Story About Myself

It was a struck twelve at midnight on 20th April 1994, one loving couple of husband and wife had been taken to the hospital by the ambulance, because the they will have their second son from their marriage. It was rainig cat and dog. When they arrived at the emergency section case, a gorgeous 9 month pregnant woman were taken out from the ambulance and was rushed to the labour room by the nurse. When the clock 4. 08 in the morning, one cute and adorable baby boy with 3. 45kg weight was born to the world. After one week get home from the hospital, my parents took 6 days to find a suitable name for me and at last they found a suitable and interesting name to me, the name that they gives to me is Muhamad Afifuddin bin Mat Husin. On year 2011, at 3rd January I registeread as a form 5 student after 1 at one of the school in Kompleks Sekolah-sekolah Wakaf Mek Zainab, Kota Bharu, Kelantan it was SMK Putera and also known as Kelantan Sport School. It was my first day at school as a senior student. On these year I will face a national examination known as Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia ( SPM ) examination that will decide my life in the future after I finished my study at school. First and foremost, I would like to tell about my family background . In my family I have 3 siblings 2 boys and 1 girl, include me. The first one is my brother, his name is Muhamad Akmal he was born on 15th July 1991 at Sungai Petani Hospital, Kedah. He know studied at Tun Hussein Onn University of Malaysia ( UTHM ), Johor on 4th January 2011 he registered at the university and start his second semester. The second one is me Muhamad Afifuddin I was born 20th April 1994 at Baling Hospital, Kedah. On 20th April also the date of birth of our prophet Muhammad s. a. w. The last one is my sister Nur Nadiah she was born on 16th March 1998. She was studied at Maahad Muhammadi Perempuan, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. On 3rd January 2011 she registered as Form 1 student at there. I also have 2 loving parents that take care all of my siblings, my fathers name is Mat Husin bin Lebai Mat he was born on 19th December 1957. he works as health care assistant at Klinik Kesihatan Badang. My mothers name is Zainon binti Mamat, she was born on 10th June 1960 and she work as a community nurse at Klinik Desa Kijang. The next things that I want tell is about my characteristics. First one is I’m was a friendly person, I like to make new friend at every place that I visit. I’m also not choosing when I make new friend, now I have a lot of friend and some of them are from different races like Thai,Indian, Christian and Chinese people. Some of my friend I met at school, taekwondo training centre and taekwondo tournament, all of them also a friendly person. The second one is, I’m also a helpful person I like to help all people especially people in trouble. When I’m at school I always help my friend that have problem in study and problem in other thing, I also like to help the teachers when they need a help from me. If we help other people that have problem and in trouble they will help us when we need their help. The last one about my characteristics is I’m also an active person. At school I join Fire Cadet I participate all the event that have been held by the Fire Cadet and school. Join the Fire Cadet was the one of the co-curiculum at school. I also active in taekwondo, I partipate in all the tournament that have been held. In tournament win and lost was the custom in a tournament, if we lost we must redouble our efforts to win in the other tournament and if we win we must maintain winning in every tournament and always increase our performance. In addition, I’m also have many hobbies that gave many benefits to me. My first hobby is playing football, I’ll play football at 5. 0pm everyday at my village near Kelantan’s River. I’ll play football with my friend, we play football for our health sometimes we held a tournament among us and the winner will get present. When we held a tournament like that we can increase our stamina, sporting spirit and join our friendship. My other hobbies is playing cyber games, I’ll play cyber games once a week on Saturday because when school season I’ll focus on my study. When the school holidays coming I’ll play cyber games every day but I also spend my time on my study. Sometimes I play the cyber games at the cyber games and sometimes I’ll play the cyber games at my house, normally I always play at my house. I play those cyber games with my cyber friends that comes from the entire world, I’ll also get many friend when I play those cyber games. I like visit interesting and historic place like Melaka, Pulau Langkawi, Terengganu and other place, that’s also one of my hobbies, when I visits those place I’ll know information about it like history of those place. On the other hands, I have many favourites things likes favourites food, drinks, colour and sport. First is about my favourite food, I like to eat maggie tom yam because I like spicy food, I also like nasi lemak because some state in Malaysia have their own nasi lemak. In state of kedah their nasi lemak is spicy because all people that lives at the north likes spicy food. My last favourite food is char kuey teow original made from Penang their char kuey teow was so delicious. Next, my favourite drinks is orange juice because orange juice has many vitamin C that’s helps in absorb iron. I also like â€Å" teh tarik † because it can prevent iron in the body. My favourite colour is blue, black, orange and white and I always ensure that things that I bought have at least one of those colour. The last of my favourite is sport, my favourite sports is rugby and football in those sports they play as one team and the must have collaboration among the team members if they want to win in every tournament they played. The team also should have a head of an efficient and caring of his team mate. I also like taekwondo because in this game we must have agility of the body and quickly make the right decisions when we sparring in the ring. Last but not least, my ambition or career when I finished my studied at university. I want to be a professional photographer because I likes to takes picture people, scenery and animal, I hope I can have my own photo studio world-class that have all equipment for photoshoot session . I likes these profession when I saw a programs in television that show a professional photographer snap a picture of people, animal and others, their artwork were respected by everyone in the world and some of them celebrities comes up for grabs because of their beautiful artwork. All of them become success person in his life and his profession. Their life full of wealth and luxury but that not the points I like these profession, I like these profession because I want to show my artwork to the whole world and I want they respected and revered it. I also want to be the first Malaysian professional photographer that show to the world that Malaysian people also can be a famous people the world and success in their profession and life.

There is a movement brewing in the United States

There is a movement brewing in the United States to make English the official language of the country, but the whole idea seems preposterous. After all, the English and others who speak Her Majesty’s tongue would be the first to explain that what Americans speak is not English. At best, the official language should be American.   But the debate continues regardless. That is why we must do whatever is necessary to prevent English from being declared the official language of the United States. The debate centers on the concept that a nation needs an official language to be homogenous and that declaring an official language will mean that the government no longer has to print documents in a dozen different languages. Those in favor of the proposal argue that it will also mean we no longer have to push one for English. Proponents claim it will save millions and that it will lead to the entirety of the country forming a single identity. Opponents to the proposal argue that we have operated for 230 years without an official languages and that there is simply no reason to start with one now. They argue that the concept of an official language is racist and attacks the non-Anglo citizens of the country. An official language is unnecessary and should not be enacted. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by declaring English the official language of the United States. Moreover, it is time to acknowledge that most of the countries of the world do not have one official language, they have multiple. Choosing English as the official language of the United States encourages the xenophobic an.d elitist attitude that Americans have long been accused of worldwide. Americans need to learn additional languages, not force others to learn theirs.   The concept that Americans are so arrogant as to assume that everyone else should have to learn their language is insulting to non-Anglo citizens and the rest of the world as well. Another reason that declaring English the official language of the Untied States is simply wrong is that a significant portion of the American populace does not speak English or at the very least does not speak it well. Recent estimates are that soon the Hispanic population in the United States will make up as much as 25 percent of the total population. Most of the immigrants do not speak English as their first language and so then requiring them to only speak English when dealing with official government documents or calling to conduct any sort of business, is insulting and racist. In addition, in other countries where the majority of the populace speaks multiple languages, the country has more than one official language.   If the proposal were to make English and Spanish the official languages of the country, it would make much more sense. Finally, the single best argument against making English the official language of the United States is that it is completely contradictory to the entire history of the nation. American history is based on the concept that America is as a melting pot, but that melting pot was never intended to make us all the same.   We are supposed to celebrate our differences and celebrate the variety of different cultures that make up our country, not try to smash them all into the same identical little box. The concept that a country made up entirely of immigrants could then try to decide that the language of one group of immigrants was more important than the language of the other immigrants is completely contradictory to the founding principles of the country. It negates the very theory of freedom of choice and freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Proponents of English as the official language say that while some countries worldwide have two official languages, right now the United States has none. The lack of an official language means that government documents must be presented in many different languages, adding to the cost of doing business. Furthermore, may countries around the world are adding English to their list of official languages because English is the language of business around the world. If any language comes close to be the language of the world, it is English. Perhaps because of the extent of the British Empire and possibly because of the economic power of English-speaking languages, most business transactions around the world are conducted in English. Therefore, it makes sense that America would make English its official language. Simply because a portion of the populace has not taken the time to learn the language of commerce, does not mean that they should be used as an excuse to keep the rest of the country from making progress. The fact of the matter is that most of the country’s business is already conducted in English and the excuse that people have not yet learned the language is not a valid argument in favor of avoiding having an official language. Finally, yes, America has always been the melting pot and the land of opportunity where people can bring their culture and share it with others. But over the generations, those immigrants have always adopted the language of the land and the laws of the land in the process of assimilating into their new country. To say that because we are a nation of immigrants we cannot have a uniform language is to put our individual cultures above our collective culture. It is time for our culture to overcome and create an American identity. The decision to name an official language remains unnecessary when it forces some part of the American populace to feel that the it is a personal affront. While it may be time for the country to develop a national identity, it should not have to be done at the expense of the other members of the society. In short, American should still be the land of opportunity and those who do not speak English as their primary language should not be discriminated against simply because they have not yet learned the language of commerce. In addition, the reality is that anyone who has spoken extensively with people who speak the Queen’s English knows that Americans do not speak the same English as the remainder of the world. American and English truly are related languages, but not the same. It is perfectly legitimate to acknowledge English as the language of business and commerce, but there is no overriding reason to make it the official language of the nation. And, the main reason why it is unnecessary is that quite simply, we’ve done without it for 231 years. Why change things that work?

