Singing Along the Journey

beliefs

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More

And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
Read More

What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
Read More

Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
Read More

Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
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Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
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Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
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And why is it that I follow Jesus?

Yes, that is our question of the day.  Not an easy question, but one with a simple answer:  I follow Jesus because that is what I must do.   And if I tell the truth, there are days I would rather not. There are days when the price feels too high, in terms of energy and sacrifice. There are days when it feels really, really lonely to follow Jesus. There are days when it seems like a fairy tale, a myth, a totally implausible belief that God could be made flesh and walk upon this earth, experiencing anger and illness and pain and joy, just as we do.  There are many days when…
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What’s my style, anyway?

This week we read a variety of works on writing style.  It was interesting to go back and read Strunk and White's essay on style again, many years and many words after the first reading.  And it is an even more interesting task to answer the question of the week:  what's my style, anyway?  That wasn't specifically the question we are asked to answer, but it is my summary of the exercise. Actually, I realize after reading our assigned writings that the question of style almost never crosses my mind.  Because I have done so many different types of writing (almost everything except fiction and poetry), the primary concern for…
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Let’s talk about the Hebrew language…ancient, that is

It is Sunday evening, and I am sitting at my desk attempting to memorize the Qal Imperfect paradigm of the ancient Hebrew language.  There is a catchy little song attached to the learning process (which you now know if you just followed the link in the previous sentence) but I am going to take a break for a minute to talk to you about what it is like for me to finally have the opportunity to study Biblical Hebrew. First of all, many of you may not know that I have a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies -- from a very, very long time ago, on a planet…
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Writing Theology Well

That, my friends, is the question of the day...at least the question of the day in my writing class.  The true answer is:  I have never thought of myself as a writer of theology.  Until I began this class, if you had asked me the question "What kind of writer are you," I would have said that I was an observational one, a commentator on life as it swirled around me and on myself as I moved through life.  After all, wasn't "theology" a big word that applied to the work of scholars and deep thinkers?  Doesn't writing  theology mean creating exegetical essays on the meaning of one pivotal word…
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What I’ve learned so far…

August term is almost over...today most of my classmates are in a workshop about Intercultural something (another requirement of the Episcopal Church for those training to be priests) and I am devoting the day to memorizing the Qal Perfect verbal endings for a quiz on Monday.  Since seminary is, after all, supposed to be about the act of exploring one's own self and growing in one's faith through study, I thought I would take a moment this Friday morning to summarize what this Baptist has learned about Anglican worship from these last few weeks of living in an Episcopal world. Lesson No. 1:  I've really lived a very ecumenical life,…
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Preparing the way…part the second

After days of pitching out mementos and piles of paper, sending books to new homes, taking no longer needed clothing to a place where it was more in need and building furniture with confusing but ultimately accurate cartoon drawings to guide my assembly process...after all those days doing cleanup and reorganization the day finally came:  the first day of orientation. [caption id="attachment_2138" align="alignleft" width="300"] Okay, I look more than a little nervous.[/caption] And so I spent yesterday getting to know this new community into which I have been led.  I met people who had arrived on campus after 16 and 19 hour long flights -- their first airplane flight ever,…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the first

I am deep into my preparations.  I have been deep into my preparations for a while now...I made a lot of unusual (at least for me) choices about how to pass these months so that I would be free to devote myself to this time of preparation. I am, as always, working on my sense of intentionality.   I am aware of change ahead, even if I do not understand its shape or direction. And you ask, what are you doing to prepare?  What is taking all this focus, all this time...what caused you to stay home during this last month of summer?  Hours spent in prayer, reading?  Yoga, meditation, personal…
Read More

Let the adventure begin…

This is the very first post in a brand new writing adventure...a new writing adventure about a new living and learning adventure that begins for me on August 8, 2012. You see, I am finally going to seminary. It is an adventure that has been a long time coming.  A very long time.  Perhaps we would have to say that it is an adventure that began the first time I made my mother explain to me why I, an eight-year-old Presbyterian, could not take holy orders and become a nun.  The question and the call showed itself several times in my life, but I never had the strength or the…
Read More