Gideon Strauss

Former CPJ trustee Tim Sherratt offers his reflections on President Obama’s State of the Union address in today’s Capital Commentary.

I am at the beginning of a 40-Day Journey with Gerard Manley Hopkins during my morning devotions, and thought one of the instructions for the day quite apt: “Pray in praise and thanksgiving for God’s creation.” The day’s two Bible readings helped prompt such prayer:

But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.

(Job 12:7-10)

Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy winds fulfilling his command! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

(Psalm 148:7-10)

I have so many things to be thankful for here at CPJ: we are blessed with a wise and visionary board, I am blessed with enterprising and diligent colleagues in Jim and Doreen Skillen (and soon Stephanie Summers), we enjoy the support of a faithful and encouraging network of associates,  we have good work to do under the provident guidance of a good and trustworthy God, and we live at a moment when the prospects are good for our work to flourish and bless others. With my dear friend (and favorite bookseller) Byron Borger I rejoice that we live in a moment when an abundance of Christian writers and publishers are “doing books about social justice, for and from the new generation who are serving the poor, and resources for those who are taking up this struggle to seek God’s reign in ways that bring hope to the hurting and hungry.” (And yes, Byron does mention CPJ in his Thanksgiving note.)

As a family we Strausses also have much for which we are grateful: among many other things, Angela and I enjoy the privilege of meaningful, remunerative work, she as a church musician and liturgist, I here at CPJ and as the editor of Comment magazine; our daughters Tala and Hannah are daily making fresh discoveries and diligently persevering in the faithful practice of their skills as students, Tala as a first-year student at Gordon College and Hannah as a high school senior; we enjoy the freedom to gather for worship with the good folk of New City Church, and to share the good news of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and the reign of God.

But what I am most grateful for today, prompted by my morning devotions, is bees. Angela came home from fetching Tala (home for Thanksgiving) at the airport yesterday all enthused by a radio program she had heard about the wonders of bee life and of honey, and deeply concerned over the crisis of colony collapse threatening the honeybee population of North America. As I listened to her, spooning a little honey into my rooibos tea, it is for these creatures that my heart filled with thanks. What a wonderful God, to have made the bee! May our gratitude continue to translate into caring stewardship and ingenious work to let bees flourish and participate in the disclosure of the rich possibilities of God’s world.

Front: Harold Heie, Michelle Kirtley, Steve Meyer; Back: Tim Sherratt, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Carol Veldman Rudie, Terry Woodnorth

Last week I also for the first time met with the CPJ board of trustees in my capacity as president. We have a wonderful board, and I appreciated the opportunity to seek their guidance, observe how they go about things collectively, and get to know each of them a little better.

Terry Woodnorth

All of the photographs of the 2009 Kuyper Lecture and the celebration of Jim Skillen published on the CPJ website, including those in the preceding few blog entries, were taken by Terry Woodnorth, one of our trustees. Here, in stark contrast, is one of the pictures I took, of Terry. You can see why we rather used Terry’s pictures.

The CPJ board of trustees commissioned a song for Jim Skillen. In this picture Terry is switching on the recording to play for the assembly of celebrants. To hear the song, follow the link from the main page for this celebratory event.

Carol Veldman Rudie, Jim Skilen

In addition to the book of remembrances presented by Harold Heie, the CPJ trustees also gave Jim a “book-clock” to help him keep track of time as he writes his next several books.

Mark Davies, John Hulst, Rockne McCarthy, Case Hoogendoorn

While he was being honored for his service to CPJ, Jim also honored people present at the celebration who had been involved with CPJ from the very beginning: Mark Davies, John Hulst, Rockne McCarthy, and Case Hoogendoorn. The camaraderie between these stalwarts of a public justice-oriented approach to politics is encouraging as we look forward to encouraging a next generation towards graceful citizenship.

Norm Steen

Norm Steen, Gideon Strauss

Pastor Norm Steen of the Washington DC Christian Reformed Church, Jim and Doreen Skillen’s home congregation, closed the evening in prayer.