The John F. Kennedy years were often described as Camelot Term Paper

The John F. Kennedy years were often described as Camelot - Term Paper Example It is difficult to define President Kennedy. He was a man with a hidden past, and one who kept his life in strict compartments. He had spent much of his youth seriously ill, and even throughout his Presidency hid the constant pain he felt, so that even those who were closest to him were unaware of it1. As a man he w as easily bored, loved excitement and was charming to all those he dealt with. Whatever decisions he made he was able to back up through rhetoric and charm regardless of whether the choice that had been taken had been the correct one2. There were many events throughout Kennedy’s short presidency including riots over the admission of Negros into University, the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights movements, the Vietnam War, as well as countless other incidents3. The manner in which Kennedy handled these incidents and the depiction of him in later literature and film have led to the years of John F. Kennedy’s presidency have often been called the Camelot years, referring to an idealized time, analogous to the years of King Arthur. Under this analogy, Kennedy is thought of as a hero, promising peace to the United State including the complete withdrawal from the Vietnam War. This never happened because of the assassination of Kennedy in 1953. How realistic is this view of Kennedy? Was he a hero, giving the United States a few golden years, or does this view ignore many of the facts of Kennedy’s presidency? This essay examines some of the key aspects of Kennedy’s presidency, including his opinions and decisions concerning the Vietnam War, the way he was as a leader, how he appeared in public compared to his own staff and his personality. It is proposed that the concept of the ‘Camelot years’ of Kennedy’s presidency was brought about by opinions and theories following his assassination, and perhaps by the fact that he was assassinated, but that this description of his term bears little resemblance either to t he man himself, or the events that occurred throughout his time as President. The Vietnam War Kennedy is often seen as a peace bringer and a hero because of his strong desire to bring about the end of the Vietnam War. This image was first advanced by the film JFK produced by Oliver Stone4. Stone forwarded the idea that Kennedy had the intention of ending the Vietnam War, but that this plan was prevented by his assignation in 1963. The image that Kennedy puts forward is one of a lone hero, and has grown in popular opinion since the film’s release5. Yet, considering him a hero in this respect is not entirely accurate. While it is true that in 1963 he strongly desired to end the war, the actions in the first two years of his presidency were not to this end. When he first took office, the war had been occurring for some time, and the position of the United States was poor and on the verge of collapse. Under his leadership, the war was escalated in 1961 and 1962 with the level of violence being increased6.He was responsible for substantially raising the level of aggression with such acts as ordering a squadron from the United States Air Force to become involved directly in combat operations7. As a consequence, he moved the focus from being warfare that was backed by the United State to direct armed attack8. Indeed, although Kennedy’s military advisors put forward predictions that the increases in violence would eventually lead to a military victory within Vietnam, and allow the United States to withdraw their forces, Kennedy himself never fully supported the idea of withdrawal9. The opinion that Kennedy planned to end the Vietnam War was not the only thesis that has been proposed by supporters of Kennedy. Some have proposed that he planned not only the complete with

How has the internet changed the way we buy Essay

How has the internet changed the way we buy - Essay Example Online shopping is a hot and growing trend because the lifestyle of consumers has changed due to the fast pace environment of the 21st century. Americans are working longer hours and in most families, both the man and woman must work in order to be able to pay their living expenses. Shopping online has become a way to acquire goods without the hassles of having to go to the stores. Many people simply do not have the time to commute to a store to acquire goods. Using the internet to make purchases is a mechanism that allows people to browse through stores out of the comfort of their homes. Another great benefit of online shopping is that most goods online are cheaper than at retail stores. The reason that online stores are able to offer lower prices is because e-commerce websites have lower overhead costs than traditional stores. They do not have to pay fix expenses such as building rent, utilities, insurance, and an online operation can be run with lower labor costs. Another advantag e of online shopping is that customers have thousands of websites to choose from, thus comparative online shopping can be achieved at a fraction of the time that it would take a shopper to visit a bunch of stores to find an item in a retail setting. Another tremendous benefit that e-commerce provides customers is product variety. A person shopping online can search various websites to compare prices at a fraction of the time that it would take a retail shopper. Shoppers online also have the ability to shop from international stores. The internet also offers specialty websites such as EBay in which shoppers can find incredible bargains due to the auction mechanism of the website. We are currently living in the convergence economic age. In this new economic era a wide variety of technologies are converging to allow people to connect devices to achieve penetration of the internet using new innovative tools such as smartphones. The smartphones are another key instrument

Contractors and Consultants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Contractors and Consultants - Essay Example Government contracting of tax collection services and legal services brings a set of benefits that are both economic and efficiency based. Maintaining a legal firm just to cater for government legal requirements would create an enormous financial burden on the government and in most cases lack efficiency. The government contracting for legal services ensures that the best representatives are acquired for the task at hand. Legal outsourcing is a reform resulting into a more efficient public service by the private sector (Joyce, 2013). Outsourcing of services that bear strong responsibilities to the public safety and those that can affect the Nation adversely is not morally right in the public interest. Some outsourcing activities result in moral degradation of the public while others threaten the diplomatic and safety measures of the government functioning (Joyce, 2013). Outsourcing the correction services has led to private- prison providers to push for mandatory minimum sentences and to sign contracts warranting to keep prison beds entirely filled (Joyce, 2013). This case is an example of a moral degradation where the correction system gets turned from a rehabilitation program to a financial endeavor. The case of Snowden, who worked for a private contractor, who leaked top-secret information affecting the national security is an example of why top government services should be maintained at government control (Joyce,

Human Trafficking-Sheila Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Trafficking-Sheila - Essay Example It is clear that pornography has been on ascending in the recent past, and the profits generated by the industry are such an exorbitant amount especially the child pornography (Rafferty, 2013). The young generation is therefore in danger of the crime. The offenders see the market gap and recruit more children into the vice (Hardy, Compton, & McPhatter, 2013). The child human trafficking hence finds valid reasons to transport them across the world. The recruited individuals are forcefully made to participate in the acts that are used to distribute across the mother earth. According to a study by Troung, (2013) more than half of the child trafficking occurs due to demand of domestic workers. Other studies indicate similar trends to continue, and the transportation of the child human trafficking is bound to persist. Various families have shown aspiration to have domestic workers within their ranks. Due to increased poverty, the children are easily lured into the crime (Masten, 2014). Their employers in turn mistreat them while the offenders of the child human trafficking go on with the recruitment of more children. It is a primary concern that motivates the child human trafficking. Children are seen as a source of labor in the society. The traffickers recruit them and make them work for no compensation or little income that does not resemble their output (Rafferty, 2013). They make more profits and get the urge to hire more to sustain their production. The children are made to works tirelessly under no protection that is a violation of their rights while conscription is kept across the globe (Brayley & Cockbain, 2014). Contemporary studies have indicated that not only in the past was the children recruited as soldiers but in the modern era as well. Various war groups, particularly in the Middle East, have shown the trend to recruit young personnel in their ranks to defend and carry out

Philosophy And The Human Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosophy And The Human Good - Essay Example This means that deep down Henry believed that just because he was in a difficult situation that endangered his scholarship, it clearly did not make him deserve to be someone special enough to be entitled to a license to steal. Henry knew or at least believed that the law against stealing was a moral law that governed all men no matter what their circumstances were. Just because he was in a difficult situation did not give him the reason to commit a crime. Besides, although the whole world may not know about it, he was worried about two other things. First, Henry was afraid that he might kept doing the same thing and that he might end up stealing anything someday as long as he could justify it – and that he might even commit similar crimes someday. Thus, he and many others who would make the wrong choice would affect the community negatively. Second, Henry was afraid that he might in fact get caught and that his boss might either have him arrested or would sack him. Either way, he would lose the job. Ethical absolutism has universal validity and, just like Henry, I believe that this principle applies to all human beings. However, I would not know whether a person that I admire, like my mother, would also employ ethical absolutism in all her moral decisions. I once heard my mother say that she would do anything for her children. It then seemed to me that she would even allow herself to break rules just for her children’s sake, although I have not seen my mother in this moral dilemma yet. Nevertheless, I somehow understood from the example of Henry that those with conscience usually adhere to ethical absolutism. From the example of my mother, I have learned that people who would have such a... He could lose his scholarship or he could lose his job if he got caught stealing. Nevertheless, no matter what situation he was in, the true moral law still considered and will always regard stealing as evil. Another ethical theory, namely ethical subjectivism, with its belief that â€Å"the ultimate moral authority is the individual or the ‘subject,’† would have come to a different conclusion if it had been applied to Henry’s case. If Henry had chosen a decision that could have brought forth his best interests, then he could have adopted ethical subjectivism. He could simply have stolen the drill. After all, his boss was rich and he would not know anyway. Moreover, if he had stolen and sold the drill, it could have financed his project and he could have kept his scholarship. Nevertheless, if the boss would find out about the theft, it would be in his best interests too to have it back and get Henry arrested. The problem with ethical subjectivism is that th ere would always be the conflict of best interests. The more important question is, "What happened to Henry?" Actually, he was able to keep his scholarship. He asked his teacher to extend the deadline for the project and he was able to muster enough courage and humility to borrow money from the same boss. He would have achieved the same results had he stolen the drill but with ethical absolutism, there was no guilt involved. He even became prouder that he was able to surpass such a temptation and told me that he knew he would not do anything evil even.

Healthy People 2010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthy People 2010 - Essay Example The APN whose training is now in advanced theoretical concepts with added elements of practice and the use of the nursing framework is imminently qualified to assure this process takes place (Kohr, 1998). The APN is now a leader in developing nursing practice through provision of leadership and maintenance of a commitment to developing nursing practice, using her authority and power to influence clinical and policy decisions and providing clinical development. The goal that is chosen affects much of the communities need. In strengthening community prevention it is meant through education, community based programs and interventions and the reduction in violence and abusive behavior, all of which the APN is innately trained to handle through her collaborative and communicative style and abilities (Stanhope and Lancaster, 2008). She is also well able to handle these issues based on her strong clinical nursing background on which she has built the knowledge that she presently has. The values that have grounded the practice of an APN are advocacy, holism, nursing experience, integration or theory into practice and added medical functions in a nursing framework. Each of these parts of her practice that have come from grounded nursing theory are the strengths that will help guide her through the changes in practices and processes that will need to occur in the community to meet the new goal. The APN has at her disposal the deliberate, purposeful, and integrated use of expanded nursing knowledge which she has expanded from her original clinical ability. She uses knowledge , research, and that expertise in clinical practice to know what has to be done to advance the concept while at the same time she uses her collaborative skills to work with the rest of the team toward change (Ingersoll, 2000). The use of evidence based practice to help in the change of the processes that are needed to protect the public health falls within the new expertise of the APN. A strong and thorough understanding of evidence based practice coupled with the ability to understand and conduct good research is important in developing interventions to improve prevention. The development of an intervention is strongly research based and the development and evaluation of that prevention requires the understanding of statistical and data based information. During the change process necessary to institute much of the work that must be done for each of these interventions, another strong talent of the APN will be used and that is her leadership ability. This nurse will lead teams with confidence and collaboration. She will organize and move forward on initiatives that have only been discussed before. Healthcare will change very rapidly in the next few years, even more rapidly than ever before. The power and ability of the RN has been far underused in the past considering her education and expertise in clinical care but now the APN has placed herself in a position that provides her with enough power to make change (Kohr, 1998) Strengthening community prevention affects all parts of the community. When good prevention initiatives are put into place the community as a whole is served. The APN is an advocate of the community. In this position, she is able to advocate for those that need it the most, assuring that their need is part of the community policy that is

