Julie’s News from Maryland

Today was the second day of classes for this semeter. With the exception of my elective course that doesn’t meet until Thursday night, I have now been to each class once. Here is how it is shaping up for this semeter:

• Old Testament 2, The Latter Prophets, Writings and Apocrypha - This class looks fairly manageable. The only required reading is the biblical text (yippee) and we will have two tests and one 10-12 page paper due at the end of the semester. The paper can be on any topic we’ve covered in class and is meant to include research, but also be equally a reflective paper.
• New Testament 2, The First Century Churches and Their Writings - This class has a ton of reading, two tests, plus an exegesis due at the end of the semester. I’m feeling encouraged about the exegesis as the professor mentioned that he has specific instructions for us about how to do an exegesis. I suspect that will make this an easier assignment than the exegesis in the last NT class when we were given virtually no instructions about what the assignment required.
• Systematic Theology 01, Philosophical Foundations for Theology - I would normally be apprehensive about a philosophy class, but I have high hopes for this course. It is taught by an adjunct professor that is still working on his dissertation. He is pretty down-to-earth and seems to value discussion. We will write several one-page reflective papers and then a final essay that is to be 7-10 pages. He is also looking for something that is more reflective and less research oriented. Best of all, there are no tests in this class. The reading is massive (it is a philosophy class), but it still feels manageable.
• Church History 1, Patristics (the study of the church fathers, there were no mothers, sigh) - This class is going to be the most demanding. The reading is out of control, including two books and extensive notes created by one of the other professors that was given to us on a CD. We each have to give a 5 minute sermon on a saint focusing on one of their accomplishments and relating that to a current issue. We’ll also write 3 3-page reflective papers and have two major exams. The most troubling issue with this class is that the adjunct professor that is teaching (who is younger than me, by the way) is from Russia and has a very thick accent. One must be paying meticulous attention or it is impossible to understand him. The upside is that he is very nice and encourages discussion, so that should make the class more tolerable. All of us are feeling very overwhelmed by this particular class.

The elective that meets on Thursday nights is Stewardship, Philanthropy, and Fundraising in the Church. I’m hopeful that it will be interesting and useful, but not too demanding.

So far, I’ve bought a few books and started some reading. Last semester, I bought all the required books before classes started. At the end of the semester, I realized that I had not even taken some of the books off the shelf. I’ve decided this semester to buy books as I go - only purschasing the ones that the professor actually uses in class discussions. I feel like I have a good sense from the classes and the syllabi what we will be using in the next few weeks, so I’ve purchased those books. I’ve never been much of a reader when it comes to academics, so we’ll see how long I stick with reading the required material.

Today was my first day of classes for the Spring semester.  I have mixed emotions about school starting again.  On one hand, it is great to see everyone again.  Many of my classmates were gone for the break, so I’m looking forward to reconnecting with them and spending more time getting to know them.  On the other hand, I’ve loved the freedom of working from home (I did a little contract job over the break).

I didn’t really realize before how different academic life is from work life.  In my job, my time was mostly my own.  While I had tasks and deliverables, I often got to prioritize them and schedule when and how I would get them done.  I had meetings, but never was more than a few hours of my week assigned to meeting with other people.  And, I had choices about how I attended the meetings: I could be there in person, I could dial in my from office, or I could dial in from another remote location.

School is the opposite of that.  Every day I have classes that meet at an imposed time and place.  If I am not there in person in that place, then I miss the event.  Homework assignments are scheduled by someone else and the due date is fixed by someone else.  While I have a bit of wiggle room in determining what to put my energy in to doing, mostly I do what needs to get done first. 

I used to be the kind of person that liked to have structure and order imposed upon me.  I find it interesting that I have moved to a place in my life where I would much rather have the freedom to create my own order and structure - or even, dare I say it, allow my life to have a little chaos in it now and again.

In any event, classes have started for the term.  The adventure begins!

For those of you that are score keepers (like me) I figured you’d want to know what my grades were.  When the report card came back it went like this:

Old Testament   A
New Testament   B+
Church Music   B+
Tutorial Seminar  Cr  (that was only offered as a credit/no credit class)

As I’ve discussed before, grades in seminary seem pretty arbitrary, but they do give them so I thought I should report them.

