N.B.: What follows is a "second edition", updated to include the names (or pseudonyms, as the case may be) of people who have continued to challenge me, forcing me to grow and change, which is never easy but always necessary. If you don't see your name here, don't worry.
Today is one of my favorite feast days in the church calendar, All Saints Day. This is the day to celebrate and remember that "great cloud of witnesses" that surrounds, upholds, and gifts us by their presence in our lives. In the spirit of the day, I want to offer a partial list of those who have enriched my life, some of whom will never meet me, many of whom are long dead, and all of whom are faithful witnesses in their own way to the power of God's loving care. Should some of those listed prefer not to be associated with me, I can understand. Yet, I would be dishonest in the extreme were I to omit the names of those whose impact upon my life has been through admonishment, criticism, and (on one or two occasions) rejection.
First and foremost, almost without need of mentioning, are those sacraments of grace, my wife, the Rev. Lisa Kruse-Safford and my daughters, Moriah and Miriam. Minute by minute I am reminded of the nature of true grace - unmerited gift that demands a response of love in return. I am the most blessed man I know because this is my family.
As for the others, kind of in reverse order:
Those who, through interaction on the internet, never allow me to rest easy, even (perhaps especially) when they agree with me: Dan Trabue, Alan Kiste, the Erudite Redneck, Feodor, Drlobojo. This small group of faithful readers and commenters keeps me going.
The members of Cornerstone United Methodist Church and the Associate Pastor, Cavlin Culpepper. The members of North Boone Co-Active Ministry (Poplar Grove United Methodist Church, Blaine United Methodist Church, Hunter United Methodist Church) and the associate pastor, the Rev. Richard Holton; the people of Community United Methodist Church, LaMoille, IL; the people of Centenary United Methodist Church, Jarratt, VA; Steven Creech; the faculty of Wesley Theological Seminary, particularly those who, through direct instruction, taught me the true meaning of what the marriage of knowledge and vital piety could be - Rev. Dr. Sharon Ringe, Rev. Dr. John Godsey, Dr. Roy Morrison, Rev. Dr. James Cecil Logan, Rev. Dr. Josiah Young, Dr. David Hopkins, then-Dean Dr. M. Douglas Meeks, Rev. Dr. Laurence Hull Stookey, Dr. Mark Burrows, Rev. Dr. Douglas Strong, Dr. William Shopshire; my fellow students and others from my time at Wesley Theological Seminary, especially Rev. Rodney Lorenzo Graves, Rev. Alpha Estes Brown, Rev. Scott Prinster, Sean Boyd, Mitchell Bond, Pamela Monn, Rev. Lauren Heather Lay, Rev. David & Sarah Roberts, Michael Jones; Rev. Kim Kathleen Capps; Janet Powers.
From my pre-seminary days: Rev. Lisa-Jean Hoefner; James and Lucinda Krager; Revs. Hugh & Sarah Miller; Rev. Edwin Martin; Robert & Valerie Crocker; Rev. Richard H. Schuster (d.); Barbara Bouton.
Many of these names are now on my Facebook friends list, which is a marvelous blessing.
My teachers long-distance, most especially Gary Dorrien for his insights on the small, yet vital, movement of liberal Christianity in America; Gustavo Gutierrez; Rev. Dr. James Cone; those teachers who have passed from this life, but whose work illuminates the lives of many - Langdon Gilkey, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Friederich Schleiermacher, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, John Calvin, Martin Luther, William Ockham, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, Origen, the Cappadocian Fathers, Tertullian, St. Paul, the Gospel writers.
Jesus Christ.
I know I have forgotten many, many people (and they are probably thankful).
