The Sacred Practice of Truth Seeking
June 7, 2023
Dear friends of Hill House,
I’ve just returned from England with a group of students and recent graduates who participated in the inaugural Hill House Salisbury Seminar. It was a rich and rewarding time to be in such a beautiful, historic, and charming place with intellectually and spiritually stimulating people. Not everyone knew each other very well beforehand, and now it feels like we are all close friends.
Morning prayer and choral Evensong at Salisbury Cathedral, hikes in the countryside, and visiting Stonehenge were among the highlights, but the time spent in deep conversation about the challenges to Christian faith in the modern world was probably my favorite part of the experience. My own faith was so encouraged by the maturity, wisdom, and care exhibited by each person on the trip!
On the last day, I got to spend a few hours in the Sarum College Theological Library. While there I happened upon a book, The Other Calling: Theology, Intellectual Vocation and Truth by Andrew Shanks, who is an Anglican minister and the Canon Theologian at Manchester Cathedral. In this book, Shanks writes about the work of theology as “priestly thinking.” By this he means “the science of the sacralizing of Honesty,” where Honesty is a “patient openness to what other people have to say” in their search for God and truth. Shanks contrasts this Honesty with the distractedness of our world and the allure of what he terms “Glamour.” Glamour is something that largely depends on the operation of mass media and ecstatic crowds, while Honesty requires face-to-face encounter. Honesty in this sense, moreover, is not merely sincerity or even authenticity – perhaps the chief virtue of our culture today – but rather a genuine commitment to seeking transcendent and enduring Truth.
This, friends, is yet another way you might characterize the mission of Hill House. Within the context of a living Christian faith and its great biblical tradition, you are enabling us to foster a community gathered around the honest and sacred practice of truth-seeking – truth about God, one’s own calling, and the world. As we examined the relationship between Christianity and globalization this past week in Salisbury, we took a meaningful step toward the fulfillment of that mission. And Hill House could not have done this without your generosity and support!
A few things for you to celebrate with us and pray for from our group: Kevin Lee is a PhD student in archeology at UT, and he will be spending this whole next year abroad in Italy and Greece on two fellowships as part of a grant-funded research project. Kevin is a servant-leader, a fine teacher and scholar, and a staple member of the Hill House community. We got to send him off from London with a commissioning prayer as a group before he left for Naples. You can follow Kevin's journey here.
Robert Keathley and Sammy Aiello are both now UT graduates who joined us in Salisbury and are moving to Dallas this summer to start new jobs in investment banking and finance. Sammy led a Bible study at Hill House this past Spring on Wednesday nights with a group of young women from her church, and Robert and I met most Friday mornings this semester to talk about all kinds of big faith-related and theological questions. Robert and Sammy also just got baptized a few weeks ago!
Lastly, I’m pleased to introduce you to our 2023 Hill House summer intern, Clay Pruitt, who took part in the Salisbury Seminar as well. Clay is a rising senior at UT Austin in the Plan II Honors program, majoring in philosophy, and he is exploring a variety of vocational paths including seminary and law school. Clay is simultaneously a summer Fellow at All Saints Presbyterian Church in Austin, and we are blessed to have him working with us for a few months.
As a final reminder, it’s not too late for you to join the Hill House summer book discussion group if you’re still interested! Thank you for your prayerful investment in this good work. Blessings to you all, and may your summer provide a time for rest, reflection, and recentering in the Lord.
Yours in faith,
Bill
