Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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The Rev. Rick Morley
About Me
- Fr. Rick Morley
- After growing up on the island of Ocean City, New Jersey, and while attending St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, I heard God calling me to ordained priesthood. I wrestled with this call as I spent a year in England, and then two years in the wilds of western Maryland. That call never let me go - and so with my new bride, we moved to Atlanta where I began my seminary studies at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. After graduation I was ordained in the Diocese of Maryland and became the Vicar of St. Peter's in Lonaconing, and the Area Missioner for Western Maryland in 2002. In 2004, after the birth of my first child, Zoe, I also became the Priest-in-Charge of St. John's in Frostburg. Seven years later, since beginning my time in western Maryland, I still feel God calling me to ministry. Today my wife Karen, and my two little girls, Zoe and Mattie live a crazy fun-filled life in Basking Ridge, New Jersey where I am the rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church.
I’ve always hated the story of Abraham and Isaac - the story of a well-meaning but delusional man saying “yes” to God to slay his own son. Every time I’ve heard this story in church, it’s been with the focus on Abraham – on his willingness to trust and follow God, and the ultimate happy ending- usually drawn in parallel with Good Friday and Easter. But what about Isaac? How might he have felt trussed up and placed on the sacrificial pile by his own father. What about the searing moment when he looked in the eyes of a man he absolutely trusted, and realized, with horror, that he was about to die by that man’s hand. What about his story? What happened when they came down from the mountain? And what did that moment of betrayal do to Isaac and his relationship with his father?
ReplyDeleteBible stories can be understood on a variety of levels. Maybe this story can also tell us something about the nature of sacrifice and God’s valuing of the vulnerable. Everyone has weak/childlike/vulnerable parts within themselves that we all try to sacrifice. Maybe this story isn’t so much about Abraham and his obedience to God, but about Isaac and how God valued him.