Singing Along the Journey

Author: @susansevier

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…

It is the rare moment for me when I am uncertain about sharing my thoughts (those who know me well know that I live to have an opinion about things).  But I have struggled over these last twenty-four hours about whether or not to write what follows.  At first, I started to add it only to my private journal.  And then I decided to write it where at least a few stout souls might see it.  I do not intend what follows as a political commentary; for me, it is a simple answer to a question of faith that I was asked yesterday.  I only write these words because over…
Read More

Number Your Days

Holy Week, again.  This year, it seems quieter, more internal and maybe that has to do with the way we have approached it this year.  Our sermon series "Number Your Days" and our Wednesday Night Words series on Death and Dying have been thought-provoking and have encouraged personal searching and evaluation.  It is, after all, the season to ponder just what all of this resurrection and atonement stuff means in our own lives. That said, all is not quiet and solitude.  As we begin our walk alongside Jesus through betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection, those of us in the Music Department at Calvary, along with our friends on the Mission Board,…
Read More

Holy, holy, holy…

One of the great joys of this time of formation and learning known as "going to seminary" is the opportunity to pull together pieces of learning and devotion that I thought were long ago lost and abandoned.  Right now, I am especially enjoying a class called "Introduction to Judaism," for just that reason.  A very wise friend asked me if I thought that I might be bored in this class, given that my Masters in history focused on the Middle East and Judaica.  But this class has not only given me the opportunity to remember much of what I learned, but the chance to experience as a living, breathing faith…
Read More

It’s time we had that talk…

You know, Music, the talk.  It isn't really that I'm breaking up with you, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed the change.  You've been very patient, but I know you must have noticed.   Yes, yes, I miss those long hours we used to spend together, too.  But I'm sure that it is better this way...this way, when we spend time together, it will be for a greater purpose or maybe just to be together.  I know it is better this way. It's not you...it's me.  I'm the one who has changed.  Really.  And I hope that we can still be friends, because, well, I owe you everything.…
Read More

What I’m learning in seminary…and the story continues…

It is once again that time when my colleagues at Virginia Theological Seminary are writing their Ember letters to their supporters and most of all to their supporting Bishops in their home dioceses.  And once again, I thought that I would join in the fun with my very own Baptist version of the ritual...a blog post. The topic "What I'm Learning in Seminary" is simultaneously a broad one and a limited one, because the truth is that my learning in my seminary classes only succeeds when that act of learning and the information I take in works to transform my life, my relationship with my God, and my ability to…
Read More

Shalom…the greatest love of all

Let me begin by saying this:  one of the first rules of responsible blogging is that you never, ever write about other people and their private lives without their permission.  I don't know if the things that I am about to say are what my dear friends had in mind last night when they encouraged me to write about our joint experience.  But what I am about to write is what truly remains with me from the hours we spent together. Sadly, last night, I visited with a dear friend who was saying that most difficult goodbye to someone that she loved.  It was the end of a long period…
Read More

I was never that good at math…

I was never that good at math, at least not since my high school algebra teacher, Mr. Hoskins, accused me of having my father do my homework for me while I was out sick (he just couldn't believe that a GIRL would come back from a week away with all her equations completed -- and why did he think my mother called every day to get the homework assignment...and clearly, he never ever met my father if he thought that HE had done the homework...and clearly I still have unresolved issues about this episode).    And so imagine my surprise when I realized that my life and even my journey of faith…
Read More

Call does not equal bliss…

I've been struggling with some tasks and responsibilities in my life lately, things that I have committed to do and things for which I have a great deal of talent, but things that, well, are really part of a life I walked away from many years ago.  I'm getting them done, but I am not very happy about it.  And I keep asking myself, and some others suggest to me that perhaps this discomfort springs from the fact that while I'm skilled at these tasks, perhaps I am not called to do them.  Perhaps I am in fact giving in to my over-functioning self by taking them on, perhaps my participation is…
Read More

Something I noticed…

Last night we had our first meeting of a class I have been anticipating for months -- The Teaching Church.  It is, for me, the beginning of my real education.   It was the work that I have begun to do as a teacher and the awareness of my call to teaching that has been slowly developing in me for the past couple of years that brought me to the doors of this seminary, and it was the one chance meeting with the particular educator who teaches this class that made VTS my school of choice over Andover Newton. And last night did not disappoint -- there is nothing more invigorating than…
Read More

A first semester report card…

Not that kind of report card.    Well, a little bit that-kind-of-report-card. I've had the chance to learn a lot about what it means to be part of a liturgically-based denomination in my first months at seminary and I must admit that I'm intrigued by some of the traditions,how they developed over the years and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century.  One of these practices refers to something called  Ember days.  Mostly, I hear people talking about Ember days because those are the days that, by tradition, the students are expected to communicate in some way (the format often depends on the technology-savvy nature of their individual bishops)…
Read More