"a priest... but in a good way."

After my Aikido class this morning I sat around with the other students to chat. The conversation turned to me and what I do, and I talked about congregational development. They surmised it was some kind of church thing. When I said I was to be ordained in June, one guy widened his eyes and smiled and said, "Ah... I got an energy about you. I had a feeling you were a priest... but in a good way." Heh heh.

It was a fun class. We played intuitive games. We stood in a circle with a 6-foot radius around one of us who was blindfolded in the center. We all had knives, and one by one those on the perimeter would commit to attack the person in the center. The person in the center had to turn to face the attacker before the attacker's knife made contact. That stopped the attack, and the attacker returned to the perimeter. One guy did alright, sometimes got stabbed. Another guy got stabbed most of the time. A third guy only got stabbed occasionally, but the attackers got in very close before he stopped them. I went last. Nobody got within 4-5 feet before I stopped them. I could sense their movement as soon as they began to move in. I was 100% accurate sensing the attacks. It impressed the heck out of the Master. Now if only I could get that X-wing fighter out of the swamp.

In other news: I made first contact with a half dozen deployment officers today via e-mail. I'm interested in about 15 parishes. I sent my resume and CDO profile as attachments. I'll follow up with hard copies after I contact them via phone. Vermont e-mailed me back within minutes. That was exciting. I'm in California next week, but I think I may be able to get some phone time. Gotta remember the time zone changes.

I was up late working on the next chapter of my thesis. It's not finished yet. I had wanted it complete before I interview the Marines next week. I don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer. Maybe I'll get up really early tomorrow. Morning is my best energy anyways.

"in ____ Columbus sailed the ____"

I'm working on the Leadership chapter of my thesis and I've come across a very interesting thing in the last three books I've read. The authors have each cited the first transatlantic explorations as touchstones for the basis of their arguments for courageous leadership.

Edwin Friedman's book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, characterizes the state of Europe preceding the voyage of Columbus as emotionally inhibited and imaginatively gridlocked. Pre-Renaissance thinking created a huge emotional barrier out of the equator. That is where the edge of the world could be found, and the mythology that was created about what unknown monsters (or worse) could be found there, kept people from attempting to go there. Thus Europe grew stagnant in the ever-tightening confines of its land mass. It was the nerve of Columbus and others who overcame the emotional barrier of the equator to discover far greater things in the New World than anyone could have previously imagined.

"The quantum leap [of intellectual, and imaginative progress] that occurred around 1500 was a direct result of a complete reorientation to reality initiated by Columbus's discoveries and the subsequent exploration of geography" (32).

He also references Galileo, Luther, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, and others.

Leading Women: How Church Women Can Avoid Leadership Traps and Negotiate the Gender Maze, by Carol E. Becker, touches on that same time period using terms like "paradigm shift." It isn't until the irrational and unfounded fears of new and unknown things are reframed by the reality of what they truly are that those fears can be overcome.

"In the medieval period, people thought that the earth was flat. People feared that going to the edge of the world would mean falling off into 'outer darkness,' or hell. A paradigm is also a conceptual trap if we can't see beyond it. The first people to adopt a new paradigm must be very courageous" (48-49).

She also invokes Galileo and Copernicus.

Finally, Margaret J. Wheatley's Leadership and the New Science: Learning about Organization from an Orderly Universe, looks to the new sciences, from biology to quantum physics, for clues as to how to lead in such a way that flows naturally with the scientific laws that govern all things. Now this is my kind of thinking: dontcha just love quantum physics, chaos theory, fractals, and Albert Einstein's unfinished unified theory of physics? I do. She writes,

"I like to think of this book as reminiscent of the early chart books used by explorers sailing in search of new lands. This is a world of wonder and not knowing, where scientists are as awestruck by what they see as were the early explorers who marveled at new continents" (Preface).

She also calls up Sir Issac Newton.

Isn't that interesting?!

cheese curd madonna

Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the laughter, but Raisin and I discovered the next manifestation of the BVM in our wine and cheese appetizers this evening. Well, she discovered it... I concurred.






















Can you see it?






















Nestled between the nonpareils, the habanero pistachios, and classy crackers, is the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child, in cheese curd form. Take that Chicago underpass snow drift Madonna!

It was an interesting and uniquely difficult day for me today. Raisin's (and the Madonna's) visit were an unexpected gift of God's grace, joy and mirth when it was needed most.

No, we didn't eat the Madonna.

update

Candidacy!






















Just in time for Thanksgiving.

I met with the Canon to the Ordinary yesterday to talk about my job search. The meeting went over two hours! I thought it would take about 30 minutes. When I got home I started to wonder if I was being interviewed. I mentioned that to someone and he agreed. At any rate, it seems I'll be looking beyond the Diocese of Chicago for a call. I'm thinking about cooler climes. K really hates hot weather. But I'd like to stay being a one-car family, and a snowless area would mean less reliance on a car to get around. I've got some contacts in other dioceses that I'll be tapping to see what's out there. Los Angeles and Michigan come to mind first. I'll also be looking in Minnesota, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. I will not seek a call in Massachusetts - for all the obvious reasons. This should come as no surprise. Might venture into New York and New Jersey. I've never been to a desert before. Maybe I'll also look in Nevada.

