Fall Feasting: St. Michael (September 29)

Happy fall feasting!

There are feasts all throughout the church year. This week's blog post will be published on a feast day that has become more special to me over the last few years: the Feast of St. Michael, celebrated on or around September 29 (here's a general perspective and here's an LCMS perspective). So, I want to reflect on my experiences with the feast from a conservative Anglican (ACNA) perspective.

Recap on Feasts and Festivals

As explained in my blog post lined above, a liturgical feast or festival is simply a regularly recurring occasion on which believers can reflect on and celebrate the lives of certain past saints. The major feasts tend to mark divisions of the church year (requiring a liturgical church/tradition for the most benefit): Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. The lesser feasts are generally about individual saints or small groups of saints. Celebration of a feast or festival may include food, but even if it doesn't, there are set lectionary pericopes for the day, guiding liturgical colors and sermon theme.

Celebrating St. Michael

My reflections come at a congregational level and at a larger denominational level. Helpful background in this section is the episcopal model of church governance.

At St. Michael's

St. Michael is the archangel after whom the church I attend was named. As such, the rector obtained permission from the bishop (per Episcopal regulation which the ACNA follows) to make Michaelmas a movable feast rather than an immovable one. Therefore, we celebrate it on the Sunday nearest to the actual date of September 29.

What do we do to celebrate?

• Potluck!
• Regular Eucharistic service with red vestments for the celebrant
• Annual congregational meeting to vote on vestry membership, budget, and miscellaneous needs. I was extremely pleasantly surprised at the first one I attended to find that it was (1) short and (2) fun!

In the ACNA

In the introduction paragraph, I linked an ACNA lectionary page that guides celebration of this feast day. Normally, feasts are distinguished as movable (to the nearest Sunday) or non-movable (celebrated on the calendar day unless the bishop directly permits moving to a Sunday). So, congregations will ordinarily celebrate the Feast of St. Michael on Friday this year, the date of September 29, with a small eucharistic service.

There are six specific liturgical pieces that are part of this day: acclamation, collect, lessons, Morning Prayer readings, Evening Prayer readings, and Eucharistic preface.

• The acclamation occurs at the beginning of the service. The call: "Worthy is the Lord our God." The congregational response: "To receive glory and honor and power." This reflects other texts in Revelation, where the activity of the archangel Michael is described.
• The collect occurs to "collect" the prayers of those gathered around a common theme, after the acclamation and before the musical/pericope pieces of the liturgy. For this feast day, the collect focuses on the ministry of angels:
• Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
• The lessons for the day are in Year A of the 3-year lectionary. Due to my congregation having moved the feast from its day to the Sunday, only the Revelation text was used.
• Genesis 28:10-17 - Jacob's dream about the stairway to heaven
• Psalm 103 - first line "Bless the LORD, O my soul" followed by reasons why
• Revelation 12:7-12 - account of Satan being cast out of heaven and defeated by Michael and other angels he was leading in battle
• John 1:47-51 - Jesus' words to Nathanael about angels ascending and descending related to the Son of Man (Himself)
• Morning prayer readings are part of daily Morning Prayer (20-30 minutes) expected of all clergy and those laity who have time to complete it. These progress through (almost) the entire Bible over each year.
• Psalms 75 and 76
• Revelation 12:7-12
• James 3
• Evening prayer, likewise, takes about 20-30 minutes. Between Morning and Evening Prayer, one can read through the Psalms six times per year.
• Psalms 79 and 82
• Zechariah 9
• Matthew 21:1-22
• The preface before the Eucharist, also, focuses on the glory of the Triune God:
• Who, with your co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, are one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance. For that which we believe of your glory, O Father, we believe the same of your Son, and of the Holy Spirit, without any difference or inequality.

Sermon Reflections: Revelation Revelation

The sermon focused on the Epistle (Revelation 12 text above), as is proper when focusing on the subject of a feast day. Given the difficulty many people have understanding Revelation, a few points are in order that were also highlighted at the start of the sermon.

• Historical context of each Scriptural text and book is critical to understand.
• Historical criticism  as a method is not the same as historical context as a necessity. Unfortunately, many conservative Christians conflate the two, leading to terrible exegesis from reading the text through one's own lens of cultural presuppositions, at face value. 
• For the text in question, here's a bit of the historical context of Revelation.
• John was the last surviving apostle (directly set apart by Jesus).
• His audience was not us. It was rather persecuted Christians shortly after Christianity had been made illegal in the Roman empire.
• The style he wrote in was apocalyptic literature, which was popular at the time. Marks of this type of writing include a story form, a "right-now" view of events that could take place long into the future, and esoteric (specialized "in-group") language.
• Thus, John's audience would have understood the infant being born as the Christian church (corpus of believers) and the dragon as their persecutors (Roman soldiers who would kill or torture them for their allegiance to Jesus as lord).