Contemporary Issues in Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contemporary Issues in Finance - Essay Example This paper is a brief article about the financial crisis which was being identified by the end of 2007 till the beginning of 2008. It was due to the ill-effects of the crisis that regulatory reforms were taken by US, UK and EU regions. This paper will thereby focus on the regulatory reforms adopted by these nations in the milieu of the 2008 financial crisis. Regulatory Framework of US Financial crisis is often termed as an unknown disturbance which leads to erosion of the total financial market of a country or a nation. By the end of 2007, with the identification of the financial crisis, US and other globalised economies become highly concerned about their survival as a global power. Most businesses ruined and were forecasted to lose approximately $ 2.7 trillion in this crisis (Rude, 2008). As a result, unemployment was at its highest stage. With this concern, the US government concentrated on keeping the banks and most significant businesses alive to overcome the unwanted danger. Th e crisis acted promptly drafting many important pieces of legislation or necessary changes and charting the post-crisis financial regulatory framework. But it was not an easy task; it comprised of numerous hurdles within it. The fundamental role in reforming the financial policies in the US was played by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and Financial Stability Board (FSB). They developed a DFA (Dodd-Frank Act), which is a framework of reforms to prevent the consequences arising due to such turmoil (Rude, 2008). The vital elements in reformation of US economy relates to the steps taken to develop a financially stable future as well as resizing of the international financial system, so that the need of the economy can be better served (Rude, 2008). It is worth mentioning that the decline of capital regulation in US was not only due to the ad hoc financial events but was also due to a direct consequence of ineffective design and substance of regulatory capital initiates. T he detailed structure could not prevent the large financial institutions from failing. Apart from this, the unskilled leverage ratio turned out to be the most important constraint which ultimately proved beneficial (Rude, 2008). Requirement of capital was the most prevailing area of concern against bank failures after the crisis. Furthermore, the resolution procedures, another regulatory reform which was considered as a better process other than bankruptcy to deal with the problems of insolvency of financial institutions. This states that the framework of banks needed to be extended to other financial institutions in order to safeguard the large institutions in the financial services market. After the crisis, there was bail-out of many institutions due their inability to bear the failure of cross-border banks (Rude, 2008). This led to other regulatory reforms in the aftermath of the crisis, which resulted in dramatically increase of capital and liquidity buffers of the bank. The ref orms enforced after the crisis mainly focuses on two perspectives, i.e. market-restricting approach and market-harnessing approach. The market-restricting approach mainly concentrates on deflating the commercial institutions along with the intention to limit the size of these institutions and reduce the investments in the market. On the other

Child Law CW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Child Law CW - Essay Example For married couples, parental responsibility is shared whereas for unmarried parents,the law gives the mother an upper hand over custody of their child1. The father can acquire parental responsibility by applying for it. Jenny and Philip came into an agreement with Carol on Emily. Carol was the surrogate mother. After the agreement among the parties, Emily was to be taken by Jenny and Philip. The parties came into an agreement and a reasonable contract on expenses was reached among the three of them. It was legal since the three had an agreement as stated by law and it was upon Carol to agree together with her cousin and husband. Carol planned on giving Emily to Jenny and Philip, which was the right as had been agreed over. According to the agreement, Carol needed money and she opted to be a surrogate mother to cater for her financial needs. After the agreed time, the parents(in this case Jenny and Emily) needed to apply for a parental order that was to give them permanent parental r ights over Bobby. Emily was genetically and extendedly related to both parents. The parental responsibility of Bobbywas under Carol. Any child needs the support of parents for physical, social, emotional and educational growth. Steven and Anita had divorced but Bobby needed them for his growth. Bobby at the age of six was aware of what had happened between his parents. Due to the stalemate, parental responsibility was under Carol at that time.Whenever two groups or parties are not in agreement but are determined to coexist peacefully, finding a solution to their squabbles is inevitable. Jenny and Steven came together to look for a resolution but an agreement was not reached. Steven was worried that Bobby may not have lived according to his religious teachings where a boy was to be circumcised at his tenth birthday. Steven did the right thing by seeking a specific court order because of the previous impasse. The court tried to solve the issue because of the application by Steven on h is residency and contact orders. No immediate family member ofBobby was responsible for his parental rights. This was because Bobby lived with his mother and no harm or suffering or inability to support Bobby was reported.The parent had to take care of the right of the child because they were responsible for the child. Immediate family did not have any responsibility of any kind to the Bobby unless after application.Immediate family members could onlyintervene by following the right process. They could not have parental rights of the child without notifying the right people or the court. They had to follow the right channel to get Bobby under their care. Immediate family member had to have reasons that were valid that Bobby was mistreated to be given the parental responsibility. They had to file an application to the court like the Steven did. If Bobby was mistreated or was close to them then they had a high chance of success. They could not assume parental responsibility without co nsent either from the court or both parents. Another reason why their claims did not favour them is the fact that the child’s mother was alive and living with the child at their time of claims. Anita was alive and living with Bobby at that time and Bobby had a good relationship with her. The court was to decide on the best interest of Bobby. A residence order can be applied when a parent want to stay with the child in question2. A contact order

Islam and Terrorism Essay Example for Free

Islam and Terrorism Essay Muslims, especially Arab Muslims, are said to have been consistently stereotyped in films, television programs, cartoons and even the news as terrorist animals, who have no regard for human life (Fisk 125). And as Robert Fisk would say, the more films he watched, the more cartoons he saw, the more editorials he read, the more fear of the despicable, fearful, alien Muslim seemed to be spreading (127). Thus the Muslims always portrayed as the sinister, evil, over-breeding and worthy of destruction (Fisk 127). Furthermore, as a result of this, media now has equated Islam with terror and fundamentalism, so that no matter where a bomb goes off in the world, the first suspects are always Muslims (Said 110). Said explains that both Israel and the United States identify fundamentalist Islam, a label which is often compressed into one word, â€Å"Islam† (111). Hence, the Islamic belief has been very much associated with terrorism. But then, does Islam really promote acts of terrorism? This paper hopes to delve into the Islamic teaching, specifically the concept of jihad, which is often pointed to be the main reason associating Islam with terrorism. The paper would also identify the intent of jihad as compared to that of terrorism. Finally, this paper aims to conclude that amidst the negative interpretations of jihad contained in the teaching of Islam, Islam does not intend to promote terrorism but aims for spiritual striving in a peaceful manner. Jihad Mohammed Abdul Malek, author of the book entitled A Study of the Qur’an: The Universal Guidance for Mankind, says that, Jihad is often a misunderstood concept of Islam (121). Malek says that, contrary to commonly held belief that jihad exhorts Muslims to expand Islam by violent means, jihad simply refers to a spiritual striving to attain nearness to Allah (121). Malek stresses that the doctrine of Jihad never encourages war or violence (121). He says that it is not a holy war against the non-believers as is commonly understood, which phrase was merely coined by the West in its struggle against the Muslims during the time of the Crusades, a war instigated by the Church for religious gain (Malek 122). Furthermore, he says that there are other words in Arabic which are more appropriate to use in a war situation if war was the principal purpose of Jihad (Malek 122). Examples of which are ‘harb’ which means war and ‘Ma’araka’ which means battle (Malek 122. ). The Qur’an could have used these instead of Jihad if the intention was the declaration of war (Malek 122). Malek quotes Haji Ibrahim Golightly, who explains thoroughly the question and purpose of ‘Jihad’. Golightly explains that Jihad means to strive or make an effort, usually in an Islamic context, so that anything which requires an effort to be made is Jihad and the person doing it is ‘mujahid’ (122). He says that media’s interpretation of jihad that it is fighting and killing in the name of Allah, is not true (Malek 122). He clarifies that said efforts are certainly in the name of Allah, but not in terms of fighting and killing, but instead involves activities such as making time in a busy schedule to study the Qur’an; going to ‘halal’ butcher rather than the closest or most convenient one; discussing Islam with both Muslims and non-Muslims and helping them to understand it better; studying ‘ayat’ or signs, both of Qur’an and in nature and science, in order to increase ‘ilm’, or knowledge; setting other Muslims a good example and showing non-Muslims the true way of Muslims (Malek 122). These, he says, are all examples of Jihad in daily life (Malek 122). Hence, Jihad, he explains, is the effort made not just against internal and external evils but also to live at peace with oneself and ones community, whether Muslim or non-Muslim (Malek 122). Malek further suggests that Jihad must be explained in the context of the Qur’anic verses in which it is used (Malek 122-123). Some of the typical verses based on the translation of Maulana Muhammad Ali’s book entitled ‘The Religion of Islam’, explains jihad in the context of the Qur’anic Verses (Malek 123). First, it provides that â€Å"(22:78) And strive hard ‘jahidu’ for Allah with endeavour which is right† (Malek 123). Ali explains that jihad implies that one should exert one’s self to the utmost ability, like moral, spiritual or political, for the cause of Allah and to establish Allah’s Deen, without resorting to war (Malek 123). Secondly, it provides that â€Å"(29:6) And whoever strives hard (jahada), he strives (yujahidu) only for his own soul, that is for his own benefit, for Allah is altogether independent of (His) creatures (Malek 123). These verses then, as explained by Malek, show that jihad is the spiritual striving to attain nearness to Allah, and the result of this jihad is stated to be Allah’s guidance for those striving his ways (123). It is a struggle to win unbelievers not of the sword but of Qur’an (Malek 123). In the verses cited, jihad is used in the general sense of striving hard, morally, spiritually, and in our day to day life, and implies a struggle in Allah’s ways to achieve an objective, without resorting to war (Malek 124). Malek also cites the definition of Jihad from the Muslimsonline. com, which basically means the striving and refers to the unceasing effort that an individual must make towards self-improvement and self-purification (123). It also refers to the duty of Muslims, at both individual and collective level to struggle against all forms of evil, corruption, injustice, tyranny and oppressions whether committed by Muslims and non-Muslims (Malek 123). Comparing then the purpose of Jihad, which aims for spiritual striving (Malek 121), terrorism, on the otherhand aims only to endanger human life and create an environment of fear and danger. Jihad, which in its origin is a peaceful religious exercise just like how other religions have, it is far from what terrorism aims to propagate. Certainly comparing jihad with what terrorism intends to accomplish, there is indeed a very big difference. Aside from this, the double standard which exists in society also tends to distort or generalize Muslim as terrorists. Fisk cites that once the culprits turn out to be Americans, the word ‘terrorism’ fades from the headlines and are then replaced into a word called ‘fanatics’ (128). This negative media has then an adverse effect on the daily lives of the Muslims (Fisk 129). Conclusion As can be seen from the verses taken in the context of the Qur’an which is the best source to interpret what jihad is, it teaches ‘spiritual striving’ (Malek 123) as opposed to what is projected in the media that often associates it. As explained by Malek, Islam could have used other Arabic words which specifically refer to war instead of the word ‘jihad’ if the intention was to propagate war (122). Furthermore, the phrase ‘holy war’ is of Western origin in history, which was the struggle against Muslims during that time of the Crusades (Malek 122). Terrorism on the otherhand, has no other intention but to create some disturbance and violence which are dangerous to human life. Indeed, this is not part of the Islamic teaching manifested in the Qur’an. Just like other religions, which have activities in order to exercise their basic freedom of religion, so does Islam have their own sets of activities which do not at all propagate war but through means which are peaceful. Islam as a religion being associated with terrorism thus often is a result of distorted views as opposed to what it really teaches. This is mainly due to the influence that media has to its viewers which, as we know is a very powerful medium when it comes projecting and presenting who are considered as terrorists and who are not. This does not mean however that we should tolerate acts of some Islamic groups which are with fault, but only means that there should also be some responsibility especially of persons belonging to the media, to report balanced news or feature shows without being biased or being prejudicial against a religion, sector or group. There must also be respect for other religions just like how the way the Western way of belief is respected. Explanation by those given by those knowledgeable in the interpretation of Qur’an, must also be given the chance to explain the Islamic belief and must be given a chance to also be presented to viewers. In that way, there would be a deeper understanding not only of other religions but of other cultures as well. Indeed, everyone of us is against terrorism because of the threat it brings to our daily lives. But this should not compromise respect for other religions as well. It is time that there should be a strong foreign policy toward Muslim countries (Saeed 131). There should also be some cooperation on the part of citizens of nations in reporting those responsible for terroristic acts. Only in this way, are we able to pinpoint the real perpetrators and bring them to justice. Reference Fisk, Robert. â€Å"The Media Stereotype Muslims as Terrorists. † Islam: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 125-130. Malek, Mohammed. â€Å"The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad Does Not Advocate Violence. † Islam: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 121-123. Saeed, Kazim. â€Å"Media Stereotypes Do Not Define the Image of Muslims. † Islam: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 131 – 133. Said, Edward. â€Å"The Problem of Islamic Terrorism Is Overstated. † Islam: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 110-111.

