfamiliar with Christianity this faith that can free us and make us truly good, righteous and holy?
4. How do we avoid turning faith into just another kind of good work?
5. Are there ways we in a Lutheran school present the Christian faith as being about doing good works?[2]

[1] The Freedom of a Christian 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition, translated by Timothy J. Wengert, Fortress Press, Minneapolis: 2016, 11-15.
[2]  Carmelo Santos, The Freedom of a Christian: A Study Guide for Martin Luther’s Treatise, Marking the 500th Anniversary of its Publication, ELCA, Chicago: 2020.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1
 
As educators in a Lutheran school we know how important it is to encourage students to learn through making mistakes, to move through those times of feeling stuck, to step out of the learning pit, and be challenged, to question, to reflect, and grow in resilience and mindset. Luther knew how important these aspects were in learning, not just in the classroom but also in the Christian faith. Luther emphasized that as Christians we learn through our trials, tribulations and even through suffering in life. It is in this vein that Luther begins his introduction to the Freedom of a Christian.
​
As a Doctor of Theology who lectured at university in Biblical studies Luther suggests that he has little faith. He encourages us on our spiritual journey that no matter how great or small we think our faith is, we all can access and experience the strength that is offered through faith in Christ. For Luther this faith lies outside of ourselves. It is not mere knowledge. Yet it does include knowledge, reason and logic. Faith in Christ is reasonable, verifiable, historical. That is really important when we encourage and nurture faith in students. For Luther and Lutheran theology faith is primarily trust. Trust in who Christ says he is and what Christ has done for us. Trust in the promises of God. Promise which is found in the Biblical story together with the demands of God. This is where we find paradox and two seemingly contradictory themes; because of God’s grace and forgiveness we have freedom yet as flesh and blood humans we are still bound up by sin. Let’s read now the opening paragraphs to “The Freedom of a Christian.” 
 
A Reading from the “Freedom of a Christian” 
Many people view Christian faith as something easy, and quite a few people even count it as if it were related to the virtues. They do this because they have not judged faith in light of any experience, nor have they ever tasted its great power.  
​
This is because a person who has not tasted its spirit in the midst of trials and misfortune cannot possibly write well about faith or understand what has been written about it.  But one who has had even a small taste of faith can never write, speak, reflect, or hear enough about it.  As Christ says in John 4(:14), it is a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Although I cannot boast of my own abundance of faith and I also know quite well how short my own supply is, nevertheless—given that I have been troubled by great and various trials—I hope I can attain to at least a drop of faith.  And I hope that I can talk about faith in a way that, if not more elegant, is certainly clearer than has been done  in the past by the fancy writers and the subtle disputants alike, who have not even understood their own writings.

In order to point out an easier way for common folk (for I serve only them), I am proposing two themes concerning the freedom and servitude of the spirit:
A Christian is lord of all, completely free of everything.
A Christian is a servant, completely attentive to the needs of all.
 
Although these topics appear to contradict one another, nevertheless, if they can be found to be in agreement, they will serve our purposes beautifully.  For both are from the Apostle Paul, when he says in 1 Cor. 9 (:19), “For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all” and in Rom. 13 (:8), “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.”  But “love” by its very nature is dutiful and serves the one who is loved. The same was true of Christ who, although Lord of all, was nevertheless “born of a woman, born under the law” and who was at the same time free and slave, that is, at the same time “in the form of God” and “in the form of a slave.”

Let us approach these two themes from a rather distant and unsophisticated starting point.  Every human being consists of two natures: a spiritual and a bodily one.  According to the spiritual nature, which people label the soul, the human being is called a spiritual, inner, and new creature. According to the bodily nature, which people label the flesh, a human being is called the fleshly, outer, and old creature.  Paul writes about this in 2 Cor. 4(:16), “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” This distinction results in the fact that in the Scripture these contrary things are said about the same person, because these two “human beings” fight against each other in the very same human being, as in Gal. 5(:17), “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the spirit, and what the spirit desires is opposed to the flesh.” [1]
 
Discussion Questions:

1. Why does Luther consider “trials” and “misfortunes” a privileged place for discovering what faith is all about?
2. Have you experienced “trials” and “misfortunes” when you felt mysteriously sustained by God? How did God show up for you during those experiences?
3. How do you think a person can be free and subject to none while at the same time being “a completely dutiful servant of all, subject to all”?
4. Why do you think Luther relied so much on paradoxes to understand the Christian faith?[2]

 
[1]  Timothy Wengert Translation, Fortress Press: 2016, pp.10-11.
[2] Carmelo Santos, The Freedom of a Christian: A Study Guide for Martin Luther’s Treatise, Marking the 500th Anniversary of its Publication, ELCA, Chicago: 2020.

