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serving as pilgrim Life History Rev. Eric Posa | |||||
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Track 6: Song: "Pastures of Plenty" Artist: Woody Guthrie I earned my B.A. in May 1994; I waited three whole weeks to begin graduate school. By the time I started the Master's at UNT, I was already thinking about ministry. I began putting together my seemingly disparate drives--to think & teach, comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable--into a coherent call to preach and inspire religious reflection, offer pastoral care to those in need, and engage in prophetic work in the larger community. But I had already committed to begin the M.A., and I wanted to follow through. Besides, though I was anxious to grow into my ministry, I did have a vague sense (at age 22) that I was not yet ready emotionally. The M.A. in Philosophy had another advantage. UNT's Philosophy Department is one of the world's prime centers for the study of Environmental Ethics. I was challenged to bring my philosophy down to Earth, in a literal way, by reflecting on the beauty, complexity, and meaningfulness of the natural world, and how we humans interact with it. My religious and environmental interests came together in studying ecotheology. Christian theologians who wrote of the resources within their religious tradition that supported a positive regard for nature offered me a new, positive insight into the religious tradition I had so long rejected. The environmental study was sinking in to my daily life and spiritual practice as well: I found myself camping more often, enjoying hikes in wooded areas, and feeling the subtle interplay between the animals, plants, land, water, and air. I was also finding the ecological relatedness in the human world as well, which became more important for me later.... backward to "The River of Dreams" forward to "The Ghost of Tom Joad" | |||||
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