What have you learned about a biblical genre or book that you didn't know before? Feel free to share in the comments!

Fall, Falls, and the Fall

Years ago, when I was a fairly fresh PT, a resident with dementia and not a care in the world started sing-song chanting "fall, fall, fall" as another resident did in fact experience a slow fall. September 22 being not only the first day of autumn (fall) but also Fall Prevention Awareness Day, let's see whether I can link those things together with the fall of mankind!

What is "Fall"?

According to Merriam-Webster . . . (source)

• Intransitive verb
• Descend or hang freely by gravity
• Drop oneself lower, intentionally or unexpectedly
• Become born (lambs)
• Drop in pitch, volume, degree, or level
• Die or be captured (military)
• Commit an immoral act (sin)
• Assume a look of shame
• Happen at a certain time, by assignment, or by chance
• Come within someone's/something's jurisdiction
• Suddenly enter a new state of mind or consciousness
• Noun
• Dropping
• Autumn
• Birth (number of lambs)
• Loose-hanging costume decoration, collar, trouser flap, coat edge
• Collapse
• Declination of a hill's slope
• Felling or number of trees felled
• Adjective
• Relating to autumn
• Phrases
• Fall apart
• Fall behind
• Fall between two stools
• Fall flat
• Fall for
• Fall from grace
• Fall home
• Fall into line
• Fall (up)on
• Fall on one's face
• Fall on one's sword
• Fall short

Fall - Autumn Highlights

Despite my preference for using words with single meanings (thanks, C. S. Lewis and Strunk and White!), "fall" comes more naturally to me than "autumn" does. As a reader, academic, and outdoorsy person, fall is my favorite season, with spring coming in a very close second. 

Great Fall Reads

Reading-wise, my birthday book haul always comes shortly before the first day of fall, so I am never at a loss as to what to read. The bookish instincts revive from any slump they may have experienced over summer. What am I reading now?

• The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz, a preschool music/drama teacher knowledgeable in sensory integration therapy for children with sensory processing disorders. I've known for some time that I may have a proprioceptive seeking tendency, and Husband tends in the opposite direction, so the book has been informative for both of us from an adult perspective as well as what to watch for in Child.
• One Faith No Longer book by Christian sociologists George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk. I put that on my wish list after Alisa Childers recommended it during an interview on one of her favorite topics, progressive Christianity. This is a more academic read, despite being written at the popular level. Essentially, it shows by multiple sources of data that orthodox Christianity (which may or may not overlap completely with evangelicalism) is essentially a different religion than is progressive Christianity (heterodox).
• The Power of Making Thinking Visible by Ron Ritchhart and Mark Church, both of a Harvard think tank on educational practices, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. I am starting this book as part of a faculty book club. A misconception I had going in (undoubtedly influenced by my recent read about Liberating Structures) was that the "visible" things would be more drawings and art-type materials. I appreciate the authors' focus on writing-as-thinking in the ideas I've glanced at so far. On further reading, Ritchhart & Church's work rings strongly of Charlotte Mason (narration), without necessarily an awareness of her methods.

Great Fall Outdoors

Child and I are still focusing on getting 500-600 hours outside for this calendar year (450+ as of this post's publication), and I have found myself able to get a surprisingly large amount of reading done that way, despite the need for constant supervision. My secret weapons? Interesting sidewalks/paths and the umbrella portion of the stroller. I can balance a book on the stroller and follow Child, reading with one eye and watching with my peripheral vision.

I love many things about fall. The combination of crisper temperatures, changing leaf colors, and availability of nature hiking locations puts me in a very pleasant mood. Usually, this incentivizes me to read more. Child and I often have the playground more to ourselves during school hours (no exposure to grade-school potty mouths). Finally, fall clothing options make me happy too--sweaters, turtlenecks, and skirts/sandals. (My unofficial motto is "open toes until it snows.")

Fall Consternations

Any season has its disadvantages, depending on your perspective. While fall is my favorite season, followed by spring, summer, and winter, there are a few things I would change about it if I could. Less daylight overall, plus cooler temperatures that decrease the amount of skin I can use to let the sun make my body make its own vitamin D, means onset of seasonal affective symptoms as the clouds increase. My job also is busier in the fall, meaning more time spent indoors than I would prefer. Finally, although this may change, navigating Daylight Savings Time with a toddler is . . . energy-intensive and routine-disrupting.