Ukraine Facts Essay Example for Free

Ukraine Facts Essay Ukraine is located in southeastern Europe, occupying the northern shore of the Black Sea. Its former ruler, Russia, borders it to the east and northeast, with Belarus to the north and Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Rumania, and Moldova to the west. Europe’s second-largest nation (behind Russia), it occupies 603,700 square miles in area, 56% percent of which includes rich arable land, found in the nation’s plains (steppes) and plateaus; only the far western and Crimean regions are relatively mountainous and the nation’s highest point, Hora Hoverla, is 6762 feet above sea level (The World Factbook). The Dnieper River, Ukraine’s most important waterway, bisects the country and is the location of the capital, Kiev. Its climate and precipitation vary greatly, with the Crimea enjoying a Mediterranean climate and cool winters. The remainder of the country is temperate, with generally warm summers and winters varying from moderately to extremely cold. History Though modern Ukrainian independence arrived in 1991, after the Soviet Union dissolved, it was a strong nation in the tenth and eleventh centuries, before internal divisions and foreign invasions placed it under Polish and Lithuanian rule for several centuries. Between the mid-seventeenth and late eighteenth centuries, Ukrainian Cossacks (the nomadic peoples known for their horsemanship and fighting skill) helped win the nation its independence. However, Ukraine fell under Russian rule in the late eighteenth century and remained Russian-controlled, except for a brief period between 1917 and 1920. During Russia’s rule, Ukraine was afflicted by famines (particularly in 1921-22 and 1932-33) which killed over eight million citizens, and it suffered considerably during World War II, losing an additional eight million during the Nazi invasion and subsequent Soviet offensive (The World Factbook). Though Ukraine achieved independence again in 1991, it remained a dictatorship under some degree of Russian control, afflicted by corruption that stymied efforts at political and economic reform. The 2004 election of reformer Viktor Yushchenko as president (despite the opposition’s efforts to rig the election and poison the pro-democracy candidate) marks a potential turning point in Ukrainian history Culture Despite its long periods of foreign occupation, Ukraine has managed to retain its distinctive culture, particularly its language, which closely resembles Russian and uses the Cyrillic alphabet like most other Slavic languages. However, its ethnic minorities continue to use their own languages, though (mainly Russian, with small pockets of Poles, Rumanians, and Hungarians). Communist rule discouraged religion, but since 1991 Ukraine’s religious practices revived, with slightly less than half of the population adhering to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Slightly more than one-third of Ukrainians still practice no religion or belong to no church, while there also rather small minorities of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews (The World Factbook). After attaining independence, Ukraine was slow to adopt democracy, though calls for reform and Yushchenko’s election signal the nation’s desire to orient itself toward Western Europe and adopt both democracy and a free-market economy. Its economy, initially slow to prosper, has opened itself to foreign business and improved within the last few years. REFERENCES Anonymous. (1996). Welcome to Ukraine. Retrieved 30 January 2006 from http://www. ukraine. org/. (2006). CIA – The World Factbook – Ukraine. Retrieved 30 January 2006 from http://www. cia. gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/up. htm

