Pastor 'Padre' Blake
They say -- and “they” say a lot – that a biography should be a list of golden credentials and awesome achievements, as well as a listing of degrees one holds from various and sundry institutes of higher education. I, however, do not flow well with such conventional wisdom.
Ah yes, I do possess fancy cer
tificates with pretty lettering testifying on my behalf that I served my time in institutes of learning. I graduated in year 1990 from County Line High School, where the teachers voted me most likely to cause an international incident. In case you have never heard of County Line, it is in a cow pasture just west of Paris (Arkansas that is). From there I journeyed on to Arkansas Tech University to pursue an undergraduate degree in History and Philosophy, which should have been a double major in those two areas but, alas, the University did not recognize my work as such. Upon graduation God lit a fire beneath my seat, but it was only until the fire burned my “a**” that I answered the call to ministry and enrolled in Seminary at Southern Methodist University to work my way towards a Master of Divinity Degree. It was there that I learned such fancy words as “Eschatology” and “Hermeneutics; “ dead, dusty languages like “Aramaic” and “Ancient Greek,” and also discovering at the end of those studies that I was now full of obscure, trivial facts…did you know that the fun-loving little snack called the pretzel was invented by Medieval monks as a snack for the season of Lent? The pretzel’s shape reflects the ancient style of praying with one’s arms folded across the chest.
Anyway, I do not know how accurate and assessment of one’s life can be gained from little slips of paper and a database of arcane knowledge. I believe that one’s true education comes at the hands of those who helped to shape one’s life.
My grandmother taught me the importance of church, walking me there every Sunday as a child.
My teachers through the years helped to shape my wisdom and understanding of life. In high school they were a trinity of influences – Diane Adams (History), Christie Mahl (English/Literature), and Nora Palarino (School Secretary) teaching me faith and values.
During College, I learned meaning of life stuff and the importance of a good pint to wash it all down with from Dr. Charles Busch, master of the philosophic universe. David Krueger taught me to understand the past, and how to use it to guide one’s future. Dr. Michael Link showed me how to take a stand for the truth by embracing controversy and irritating authority figures.
During seminary, Dr. William Powers took up my spiritual formation teaching me the wisdom of the bible, “Trust God with all things and everything will be well.” Zan Holmes demonstrated to me that preaching is about “Comforting the afflicted, and afflicting the comfortable.”
Family also shapes one’s life, and I am blessed to have such a wonderfully crazy and eccentric family tree (My aunt became the first woman judge in Oklahoma, Judge Fred “Fishback” Andrews. And, no, I am not making that up). They each in their own way taught me honesty and hard work, faith and values, creativity and joy, as well as a whole host of other virtues.
Friends? Well, momma always said a person might be judged by the friends they keep, and mine are, well, the usual suspects that make for great sermon fodder. You will find out all about them, I am sure, throughout the many sermon illustrations you will hear.
Of course, it is my beautiful and graceful wife Jan who helps smooth out the rough edges of my life, and makes my light shine just a little brighter.
It is through them all that I am who I am today. It is through them, each in their own way that God has worked to bring fulfillment to my life – a gift that is precious and priceless. It is this gift of fulfillment that I, in turn, want to give others.
Forget the fancy biographies and slick presentations, simply understand that I am passionate about helping others find that true, lasting fulfillment that only God can promise and deliver.
