Chaplain José R. Bourget
Get Close
Faith Development through
Crisis or Discipline
Get Close
Faith Development through
Crisis or Discipline
What are the range of
emotions and attitudes
expressed by students going
through crisis or discipline?
This is the text of the letter
that the prophet Jeremiah
sent from Jerusalem to the
surviving elders among the
exiles…(Jeremiah 29:11)
This is the text of the letter
that the prophet Jeremiah
sent from Jerusalem to the
surviving elders among the
exiles … (Jeremiah 29:1)
Showing courage inspires exiles.
In one of its earliest forms, the
word courage had a very
different definition than it
does today. Courage originally
meant “To speak one’s mind
by telling all one’s heart.”
Over time, this definition has
changed, and, today, courage
is more synonymous with
being heroic. Heroics is
important and we certainly
need heroes,
but I think we’ve lost touch with
the idea that speaking honestly
and openly about who we are,
about what we’re feeling, and
about our experiences (good and
bad) is the definition of courage.
Heroics is often about putting our
life on the line. Ordinary courage
is about putting our vulnerability
on the line. (Brown, Brene. The
Gifts of Imperfection - p. 13. )
Exhiles are still worthy of a
Good life.
“Build houses and settle
down; plant gardens and eat
what they produce.
Marry and have sons and
daughters; find wives for
your sons and give your
daughters in marriage,
so that they too may have
sons and daughters.
Increase in number there;
do not decrease.
Also, seek the peace and
prosperity of the city to
which I have carried you into
exile.
Pray to the Lord for it,
because if it prospers, you
too will prosper.” Jeremiah
29:4-7
Worthy now. Not if. Not when.
We are worthy of love and
belonging now. Right this
minute. As is. (Brown, Brene. The
Gifts of Imperfection. p. 24)
Yes, this is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel,
says: “Do not let the
prophets and diviners
among you deceive you.
Do not listen to the dreams
(fortune telling) you encourage
them to have. They are
prophesying lies to you in my
name. I have not sent them,”
declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:8-9
Exile provides a unique
opportunity to re-order
priorities.
The résumé virtues are the ones
you list on your résumé, the skills
that you bring to the job market
and that contribute to external
success.
The eulogy virtues are deeper. They’re
the virtues that get talked about at
your funeral, the ones that exist at the
core of your being— whether you are
kind, brave, honest or faithful; what
kind of relationships you formed.
(Brooks, David The Road to Character)
Assimilate His thoughts
for the exiles.
For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and
not of evil, to give you a
future and a hope.
Exiles need the precision of
surgeons not the force of the
butcher.
Then you will call upon Me and
go and pray to Me, and I will
listen to you. And you will seek
Me and find Me, when you
search for Me with all your
heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
For Jesus, truth is not a
philosophy or a matter of
thought. Truth is a matter of
relationships and realities.
Jesus didn’t offer the world a
new belief system.
He offered the world a new heart—
a new heart for God, a new heart
for yourself, a new heart for truth,
a new heart for life, a new heart for
others. This is the divine story of
relationships… (Sweet, Leonard The
Three Hardest Words)