My tutors, sometimes department chairs, said the clear path for me to integrate Theology and psychology is sociology. It's one way to integrate my commitment to the community of faith and social science. This is the umbrella department I recommend often recommend for undergrad who have an aptitude for psychology, but who are unsure how they want to work; i.e. in the field, a desk job, or hybrid. Schools with a social science degree can point students down a number of paths in a variety of fields as well.
And yet others have recommended I get my Juris Doctorate like a second-cousin who interviewed me in partial fulfillment of her degree. Other bi-vocational pastors, one with a J.D., another a village businessman, and yet another who was an Insurance Adjuster had another suggestion. It seems like they would echo the thought, you're being a little too obedient to all of these suggestions, especially anything sounding like politico-speak and/or legalese. One of them has a wife who is a local lawyer, but he is a National Lawyer with Indiana.
So with a little trepidation, I enter tentatively into this report, birthed from conversation with all types of leaders in Michigan. Even Democrats are somewhat divided on the referendum to be voted upon.
Now this is an altogether separate thing
These are the Words of our Lord to someone who could be a distraught grandfather with a family crisis; a mere possibility:
“And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see they are doing what God wants…”
This can also be parsed:
“…But those who do what is right come to the light so they can see God at work in what he is doing.” {John iii.19-21, NLT}
Like Jesus & Nicodemus, together we walk toward the light, or we hide in our subgroups in the dark. Of course there are times we stand back to back to occupy our territory in the light, or get together in a holy huddle, and then keep huddling up until the plays have run their course.
My son is only about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Jimmy John’s on Jefferson Boulevard in Fort Wayne, Indiana if you want to get off and do lunch on your way to the Indy500. I’m sure you’ll see how nice the dining commons are, and then you can drive around to the others in town to see if they’re all aesthetically pleasing. There’s dine in, carry out, and they deliver.
Where my son lives:
57% are between 18-65. {That’s Gen X, Mosaics\Millennials, and some of NextGen.}
55.2% own their home!
16% of people aged 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree.
{His city is kind of like a no-man’s land I guess, "Unincorporated." What's Spring Arbor? There’s not a lot to do in some regions.}
62.5% of people 16+ are working.
60.7% of females 16+ are working {which is great, but there’s an old sociological factor called the greenhouse effect.}
In a similar region, about 1/2 agricultural and 1/2 city, hardworking people from the factories were just going out, and making love in their cars for lunch! Yes, I researched it, and you’d be amazed what kind of transactions you can come away with in the grocery store parking lot.
However, who in Ft. Wayne at Jimmy Johns wants to have a conversation about Hoosier Daddy?
Stats from right up the road
The biological clock keeps ticking, or maybe it’s a grandfather clock, because they just want grandkids.
{See my above guesstimate about the approach of Nicodemus; personal inquisitiveness, yes! However, perhaps there was a family crisis.}
The above linc leads to a fascinating read I can’t get enough of. There are other important metrics to pay attention to as well.
Rural/town areas are not a bad place to hang your hat. The populace seems like hardworking, home-loving people, with a great representation of the younger age groups and middle age.
Please remember you’re welcome in the light {again, see above John iii.19-21, the Words of our Lord to someone who could be a distraught grandfather}.
It’s the fear of vulnerabilities, which could possibly be all!
Christians or nonbelievers; it’s the same processes of entering the light and remaining in the light.
“I am overwhelmed with indignation,
for my enemies have disregarded your words.
Your promises have been thoroughly tested;
that is why I love them so much.
I am insignificant and despised,
but I don’t forget your commandments . . .
As pressure and stress bear down on me,
I find joy in your commands.”
I think of this as confesssions of the righteous from “Tsadhe” {Psalm cxix.139-141, 143}.
Sometimes a confession is a brutally honest communication which is nothing like personal sin.
Sometimes personal sin is involved, or at least lust which can lead to sin, but beyond penitence the renunciant begins to develop the will to thrive:
“Remember your promise to me;
it is my only hope.
Your promise revives me;
it comforts me in all my troubles” {Psalm cxix.49-50}.
“Whom have you been defying and ridiculing?
Against whom did you raise your voice?
At whom did you look with such haughty eyes?
It was the Holy One of Israel!” {2 Kings xix.22}.
Be careful who you look down upon!
"May those who take delight in my trouble
be turned back in disgrace.
Let them be horrified by their shame,
for they said, ‘Aha! We’ve got him now!’” {Psalm lxx.2.b-3}.
God hears the prayers of His oppressed, especially the renunciant who is developing the will to thrive.
I can almost hear renunciants over the years saying that you don't have to stand against us.
What we need are more defenders of those who are becoming faithful or else, “You may even find yourselves fighting against God!” {Paul’s Mentor Gamaliel; Acts v.39.b}.
It’s all personal to God!
You can take a look at the other side of it if you like.
Can I make the suggestion to Vote YOUR Values!
"Attorney William Wagner of the Great Lakes Justice Center has ok'd this" {He has approved the Vlog; released to the Michigan Pastoral Alliance; Monday, October 17, 2022}.
Apparently, this is what the "fine print" is all about at the polls in Michigan this year, now.
May I make another suggestion?
Read and/or watch carefully.
Or you can just read my report above and keep making your plays.
It’s so easy to gloss it over and speak against both sides.
It's so easy to bluff, reading a little and acting like you know,
but do you know in the Biblical sense of the term?
It’s still may be an easy choice, but our Lord says that,
it’s not so easy to remain in the light.
Contrarywise, everybody who is preaching on a soapbox
isn’t necessarily standing on a platform as well.
It’s a wood crate like an old plastic milk crate,
but with wood slats.
It’s strong,
like the “planks”
that make up a political “platform.”