Dr. John Patton in this chapter talked about Care of Marriage and Family, a pastor needs to have knowledge of a system of relationship as well as hearing and remembering an individual's story. This means that a pastor’s presence and guidance is (very important), it involves a different kind of listening and hearing (Patton 89). John Patton talks about the family and care of our generation. This means the caring for oneself as an individual person and caring for the significant relationship in one’s life (John Patton 90). John Patton also talks about communicating generation care, here the point is to bring into the open the couple's assumptions about what marriage is and should be. (It also) reminds them that their generations are a part of
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According to John Patton, “this can be seen in children when they begin to talk and name things in order to understand where they belong” (Patton 93). I see that this act of caring for the generations can apply to people who are single, divorced, in single parent or blended families to all sorts and conditions of human beings. This relates to Genesis 6: 19 where God instructs Noah to pick from all living creatures to preserve the next generation even though God could have created a new generation, God still preserved the old one. In fact, I feel that this is a sign of how important our generations are or mean to the people I minister to. According to me, care for our generations emphasizes humankind’s place and responsibility within the sequence of history. This is an expression of what it means to be God’s creatures. Reading and reflecting on this chapter has helped me to learn that to be human is to affirm one’s likeness in my ministry to families. I realized that as human beings one should take advantage of every opportunity of one’s life to care for each other first within the family and then due to the family closeness the generations will be taken care of. This relates to what John Patton says that “the closeness and intimacy in a marriage relationship grow out of the construction of a common world of meaning through conversation” (Patton 93). I then questioned myself; in what ways can I encourage an older person going through major changes to continue to be still caring, open and able to share with the young generations? In my ministry how can I see beyond the differences between the young and older people to value each person in the same way God
According to John Patton, “this can be seen in children when they begin to talk and name things in order to understand where they belong” (Patton 93). I see that this act of caring for the generations can apply to people who are single, divorced, in single parent or blended families to all sorts and conditions of human beings. This relates to Genesis 6: 19 where God instructs Noah to pick from all living creatures to preserve the next generation even though God could have created a new generation, God still preserved the old one. In fact, I feel that this is a sign of how important our generations are or mean to the people I minister to. According to me, care for our generations emphasizes humankind’s place and responsibility within the sequence of history. This is an expression of what it means to be God’s creatures. Reading and reflecting on this chapter has helped me to learn that to be human is to affirm one’s likeness in my ministry to families. I realized that as human beings one should take advantage of every opportunity of one’s life to care for each other first within the family and then due to the family closeness the generations will be taken care of. This relates to what John Patton says that “the closeness and intimacy in a marriage relationship grow out of the construction of a common world of meaning through conversation” (Patton 93). I then questioned myself; in what ways can I encourage an older person going through major changes to continue to be still caring, open and able to share with the young generations? In my ministry how can I see beyond the differences between the young and older people to value each person in the same way God