We began our day, again, with worship. Immediately following, Margaret Manning led us in a discussion of John 4 where Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman. She presented something about this story I had never thought of or heard before. In the Jewish culture, women had no right to divorce. Only a man could initiate divorce. Additionally, a woman's identity was completely wrapped up in a man, whether that be a husband or son. So, this Samaritan woman had been, if you read the story, rejected five times. Can you imagine that pain? Not only do you have no identity, but the ones who can give you identity have accepted and soon rejected you time after time. So why live with a man she is not married to now? Well, it is better than being alone. How incredible is that. Jesus used this outcast and total reject to reach into the hearts of the Samaritan people. There are so many other wonderful things Manning mentioned that I want to share, but for the sake of time and space I will not for now.
Next, Cameron McAllister spoke on Dorothy Sayers. She was a brilliant author who combined genres such as science fiction and mystery with theology. She held that the dogma of the Christian faith is beautiful and an incredible story. In fact, she is noted for saying, "the dogma is the drama". He continued with information about Sayers life and how God used her dramatic and unique perspective to show how dogma and creeds are applicable to everyday life.
Following a short break, we broke into different sessions. As I mentioned yesterday, I am on the University track. There we discussed the challenged that Christians face in the University setting. Sitting next to me was a young man from Belgium. In his University back home, they mock and ridicule Christians and their faith. His struggle is understanding how he and his church can be a witness there in Europe. We had a wonderful discussion and I know God is going to do great things with him back home.
That is it so far! I will update again later.
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