Kathy Ivey

Statement on L-RC and Christian Perspective

Discerning “wholeness of personality, true vocation, and the most useful service to God and the world . . . from the perspective of Christian faith” means, to me, using Jesus’s ministry as a model for our life’s work. The essence of Jesus’s ministry is captured in his response to the Pharisee who sought to test his knowledge of the commandments of the law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22: 37-40, NRSV). Jesus certainly sought to “liberate mind and spirit, clarify personal faith, foster physical wholeness, build a sense of community, and promote responsible leadership for service in the world.” Indeed, he loved people into life more abundant by provoking them to think for themselves rather than memorize laws and by creating the disequilibrium in heart and mind that can ultimately generate confidence as well as humility—two important ingredients for leadership and service in the world.

Jesus seems to have spent at least half his working years challenging those who were certain they had everything figured out, those whose fear had calcified them into only one way of seeing. He countered their rigidity with questions that resisted easy answers and with paradox, a form of truth that resists closure. Reading good literature can exert a similar influence, as underlined by Franz Kafka’s famous assertion that “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.” As a teacher of literature and writing, then, I can promote Lenoir-Rhyne’s mission by teaching students to read texts that have the power to dislodge and discomfort, for learning to read such texts without fear and with critical acumen can help students move beyond solipsistic rigidity; read other texts, experiences, and situations with increased confidence; and walk in the shoes of others—in short, to love, lead, and serve.

As Klaus Bockmuehl writes, “A book continues working when the meeting has ended. It accompanies the audience back to their homes. It goes on speaking to them. Literature is the second leg of Christian proclamation” (Books: God's Tools in the History of Salvation, 1986). By realizing that any of our moments with students can be a form of Christian proclamation, we can help nurture future leader-servants with the capacity for sustained joy and life abundant (that is, wholeness) by helping them to love God and others without fear and to love and respect themselves as part of God’s creation. Thus, consistently relating the Christian faith to the discipline of English can improve the integrity and quality of my teaching by encouraging me to:

· seek out the sort of community that will foster my own continued spiritual growth;

· reflect seriously on the fact that I am a role model for students, whether for good or ill;

· choose texts that will foster liberation of mind and spirit; and

· provide a safe environment for the kind of risk-taking that leads to personal wholeness.