Contemporary Styles of Preaching

Contemporary Styles of Preaching Chapter Five Impact, event, and context in contemporary preaching 5.1 Mapping the commonalities. The diversity of the trends identified in the earlier review (sections 2.4 to 2.8) presents a particular challenge to the analysis of justifiable generalizations about homiletic theory and practice in the last half-century. As Edwards observes, there seem to be more forms of preaching today than in all previous Christian centuries put together (2004: 835). Furthermore, Edwards judges that preachers during the late-twentieth century tried to accomplish a greater variety of things through their sermons than any of their predecessors attempted (2004: 663). Allen, Blaisdell and Johnston similarly describe the current homiletical scene as a smorgasboard of approaches and cite no less than eleven identifiable contemporary styles of preaching (1997: 171). According to Edwards two developments account for this diversity: namely, the sheer number of people who designate themselves as Christians (in the 20th century Christianity became the most extensive and universal religion in history (Barratt, 2001: 3)), and the huge proliferation of organizational bodies within which preachers are operative (2004: 835). The work of the statisticians Barratt, Kurian and Johnson supports Edwards judgement; in their World Christian Encyclopedia (2001) they estimate that in the year 2000 Christians of all kinds numbered 2 billion people in 33,820 distinct denominations (2001: 10). They observe that there are today Christians and organized Christian churches in every inhabited country on earth (2001: 3). The impact of this globalization is significant even in the much narrower geographical confines of this thesis, and it is inconceivable that an accurate appraisal of preaching practice and theory could be made apart from a ready acknowledgement of the fo rces and influences that are properly termed global. The indicators of institutional decline apparent in the churches of the Western world have to be set against rapid and continuing growth in other parts of the globe. This shift of numerical strength inevitably has consequences for preaching as for other aspects of church practice and faith. The presence in the UK of Christian personnel from the southern parts of the world, increased congregation to congregation contact made possible by cheap air travel, and the development of Internet usage, all offer new understandings and strategies from elsewhere in the global church in ways much more directly influential than even in the immediate past. The practice of preaching, like most other human endeavours in the early twenty-first century, takes place within a pluriform social environment in which many and diverse influences from the widest possible arenas of human activity have a bearing. That said, preaching, in social terms, remains predominantly a locally-focused activity, and sermon style and content are usually closely related to the specifics of the sub-cultural frames in which the life and self-understanding of the congregation is set. Consequently, the power of the local context is another factor underlying Edwards observation of the immense diversity of contemporary sermon styles. As Edwards puts it, such diversity shows how radically ad hoc all Christian preaching is (2004: 835). That is not to say, however, that such enormous diversity denies the possibility of any sensible generalization. In particular, as was suggested in the earlier review, three aspects are identifiable within contemporary preaching practices that have particular significance for collective memory-namely, awareness of a sermons psychological engagement, communicative salience and contextual pertinence. In other words, those aspects of preaching that deal with a sermons impact on the hearer; its purposefulness as an event in its own terms; and its relationship to the context in which it is delivered and heard. In order to establish an analytical framework that is not too unwieldy three texts that are in some sense representative documents will be analysed closely. Other texts that develop, challenge, or amplify the issues disclosed will be added to the discussion as the argument requires. The representative texts have been selected as indicative of three prominent strands in the ongoing discussion of homiletic practice: firstly, continuity in terms of issues of concern and of practice methodology; secondly, change in practice and the philosophical and technical components that undergird it; and thirdly, reorientation that aims to subtly change the locus of practice itself. The first text will utilize a perspective from prior to the 1955 to 2005 period under review that still has currency, albeit in terms significantly altered from earlier years. The second will analyse a perspective of more recent origin that signifies contemporary concerns with philosophy and communications theory and the technical practice that flows from them. And the third will examine a perspective that sees the local context of preaching as fundamental to homiletic activity rather than just the arena in which it takes place. The first text is Phillips Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures of 1877, last reissued in book form as recently as 1987, and described by Killinger as one of the most readable and inspiring volumes on preaching ever penned (1985: 207). The version used here will be the 1904 edition, published in London under the title Lectures on Preaching. No attempt will be made to alter the gender specificity of Brooks words since, although this study readily acknowledges that the preaching task belongs as much to women as to men, the assumptions of his text in this area are a clear marker of changes that have taken place even under the cover of longstanding common concerns. David Buttricks 1987 book Homiletic: Moves and Structures is the second focus. At more than 500 pages, this is a monumental work in size, as well as scope and influence. Edwards (2004: 806) describes Buttricks work as being as influential and significant as Fred Craddocks pioneering of the New Homiletic, and Lischer (2002: 337) credits him with the first homiletic in theory and practice geared to our [present day] culture of images. The final representative text is Leonora Tisdales 1997 work Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, which asks preachers to become ethnographers of their congregations in order to understand the human nature of their hearers from the inside as it were. Tisdale is one of a new movement of homiletic practitioners and theoreticians at home with anthropological and sociological models in Christian ministry and alert to cultural-linguistic issues. Her work provides a way into the insights of those who acknowledge that preachings former authority has all but evaporated, but who see a radical social re-encounter as being a real possibility for a reshaped sermon practice. 5.2 Continuities of concerns and practice: Brooks and contemporary preaching. As was noted earlier (Section 2.5), Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures remained much used as a guide to homiletic practice well into the period under review. Indeed such has been the influence of his insistence on preaching as the bringing of truth through personality (1904: 5) that Brooks expression continues to be repeated in exactly the same terms in contemporary works, such as those of Day (1998: 6) and Killinger (1985: 8). In dwelling on the preachers personality Brooks managed to encapsulate what, in the 1870s, was a new and burgeoning interest in the human psyche. It was hardly coincidence that his lectures were delivered in the same decade in which William James became Americas first professorial-level teacher of psychology (Harvard in 1875) and G. Stanley Hall the countrys first PhD in psychology. Unwittingly no doubt, Brooks reflected on novel intellectual ideas of his own day and, in doing so, identified within preaching practice what was to become a major preoccupation in many areas of discourse in the twentieth-century: namely, the human psyche and its relationship to action and truth. It is pertinent, therefore, to examine what Brooks understood by personality and its relationship to Christian truth in order to appreciate how his ideas were developed by homiletic practitioners in the period under review. What might appropriately be termed personalist (i.e. an emphasis in preaching on the personal religious experience of the hearer somehow addressed very directly by the preacher) has been, and continues to be, a major component in sermon delivery and design. Brooks concept of preaching as truth through personality became a kind of slogan for many preachers in the twentieth-century, and indeed remains a very influential mantra for many practitioners to this day. In Brooks lectures that sloganized thought had a rather more nuanced definition: Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men. It has in it two essential elements, truth and personality. Neither of those can it spare and still be preaching. The truest truth, the most authoritative statement of Gods, communicated in any other way than through the personality of brother man to men is not preached truth. Suppose it written on the sky, suppose it embodied in a book which has been so long held in reverence as the direct utterance of God that the vivid personality of the men who wrote its pages has well-nigh faded out of it; in neither of these cases is there any preaching. And on the other hand, if men speak to other men that which they do not claim for truth, if they use their powers of persuasion or of entertainment to make other men listen to their speculations, or do their will, or applaud their cleverness, that is not preaching either. The first lacks personality. The second lacks truth. And preaching is the bringing of truth through personality. (1904: 5) For Brooks, the two components of truth and personality had to stand together, since their meeting was the point at which the universal and the particular met. It would be an exaggeration to say that Brooks viewed religious truth as essentially something that can only be known in personal experience; but he did believe that truth was at its most effective and powerful when known and expressed in personal terms. He understood the truth of the Christian faith to be universal and invariable, with personality as the site where it was realized through variable and particular understanding and appropriation (1904: 15). Thus although he was clear gospel truth was a message to be transmitted, he insisted that it could only be transmitted via the voice of a witness, i.e. someone for whom it had become an indispensable part of that persons own experience (14). In terms of memory maintenance, Brooks approach assumes that the preacher is deeply cognizant of the Christian tradition and is, as it were, a bearer of it in his or her own person. 5.2.1 The personal characteristics of the preacher. Being such a bearer of the tradition required of the preacher exacting personal characteristics. The rigour Brooks brought to the personal qualities required of the preaching witness continues to be challenging reading for anyone pursuing such a role. Alongside a deep personal piety (1904: 38), Brooks listed mental and spiritual unselfishness (39), hopefulness as against judgmental fear (40), a vigorous commitment to physical health along with the offering of the whole of life in ministerial service (40), and an enthusiasm that made for a keen joy in preaching (42). Brooks saw the task of preaching as always needing an essential grounding in the very personhood of the preacher, by which he meant truth communicated through personality in an absolutely literal sense. The second of his Lyman Beecher Lectures, entitled The Preacher Himself, amplified the point in this enumeration of the qualities necessary for success in preaching: purity and uprightness of character; lack of self-consciousness founded on absolute trust in God; genuine respect for those preached to; thorough enjoyment of the task; gravity of intent in all things; and courage to speak out (1904: 49-60). At first sight the list appears remote from more recent homiletic theorys concern with techniques and philosophical issues, and therefore it might appear as less accessible and relevant to practitioners since the 1950s watershed in preaching identified earlier. Such personal qualities can seem to be more easily related to an era when the person of the preacher was regarded as carrying more authority than nowadays. Although in terms of wider social recognition the preacher is no longer a star of oratory, similar attributes are still sought after-but for rather different reasons. Killinger (1985), for example, stresses the importance of the physical and mental health of the preacher as an aspect of communication, since troubles in those areas are signalled subconsciously to an audience and work towards undermining the intended message. He writes: Suppose we are preaching about wholeness and reconciliation but actually conveying a message about fragmentedness and despondency. The words may sound right, but there is something about the tune, about the look in our eyes, about the tension in our faces, that counters what we are saying. At best, people get a double message. It is very important, therefore, for the preacher to be as healthy and joyous as possible. Anything less impedes his or her message about the life-giving community of God. We are working at our preaching, for this reason, even when we are taking care of ourselves. (1985: 198-199) Although the point is expressed in the idiom of late twentieth-century communications theory the reasoning is clearly akin to that of Brooks. For both, emphasis on the physicality of the preacher is an aspect of how the message will be received in the light of how the hearers perceptions of the speaker. The body of the preacher, as well as his or her mental and spiritual capabilities, is, in this sense, a tool in the preaching witness. Contemporary women homileticians have also emphasized physicality; but from a perspective that radicalizes it by making the woman preachers bodily experience a site of homiletic resource. In Walton and Durber (1994), the negative, indeed destructive, consequences of a profound prejudice in the Christian tradition against womens bodies are highlighted. They note that in the light of this shameful history and despite occasional counter-tradition movements, the advent of more widespread preaching by women with the rise of Nonconformity did not generally challenge the unembodied nature of homiletic practice. Until the rise of the Womens Movement, women preachers, like their male counterparts, stressed a common rationality and a universal human nature that was blind to the particularities of embodied experience (Walton and Durber, 1994: 2). In more recent years, however, some women homileticians have striven to speak from their bodily experience and utilize both the negative and positive aspects of femininity, conception, pregnancy, birth, health and nurture in their theology of preaching (for example, Ward, Wild and Morley, (1995); Gjerding and Kinnamon, (1984); Riley, (1985); By Our Lives, (1985); Maitland, (1995); and Marva Dawn in Graves, (2004)). According to Walton and Durber, such efforts are part of a new emphasis that is fuelling developments across the whole spectrum of theological enquiry. They write: Sexuality and suffering are still rarely named within a Christian tradition that prefers to speak of the spirit rather than the body, light rather than darkness and a God who creates life but bears no responsibility for pain and dying. Women who have begun to preach from their bodies are not merely redressing an existing imbalance and enriching the storehouse of Christian metaphors and symbols but are also provoking new theological debates close to the very heart of the