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8:31-36.

On the first day of this term I was able to lead a study for our whole staff. I decided the content for this study would be Martin Luther's treatise on The Freedom of a Christian. This year happens to be the 500th anniversary of the writing and publishing of this document. Below you can read an abridged introduction to this study as well as download the PowerPoint quiz and discussion questions I used. In subsequent weeks I will be posting followup reflections on The Freedom of a Christian as I select readings from it to use in our staff devotions. Toward the end of the term I will include the complete study of readings and questions in the Devotions part of this site. Blessings as you enjoy your freedom that serves!

​Study Introduction:
The Freedom of a Christian, written by Martin Luther, is a great introduction to Lutheran theology and spirituality. In this treatise Luther makes the classic Pauline and Reformation distinction between faith and good works, that is freedom comes from the righteousness of faith apart from the law. According to God’s grace we are justified by faith alone through Christ, this is the biblical teaching that Luther rediscovered and is at the heart of the Reformation. In the Lutheran school this has many implications including the fact that the mission of a Lutheran school is to provide not only a quality education but also to be Christ centred and grace focused. This means a Lutheran school is a place of grace in all aspects of learning so that students, staff and families are exposed to and nurtured in a faith that frees us from the accusations of the law and the addiction of works righteousness.

In the ears of people today freedom is usually thought of in terms of the economic or the  political. To be free is to be an autonomous individual who has a wide array of consumer goods or the right to choose their government representatives. Since the enlightenment of the eighteenth century freedom tends to be defined in terms of deliverance from oppressive structures, especially those connected with church dogma.[1] For Luther the individual self lacked the resources that would lead to true freedom. “Rather than knowing true freedom, people are much more prone to cling to some earthly good such as wealth, status, or sex. The result can be a bondage that is deep and profound. And it is…ironic because it can happen under the guise of a supposedly autonomous self that is simply doing as it pleases.”[2]

“The freedom Luther has in mind is deeply relational…it is found in a relationship with Christ”.[3]  Tranvik in his introduction to Luther’s work makes this analogy. In long term relationships like a good friendship or a faithful marriage there is an abundance of faith and trust along with the joys and sorrows of life. Within such relationships there is little pretension or need to prove one’s worth or value. Hours can pass without a word and yet there is no need to explain the silence. This sense of freedom cannot be purchased in the marketplace or obtained. It cannot be generated through the earnest efforts of an individual will. Rather it is a gift of the relationship itself.[4]  This is the freedom of the Christian that Luther writes of in this document.

[1] Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian; Luther Study Edition, translated and introduced by Mark D. Tranvik, Fortress Press, Minneapolis: 2008, Introduction, 28.
[2] 28-29.
[3] Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian; Luther Study Edition, translated and introduced by Mark D. Tranvik, Fortress Press, Minneapolis: 2008, Introduction, 29.
[4] ibid.

Andrew Root has written an excellent book called "Faith Formation in a Secular Age; Responding to the Church's Obsession with Youthfulness". It was published in 2017 by Baker Books and is the first part of a three book series on ministry in a secular age. The second work is on the role of the Pastor and the third which has just been released is centered on the ministry of the Congregation.  In "Faith Formation", Root critiques and builds on the work of philosopher Charles Taylor, New Testament scholar Michael Gorman and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's little known emphasis on youth ministry. Below is a link to a review of the book I wrote for the current August edition of the Lutheran Theological Journal.    

D​uring the week I had the opportunity to spend some time on a Zoom call discussing the place of Mindfulness in Lutheran schools. Organised through Lutheran Education Australia it was a Learning Circle on Katherine Thompson's book "Christ Centred Mindfulness." Participants included a principal, christian studies teachers, ministry and church workers, pastors and chaplains.  It was the start of a conversation on how Lutheran schools are using mindfulness practices and how we can use the contemplative elements that have always been there in our Christian tradition with integrity. Inserted here is the Powerpoint presentation I used for discussion.