Fall Prevention - Physical Therapy etc.

Since graduating with my DPT, I have worked with older adults in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and their own homes. So, the phenomenon of falling, and various strategies for preventing it, have interested me for at least that long. Every September, the National Council on Aging asks health care providers and associated people to observe Falls Prevention Awareness Week to highlight the preventable nature of many falls, which are the leading cause of injury in older adults no matter where they live or how physically fit they are.

A recent blog post from a Concordia University Wisconsin physical therapy faculty did a nice job of summarizing many ways in which different professionals can advise and treat older adults to reduce their fall risk.

• Occupational Therapist - home safety evaluation, cognitive/activities of daily living work (e.g., functional incontinence and falling in bathroom)
• Primary care provider - oversee care, main source of referrals/orders
• Pharmacist - drug-related falls, interactions, review to streamline (Beers criteria have been developed--with most recent update in 2023--for potentially inappropriate medications for older adults, many of which increase fall risk)
• Physical Therapist - individualized exercise for limited strength, endurance, balance, flexibility, or power that can cause falls; direct and refer to community-based exercise programs (long-duration, 3+ months)
• Other providers such as ophthalmologist and ENT specialist - make sure patients can see and hear adequately where they go to avoid obstacles

Fall of Mankind - Theological Musings

One important doctrine in Christianity is the fall of mankind--man and woman having been created in God's image and obedient to His instruction, sinned by acting opposite to His command about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The primary doctrine stemming from interpretations of the Fall is that of original sin. I won't go in to deep, since your church's teaching about original sin and the mode of creation are likely to stir discussions that are best had face-to-face.

That said, I want to recommend two books that are also on my TBR: anything by John Walton (especially on Genesis 2-3), and Allert's Early Christian Readings of Genesis One. If you've been reading my blog for at least a year or two, you may have seen that my views on the mode of creation (how God created the world and its contents) have shifted. From what I've read about Allert's book, the church fathers were not in universal agreement about many aspects of creation (except for the fact that it had occurred sometime in history) . . . but that did not hinder them from laying the groundwork for various core doctrines such as Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Trinity.

What is the first implication of that non-agreement that jumps out to me? That the mode of creation (young-earth, old-earth, day-age, theistic evolution, etc.) is not a core doctrine of Christianity. In some circles, it has become tied tightly to the rest of Christian doctrine so that if younger Christians delve into life and earth sciences and become convinced of something other than young-earth creationism, their faith falls apart unnecessarily.

There are likely other implications, but I won't get into those now!

All Fall(s) Together - Surprising Connections

As you've seen from earlier in this post, the word "fall" is a pretty versatile term, whether an intransitive verb (no object), noun, or adjective. The overarching connection I'd like to draw among the three diverse senses of "fall" I explored in this post is the notion of descent of ___, normal or abnormal.

• Fall (autumn) involves the normal descent of leaves from trees to the ground, weather temperatures, and the quantity of daylight
• Falls (especially of older adults) involve the abnormal, unanticipated descent of oneself from a higher to a lower surface or position
• The Fall of mankind (into sin) involved the abnormal, deliberate descent from full bearing of the image of God into a broken image (a book has been written about this with an interesting title)

What other connections did you draw?

5-Year Plans and Processes

Over the years, I've grown to enjoy planning more, but also to better recognize its limitations. In this post, a specific type of plan I'd like to explore is the 5-year professional development plan. This was originally a clinical-related assignment from PT school, which I have continued to revise annually. Is a 5-year plan worth your while?

My 5-Year Planning Process

The first time I learned about a 5-year plan in an individual context, I was a first-year doctor of physical therapy (DPT) student. Prior to the end of the first semester of that program, I and my classmates were asked to create a 5-year plan for professional development to go over with our adviser. Components of this plan were expected to use the profession’s (American Physical Therapy Association) set of PT professional values and code of ethics. Additionally, we took a StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment to determine our strongest personal values and strengths. 

What did the plan look like? For me, it began with a purpose statement, an expansion of that statement, and an organized section with tangible short- and long-term goals (ABCDE format). Since I developed the first draft of the plan in September, I revised it each September, usually on a Saturday taking just a few minutes. 

I keep mine on a Google Doc, so while it tracks changes, I choose to delete vs cross out goals that are either achieved or discontinued, starring* goals or processes continued year over year. 