faith. (1994: 4) This emphasis on the body as a resource for preaching content rather than solely the necessary vehicle of delivery as it were, certainly takes Brooks focus on personhood further than he could possibly have imagined. That said, even here there is a certain congruence between what Brooks said and these very contemporary concerns. He did, after all, insist that the needs and preoccupations of no one sex or age should monopolize the life of the congregation, and that ministrations to it must be full at once of vigour and of tenderness, the fathers and the mothers touch at once (1904: 207). Brooks could not have possibly foreseen the Womens Movement and its repercussions for preaching, but his unease with a domineering and authoritarian style in the pulpit-mediated through his lasting influence-at least readied some preachers for a message that needed to be heard. The physical and personal qualities of the practitioner described neither in terms of communication theory nor embodied theology, but in ways even more reminiscent of Brooks own characterization of the preacher, have reasserted themselves through organization theory and the study of leadership. As the authority of the church, in terms of rules and obligations, has ebbed away, and the legitimacy of power based on tradition more and more questioned, it is perhaps the case that authority based on exemplary character has increased in relative importance. Certainly in the world of commerce and business the significance of the personal qualities of leaders and managers has been extensively theorized and debated. In the use of terms such as sapiential authority and referent power, organization theorists have pointed up the crucial importance of a personal knowledge and skill that readily communicates itself to others, and a personality-based ability to influence by attracting loyalty (Rees and Porter, 2001: 82). Other theorists, e.g. Charles Handy, talk in terms of the invisible but felt pull that is described as magnetism (1985: 135). Handy writes: Aspects of magnetism, the unseen drawing-power of one individual, are found all the time. Trust, respect, charm, infectious enthusiasm, these attributes all allow us to influence people without apparently imposing on them. The invisibility of magnetism is a major attraction as is its attachment to one individual. (1985: 136) Brooks himself used the very term magnetism and described it as: the quality that kindles at the sight of men, that feels a keen joy at the meeting of truth and the human mind, and recognizes how God made them for each other. It is the power by which a man loses himself and becomes but the sympathetic atmosphere between the truth on one side of him and the man on the other side of him. (1904: 42) Excluding the gender specificity, Handy might have written in very similar terms. (Comparable thoughts, although using other nomenclature, can also be found, for example in Schein, 1992: 229; Zohar and Marshall, 2000: 259; and Nelson, 1999: 76). The significance of the personal charisma of the preacher is, perhaps, in the process of rehabilitation via business practices that readily recognize the importance of personal as well as systemic qualities in the effective functioning of organizations. With the support of such an appreciation, a contemporary homiletician, such as Day, can assert, without risking suspicion and disapprobation, that the hope of the sermon lies in the authenticity of the preacher (1998: 147). As regards the maintenance of tradition as collective memory, the resurgence of individualized authority raises the question whether organizational structures within the churches are strong enough to prevent intentional or unintentional abuse of that corporate memory bearin g responsibility. 5.2.2 The preacher as learner and as pastor. Before leaving issues associated with personhood, two of Brooks themes regarding the preachers actions are worth considering since, again, they are things that continue to be widely discussed in the literature; namely, the preacher as learner and the preacher as pastor. After considering the dangers to the preachers personality of self-conceit, over-concern with failure, self-indulgence, and narrowness, Brooks brings his second lecture to a close with a vigorous plea for what would now be called lifelong learning. He writes: In [Christian ministry] he who is faithful must go on learning more and more for ever. His growth in learning is all bound up with his growth in character. Nowhere else do the moral and intellectual so sympathize, and lose or gain together. The minister must grow. His true growth is not necessarily a change of views. It is a change of view. It is not revolution. It is progress. It is a continual climbing which opens continually wider prospects. It repeats the experience of Christs disciples, of whom their Lord was always making larger men and then giving them larger truth of which their enlarged natures had become capable. (1904: 70) What Brooks discerned as an essential component of the preachers disposition has nowadays been widened to embrace all who claim to be faithful believers. Discipleship as lifelong learning is a concept in wide contemporary currency in the churches, and is discussed, for example, in documents such as the published strategies of the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church for training, detailed in the reports Formation for Ministry within a Learning Church (2003) and Shaping the Future: New patterns of training for lay and ordained (2006). The notion of Christian leaders needing to be exemplars in this ongoing commitment to learning and personal growth figures in much of the literature on congregations and pastoral ministry, such as Mead (1994), Baumohl (1984), Hawkins (1997), and Anderson (1997); albeit these and numerous other authors, make it plain that the goal of such action is the enhancement of learning in the whole church. In the preaching literatu re, allied perspectives are expressed in such concepts as local theology (Tisdale, 1997), conversational preaching (Rose, 1997), listening to or with sermon preparation (Van Harn, 2005), embodying the scriptures communally (Davis and Hays, 2003), and interactive preaching (Hunter, 2004). Through these and other mechanisms, Brooks call for continuous learning on the part of the preacher finds its contemporary expression in practices that aim to widen that learning to include the whole body of people who are party to the sermon and the preachers and their own wider ministry. As Anderson puts it, every act of ministry teaches something about God (1997: 8). That is a sentiment to which Brooks would have been sympathetic given his emphasis on the absolute core of preaching as the widest of concern for souls. Learning, in collective memory theory, is often associated with the changing of the meanings and understandings of memories, and the processes by which traditions are appropriated by individuals. As aspects of learning clearly related to relationships they echo contemporary concern in the church about whole body learning. In Brooks description of the preacher as pastor this analysis reaches very familiar territory, in that such a description probably remains the pre-eminent designation of the homiletician within the churches. Brooks thought on this matter was absolutely unequivocal: The preacher needs to be pastor, that he may preach to real men. The pastor must be preacher, that he may keep the dignity of his work alive. The preacher, who is not a pastor, grows remote. The pastor, who is not a preacher, grows petty. Never be content to let men truthfully say of you, He is a preacher, but no pastor; or, He is a pastor, but no preacher. Be both; for you cannot really be one unless you also are the other. (1904: 77) The conviction remains no less powerful more than a century after Brooks lectures: for example, Eric Devenport writing in 1986 could assert, without fear that his opinion would be controversial: Preaching and pastoral work go hand in hand. This is one of those truths that has to be proclaimed time after time, for unless it is heard, then most preaching will not only be dull but dead. (in Hunter, 2004: 145) Clearly, at different times and in different church structures, the nature of pastoral practice has been viewed in a variety of ways. Sometimes it has been mutual support in discipleship, and at other times psychotherapeutic intervention. In some circumstances it has been ad hoc care and conversation, and in others programmatic structures of community creation. Amongst these and many other activities, those who would preach have frequently seen such pastoral practice as a fundamental adjunct to the homiletic task. Although the influence of the problem centred preaching method of Henry Emerson Fosdick, mentioned above (section 2.5), has waned in recent decades, the notion that preaching must somehow relate to the felt life-concerns of those in the congregation is still the key to good practice for many preachers. Whether the emphasis is Tisdales (1997) preacher as the caretaker of local theology, Willimons (1979) or Longs (1989) straightforward emphasis on the role of pastor, Pasquare llos (2005) preaching as the development of communal wisdom, Buechners (1977) telling the truth in love, or Van Harns (2005) insistence on listening in preaching, the overarching perspective is that of pastoral care to individuals and groups. The tradition as collective memory must, in these circumstances, serve pastoral needs. Here the link to the presentist character of collective memory appears strong. 5.2.3 Preachings first purpose and the style appropriate to it. Returning to the issue of preaching as art. From Brooks paramount concern with personhood and themes that flow from it, this discussion now turns to two other aspects of his lectures that remain significant concerns in homiletic literature: style of language, and preachings first purpose. In his emphasis on preaching as witness, Brooks made a distinction that continues to figure prominently in homiletic texts to this day: namely, the difference between preaching about Christ and preaching Christ (1904: 20). Preachers, Brooks insisted, should announce Christianity as a message and proclaim Christ as a Saviour not-discuss Christianity as a problem (1904: 21). He asserted: Definers and defenders of the faith are always needed, but it is bad for a church when its ministers count it their true work to define and defend the faith rather than to preach the Gospel. Beware of the tendency to preach about Christianity, and try to preach Christ. (1904: 21) This distinction continues to be vigorously promoted, particularly amongst the New Homiletic advocates of an inductive sermon methodology. From the distinction there comes an emphasis in sermonic style on a demonstrably engaging, emotionally affective, and inclusivist presentation, rather than a detached, analytical or objective stance. Brooks would have undoubtedly concurred with David Bartletts worries about sermon style that appears to make sin more interesting than grace, and evil more lively than goodness (in Graves, 2004: 25). Bartlett suggests that sermons too often misdirect their hearers by putting active or abstract language and thoughts in the wrong places. He writes, For the most part we show evil and then tell about goodness. We show judgment and then talk about the doctrine of mercy (in Graves, 2004: 25). Yet again, Brooks lectures were extraordinary prescient of a concern that has become commonplace these many years later. Likewise, Brooks conviction that a sermon is essentially a tool and not an end in itself is also a perspective that continues to be vigorously debated (Brooks, 1904: 110). Unlike Browne (1958), Brooks was insistent that preaching is not an art form. He wrote: The definition and immediate purpose which a sermon has set before it makes it impossible to consider it as a work of art, and every attempt to consider it so works injury to the purpose for which the sermon was created. Many of the ineffective sermons that are made owe their failure to a blind and fruitless effort to produce something which shall be a work of art, conforming to some type or pattern which is not clearly understood but is supposed to be essential and eternal. (1904: 109) In many ways, Brownes advocacy of the sermon as art-form (1958: 76) was a reaction to those who had taken Brooks evident pragmatism and utilitarianism as regards technique and turned it into a bald instructionalism that claimed too much for itself and was simply tedious. That was not Brooks intention, however, as his aim was an absolute focus on the tumultuous eagerness of earnest purpose (1904: 110). His overriding concern was that sermons should engage and communicate in such a way as to affect and mark personalities at their most profound level. As such, his understanding of the nature of sermonic engagement serves the purposes of collective memory. His objection to preaching as an art-form was the tendency he saw for art to be an end in itself-over concerned with pure forms and the abstractions of principles (see, for example, pages 110 and 267 of the 1904 edition). These many years later, art operates, and is applied within immensely diverse environments wholly unknown when Brooks lectured: so his criticism is, perhaps, no longer apposite. On the other hand, how far and in what ways artistic expression relates to and uses tradition is a question rather more vexed now than in Brooks day. The one aspect of artistic endeavour Brooks was willing to concede was art in the sense of an awesome appreciation of the mysteriousness of life. This was something Brooks regarded as an essential component of the preachers outlook, and was the reason for his advocacy of the preacher as, at least in some measure, a poet (1904: 262). Preaching as art form brings to the forefront of homiletic awareness the sermons place in the imaginative construal of engaging gospel alternatives to commonplace understandings and outlooks. Collective memory theory suggests that affiliation to group identity is an essential element in the continuity of memory. What the emphasis on preaching as art form does is alert the preacher to the need to create in preaching that sense of engagement, creativity and exploration that aims beyond utilitarian instruction. Here, preaching is seen as genuinely performative. Like the repeated performances of a classic drama, a sermon hearer can become intensively engaged again and again with material that, although familiar, becomes in the engagement surprisingly new. Likewise the preacher as performer or artist, works with familiar texts in order to render then creatively new in a sermon. From both sides of the sermon event collective memory is supported via the performative interaction. The discussion of art related issues in contemporary homiletic literature largely supports this assessment. Morris, in his Raising the Dead: The Art of the preacher as Public Performer, makes performance the guiding principle of all homiletics and insists that preaching should delight and enrich in ways similar to other mediums (1996: 19). Gilmore, in his Preaching as Theatre (1996) shares the same concern with performance, and designates preaching as a dramatic event that happens. He writes: As long as preaching is seen as lecturing or teaching, then, in order for it to be effective, listeners have to go away and do something about it. If it is art, they dont. By the time it is over something has happened, or has failed to happen. This is what makes preaching as an art distinctive, more exciting and satisfying when it works, more depressing and worrying when it doesnt. (1996: 7) Other homileticians are a little more reserved and tend to use the idea of art or artistic endeavour as but one tool the preacher can employ. For example, in Allen (1998), the appreciation of works of art and artistic frames for sermons are advocated as ways to create spheres of perception