Midlife Meditation

  Methodism is a non-credal denomination.   Ostensibly that means Methodists do not have a statement of faith to which they must adhere in order to belong to the church. That should mean there is no such thing in Methodism as heresy, as to be a heretic is to act contrary to the dogma of the church. And in traditional terms, Methodists remain non-dogmatic. While Methodists are expected to believe in the Trinity, the Resurrection, and other doctrines typical of Christians throughout the world, there is no one way in which they must believe. Methodists can believe, for instance, that Jesus was a great teacher and historical figure, but that the miracles presented in the Gospels are symbolic, that the Resurrection describes something that happened in the disciples' hearts, that, in fact, all the teachings about the divinity of Christ are metaphors for how humans can find spiritual fulfillment through prayer and good works, and still be fully within the fold of the church....

May 12, 1983: all but one of us were gathered on the steps of our dormitory, Lausanne Hall, on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. We were dressed for a wedding at which Kathleen (with the flowers) was to be, or had just been, a bridesmaid: our friend Cheryl, who had been more a member of our Group during our freshman year but had drifted away since then, was marrying Tim Kilday (Thirty years is a long time: I don't remember Cheryl's maiden name.). The next day, all but one of us would graduate; that one was Tony Peterson, in the sunglasses and closely-cropped Afro, who had graduated in 1980, but stuck around for our remaining years. I like to think he was keeping an eye on us, as soon after this picture was taken, he went on to other things in other places, first in Richland, Washington, then in Nashville, where he still lives. You may have noticed I capitalized the word "Group." That's how we always thought of ourselves: the Group. We came ...