I seriously dislike New York pizza.  Now, I know that this will get under the skin of those native New Yorkers (David Mintz, I’m thinking of you here), but, sorry.  I’m a native Californian and this New York pizza this is just so foreign to me.  It is limp and soggy and the crust is too thin.  I just can’t take it.

We almost found one that worked tonight.  The crust was a bit thicker and it wasn’t too greasy.  It could have been cooked a little more - the crust seemed like it might have been a little raw and it would have been better had it been crunchier.

Still in search of that more-California-like-pizza here in New York. sigh.

Traveling home from Colorado yesterday afternoon, shortly after the plane tookoff, the captain announced that the plane was having some instrument trouble. He explained that the plane was working properly, but that the instruments were not giving correct information. He said that he was uncomfortable landing the plane in the icy conditions of New York, so we would land in Chicago instead and then they would figure out what they were going to do with us from there.

It is rarely a problem for me to arrive late on a flight as usually Rick is home with the children. But, as it happened yesterday, Rick was leaving for California at just about the time I was supposed to land in New York. A couple of families were babysitting the kids, so I called to let them know that I would be home late and we made arrangments for the children to spend the night in their respective places.

United was wonderful and transferred us to a new plane within an hour of landing. It took a while to get off the ground, but we were on our way to landing in New York by 8:30 or so, only a couple of hours later than I had originally planned. The ride was quite bumpy as the weather was stormy.

The woman sharing the row with me, Ariel, was quite nice. We chatted at various times during the flights and discovered that we don’t live far from each other. As we were talking, I mentioned that I wasn’t looking forward to getting myself and my suitcase home in the rain. She asked how I was getting home and I told her that I was taking the bus and then the subway. She wrinkled up her face and said, “Oh, I never take the subway. I have a car service coming to pick me up and since we live so close, you should ride with me.” Oh! It was such a blessing not to have to haul my suitcase onto the Q33 bus, then down all the stairs to the subway, then up all the stairs to the street, then the 4 blocks home. I was particularly grateful when I got outside and learned that it was hailing. We had a great ride back to the city and continued to chat and enjoy each other’s company. She wouldn’t even let me help to pay for the car service.

Jesus walking amongst us in the strangers we encounter all around us.

My friend, Cristopher, was ordained to the priesthood this week in San Antonio.  It seems like just yesterday (really it was 6 years ago) that he started teaching us the 2-yr Bethel Teacher Training Series class.  We could hardly believe that we had signed up for a 2-yr class.  Now, he’s ordained.

I must say, Cristopher’s ordination is one of the few things that give me hope for the Episcopal Church.  While I am frequently disillusioned by my seminary experience, I take comfort in remembering that there really are great priests out there that are breathing new life into this old, crusty place.  Cristopher has some serious new life comin’ out of him!  You can read his blog at Ink Smudges.

You just never know what God is going to do next.  As Kevin said in his sermon a couple of weeks ago, when the Angel Gabriel comes knockin’, don’t open the door!

I just read in a news article that Pat Robertson suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. (Read the article on CNN)  Can you believe that?!  What is with this guy?!  Argh!  It just makes me want to beat my head against the wall.

What happened to the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ?  The story about the God that created a beautiful world with the intention that it would be a place where we would all live together in harmony.  Why is it that so many people that call themselves Christians would rather waste their time finding and drawing lines that divide us, instead of working on ways for us to be in relationship with one another?  Why is it that these so called “Christians” would rather spend time judging the actions of others, rather than finding ways to embrace the differences that make us each part of the image of God?

Sometimes it makes me so hopeless.  These guys make Christians look like self-righteous bigots.  If that is our image, no wonder no one wants to go to church.  I wouldn’t want to spend any time in a place full of self-righteous bigots.  How on earth are we going to combat this evil that is coopting the Christian image?  So much work to do.

2006. I can’t hardly believe that it is 2006 already. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were celebrating Sam and Linda’s wedding and bringing in 2005? So many changes for us this year - practically a whole new life. As we wandered around a bit last night before midnight, I felt a bit like I was in a dream. Sometimes it is still hard for me to get my head around the fact that I live in New York City, often it just feels like a dream.

We celebrated last night with Justin and Steph, Jay and Daniel, and Daniel’s cousins. We had a great time together and I was grateful for their presence both last night, and in my life in general.

Happy New Year!