i Contemporary Styles of Preaching Contemporary Styles of Preaching Chapter Five Impact, event, and context in contemporary preaching 5.1 Mapping the commonalities. The diversity of the trends identified in the earlier review (sections 2.4 to 2.8) presents a particular challenge to the analysis of justifiable generalizations about homiletic theory and practice in the last half-century. As Edwards observes, there seem to be more forms of preaching today than in all previous Christian centuries put together (2004: 835). Furthermore, Edwards judges that preachers during the late-twentieth century tried to accomplish a greater variety of things through their sermons than any of their predecessors attempted (2004: 663). Allen, Blaisdell and Johnston similarly describe the current homiletical scene as a smorgasboard of approaches and cite no less than eleven identifiable contemporary styles of preaching (1997: 171). According to Edwards two developments account for this diversity: namely, the sheer number of people who designate themselves as Christians (in the 20th century Christianity became the most extensive and universal religion in history (Barratt, 2001: 3)), and the huge proliferation of organizational bodies within which preachers are operative (2004: 835). The work of the statisticians Barratt, Kurian and Johnson supports Edwards judgement; in their World Christian Encyclopedia (2001) they estimate that in the year 2000 Christians of all kinds numbered 2 billion people in 33,820 distinct denominations (2001: 10). They observe that there are today Christians and organized Christian churches in every inhabited country on earth (2001: 3). The impact of this globalization is significant even in the much narrower geographical confines of this thesis, and it is inconceivable that an accurate appraisal of preaching practice and theory could be made apart from a ready acknowledgement of the fo rces and influences that are properly termed global. The indicators of institutional decline apparent in the churches of the Western world have to be set against rapid and continuing growth in other parts of the globe. This shift of numerical strength inevitably has consequences for preaching as for other aspects of church practice and faith. The presence in the UK of Christian personnel from the southern parts of the world, increased congregation to congregation contact made possible by cheap air travel, and the development of Internet usage, all offer new understandings and strategies from elsewhere in the global church in ways much more directly influential than even in the immediate past. The practice of preaching, like most other human endeavours in the early twenty-first century, takes place within a pluriform social environment in which many and diverse influences from the widest possible arenas of human activity have a bearing. That said, preaching, in social terms, remains predominantly a locally-focused activity, and sermon style and content are usually closely related to the specifics of the sub-cultural frames in which the life and self-understanding of the congregation is set. Consequently, the power of the local context is another factor underlying Edwards observation of the immense diversity of contemporary sermon styles. As Edwards puts it, such diversity shows how radically ad hoc all Christian preaching is (2004: 835). That is not to say, however, that such enormous diversity denies the possibility of any sensible generalization. In particular, as was suggested in the earlier review, three aspects are identifiable within contemporary preaching practices that have particular significance for collective memory-namely, awareness of a sermons psychological engagement, communicative salience and contextual pertinence. In other words, those aspects of preaching that deal with a sermons impact on the hearer; its purposefulness as an event in its own terms; and its relationship to the context in which it is delivered and heard. In order to establish an analytical framework that is not too unwieldy three texts that are in some sense representative documents will be analysed closely. Other texts that develop, challenge, or amplify the issues disclosed will be added to the discussion as the argument requires. The representative texts have been selected as indicative of three prominent strands in the ongoing discussion of homiletic practice: firstly, continuity in terms of issues of concern and of practice methodology; secondly, change in practice and the philosophical and technical components that undergird it; and thirdly, reorientation that aims to subtly change the locus of practice itself. The first text will utilize a perspective from prior to the 1955 to 2005 period under review that still has currency, albeit in terms significantly altered from earlier years. The second will analyse a perspective of more recent origin that signifies contemporary concerns with philosophy and communications theory and the technical practice that flows from them. And the third will examine a perspective that sees the local context of preaching as fundamental to homiletic activity rather than just the arena in which it takes place. The first text is Phillips Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures of 1877, last reissued in book form as recently as 1987, and described by Killinger as one of the most readable and inspiring volumes on preaching ever penned (1985: 207). The version used here will be the 1904 edition, published in London under the title Lectures on Preaching. No attempt will be made to alter the gender specificity of Brooks words since, although this study readily acknowledges that the preaching task belongs as much to women as to men, the assumptions of his text in this area are a clear marker of changes that have taken place even under the cover of longstanding common concerns. David Buttricks 1987 book Homiletic: Moves and Structures is the second focus. At more than 500 pages, this is a monumental work in size, as well as scope and influence. Edwards (2004: 806) describes Buttricks work as being as influential and significant as Fred Craddocks pioneering of the New Homiletic, and Lischer (2002: 337) credits him with the first homiletic in theory and practice geared to our [present day] culture of images. The final representative text is Leonora Tisdales 1997 work Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, which asks preachers to become ethnographers of their congregations in order to understand the human nature of their hearers from the inside as it were. Tisdale is one of a new movement of homiletic practitioners and theoreticians at home with anthropological and sociological models in Christian ministry and alert to cultural-linguistic issues. Her work provides a way into the insights of those who acknowledge that preachings former authority has all but evaporated, but who see a radical social re-encounter as being a real possibility for a reshaped sermon practice. 5.2 Continuities of concerns and practice: Brooks and contemporary preaching. As was noted earlier (Section 2.5), Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures remained much used as a guide to homiletic practice well into the period under review. Indeed such has been the influence of his insistence on preaching as the bringing of truth through personality (1904: 5) that Brooks expression continues to be repeated in exactly the same terms in contemporary works, such as those of Day (1998: 6) and Killinger (1985: 8). In dwelling on the preachers personality Brooks managed to encapsulate what, in the 1870s, was a new and burgeoning interest in the human psyche. It was hardly coincidence that his lectures were delivered in the same decade in which William James became Americas first professorial-level teacher of psychology (Harvard in 1875) and G. Stanley Hall the countrys first PhD in psychology. Unwittingly no doubt, Brooks reflected on novel intellectual ideas of his own day and, in doing so, identified within preaching practice what was to become a major preoccupation in many areas of discourse in the twentieth-century: namely, the human psyche and its relationship to action and truth. It is pertinent, therefore, to examine what Brooks understood by personality and its relationship to Christian truth in order to appreciate how his ideas were developed by homiletic practitioners in the period under review. What might appropriately be termed personalist (i.e. an emphasis in preaching on the personal religious experience of the hearer somehow addressed very directly by the preacher) has been, and continues to be, a major component in sermon delivery and design. Brooks concept of preaching as truth through personality became a kind of slogan for many preachers in the twentieth-century, and indeed remains a very influential mantra for many practitioners to this day. In Brooks lectures that sloganized thought had a rather more nuanced definition: Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men. It has in it two essential elements, truth and personality. Neither of those can it spare and still be preaching. The truest truth, the most authoritative statement of Gods, communicated in any other way than through the personality of brother man to men is not preached truth. Suppose it written on the sky, suppose it embodied in a book which has been so long held in reverence as the direct utterance of God that the vivid personality of the men who wrote its pages has well-nigh faded out of it; in neither of these cases is there any preaching. And on the other hand, if men speak to other men that which they do not claim for truth, if they use their powers of persuasion or of entertainment to make other men listen to their speculations, or do their will, or applaud their cleverness, that is not preaching either. The first lacks personality. The second lacks truth. And preaching is the bringing of truth through personality. (1904: 5) For Brooks, the two components of truth and personality had to stand together, since their meeting was the point at which the universal and the particular met. It would be an exaggeration to say that Brooks viewed religious truth as essentially something that can only be known in personal experience; but he did believe that truth was at its most effective and powerful when known and expressed in personal terms. He understood the truth of the Christian faith to be universal and invariable, with personality as the site where it was realized through variable and particular understanding and appropriation (1904: 15). Thus although he was clear gospel truth was a message to be transmitted, he insisted that it could only be transmitted via the voice of a witness, i.e. someone for whom it had become an indispensable part of that persons own experience (14). In terms of memory maintenance, Brooks approach assumes that the preacher is deeply cognizant of the Christian tradition and is, as it were, a bearer of it in his or her own person. 5.2.1 The personal characteristics of the preacher. Being such a bearer of the tradition required of the preacher exacting personal characteristics. The rigour Brooks brought to the personal qualities required of the preaching witness continues to be challenging reading for anyone pursuing such a role. Alongside a deep personal piety (1904: 38), Brooks listed mental and spiritual unselfishness (39), hopefulness as against judgmental fear (40), a vigorous commitment to physical health along with the offering of the whole of life in ministerial service (40), and an enthusiasm that made for a keen joy in preaching (42). Brooks saw the task of preaching as always needing an essential grounding in the very personhood of the preacher, by which he meant truth communicated through personality in an absolutely literal sense. The second of his Lyman Beecher Lectures, entitled The Preacher Himself, amplified the point in this enumeration of the qualities necessary for success in preaching: purity and uprightness of character; lack of self-consciousness founded on absolute trust in God; genuine respect for those preached to; thorough enjoyment of the task; gravity of intent in all things; and courage to speak out (1904: 49-60). At first sight the list appears remote from more recent homiletic theorys concern with techniques and philosophical issues, and therefore it might appear as less accessible and relevant to practitioners since the 1950s watershed in preaching identified earlier. Such personal qualities can seem to be more easily related to an era when the person of the preacher was regarded as carrying more authority than nowadays. Although in terms of wider social recognition the preacher is no longer a star of oratory, similar attributes are still sought after-but for rather different reasons. Killinger (1985), for example, stresses the importance of the physical and mental health of the preacher as an aspect of communication, since troubles in those areas are signalled subconsciously to an audience and work towards undermining the intended message. He writes: Suppose we are preaching about wholeness and reconciliation but actually conveying a message about fragmentedness and despondency. The words may sound right, but there is something about the tune, about the look in our eyes, about the tension in our faces, that counters what we are saying. At best, people get a double message. It is very important, therefore, for the preacher to be as healthy and joyous as possible. Anything less impedes his or her message about the life-giving community of God. We are working at our preaching, for this reason, even when we are taking care of ourselves. (1985: 198-199) Although the point is expressed in the idiom of late twentieth-century communications theory the reasoning is clearly akin to that of Brooks. For both, emphasis on the physicality of the preacher is an aspect of how the message will be received in the light of how the hearers perceptions of the speaker. The body of the preacher, as well as his or her mental and spiritual capabilities, is, in this sense, a tool in the preaching witness. Contemporary women homileticians have also emphasized physicality; but from a perspective that radicalizes it by making the woman preachers bodily experience a site of homiletic resource. In Walton and Durber (1994), the negative, indeed destructive, consequences of a profound prejudice in the Christian tradition against womens bodies are highlighted. They note that in the light of this shameful history and despite occasional counter-tradition movements, the advent of more widespread preaching by women with the rise of Nonconformity did not generally challenge the unembodied nature of homiletic practice. Until the rise of the Womens Movement, women preachers, like their male counterparts, stressed a common rationality and a universal human nature that was blind to the particularities of embodied experience (Walton and Durber, 1994: 2). In more recent years, however, some women homileticians have striven to speak from their bodily experience and utilize both the negative and positive aspects of femininity, conception, pregnancy, birth, health and nurture in their theology of preaching (for example, Ward, Wild and Morley, (1995); Gjerding and Kinnamon, (1984); Riley, (1985); By Our Lives, (1985); Maitland, (1995); and Marva Dawn in Graves, (2004)). According to Walton and Durber, such efforts are part of a new emphasis that is fuelling developments across the whole spectrum of theological enquiry. They write: Sexuality and suffering are still rarely named within a Christian tradition that prefers to speak of the spirit rather than the body, light rather than darkness and a God who creates life but bears no responsibility for pain and dying. Women who have begun to preach from their bodies are not merely redressing an existing imbalance and enriching the storehouse of Christian metaphors and symbols but are also provoking new theological debates close to the very heart of the