The process of achieving a goal in that plan or another one, for me, involves day-to-day chunking or, as my dad calls it, parsing. Here’s a fairly recent example:

• Goal = becoming board certified in a clinical specialty area (typically a 2-3 year process)
• Step: gain 2,000 direct patient care hours in that given specialty area
• Daily: work 8 hours or so at a full-time job, logging 6 of those as direct patient care hours. Repeat. 
• Weekly: jot down interesting cases that I may reflect on to enhance my clinical reasoning (one or more of these may be used for the specialist recertification portfolio)
• Yearly: use the specialist application portal to have supervisor verify hours spent
• Step: pass the board certification exam
• Daily: read updated literature/textbook section on a condition or treatment, self-quiz with closed notes, talk through how to apply the information to a patient case
• Weekly: self-test and reflect on that week's material, planning out the next week
• Monthly: check my progress and any deadlines (e.g., test registration fee) against the master schedule
• Test day: hydrate, eat breakfast, and focus!

Considerations for 5-Year Plans

Before thinking more broadly about planning, I hadn't considered factors outside myself and my students--I universally recommended paper planners and various physical places around one's house in which to post reminders about one's longer-term goals. Then, I got to know a wider variety of people who had equally wide ranges of approaches to the planning process (or lack thereof).

Biological

Two factors that come to mind immediately when I think about biological aspects of planning are one’s personality type and one’s executive function. Personality type can be classified in many different ways; my personal favorite is the Myers Briggs type indicator or MBTI. I know that this method has drawbacks, but I have found it very useful in several areas of my own life. From an executive function perspective, I think, especially of attention deficit disorder, or ADD, whether that is hyperactive or inattentive. I also think of dementia or even mild cognitive impairment, many people with which conditions I have worked with over my time as a physical therapist.

Let’s explore personality first with the MBTI. Historically, I tested as ISTJ but shifted over the years to INFJ. According to this post on planning preferences related to MBTI, it’s possible to loosely categorize by archetypes. These are Guardians (_S_J), Artisans (_S_P), Idealists (_NF_), and Rationalists (_NT_). 

• Guardians (_S_J): prefer to plan, with varying degrees of flexibility and varying degrees of making plans oneself. (I strongly identify with this description!)
• Artisans (_S_P): generally relaxed when plans are broken or don't exist, and tend not to make plans themselves
• Idealists (_NF_): need to remember or be inspired to make plans in the first place (I do retain my planning tendencies). The INFJ description of meticulously planning for important things and leaving space for spontaneous fun does fit me now. I've shifted from ISTJ in undergrad years. 
• Finally, Rationalists (_NT_): plan extensively but also are flexible. 

On the executive dysfunction side, I want to start by defining it. Executive function is any “thinking” process performed by the front third or so of the brain (frontal lobe). Examples include planning, making and keeping appointments, and performing arithmetic operations.

A common condition (5-10% of adults and children) with executive dysfunction as a cardinal symptom is ADD/ADHD. In particular, planning is difficult, as are working (immediate-term) memory, organization, switching and maintaining attention especially on boring tasks, multitasking, time management, control of behavior and emotions, and problem solving. In persons who have stroke or traumatic brain injury, executive dysfunction is also possible but variable; it tends to be associated with damage to the frontal lobe as well.

What are some tangible effects of executive dysfunction? 

• Decreased ability to control and direct one’s attention
• Limited cognitive flexibility (task-switching)
• Less cognitive inhibition (ignoring irrelevance)
• Lower inhibitory control (redirecting toward good behaviors)
• Decreased working memory

Planning and organization are 2 everyday functions dependent on executive function.

Philosophical/Theological

Because I’ve been blogging with theology and philosophy in mind all year, I would be remiss if I didn’t include it here. Hopefully I will be able to update this section at some point, but I was unable to do as deep a dive as I wanted to. Two points about philosophy: (1) The plan tends to be overly ambitious when compared to its outcome; (2) Planning strategies and philosophies tend to be equally varied. Values can be combined in various ways - e.g., continuous vs episodic, scientific/rational vs political, formalized vs improvised/ad hoc. 

From a theological standpoint, I wanted to know what others have thought about the compatibility of planning with a belief in the Christian God. A scholarly article approached historical thoughts on that question in 2017. Past generations have thought that the planning process, to be done well, must involve objectivity (which it is assumed, post-Enlightenment, that religious beliefs automatically prevent). The answer for the author is No—planning is not inherently secular. 

I did find some information about a newer book written from a Christian perspective on the theology of planning (I.e., how God acts sovereignly) here. Overall, godly planning should aim at spiritual growth in oneself and others. On the flip side, plans of the wicked are condemned while plans of the (in-covenant) righteous are, shall we say, titrated. 

