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The Search for Meaning in the Experience of Love (IV), 1975 November 5
This fourth lecture in The Search for Meaning series is the first part of Howard Thurman’s talk on the experience of love. Here Thurman defines love as the ability to deal with another person at a point in that person that is beyond all of his faults and all of his virtues. To be loved is to have a sense of being totally dealt with, totally held, so that you can dare to be free enough in your spirit just to run the risk of being you. Howard Thurman also uses several anecdotes to demonstrate love…
The Search for Meaning in the Experience of Love (IV) (continued), 1975 November 5
In this second part of Howard Thurman’s lecture on the Experience of Love, Thurman continues his discussion on the acceptance of others in their totality. John 8:1-11 is used to highlight the importance of meeting others where they are while treating them as though they are where they should be. We do not find Refuge in material possessions; we find refuge in the heart of those who love us.
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 4, 1971 February 12
In the final lecture, Thurman transitions from his meditations on inwardness to a more technical discourse regarding the uses of language by the religious professional. Recognizing the limits of language, he discusses the transcendent meaning of the Gospels whose wisdom must be communicated with the least amount of interference from the speaker. The minister’s speech must then participate in what Thurman calls the “community [or “continuum”] of meaning.” As a beacon of the collective experience…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 4 (continued), 1971 February 12
In the final lecture, Thurman transitions from his meditations on inwardness to a more technical discourse regarding the uses of language by the religious professional. Recognizing the limits of language, he discusses the transcendent meaning of the Gospels whose wisdom must be communicated with the least amount of interference from the speaker. The minister’s speech must then participate in what Thurman calls the “community [or “continuum”] of meaning.” As a beacon of the collective experience…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 1, 1971 February 9
In the first lecture of this series, Thurman discusses the meaning of being a professional in society and the distinctiveness of the religious professional. For the religious professional, one’s calling is unique not only because he or she is chosen but because God has chosen that person. While divine calling distinguishes this individual, Thurman shows special election does not leave one exempt from the contingencies and challenges of human experience. Divine calling should not make the…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 1 (continued), 1971 February 9
In the first lecture of this series, Thurman discusses the meaning of being a professional in society and the distinctiveness of the religious professional. For the religious professional, one’s calling is unique not only because he or she is chosen but because God has chosen that person. While divine calling distinguishes this individual, Thurman shows special election does not leave one exempt from the contingencies and challenges of human experience. Divine calling should not make the…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 2, 1971 February 10
In this lecture, Thurman considers the challenges facing those who must simultaneously be religious experts and persons involved in the experience of leading a religious life. The dilemma of incessantly performing priestly duties, he shows, demands that public demonstrations of spiritual competence be exhibited in the service of “needy humanity” even as the professional works out one’s private formation. Thurman emphasizes, however, that intimacy with communities must not come at the expense of…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 2 (continued), 1971 February 10
In this lecture, Thurman considers the challenges facing those who must simultaneously be religious experts and persons involved in the experience of leading a religious life. The dilemma of incessantly performing priestly duties, he shows, demands that public demonstrations of spiritual competence be exhibited in the service of “needy humanity” even as the professional works out one’s private formation. Thurman emphasizes, however, that intimacy with communities must not come at the expense of…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 3, 1971 February 11
The third installment of Thurman’s lectures concerns the religious professional’s prayer life. Thurman emphasizes that the act of praying must be more than a demonstration of professional skill, it is a practice, rather, of “cultivating the soul.” Thurman illuminates the dangers of limiting devotion to oratorical instrumentation or reducing the related practice of love to a technique. He encourages the religious professional to devote time to the private life and to employ meditation as a method…
Dilemmas of Religious Professional, Part 3 (continued), 1971 February 11
The third installment of Thurman’s lectures concerns the religious professional’s prayer life. Thurman emphasizes that the act of praying must be more than a demonstration of professional skill, it is a practice, rather, of “cultivating the soul.” Thurman illuminates the dangers of limiting devotion to oratorical instrumentation or reducing the related practice of love to a technique. He encourages the religious professional to devote time to the private life and to employ meditation as a method…