Bread for the Journey sermon

This week Seabury hosted the annual Bread for the Journey. It's a themed conference that coincides with alumni/ae week. This year's theme, "Go or Grow," talked about growing churches. The keynote speaker was William Tully from New York who, as far as I can tell, is one of the heavy-hitters in church growth circles.

Last week the Dean and Vice President called me over to ask me if I would preach at the community Eucharist today. They said I was a really good preacher, and other flattering things, and I agreed. Gotta tell you, the material in the service was very difficult to work with. That, along with Tully, impressive alumni/ae, and other heavy-hitters planning to be in attendance (someone told me former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold was going to be there), brought the stress level way up for me. It didn't help that every day someone was asking me how the sermon was coming, as though I had it all mapped out in my mind. No pressure. It wasn't until a couple days ago that 1 Timothy 2:1-7, and Luke 11:1-4 finally opened up for me.

I preached well today. I got reactions when I had planned, and even some encouraging reactions when I didn't expect them. I got props from the Dean twice: once personally at the Peace, and then at the Announcements in front of everybody. After the service someone gave me a business card, and asked about my preaching at his church sometime. Wow. When I went back to the pulpit after the service to retrieve my manuscript, it was gone. Guess it must have been better than I thought.

aahhh...chiropractic

The cure for what ails me. Between the new Aikido classes and football practice last Saturday I'm pretty sore. Fortunately Dr. Tony is there to get things straightened out. Dunno what I did before K introduced me to chiropractic care. It's the bees knees - or is that spine? He's got this rolley table. I don't know what it's really called, but there are these rollers under the surface and they start at your tail bone and roll their way up to your head, then back down again. I got to get me one of those. It's like a carnival ride for your back. I highly recommend everyone to consider finding a good chiropractor.

ow...aikido

I am so out of shape.

aahhh...aikido

I never realized just how much I need structure until I had a lot less of it. This semester I've only got one class that meets on Mondays. I have a lot I can say about that class, but my Mum said if I don't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all. (Maybe I'll tell you later.) The rest of my time is mostly spent working on an independent study. Later I'll have two weekends at an intensive - but that hasn't met yet, so I don't know what I should be doing to prep for it. So the new school year has started out excruciatingly slow for me. It pains me to see the other students in classes, taking notes, learning interesting stuff, while I walk by outside trying to find something to do to fill my endless days. Between missing my friends, and being unsatisfied with this class I've got to take, I've been very sad.

When K and I first arrived in Ev'tn, I started going to a dojo just up the street from our apartment. They offered a variety of classes, but the one that fit into my schedule was an Aikido class taught two or three times a week. I went for about three months before the seminary workload became just too much to accommodate anything else, so I had to drop it. I really enjoyed it, though. I promised myself that I'd eventually get back to it. K said now was the time.

I have several advanced belt rankings in various martial arts. It's my workout of choice. I don't do gyms. I've wasted too much money on monthly membership fees. I don't go because it's too anonymous for me. (By the way, I never did get the Bow Flex body I hoped for this summer.) I thrive on the relationships between students and teachers that happen in the dojo. If I go to the gym or I don't, nobody knows and nobody cares. If I miss a class at the dojo, they ask about me. We talk about all kinds of things after class - what the churchy folk call fellowship. Unlike the gym, it's not a meat market, people don't get hit on - that is to say, try to get a date. We definitely hit on each other - on the mat, and throw each other, and attack each other with weapons, and so forth.

Anyhoo, this is my new dojo. Click the main picture a few times and it'll show you some good pictures. It's beautiful. The master spent a lot of time creating an environment. It's not a gym setting with bad lighting, and plastic matting. The deck is a heavy canvas over cushioning. The walls are covered with the backside of lauan which gives it a natural warmth. The pipe work on the ceiling has lauan panels covering small areas which increases the visual depth. They've intertwined bare tree branches amongst the pipes and panels to give the impression of an outdoor setting. They've got Koi! No kidding. It's really beautiful, and a worthy space in which to train.

I am happy again.

if you could see what I see...

The seminary had to rent a really big crane to complete the tuck pointing on the steeple. It was really cool: big, yellow, pretty. It drives on 10 wheels! And all 10 turn! How cool is that?! I could watch workers work all day. I think I mentioned to you already how much I wanted to go up in the bucket...


















Weeeeeeeeeeee.....! (okay, that's not really me. But it's higher that the cross!)






















But if that's not me, how did I get up here:






















You might say I'm at the top of my seminary career. That's the spire on Garrett's seminary tower poking out from my ear. It's windy up there. Should've worn my Seabury t-shirt.

























Holy flying buttress Batman! Nice perspective, eh?
























Requisite artsy shot.
























The library.


















My apartment, the deanery, and a great big display of roofing slate.



















Another way to get to the steeple is to go up through the inside, by way of several small ladders located all over the place, habitrail-style (gee... maybe that's how she did it).
























