Today was our third day of classes and I am tired! We had Old Testament and Greek on Thursday, the Creeds on Friday and today was church history. Each class is three hours per week, with 6-8 hours of study anticipated for the 3 hours of class time. I haven't worked like this in 20 years. I did get a study carrell, which is little office cubical at the seminary. There are about 25 or so people that get a carrell. The criteria is based mostly on how many kids you have, the more kids, the more likely you will get the carrell. My carrell mate is an RA (residential assistant) so he effectively has 40 kids he's responsible for... I only have my three!
I wish that I could say that I have deep theological thoughts to share, but really I'm just tired and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, it is a light day with only 1.5 hours of Greek. Maybe I can share more fully after we have the rest of our classes this week (and after some sleep).
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Orientation
So much for the light schedule I described in my last blog post! The official length of orientation at the School of Theology, University of the South is two weeks, but it feels much longer. We spent all of last week learning about each professor, all our classes, campus histories, traditions and where to find a good cup of coffee (Stirling's Cafe, if they are open...)
This week we've spent every morning learning how to write. I mean this literally, no pun intended, because we've reviewed all the grammatical and stylistic errors and techniques that are common to high school term papers, collegiate papers and graduate level work. Jim Dunkly, our esteemed instructor, has reviewed topics, such as split infinitives, that I've not heard discussed since tenth grade, which for me was twenty-three years ago. I think that we have all done ok and I know that we have all benefited from the exercise.
We spend two hours each afternoon with a speech coach, Marcia Mary Cook, from the drama department and Dr. Bryan, who recently became semi-retired from the School of Theology. We are trying to learn proper liturgical speaking and this is not as easy as I thought it would be. During class time we each get a chance to stand at the lectern and take a shot at some scriptural reading. Some of my classmates are very good speakers and sound terrific. There are others, including me, who sound different every time we speak, moving too fast, pausing in the wrong places, neglecting emphasis where indicated (or not) in the text, etc. We all sound better now than we did at the beginning of the week, but most of us still have some work ahead.
Tonight is our last Friday cookout for the year. These summer barbeques have become a weekly event for our family and we have met most of our new friends this way. We will miss the cookouts! It seems like orientation started just yesterday, but it also seems like it has been months... I have a feeling that each new term will feel this way, but even more so. Every priest I've known has remembered their seminary experience as a significant time of formation and information, growing and learning their way into a new craft, while trying to remain available for the work of the Holy Spirit in themselves and others. Not all of the challenges of this place can be met head-on, because some of them come at you sideways and some of them simply refuse to be pinned down. I pray for all seminarians and the wonderful friends and families they left behind.
peace
Jon
This week we've spent every morning learning how to write. I mean this literally, no pun intended, because we've reviewed all the grammatical and stylistic errors and techniques that are common to high school term papers, collegiate papers and graduate level work. Jim Dunkly, our esteemed instructor, has reviewed topics, such as split infinitives, that I've not heard discussed since tenth grade, which for me was twenty-three years ago. I think that we have all done ok and I know that we have all benefited from the exercise.
We spend two hours each afternoon with a speech coach, Marcia Mary Cook, from the drama department and Dr. Bryan, who recently became semi-retired from the School of Theology. We are trying to learn proper liturgical speaking and this is not as easy as I thought it would be. During class time we each get a chance to stand at the lectern and take a shot at some scriptural reading. Some of my classmates are very good speakers and sound terrific. There are others, including me, who sound different every time we speak, moving too fast, pausing in the wrong places, neglecting emphasis where indicated (or not) in the text, etc. We all sound better now than we did at the beginning of the week, but most of us still have some work ahead.
Tonight is our last Friday cookout for the year. These summer barbeques have become a weekly event for our family and we have met most of our new friends this way. We will miss the cookouts! It seems like orientation started just yesterday, but it also seems like it has been months... I have a feeling that each new term will feel this way, but even more so. Every priest I've known has remembered their seminary experience as a significant time of formation and information, growing and learning their way into a new craft, while trying to remain available for the work of the Holy Spirit in themselves and others. Not all of the challenges of this place can be met head-on, because some of them come at you sideways and some of them simply refuse to be pinned down. I pray for all seminarians and the wonderful friends and families they left behind.