Practical

Paper or plastic? Or both? Here are some considerations for using a paper planner:

• Pros, for me, include no eye strain, better memory from handwriting, "plug and play" readiness, and coming in undated and dated options
• Cons include the cost for some options and annually, physical planners being easy to lose, and taking up physical space

What about a digital planner?

• Pros - no pen/pencil required, can sync with others' schedules, multiple devices, more customizable generally, can copy/paste quickly
• Cons - may be more expensive, learning curve, non-returnable, less visibility if used on a small device, eye strain, mostly just Apple options

Since transitioning to higher education, I have slowly succumbed to the blended approach--using an online email-based calendar for recurring and other scheduled events (class meetings, office hours, faculty meetings, travel time) so that others can coordinate meeting with me. However, my go-to for daily breakdown of tasks that will facilitate my 1- and 5-year goals is a notebook planner. This year, I'm enjoying my Moleskine slim planner for its daily/weekly boxes on one side and blank lined paper for unscheduled to-dos on the other side. Enough front and back matter is available for me to take notes on miscellaneous presentations, track Child's outdoor time, and remind myself to practice piano every so often when I'm scheduled to lead music at church.

Alternatives to 5-Year planning

Perhaps, after reading all this, you don’t see a firm case for making longer-term written plans in a specific template. Are there alternatives? Yes, there are. The Harvard Business Review points out some weaknesses of the (corporate) strategic planning process, particularly that it doesn't always strongly influence day-to-day operations at the company level. Other disadvantages, according to Blue Avocado, include being funder-driven; used to delay/deflect; overly ritualized; tends to ignore financial sustainability; ignores mechanisms of actually meeting goals; doesn't use organizational know-how; leaves big questions unanswered. A better alternative for some is continuous decision-making (just in time?), dissociating "strategic" planning from a specific point in the calendar year. 

Another option (Blue Avocado) is to work only with key questions requiring answers, prioritize learning about what you don't already know, get and keep everyone on the same page, plan and adapt to where the problem actually is (leadership, fundraising, etc.), and brush up on theories of change. 

On a final note, I’ve been reading The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures—small changes to how one facilitates interpersonal interactions to get everyone involved, honor everyone’s feedback and input, and increase and sustain engagement. While the first ~160 pages of the book seemed to be geared toward filling a word count (although the book is self-published), the last 100-150 pages are much more practical with suggestions. 

How do you plan?

The World, Disability, and Physical Therapy on World PT Day

World Physical Therapy Day has been around for not quite as long as I have, and the day (September 8) holds a special place in my heart. As a special treat, the focus of this year's Day is inflammatory arthritis related to mental health. I am trained as a physical therapist, so in this week's post I want to explore my favorite aspects of physical therapy, as well as connecting to one book I'm reading for class (Amy Kenny's My Body is Not a Prayer Request) and another two I'm reviewing for a lecture (Johnson 2018; Probst & Skjaerven 2018).

Here are some of my past posts about or referencing physical therapy:

• Five Books Worth Re-Reading (on Probst & Skjaerven 2018)
• How to Read when you Don't Feel like Reading (reading in one's interests)
• Reflections on Reading After Graduation (pre- and post-DPT)
• History: Culture and Physical Therapy (a bit more discussion)

Brief History of Physical Therapy Outside the USA

For a history of physical therapy inside the United States, I refer you to this post of mine from earlier in 2023. To summarize, wars and polio epidemics brought the need for reconstruction aides, as they were called, in the early 20th century. Before that, however, physical therapy focused on muscle mobilization had been in practice in Europe for several decades.

Regardless of the specific approach to therapy and rehabilitation, people who need therapists' services tend to do so because pain, weakness, or injury/disease is negatively affecting their quality of life. PTs, as we will see in the next section, focus on optimizing human movement to improve this quality of life.

How PT is Different from Personal Training

When people hear the term “PT,” most think of a physical therapist, but a substantial fraction likely think of personal trainer instead. Is there a difference? If so, what is it?