I was asked to be the photographer for my friend's ordination. I got some really neat pictures. This is the cross above the altar. I like the way the light bleeds down from the top. The perspective is good too. It looks slightly asymmetrical even though I was standing directly in front of it. Maybe the discrepancy is in the medium. My digital camera is pretty low-tech. I've discovered unusual optical issues before. I hate to see the extinction of film cameras.
























I asked the bishop if I could get his picture for the album I'm putting together for my friend. He said it was alright to get pictures of him in various stages of dress and undress. ...uh... awkward.... Indeed he must have spent a lot of time in hospital settings. That's an alb, sir. It doesn't open in the back.
























This is one of my favorite shots. Her daughters are vesting her in her chasuble. The way the light filters through the white fabric makes it look almost like daylight. That's an angle even the new ordinands don't see.

Obviously I like unusual angles. I like my pictures to tell a unique story of the event or moment. Unfortunately for the photography, it was a night ordination. The lighting was dimmed incandescent, which reflects the warmer end of the visual spectrum - and the sanctuary walls were painted pale yellow. Everything came out rather jaundiced. It'll take me a while to balance out the colour before I get the final album to my friend.

That's it for pictures, gentle readers. I've got more to tell you, but I really need to get back to a paper I'm writing.

Ciao.

update

I'm back on-line... for the time being. The wireless internet has been down the apartment since classes began, and has been spotty at best on K's computer -- hence the delay. There are so many things I want to tell you about that have happened since my last. I'll start with the update: Yesterday evening I received a letter from the Diocese of Chicago with a date for my candidacy interview. Keep October 2nd in your prayers. I'm up at 1:45 CST. There are two others interviewing also. We all get half-hour time slots. I'm in the middle. I know the other two people. The mentor the diocese assigned to me says she'll accompany me to the meeting. That's new. Never had another person with me in an interview before.

I feel good about going into this meeting. Last February the CoM unanimously recommended me for postulancy. They said starting this year postulancy is being fast-tracked; they'd be more supportive and less challenging; they said I had a year until ordination. The evaluation that the seminary prepared for me was glowing. I'm told by an insider, who wishes to remain anonymous, that it was the best evaluation/recommendation this person has ever read; said in a take-my-breath-away kind of way. It was pretty good I must agree. All that, coupled with my current course of study, puts me in a confident position for this meeting. (Mr. Murphy, keep your laws off my body).

I have lots more to tell you and show you, but it will have to wait until later - but just as a preview: I've got some sweet pictures I want you to see.

day 1

Well, it's started again. All everybody is back on the block for the first day of classes. It sure is nice to have everyone back again. I've spent the past week working in the Academic Affairs office, helping with photocopying everything from orientation packets to class stuff. It's amazing how much work goes into getting a school year up and running. Kudos to those who do that kind of work. I have one class that meets for 3 hours on Mondays, and since yesterday was a holiday, I have to wait another week to get going. I do have an indepedent study that I can work on, which I should lest I get bored. And y'all know what happens when I get bored: I get creative - and cause trouble for everybody else trying to be serious students, faculty and staff. Members of my graduating class may recall the time I got bored photocopying the course packet for our History III class. 'Nuff sed.

The day was uneventful except for the walls caving in in the chapel. Oh, maybe I should have mentioned that earlier. For the record I'd like to say I had nothing to do with that. Workers have been tuck pointing the outside of the building for a couple weeks, and I think the stress of grinding tools had loosened some already water damaged plaster on the inside. A big 4x6 chunk fell from above the officiant's seat sometime over the weekend. Nobody got hurt. It'll take a couple weeks until we can use the chapel again. In the mean time we're holding worship services in the Lounge. I'm not really phased, but there are some in the community who really are saddened not being able to use the chapel. I was a little surprised at this. One of the more "high churchy" students (and I don't mean that in any disparaging way at all) stopped me in the hallway to express his saddness with heavy sigh and long face. He's been on my mind all day.

The rectory of the church I grew up in was lost to an electrical fire a few years ago. It was an old house, not very attractive with its beige aluminum siding and rusted handrails; not exactly among the town's historical sites. My Mum was very saddened by the loss of the old house. She couldn't express why she was so sad except to say that the building had some kind of vague sentimental value. I couldn't understand why. There were no injuries. No one but the priests could ever go past the foyer, so it wasn't like it was a public space in the parish. The insurance built a much nicer, more user-friendly, and more public building in its place.

It leaves me wondering what sacred space means to me. What space, the loss or damage thereof, would leave me as saddened? Perhaps I'm less interested in material things or places. If that old rectory fire, or our chapel plaster drop cost lives, I'd be very upset. Buildings can be rebuilt. It's the people and their activities in spaces that give the space meaning to me. Is my concept of sacred space portable - sacred space is wherever I am? I'll have to ponder this further.