Bryn Athyn College Alumni Magazine Fall/Winter 2017-18 | Page 20

believe they form a divine curricu-
lum.” Ray added, “When we first
came to the New Church, I didn’t
know all the commandments. Now
they’re like the ten fingers on my
own hands. I could never forget
them.”
Growing the Program—
and a Family
“I continue to marvel as each class makes
a remarkable transition from a group of
unfamiliar students to a close-knit learning
community of trusted friends supporting
each other on their spiritual journeys.”
been inspiring and challenging on
many levels. There has been a lot
of talk about God and how he’s
a part of our life. I still can’t say
it’s ‘God,’ but I can say I appreci-
ate the Divine more than I’ve ever
been able to.”
Ray himself has felt blessed
to teach this course. He said, “It’s
difficult to put into words how
grateful I feel for the opportunity
to work with these students. I con-
tinue to marvel as each class makes
a remarkable transition from a
group of unfamiliar students to a
close-knit learning community of
trusted friends supporting each
other on their spiritual journeys.
When friendships have this kind
of foundation, they tend to last far
beyond the classroom.”
Since its inception in 2001,
over 400 students have taken the
class, leaving Ray with over 12,000
reflective student essays and jour-
nal entries. These essays, now
carefully coded and arranged on
his shelves for future research, are
full of stories and self-reflection
from the minds of young people
navigating a pivotal time in their
lives, and learning to live more
consciously.
20 | F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 - 1 8
How the Course Came About
In the summer of 1979, soon after
discovering the New Church, Ray
came across a small book writ-
ten for children called The Child’s
True Christian Religion by Thomas
Hitchcock. While reading through
the section on the Ten Command-
ments, Ray learned that “to mur-
der is to injure someone’s spirit.”
Ray was astounded. “Here I was
with a Ph.D. from a great univer-
sity, and I had never learned that
distinction about murder. What a
void there was in my education.”
He added, “I don’t have words to
describe what a vacuum it is for
people not to learn these things.”
This discovery launched Ray
on a long journey of studying vari-
ous major religions in the context
of the Ten Commandments—a
study that would one day turn
into a teachable program, and
even a book.
Ray explained, “We’re sur-
rounded by books everywhere and
great insights, and a lot of it goes
in one ear and out the other. But
the Ten Commandments are like
a divine filing cabinet—everything
that comes up in life can be traced
back to one of them. We really
34
z
In 1980, Ray and and his wife Star,
along with their two young daugh-
ters Serena and Sasha, moved to
Bryn Athyn so Ray could study these
teachings in depth in the College’s
Theological School. After Ray’s or-
dination in 1984, the family moved
to the Pittsburgh New Church,
where Ray and Star began teaching
a Ten Commandments class to their
congregation. The class proved suc-
cessful, bringing the fastest surge
of newcomers that the church had
experienced in years.
Looking to continue sharing
what they were learning, Ray and
Star began teaching the Ten Com-
mandments in churches, homes,
prisons, and even in remote African
villages. Through this process, they
collected hundreds of “journal en-
tries”—participants’ anecdotes and
reflections on keeping the com-
mandments. Ray and Star used
these stories to supplement their
curriculum, which was now taking
shape as a book: Rise Above It: Spiri-
tual Development through the Ten Com-
mandments.
A Timely Prize
In 2000, while teaching a Rise Above
It course at the Lord’s New Church
in Bryn Athyn, Phyllis Pitcairn (BS
’53) attended. She told Ray and Star
some exciting news: Her husband,
the late Garth Pitcairn had an-
nounced a $10,000 prize for anyone
who could write a self-help book
based on New Church principles.