faith. (1994: 4) This emphasis on the body as a resource for preaching content rather than solely the necessary vehicle of delivery as it were, certainly takes Brooks focus on personhood further than he could possibly have imagined. That said, even here there is a certain congruence between what Brooks said and these very contemporary concerns. He did, after all, insist that the needs and preoccupations of no one sex or age should monopolize the life of the congregation, and that ministrations to it must be full at once of vigour and of tenderness, the fathers and the mothers touch at once (1904: 207). Brooks could not have possibly foreseen the Womens Movement and its repercussions for preaching, but his unease with a domineering and authoritarian style in the pulpit-mediated through his lasting influence-at least readied some preachers for a message that needed to be heard. The physical and personal qualities of the practitioner described neither in terms of communication theory nor embodied theology, but in ways even more reminiscent of Brooks own characterization of the preacher, have reasserted themselves through organization theory and the study of leadership. As the authority of the church, in terms of rules and obligations, has ebbed away, and the legitimacy of power based on tradition more and more questioned, it is perhaps the case that authority based on exemplary character has increased in relative importance. Certainly in the world of commerce and business the significance of the personal qualities of leaders and managers has been extensively theorized and debated. In the use of terms such as sapiential authority and referent power, organization theorists have pointed up the crucial importance of a personal knowledge and skill that readily communicates itself to others, and a personality-based ability to influence by attracting loyalty (Rees and Porter, 2001: 82). Other theorists, e.g. Charles Handy, talk in terms of the invisible but felt pull that is described as magnetism (1985: 135). Handy writes: Aspects of magnetism, the unseen drawing-power of one individual, are found all the time. Trust, respect, charm, infectious enthusiasm, these attributes all allow us to influence people without apparently imposing on them. The invisibility of magnetism is a major attraction as is its attachment to one individual. (1985: 136) Brooks himself used the very term magnetism and described it as: the quality that kindles at the sight of men, that feels a keen joy at the meeting of truth and the human mind, and recognizes how God made them for each other. It is the power by which a man loses himself and becomes but the sympathetic atmosphere between the truth on one side of him and the man on the other side of him. (1904: 42) Excluding the gender specificity, Handy might have written in very similar terms. (Comparable thoughts, although using other nomenclature, can also be found, for example in Schein, 1992: 229; Zohar and Marshall, 2000: 259; and Nelson, 1999: 76). The significance of the personal charisma of the preacher is, perhaps, in the process of rehabilitation via business practices that readily recognize the importance of personal as well as systemic qualities in the effective functioning of organizations. With the support of such an appreciation, a contemporary homiletician, such as Day, can assert, without risking suspicion and disapprobation, that the hope of the sermon lies in the authenticity of the preacher (1998: 147). As regards the maintenance of tradition as collective memory, the resurgence of individualized authority raises the question whether organizational structures within the churches are strong enough to prevent intentional or unintentional abuse of that corporate memory bearin g responsibility. 5.2.2 The preacher as learner and as pastor. Before leaving issues associated with personhood, two of Brooks themes regarding the preachers actions are worth considering since, again, they are things that continue to be widely discussed in the literature; namely, the preacher as learner and the preacher as pastor. After considering the dangers to the preachers personality of self-conceit, over-concern with failure, self-indulgence, and narrowness, Brooks brings his second lecture to a close with a vigorous plea for what would now be called lifelong learning. He writes: In [Christian ministry] he who is faithful must go on learning more and more for ever. His growth in learning is all bound up with his growth in character. Nowhere else do the moral and intellectual so sympathize, and lose or gain together. The minister must grow. His true growth is not necessarily a change of views. It is a change of view. It is not revolution. It is progress. It is a continual climbing which opens continually wider prospects. It repeats the experience of Christs disciples, of whom their Lord was always making larger men and then giving them larger truth of which their enlarged natures had become capable. (1904: 70) What Brooks discerned as an essential component of the preachers disposition has nowadays been widened to embrace all who claim to be faithful believers. Discipleship as lifelong learning is a concept in wide contemporary currency in the churches, and is discussed, for example, in documents such as the published strategies of the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church for training, detailed in the reports Formation for Ministry within a Learning Church (2003) and Shaping the Future: New patterns of training for lay and ordained (2006). The notion of Christian leaders needing to be exemplars in this ongoing commitment to learning and personal growth figures in much of the literature on congregations and pastoral ministry, such as Mead (1994), Baumohl (1984), Hawkins (1997), and Anderson (1997); albeit these and numerous other authors, make it plain that the goal of such action is the enhancement of learning in the whole church. In the preaching literatu re, allied perspectives are expressed in such concepts as local theology (Tisdale, 1997), conversational preaching (Rose, 1997), listening to or with sermon preparation (Van Harn, 2005), embodying the scriptures communally (Davis and Hays, 2003), and interactive preaching (Hunter, 2004). Through these and other mechanisms, Brooks call for continuous learning on the part of the preacher finds its contemporary expression in practices that aim to widen that learning to include the whole body of people who are party to the sermon and the preachers and their own wider ministry. As Anderson puts it, every act of ministry teaches something about God (1997: 8). That is a sentiment to which Brooks would have been sympathetic given his emphasis on the absolute core of preaching as the widest of concern for souls. Learning, in collective memory theory, is often associated with the changing of the meanings and understandings of memories, and the processes by which traditions are appropriated by individuals. As aspects of learning clearly related to relationships they echo contemporary concern in the church about whole body learning. In Brooks description of the preacher as pastor this analysis reaches very familiar territory, in that such a description probably remains the pre-eminent designation of the homiletician within the churches. Brooks thought on this matter was absolutely unequivocal: The preacher needs to be pastor, that he may preach to real men. The pastor must be preacher, that he may keep the dignity of his work alive. The preacher, who is not a pastor, grows remote. The pastor, who is not a preacher, grows petty. Never be content to let men truthfully say of you, He is a preacher, but no pastor; or, He is a pastor, but no preacher. Be both; for you cannot really be one unless you also are the other. (1904: 77) The conviction remains no less powerful more than a century after Brooks lectures: for example, Eric Devenport writing in 1986 could assert, without fear that his opinion would be controversial: Preaching and pastoral work go hand in hand. This is one of those truths that has to be proclaimed time after time, for unless it is heard, then most preaching will not only be dull but dead. (in Hunter, 2004: 145) Clearly, at different times and in different church structures, the nature of pastoral practice has been viewed in a variety of ways. Sometimes it has been mutual support in discipleship, and at other times psychotherapeutic intervention. In some circumstances it has been ad hoc care and conversation, and in others programmatic structures of community creation. Amongst these and many other activities, those who would preach have frequently seen such pastoral practice as a fundamental adjunct to the homiletic task. Although the influence of the problem centred preaching method of Henry Emerson Fosdick, mentioned above (section 2.5), has waned in recent decades, the notion that preaching must somehow relate to the felt life-concerns of those in the congregation is still the key to good practice for many preachers. Whether the emphasis is Tisdales (1997) preacher as the caretaker of local theology, Willimons (1979) or Longs (1989) straightforward emphasis on the role of pastor, Pasquare llos (2005) preaching as the development of communal wisdom, Buechners (1977) telling the truth in love, or Van Harns (2005) insistence on listening in preaching, the overarching perspective is that of pastoral care to individuals and groups. The tradition as collective memory must, in these circumstances, serve pastoral needs. Here the link to the presentist character of collective memory appears strong. 5.2.3 Preachings first purpose and the style appropriate to it. Returning to the issue of preaching as art. From Brooks paramount concern with personhood and themes that flow from it, this discussion now turns to two other aspects of his lectures that remain significant concerns in homiletic literature: style of language, and preachings first purpose. In his emphasis on preaching as witness, Brooks made a distinction that continues to figure prominently in homiletic texts to this day: namely, the difference between preaching about Christ and preaching Christ (1904: 20). Preachers, Brooks insisted, should announce Christianity as a message and proclaim Christ as a Saviour not-discuss Christianity as a problem (1904: 21). He asserted: Definers and defenders of the faith are always needed, but it is bad for a church when its ministers count it their true work to define and defend the faith rather than to preach the Gospel. Beware of the tendency to preach about Christianity, and try to preach Christ. (1904: 21) This distinction continues to be vigorously promoted, particularly amongst the New Homiletic advocates of an inductive sermon methodology. From the distinction there comes an emphasis in sermonic style on a demonstrably engaging, emotionally affective, and inclusivist presentation, rather than a detached, analytical or objective stance. Brooks would have undoubtedly concurred with David Bartletts worries about sermon style that appears to make sin more interesting than grace, and evil more lively than goodness (in Graves, 2004: 25). Bartlett suggests that sermons too often misdirect their hearers by putting active or abstract language and thoughts in the wrong places. He writes, For the most part we show evil and then tell about goodness. We show judgment and then talk about the doctrine of mercy (in Graves, 2004: 25). Yet again, Brooks lectures were extraordinary prescient of a concern that has become commonplace these many years later. Likewise, Brooks conviction that a sermon is essentially a tool and not an end in itself is also a perspective that continues to be vigorously debated (Brooks, 1904: 110). Unlike Browne (1958), Brooks was insistent that preaching is not an art form. He wrote: The definition and immediate purpose which a sermon has set before it makes it impossible to consider it as a work of art, and every attempt to consider it so works injury to the purpose for which the sermon was created. Many of the ineffective sermons that are made owe their failure to a blind and fruitless effort to produce something which shall be a work of art, conforming to some type or pattern which is not clearly understood but is supposed to be essential and eternal. (1904: 109) In many ways, Brownes advocacy of the sermon as art-form (1958: 76) was a reaction to those who had taken Brooks evident pragmatism and utilitarianism as regards technique and turned it into a bald instructionalism that claimed too much for itself and was simply tedious. That was not Brooks intention, however, as his aim was an absolute focus on the tumultuous eagerness of earnest purpose (1904: 110). His overriding concern was that sermons should engage and communicate in such a way as to affect and mark personalities at their most profound level. As such, his understanding of the nature of sermonic engagement serves the purposes of collective memory. His objection to preaching as an art-form was the tendency he saw for art to be an end in itself-over concerned with pure forms and the abstractions of principles (see, for example, pages 110 and 267 of the 1904 edition). These many years later, art operates, and is applied within immensely diverse environments wholly unknown when Brooks lectured: so his criticism is, perhaps, no longer apposite. On the other hand, how far and in what ways artistic expression relates to and uses tradition is a question rather more vexed now than in Brooks day. The one aspect of artistic endeavour Brooks was willing to concede was art in the sense of an awesome appreciation of the mysteriousness of life. This was something Brooks regarded as an essential component of the preachers outlook, and was the reason for his advocacy of the preacher as, at least in some measure, a poet (1904: 262). Preaching as art form brings to the forefront of homiletic awareness the sermons place in the imaginative construal of engaging gospel alternatives to commonplace understandings and outlooks. Collective memory theory suggests that affiliation to group identity is an essential element in the continuity of memory. What the emphasis on preaching as art form does is alert the preacher to the need to create in preaching that sense of engagement, creativity and exploration that aims beyond utilitarian instruction. Here, preaching is seen as genuinely performative. Like the repeated performances of a classic drama, a sermon hearer can become intensively engaged again and again with material that, although familiar, becomes in the engagement surprisingly new. Likewise the preacher as performer or artist, works with familiar texts in order to render then creatively new in a sermon. From both sides of the sermon event collective memory is supported via the performative interaction. The discussion of art related issues in contemporary homiletic literature largely supports this assessment. Morris, in his Raising the Dead: The Art of the preacher as Public Performer, makes performance the guiding principle of all homiletics and insists that preaching should delight and enrich in ways similar to other mediums (1996: 19). Gilmore, in his Preaching as Theatre (1996) shares the same concern with performance, and designates preaching as a dramatic event that happens. He writes: As long as preaching is seen as lecturing or teaching, then, in order for it to be effective, listeners have to go away and do something about it. If it is art, they dont. By the time it is over something has happened, or has failed to happen. This is what makes preaching as an art distinctive, more exciting and satisfying when it works, more depressing and worrying when it doesnt. (1996: 7) Other homileticians are a little more reserved and tend to use the idea of art or artistic endeavour as but one tool the preacher can employ. For example, in Allen (1998), the appreciation of works of art and artistic frames for sermons are advocated as ways to create spheres of perception i