When I was being trained as a physical therapist, I learned about scope of practice, which varies slightly by geographical region (state/country) but has general consistent boundaries regardless of where one practices. General things that physical therapists do in the United States include:

• Refer to themselves as "PT", "physio", or "DPT" (if they have a doctorate degree) - only physical therapists may do this
• Examine, evaluate, and test movement dysfunctions of patients/clients seeking services
• Practice with direct access (no physician referral) with certain diagnoses
• Administer interventions such as specific exercise, instructing patients or their support systems, clear airways, administer modalities like ultrasound or electrical stimulation, debride or remove dead tissue from wounds, mobilize joints and soft tissue, perform joint manipulations, retrain in functional activities (related to leisure or work), prescribe and apply/make orthotics and other supportive devices - only physical therapists may perform certain interventions
• Promote health and wellness even if there's no injury or disease
• Refer to other health care providers as indicated (including medically determining whether patients are appropriate for physical therapy)
• Supervise physical therapist assistants and unlicensed personnel (e.g., student physical therapists)
• Deliver services via telehealth in most states
• PTs may do more if they are specially trained to do so (e.g., administer copyrighted cognitive tests, perform sharp debridement)

Personal trainers, in the United States, have a different scope of practice. General things that trainers do in the US include:

• Refer to themselves as personal trainers (not PTs)
• Develop and administer individualized exercise programs for individuals and groups of clients
• Work from strengthening, endurance, and flexibility types of exercises
• Motivate others toward physical fitness and health
• They may not:
• Make medical diagnoses
• Give specific dietary advice
• Provide body massage
• Provide psychological counseling

Both types of providers have in mind the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model when treating the whole person. This means, especially for physical therapists, that the patient who comes to us is much greater, more whole, than their diagnosis (total knee replacement, chronic low back pain). 

PTs look at the specific problems happening at the body system level (decreased range of motion at the knee), how those impairments connect to functional activities the person wants to improve on (walking, negotiating stairs), and the life participation roles (mother, roofer) that the activities are a part of. They also take into account the positive and negative personal and environmental factors (motivation, safe housing) that impact the person's ability to participate in therapy and their other roles and activities.

Concepts of Disability and the Self

I said earlier that the model used by physical therapists is the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. What is meant by "disability"? According to the World Health Organization, a task force of which developed the ICF model, aspects of disability include

• Being human in a particular society
• Temporary or permanent nature
• Individual with a health condition in relation to their personal and/or environmental factors

A point I want to highlight, especially as it relates to Amy Kenny's book, is the person-environment and person-personal-factor interaction. Kenny is a scholar of Shakespeare who has a childhood-onset disability that she doesn’t identify by name in her book. She is also a Christian who, it seems, grew up in the charismatic/evangelical tradition. 

Kenny’s central point is that her disability is a significant part of her identity because her body and mind exist in the same space. Disability occurs for her primarily due to others’ (harmful) opinions and physical inaccessibility of many environments, especially church buildings. 

I found myself thinking back to Carl Trueman’s history of the self, from social to psychological. Kenny admirably asserts that the body, just as it is, is important to one’s identity, contrary to some camps today that claim that the mind and feelings are the true seat of one’s identity (hence the body must be changed to match how one feels in order to be healthy). However, she is inconsistent with her view of the body throughout, which I find to be a weakness of the book.

Tying it Together: Christianity, Disability, and Physical Therapy

I am reading and discussing Kenny in the context of a course I am teaching, within a doctor of physical therapy program at a Christian university, where faculty are expected to maintain active church membership and incorporate the Christian faith into their teaching both implicitly and explicitly. What are some links between the concepts she is discussing, specific to physical therapy (which she for the most part discounts)?

Our bodies, in this creation, are prone to disability because (1) they are subject to entropy, (2) original and actual sin corrupts individual behavior and society (creating barriers), and (3) we are unable by ourselves to rectify the situation completely. In the new creation (after heaven), we will have vocations, likely pain as a warning signal (its true function), and renewed bodies to better be image-bearers. We are "new creations" even at this time, but in this present creation the image of God in us is corrupted due to sin.

One of Kenny's points is that her disabled body glorifies God and therefore doesn't need to be changed. I think she is half correct--accepting disability is (for overall health) usually a better response than fighting something that cannot be changed.

Another of Kenny's points is that the Church as a whole reacts the same way that the larger culture does to persons with disability (stare, ignore, exclude, intrude). This is partially accurate, but I think there is a heavy effect of one's training and socialization (e.g., working in clinical environments during professional training as a physical therapist) on inward and outward reactions to persons with disability. She faults the church for fighting the Americans with Disabilities Act, ignoring the fact that many churches (outside her tradition in particular) can barely afford to pay a pastor's salary, let alone make extensive structural modifications to old buildings.

All told, I do recommend that you read My Body is Not a Prayer Request. However, I recommend simultaneously reading

• The Problem of Pain (C. S. Lewis)
• Surprised by Hope (N. T. Wright)
• Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (C. R. Trueman)

Happy World PT Day!