peace
Jon
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
2nd Day of Orientation
Well, today was our second day of orientation. It is absolutely wonderful to be meeting all the other seminarians from my class (Juniors) and many of the Middler and Senior students and faculty! Our schedule is agreeably light, with half days this week and full days next week, before classes begin in earnest on August 26th. They kept the afternoons open this week for the seminarians who have recently arrived, so that they can pay their utility deposits, get the cable and internet turned on, unpack, etc... This is indicative of the way they operate around here and we all appreciate it very much. One of the points of residential seminary education is the modeling of community and hospitality. Those of us from St. Andrew's, Jacksonville, have been the happy benefactors of this training in the form of Father Reed and Father Mark, both Sewanee grads. San Jose Episcopal, a very welcoming parish where I did my internship, is also led by a proud Sewanee grad, Father Steph Britt.
I also want to reflect on the work of the Holy Spirit in terms of Her recruitment policy for seminarians. I have been so impressed by the bright, energetic and diverse group of people with whom I'll be spending the next few years. They come mostly from southern dioceses, though many of them are not southern by birth and they represent most age groups and walks of life. The notable exception is that the ethnic diversity is pretty thin. I think this is more a reflection of Mainline Protestant struggles with reaching out to all of God’s children. It is certainly not a reflection of admission policy. However, it is cool that in addition to Greek and Hebrew, the seminary is also offering classes in Pastoral Spanish. They say turning the Church in new directions is like maneuvering a battleship, it takes a while, but eventually we'll get there.
Well, I gotta go pick up the kids from their first full day of school, more on that later...
Peace,
Jon
I also want to reflect on the work of the Holy Spirit in terms of Her recruitment policy for seminarians. I have been so impressed by the bright, energetic and diverse group of people with whom I'll be spending the next few years. They come mostly from southern dioceses, though many of them are not southern by birth and they represent most age groups and walks of life. The notable exception is that the ethnic diversity is pretty thin. I think this is more a reflection of Mainline Protestant struggles with reaching out to all of God’s children. It is certainly not a reflection of admission policy. However, it is cool that in addition to Greek and Hebrew, the seminary is also offering classes in Pastoral Spanish. They say turning the Church in new directions is like maneuvering a battleship, it takes a while, but eventually we'll get there.
Well, I gotta go pick up the kids from their first full day of school, more on that later...
Peace,
Jon
Friday, August 7, 2009
Friends
My first sponsoring priest, Father Reed, is in Sewanee this week! He is up here working on his PhD in theology. He has a lot of friends on staff at Sewanee, especially our very talented librarian, who have offered to help him plan his research and prepare for his thesis. It has been a real kick to see Reed; we've been out to lunch and had dinner together the past two nights.
Reed has been a part of my discernment process since late 2005, so it's especially gratifying to see him the week before seminary orientation. It has been a long road and Reed has been a steady guide and source of inspiration. Probably my two favorite things about him are his dry wit and his amazing humility. In spite of being a truly brilliant intellect, Reed has always found a way to connect to every person he meets. I can see Christ in him because he takes no pride in his many gifts; he sees them as God given and feels responsible for using them wisely and productively for the greater good. (From today's readings, John 7:18 – “the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.") Regarding the wit, well I guess you'd just have to know Reed to appreciate that...
Tomorrow night we're hosting our third dinner at our house. This is a new thing for us, as we rarely had people over in Jacksonville - we usually went out. In Sewanee you have neither the financial means to eat out much (we ate at Chili's in Murfreesboro today & it was gourmet! - btw, this is our closest Chili's, it's only 65 miles away!) and you have the added benefit of there being no where to go. Anyway, all seminarians and their spouses have sponsors from the classes ahead of you, so we've had both our sponsors’ families over. Tomorrow night, though, is only juniors, which means it's all first year seminarians. I'm excited about it, it seems so grown up to have my fellow graduate students invited over for a meal. Woo hoo... of course we're having Cuban sandwiches with rice and black beans, so it won't exactly feel like a night in Paris, but it will be fun.
Old friends and new friends, life is good!
