about the Oyster Man

I've never tried to catch oysters – indeed, I haven't even seen anyone catch oysters. But I hear that it's hard work.

Sometimes the tide brings the oysters in, or sometimes it goes out, exposing their beds. But more often than not, rounding up oysters means troweling the ocean bottom, bringing them up one by one from the depths. And there is the challenge of prying them open! As a final burden to the labor, there is no guarantee that all, or even any of the harvested oysters will contain a pearl. They may be suitable only for throwing together in stew or seafood medley.

I've never tried to catch oysters, but -- metaphorically at least -- I find my intellectual labors are a little like oyster fishing. Producing something that is worthwhile and well-received both takes a lot of work and a lot of luck. More often then not, I don't have the luck, or don't have the energy to do all of the work.

Nevertheless, I do enjoy swimming through a vast variety of literature. Occasionally pick up a curiosity from the bottom of this ocean – although usually I just twirl it in my hands, give it a tug, and let it sink back down to the ocean bottom. Yet I am coming to realize that with only a little extra effort, I can throw what I have found onto the beach, perhaps to come back and consider it later, or perhaps to pass on what I have discovered to scavengers and treasure hunters.


This blog is my beach. It is where I throw some of the things I have been thinking and reading about, with a brief annotation. There is certainly a lot of junk, and the smell of old ideas gone bad and forgotten. But perhaps some good oysters for a stew down the road. And some of them may even contain little pearls.

The Oyster Man one other key inspiration: the famous story from the legends of early Methodism. Let me recount it briefly for those of you who have not heard it before.

The early Methodist meetings were often led by lay preachers with very limited education. On one occasion, a preacher took as his text Luke 19:21, "Lord, I feared thee, because thou art an austere man."

Not knowing the word "austere," he thought that the text spoke of "an oyster man."

He spoke about the work of those who retrieve oysters from the sea-bed: “The diver plunges down from the surface into bone-chilling water, cut off from his natural environment. He gropes in the dark, cutting his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. Once he has the oyster, he kicks back up to the surface, up to the warmth and light and air, clutching in his torn and bleeding hands the object of his search.

“This is how Christ descended from the glory of heaven," he told his rapt audience, "Into the squalor of earth, into sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest.”

Twelve men were converted that evening.

Afterwards, someone complained to Wesley about the inappropriateness of allowing preachers who were too ignorant to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. Wesley, simply said, "Never mind, the Lord got a dozen oysters tonight."

Adapted from James Kiefer -- http://satucket.com/lectionary/Wesley.htm

Like the ignorant preacher, I can't claim that I have the skills to do well what I am setting out to do. I don't necessarily have the skills or the education to master the New Media. I don't have a slick website with a custom domain, a smashing ministry I can brag about, or even a lot of credentialing in my writing and research.

But I do have heart, mind, and passion for my faith, and I am seeking always to wrap new words around it, and test it in new and difficult and dangerous circumstances. And I am faithful to the process that I am called to, perhaps the Holy Spirit may find use for the mangled words I write along the way.

If you are interested in the snippets you see here, I invite you to visit my website: http://nathanielandsarah.wikidot.com. This blog is about my thinking, my reading, my learning, my conversation: my intellectual process. My website is about how I live. It is how I take these ideas out of my head and put them into action: how I take these words off of the internet and bring them into the world.

I am looking forward to the new conversations -- and new kinds of conversations -- that this forum will allow me to have. And above all, I am grateful for the orienting icon of the Oyster Man, and I pray that my small and hesitant efforts may be woven as a string in the grand tapestry of His mission.