Several of the speakers at the CPJ celebration of Jim Skillen honored him for his wisdom and love as a teacher.

David Kim, Jim Skillen

David Kim (of the Manna Fellowship at Princeton and the Gotham Fellowship at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC) spoke of Jim’s ability to address David’s deep existential questions in the Civitas program. David liked Civitas so much he came back for a second round recently! (I owe David a personal debt of gratitude for encouraging me to consider a position with CPJ.)

Dale Kuehne

Dale Kuehne, who teaches at Saint Anselm Colllege and pastors Emmanuel Covenant Church in Nashua, NH, valued Jim’s mentoring so much he moved to Washington DC for his graduate years so that he could spend time learning from Jim. He spoke movingly of the hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people who had their understanding of political life transformed by Jim’s mentoring.

Bruce MacLaury

The Wrestlers Class at National Presbyterian Church in Washington DC also benefited from Jim’s teaching, according to Bruce MacLaury, president emeritus of the Brookings Institution.

We celebrated Jim Skillen’s leadership of the Center over the past 28 years last week at an event attended from far and wide. For a wonderful picture of Jim and Doreen at the podium, see the main page for the event.

Jerry Herbert

Jerry Herbert, a sometime CPJ trustee presently working at Nyack College in Washington DC, emceed the evening’s program with wit and verve.

Priscilla Gault

Priscilla Gault and her husband have been friends of Jim and Doreen Skillen from their school years. As I listened to her reminisce about the headlines Jim made over the years I prayed that my own children, now college age, would have friendships like these, stretching over the decades.

Case Hoogendoorn

Case Hoogendoorn is another friend of Jim who has supported the Center for the length of its existence. (I am personally grateful to Case for his wise counsel since I started thinking about CPJ as a potential place to work. Angela and I are growing fond of people like Case and CPJ board chair Harold Heie, who are not only stalwart supporters of CPJ, but admirable for their kindness… and their humor!)

Gideon Strauss, Alvin Taveras

Alvin Taveras is a new CPJ friend - this past summer he interned with Jim Skillen and took part in our Civitas summer school. Two other 2009 Civitas participants drove down from Princeton and Philadelphia with Alvin for the Kuyper Lecture, Drew Harmon and Philip Ney - I’ll have to see if I can track down photos of them at the event.

Art Simon, Jim Skillen

Art Simon, founder and president emeritus of Bread for the World, has been a friend of Jim’s and of the Center’s for a long time. I remember reading him on poverty and hunger, and the call to Christians to address these blights, as a freshly converted believer in my teens. It is such a privilege that the Center enjoys the encouragement and support of pioneers like the Rev. Simon.

Gideon Strauss, John Hulst

If Alvin Taveras represents the newest friends of CPJ, John Hulst represents those who have been our friends since the very beginning. President emeritus of Dordt College, Dr. Hulst was not only involved in CPJ’s predecessor organizations, he continues to be involved, and next week will be my host at a CPJ event in Pella, Iowa! (In this picture I think I was saying something about the great hopes I have for CPJ, even though it is by every organizational measure mustard-seed-tiny for now.)

Nyack College’s Institute for Public Service & Policy Development co-hosted this year’s Kuyper Lecture with us.

Richard Gathro, Clarke Cochran, Jim Skillen

Nyack’s Dean in DC, Richard Gathro, was a generous and hospitable host. I look forward to future collaborations with the Dr. Gathro and the Institute.

Charity Haubrich, Jacqueline Scott

I was surprised and delighted to find a friend, Charity Haubrich, working for Dr. Gathro and helping with the Kuyper Lecture logistics.

Dr. Clarke Cochran did a marvelous job of this year’s Kuyper Lecture, explaining the entanglement of cultural forces, institutional contingencies, and health care expectations that has brought about the current crisis in American health care.

My beloved wife, Angela, accompanied me to the lecture, and if you look at the sidebar to our Kuyper Lecture page, three pictures down, you’ll see her between me and John Hulst (one of the founding fathers of CPJ).