Prayer Letter: February 2020
Monday, February 3 - Friday, February 7:
On Saturday, February 1, Bob Sweetman gave a paper titled "Aemulatio as Pedagogical and Amatory Ethos in Abelard and Heloise's Letter Exchange" at the Medieval Women III Conference held at the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies (Toronto)--29 Jan.-1 Feb. It is a prototype study examining the application of the notion of aemulatio or competitive imitation to various sectors of social and cultural life as the beginnings of a broad study of the roots of our contemporary Western fixation on "competition" as an (for many indeed the) essential component of human social and cultural flourishing.
February is tax receipt month at ICS! Please pray particularly for Harley Dekker and Vidya Williams as they lead the process of preparing the receipts for our donors and students. This is quite a time-consuming task and needs to be finished within the next two weeks. We ask for God’s sustaining grace for all involved.
Please pray this week and next for ICS’s Art in Orvieto 2020 -- a three-week Residence Seminar and Workshop for writers, artists and graduate students interested in exploring the relationship between art, religion and theology, taking place in Orvieto, Italy from July 16 to August 6th. This year there will be both an artists’ and writers’ workshop. The discounted early-bird application deadline is February 13th, while the regular application deadline is March 31st.
Monday, February 10 - Friday, February 14:
Please pray this week and next for our Senior Members as they work to finish the grading of their students’ assignments from the Fall 19 courses by February 14. We ask God to bless them in this important work of mentoring and give them the space and energy to finish the task well.
We want to give thanks for the encouraging meetings and events which Ron Kuipers and Gideon Strauss had at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, and then at The King’s University in Edmonton. We give thanks to God for his watchcare as they travelled, for strength and creativity for Gideon as he delivered his keynote addresses at the IS Conference at King’s, and for the wonderful opportunities for engagement with our alumni and supporters..
Monday, February 17 - Friday, February 21:
Please join us in giving thanks for the tremendous response to our Advent appeal! We were so blessed by the generous donations and the encouraging notes that accompanied them. A huge thank you to our supporting communities for their gifts of inspiration and hope.
Reading Week commences on Monday of this week. This is a welcome opportunity for Junior and Senior Members alike to bury their heads in their books, or digital equivalents, and to concentrate on their current research. May they find joy and creativity in their studies.
February is the month in which faculty evaluate applications of prospective students and make decisions about who will be accepted to study at ICS. We pray for wisdom for the faculty in their deliberations, and for Elizabet, our Registrar, as she processes the applications and prepares the students’ admission files.
Monday, February 24 - Friday, February 28:
The fourth annual ICS Undergraduate Workshop has a call for papers out to undergraduate students looking for a chance to present their work. This year’s workshop is entitled “Evil, Resistance, and Judgment: Creating a World Fit for Human Habitation,” and will take place here in Toronto May 28-30th. We pray that interested students will find their way to this workshop prior to the proposal deadline of March 16th, and that the workshop will provide a supportive environment for them to explore their research ideas.
ICS’s Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics (CPRSE) continues to collaborate with academic and community partners in seeking opportunities to conduct research and curate knowledge mobilization events for the wider public. We pray that CPRSE will find fruitful and inspiring partnerships, maintaining ICS’s links to the community it serves and contributing to the dialogue needed in our world today.
