Scaerisch Tischreden

Rev. Jody Rinas has done it again, as he has for nine years now: provided a calendar (this for 2022) with snappy quotes from our revered teacher the Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer. Every week you get a quotation, or two, or sometimes three, direct quotes from some classroom setting. For those of us who have had the privilege of having been his students, it carries us right back, because these quotes—transcripts, actually—are direct quotations from recordings, copied down without any editing at all. Every word he may have doubled, everything half-said, every little stutter, every unfinished sentence (the classic Scaer sentence) it’s all there, and as you read it, you remember. Suddenly you’re sitting there again, as Scaer rattles off his thoughts in a classroom setting. He makes theology a thrill, and Rinas, knowing this, puts the thrill of it all down on the page. It’s Table Talks, a la Luther, but in this case, having the 20th-century capability of the cassette recorder, all of it, every word. And so Rinas, “Keeper of the Scaerchive,” admonishes the reader, “stoke your sacrament of ordination and fan the flames of fervent desire to stamp out Lutheranism wherever you find it infecting you like lead in the body.” Highly recommended. I can’t even tell you how much it costs, probably about $20.00 or so plus s&h from Canada, but if you want one, just email Rinas with a request, and he’ll let you know.