Have you ever thought about your breathing?  Probably not that often, but did you know that in an average day an active adult can take up to 50 000 breaths?  And would you believe a one year old can take up to 86 000 breaths?  We do it automatically but every breath we take is an absolute miracle, a gift from God.  With the popularity of mindfulness, the importance of concentrating on our breathing to help us be in the moment has resurfaced. But religious people, including Jews and Christians have known this a long time. 

In the beginning in the book of Genesis we read God; formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a human being (Genesis 2:7). We believe that humanity was created to breathe, to take in the breath that comes from God to truly live.  And what’s more in John’s gospel we read that on Easter day when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, he spoke to them, reassured their fears then breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).  God has made us as human beings with his living breath as the resurrected Jesus lives with and in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.  In using our breathe in conjunction with prayer we are centring ourselves on the Triune God.

​Focusing on our breathing in times of anxiety is a great skill to learn. Below is a 3 minute video from Mindful Schools called "Just Breathe". It is not from a specifically Christian worldview but it does have wisdom for faith based schools as we make the connection to the spiritual for our students.

​Do you really, truly believe?  If you repent?  These are conditional, adverbial statements that do not have a place in Lutheran theology. They are examples of 'adverbial theology'. This is a term that one of my seminary lecturers used, Dr Joe Strelan. This last week he passed from this life to the next so I had cause to reread some notes I took in a short lecture he delivered some after I left the seminary in my first parish in Sydney. As well as learning from him in a number of New Testament and Systematic subjects at Luther Seminary I was fortunate to be in the New South Wales District in my first call. Something I really appreciated about Dr Strelan was that before he retired he spent time away from the academic life as a parish pastor. While he was in Port Macquarie he was instrumental in developing pastors in that district with alternative training before this became a more widespread practice across the LCA. It was during this period in his life that he delivered the following lecture on Adverbial Theology at a NSW Pastors Conference.    

Over the weekend, I completed a project I had been planning for nearly a year, constructing a butterfly labyrinth at my college's kindergarten. With my daughter's help, I marked out with tape the shape of the butterfly, painted it green and then pulled off the tape to reveal the butterfly. The butterfly is a particular shade of green to match the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly which is native to the subtropics of eastern Australia. The butterfly, which was near extinct, is attracted to a particular vine we have growing in the rainforest on our campus. With the help of senior students, we hope to plant some of the vines around the college and kindy. The butterfly is also special to us as a community, especially at this time of the year because of the Christian symbolism of new life and resurrection. God has perfect time because there has been an abundance of butterflies flying all along the Sunshine Coast over these recent autumn weeks. In coming weeks, I look forward to leading children through this butterfly labyrinth and link together for them these aspects of our local environment and Christian spirituality. Enjoy this one and a half minute video of the construction process. Thanks to the Pacific Early Learning Centre Director Julie McCosker and of course my daughter Ella.  

In these times of the coronavirus pandemic, when school, as we know it, has been fundamentally changed through a distributive model of online learning, mindful meditative practices are being renewed in creative ways. It can be challenging to do this through digital technology, but it is an opportunity to think of different ways to centre and ground ourselves and our students for the sake of everyone's well-being. Two ways I have used labyrinths creatively to cater for students who are learning at home and school via a screen is through finger labyrinths and a virtual labyrinth walk. 
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Pictured below is a Finger Labyrinth that I used with staff over Zoom for a devotion at the end of last term. It was the season of Lent, so the apt words of Philippians 2:8 were used; "Christ humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross!". Staff were then invited whether in their offices, workstations or at home to either touch their screen and trace the labyrinth to the centre of the cross or to use their mouse and cursor to trace the path. Then when they had reached the centre, they could take three deep breaths before tracing their way back out of the cross. It was great to use the technology in such a tangible way to slow people down, let them breathe, and meditate on the way of the cross of Christ. In my next post, I will share the virtual labyrinth I have created. Thanks to Flame Creative Children's Ministry for permission to share this image: http://flamecreativekids.blogspot.com/2012/05/finger-labyrinths.html