Reed has been a part of my discernment process since late 2005, so it's especially gratifying to see him the week before seminary orientation. It has been a long road and Reed has been a steady guide and source of inspiration. Probably my two favorite things about him are his dry wit and his amazing humility. In spite of being a truly brilliant intellect, Reed has always found a way to connect to every person he meets. I can see Christ in him because he takes no pride in his many gifts; he sees them as God given and feels responsible for using them wisely and productively for the greater good. (From today's readings, John 7:18 – “the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.") Regarding the wit, well I guess you'd just have to know Reed to appreciate that...
Tomorrow night we're hosting our third dinner at our house. This is a new thing for us, as we rarely had people over in Jacksonville - we usually went out. In Sewanee you have neither the financial means to eat out much (we ate at Chili's in Murfreesboro today & it was gourmet! - btw, this is our closest Chili's, it's only 65 miles away!) and you have the added benefit of there being no where to go. Anyway, all seminarians and their spouses have sponsors from the classes ahead of you, so we've had both our sponsors’ families over. Tomorrow night, though, is only juniors, which means it's all first year seminarians. I'm excited about it, it seems so grown up to have my fellow graduate students invited over for a meal. Woo hoo... of course we're having Cuban sandwiches with rice and black beans, so it won't exactly feel like a night in Paris, but it will be fun.
Old friends and new friends, life is good!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Life Together
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (PS 133:1)
Well, I have had my booklist for two days and I finally bought my first book for seminary... Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. DB was a theologian of the early twentieth century whose amazing faith allowed him to write beautiful, loving works dedicated to the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth, even as he was persecuted and eventually martyred by the Nazis in 1945. The focus of Life Together is the privilege we share as Christians of living life together, in the company of other Christians. It's a really simple idea and a really simple truth, but he points out how often we overlook the fact that our communal faith is a gift, we should not take it for granted.
In the last nine months I have lived in three worshipping communities. First, there is my home parish of St. Andrew's, then I had six months at San Jose Episcopal during my internship, and now I am becoming a part of the Sewanee community (which is very unique, since we worship together as students during the week and then on Sundays we go off to other local parishes).
Having been exposed to these different communities, I have this to say: "don't take your church for granted!" I agree with Bonhoeffer, there are so many reasons to be grateful and gladdened by the experience of faith sharing with others. And, also in agreement with Bonhoeffer, I say this "it's all about Jesus". From one church to the next and one Christian to the next, the tie that binds is the Lord himself. We need each other because of Christ, we come to each other only through Christ and in Christ we are united for eternity.
One of the last people to see DB alive was a fellow prisoner, an Englishman, who later wrote:
"Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive... He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near..."
God is always near, may we have eyes to see him, especially in one another!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Bridal Veil Falls
My 9yr old Brennan just sent this note to his grandparents back in Jacksonville:
Dear Nana and D'Daddy
I just wanted to tell you all about my hike to Bridal Veil Falls with my dad and Aidan:
First we went to Morgan Steep , which is down the road from our house. Aidan led us to it.
Next we went on the hike there to the falls and there were lots of mushrooms on the side of the trail. Aidan enjoyed kicking them down, but dad only let him destroy two. The storm from last night had knocked down many trees over the trail and we had to jump over all of them.
After that, we reached the falls and they were enormous. The falls started about 40 feet over our heads and poured into a rocky pit that was big enough to fit your house. We were very amazed and a little scared by the falls, so we kept our distance from the edge. Aidan threw lots of rocks and sticks into the falls and so did my dad.
Finally, it started raining and we had to end our experience on the hike . Dad said that he would bike down it and I said that if came back without any briuses an cuts that I would pay him $10.
Sincerely ,
Brennan
Dear Nana and D'Daddy
I just wanted to tell you all about my hike to Bridal Veil Falls with my dad and Aidan:
First we went to Morgan Steep , which is down the road from our house. Aidan led us to it.
Next we went on the hike there to the falls and there were lots of mushrooms on the side of the trail. Aidan enjoyed kicking them down, but dad only let him destroy two. The storm from last night had knocked down many trees over the trail and we had to jump over all of them.
After that, we reached the falls and they were enormous. The falls started about 40 feet over our heads and poured into a rocky pit that was big enough to fit your house. We were very amazed and a little scared by the falls, so we kept our distance from the edge. Aidan threw lots of rocks and sticks into the falls and so did my dad.
Finally, it started raining and we had to end our experience on the hike . Dad said that he would bike down it and I said that if came back without any briuses an cuts that I would pay him $10.
Sincerely ,
Brennan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