Fall Harvest: Grapes and Foxes in Scripture

In my area of the Midwest, fox grapes (Vitis labrusca) are starting to ripen. They're tart and mostly seedy, but tasty and a nicely growing plant. I haven't done a word study in a while, so I figured fox-grapes could spring into an investigation on how the Bible uses "fox(es)" and how it uses "grapes." Are they related? Perhaps . . .

Grapes in Scripture

A search on BibleGateway indicates that the English word "grape" or its plural appears 44 times in the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible sans apocrypha. With occasional help from commentaries, I classified these texts into several themes. Please note that I haven't included all the verses that reference "vine" or "vineyard"--this would yield significantly more texts.

Theme: Fertility and Fruitfulness

An abundant grape harvest, in the ancient world especially, signified a fertile, fruitful land. Festivals used wine ("the blood of the grape") to reflect this connection. I classified 4 references under this theme.

• In Genesis 49:11, within the larger context of Israel's (Jacob's) song to his sons, Judah was foretold to be a ruler among his brothers. Washing one's garments in blood or wine likely meant, according to most commentaries available on Bible Hub, "exuberant fertility" of the land under Judah's (sons') rule.
• In Numbers 13:20, 23, the Israelite spies sent into Canaan around the time when grapes normally ripened (June/July) cut a large bunch requiring 2 people to carry it, indicating abundant provision of food.
• In Judges 9:27, it was noted that grapes were used to make wine and celebrate (sometimes-idolatrous) festivals in Israel during the time of the judges.
• Finally, in Song of Solomon 7:12, grape blossoms opening signified springtime and new life and growth--metaphor chosen by the lovers between each other.

Theme: Daily Sustenance

Because of the fruitfulness of grape vines, some texts also indicate a more ordinary role for grapes, specifically the gleanings of vines, in sustaining individuals for daily hunger and energy.

• Leviticus 19:10 describes a God-given law of generosity to the poor and traveling individuals in theocratic Israel, using fallen or "spare" grapes from a vineyard as an example. Deuteronomy 24:21 regulates one's own vineyard, with similar phrasing and intent.
• Similarly, Leviticus 25:5, 11 describe regulations for the Year of Jubilee as well as every seventh year. The Israelites were to let the land rest, so no harvesting even what grew by itself without being tended, but rather using the excess from the previous year's harvest.
• Deuteronomy 23:24 describes a similar law as Leviticus 19:10 but applying it to any Israelite or member of the community, who was allowed to eat a stomach full of grapes from any neighbor's vineyard, but was not allowed to appropriate any of that bounty for later.
• In Isaiah 32:10, due to centuries of Israel's disobedience, judgment on Israel is foretold--the grape harvest will not occur, resulting in shortage of food and drink.
• Finally, in Micah 7:1, the prophet Micah mourns at the lack of godly people on the earth, comparing to freshly gleaned grapes that do not yield enough for a sustaining meal.

Theme: (Covenant) Blessing

N. T. Wright has written extensively about the concept of "covenant" in Israel through today, arguing that while the sign of the covenant has changed (circumcision --> faith in Christ), God has always had one covenant for His people, as opposed to multiple-covenant theology. A few passages use grapes specifically to note facets of God's blessing.

• In Genesis 40:10-11, the cupbearer's dream, where grapes squeezed into a cup for Pharaoh signified or foretold that he would be restored to his position. Said cupbearer, as an Egyptian, may not at the time have been a member of the Israel covenant (although we don't know yes or no based on what is written in Scripture).
• In Leviticus 26:5, as one of the blessings on obedience, the grape harvest (normally July) was promised to be so long and extensive that the pre-exilic Israelites wouldn't finish until they started sowing other crops (normally October). In Amos 9:13, this same concept is applied to the post-exilic nation.

Theme: (Covenant) Cursing

A much greater number of texts speak about grapes (literally or metaphorically) in the context of God's curse or punishment, whether on His covenant people or on pagan nations. Regarding Israel, grapes would literally be eaten by worms, as part of Deuteronomy 28:39's curses on disobedience. God promised to destroy the (metaphorical) fruitfulness of Cush (Isaiah 18:5) and unfaithful Israel after following Ahab and Omri (Micah 6:15) at the time when a fruitful harvest seemed imminent. A metaphor of poisonous or bitter grapes is used in Deuteronomy 32:14, 32 to indicate that Jacob (Israel) was ungrateful despite being well cared for by God--hence promised punishment by means of defeat by other nations.

Several verses describe a remnant of Israel as the gleaning after a grape harvest. In Isaiah 24:13, God is promised to judge the entire earth (as with a thorough grape harvest), leaving a small remnant of His people, in exile or out of exile. In Jeremiah 6:9, the same concept of a remnant is used for Israel's people after He uses pagan nations to judge them for prolonged disobedience to the covenant.

I found it interesting that 3 distinct passages, in 2 books, connect the city of Sibmah (in Reuben's territory) and its grapes/grapevines to destruction for disobedience. Jeremiah 48:32 laments over the city itself, which had been destroyed and pillaged by pagan nations as a result of disobedience to the covenant. Jeremiah 49:9 and Obadiah 1:5 lament over Esau's territory, with a similar fate as of Sibmah.

Theme: Adoption

The theme of adoption in Scripture is connected to the theme of covenant, particularly in Romans 9 (I highly recommend Scot McKnight's Reading Romans Backwards for this subject, and will be re-reading that book shortly when I am going through Romans in my daily Bible reading). All but one of the "grape" passages I put into this category are from the Old Testament, not surprisingly perhaps since it was on Israel's history that Paul and other New Testament authors looked back to reflect on where God had brought them through Jesus.

Numbers 6:3-4 describes instructions for Nazirites who, while set apart due to their vow, were to avoid any grape or vine product, whether wine, vinegar, raisins, or grapes. God similarly set the whole nation of Israel apart for Himself, domesticating "wild grapes" at the time of Abraham (Hosea 9:10), tending His "vineyard" expecting a faithful harvest of good grapes (Isaiah 5:2, 4), but obtaining no harvest because the people chose to waste His good gifts (Jeremiah 8:13).

After the people returned from exile, they and the mixed multitude among them continued breaking the Sabbath rest by harvesting, processing, and marketing grapes (among other things) until Nehemiah stopped them from doing so (Nehemiah 13:15).

The New Testament reference under this theme is from Revelation 14:18-19, where God promises to "harvest" the earth with His angels, indicating plainly at that time which people are His and which are not.

Theme: Sayings and Other Metaphors

The last theme I noticed for these passages ended up being a bit of a mixed bag. Sayings involving grapes include:

• Superiority of one town's gleanings to another town's full harvest--quoted by Gideon in Judges 8:2 when he was challenged by the warriors of Ephraim, to assuage them for not having been included in the group that attacked Midian.
• "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge"--quoted and corrected in two passages (Jeremiah 31:29-30 and Ezekiel 18:2) to indicate that, in actuality, each generation is responsible for only its own sin in God's eyes.
• "Are grapes gathered from [something besides a grapevine]?" This saying is used by Jesus (Matthew 7:16 and Luke 6:44) to indicate that people's hearts are revealed by their fruits. James extends the metaphor in 3:12 to the words of a Christian's mouth, which should be of one "theme" or "goodness."

Two additional metaphors using grapes seem to be unrelated. 

• In Job 15:33, loss of unripe grapes from the vine was a metaphor used by Job's friend Eliphaz to reflect the futile fruitlessness of the ungodly/wicked. (As a note, atheism was extremely uncommon in the ancient near East--it started to become more common centuries later, despite what some sources say.)
• In Jeremiah 25:30, God promises to judge all nations; the metaphor of a shouting grape-treader is used to emphasize the obviousness of His coming for judgment.

Foxes in Scripture

The words "fox" and "foxes" occur significantly less often in Scripture--only 7 times in the ESV per BibleGateway. Interestingly, the one spot where foxes and grapes (technically their vines) occur in the same verse is Song of Solomon 2:15.

Overall, a fox is used literally or figuratively in Scripture to indicate destruction or destructiveness. Let's explore the texts.

• In Judges 15:4-5, Samson tied pairs of foxes together by the tail, tied a burning torch to each pair, and and let them loose to antagonize the Philistines by burning ripe wheat crops. Here, foxes were used as an instrument of rebellion by an oppressed Israel('s representative).
• In Nehemiah 4:3, foxes formed a metaphor used by an Ammonite to mock the rebuilding efforts of Nehemiah and his band of returning exiles. (A fox could jump over the wall you've built, it's so small and pitiful!)
• In Song of Solomon 2:15, foxes formed a metaphor for things that spoil good fruits of one's labor (in context of marriage).
• In Matthew 8:20, the fact that a fox has a hole to sleep in, by contrast, supports the idea of Jesus, in His messianic office, having no earthly home to rest (i.e., a sense of urgency in His mission). Luke 9:58 is identical.
• In Luke 13:32, Jesus refers to Herod as a "fox" - in the original historical context, foxes were considered more destructive (versus "cunning" per today's idiom) per the IVP commentary on Bible Gateway.

Hopefully, you learned something new from this word study!