And so the next leg of this journey continues... stay tuned.

massive clean-up efforts

...have begun. My in-laws are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday for the holiday, so the house cleaning begins now. There's clean clean, and then there's family visiting clean. As of 4pm-ish...

laundry: washed, dried, folded, put away
floors: swept and mopped
kitchen: cleaned and sanitized
bathroom: sparkles
office: tidied
dinner: in the oven
pumpkin bread: mixed and ready for baking

Between now and Wednesday afternoon I've got to eat most of the contents of the freezer because they'll be bringing food for us that will need to keep. Hopefully farm fresh eggs will be among them. I bought bacon today in hopes that they make a stop in the hen house before setting off. If they do I'll make "Dad's Dirty Eggs" on Thursday morning. That gem of a recipe comes from classic Saturday morning breakfasts in Maine with my dad. They've become a favorite with some of the neighbors here. Thanks Dad!

green gold

This Autumn is turning out to be spectacular. The trees around the seminary are showing mostly golds. There's a canal nearby that is lined with gold trees. When the morning sun, low in the sky, shines through the foliage, it simply glows. Not all of the trees have turned yet, so there's an interplay of gold and green. I took these pictures for you. They don't do the trees justice, though. Some things I see are too big for my little camera, and the subtleties in colour, light and shade, and texture are lost. Ah well.















This is the view from the bedroom window. The evergreens in the Dean's yard frame the red of whatever tree that is far off. It's striking in the morning sun.

















This is the tippity top of the "self-pruning tree." That's the tree that branches break off of whenever there's a little wind or snow accumulation. Against the blue sky, the gold leaves are brilliant - and that's with the light on them, rather than through them. I couldn't get a good angle for you to see the translucence.

it's a boy*

Chicago elected its 12th Bishop last weekend at its annual convention: Jeff Lee from the Diocese of Olympia. I'll leave it to you to read up on the details here and here.

I was a little surprised at how the balloting went. I really thought it was going to be more exciting. I imagined Lind would get a strong showing in the first - to make a point to the rest of the church - then steadily numbers would change until the third and final, electing someone other than Lind. This is exactly why I don't go to casinos. I just don't have the gift to place bets (nor the money). I spoke with many people before the election about the candidates they supported. There was a lot of passion for many of the candidates, but I didn't see that play out in the numbers. It's like Lee's big impression in the first attracted everyone to rally behind the front runner. I would have liked to have seen something more exciting. Many of those I spoke with after the election who were not happy with the outcome, were all unhappy for the same reason. They characterized our action as doing the same old same old - we elected another straight white male. Their first thought was that he will maintain business as usual. Ah well, it is what it is, and it remains to be seen what Bishop-elect Lee will do as our next leader.

Last weekend at the Catholic seminary, we had a very interesting discussion at lunch about the election process. My Catholic colleagues were curious about the idea of lay involvement in electing a bishop, standing committees, etc. (imagine that). I explained that not every single member gets a vote - I, for instance, did not get a vote. It was kind of a fun discussion about polity, but also kind of like trying to explain transubstantiation of wine to a ardent hematologist.

Electing a bishop was pretty much the whole reason we gathered this year. There were resolutions that came up in the meeting Friday, but they seemed to pale in comparison, in spite of the passionate discussions on the floor. We did elect deputies to General Convention (that won't meet again for another couple years), and I really like who we elected - they'll be a really strong showing for our diocese. The learning opportunities were thin at best. There were only opps on Friday morning. The "Danger Room," as I've come to call it, what most other people might refer to as the Marketplace, where vendors display items for sale, was also a little disappointing. I bought a book - *shrug* eh... The focus was on the episcopate election, and I suppose that's where it should rightly be. Next year may have more variety.

Personally, I love convention. It feeds my extroversion like nothing else. On Friday morning I stood outside the main ballroom, looking through my registration packet, not paying much attention to what was going on around me, and a half-dozen people came up to greet me. I love that. I also reconnected with some colleagues I never get to see any other time of the year. It's nice being at Seabury because lots of people drop in for such-and-whatever business, and we meet in passing. I think that won't happen so much once I finally get working in a parish. I enjoy it while it lasts. I also made some new friends. I met a priest who sat down in the empty chair next to me at lunch. We struck up a conversation. Next thing I know, he's introducing me to people who came over to greet him, and I'm introducing him to people who came over to greet me. It's it great? I love networking. Finally, before leaving Saturday afternoon, a cathedral staffer came over to chat and offered to write me a letter of recommendation for my job search. Isn't it great? I just love convention. I can do without a $10 lunch I can hold in the palm of my hand, but I love convention.

* At General Convention, when Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected, many people wore pink buttons that read, "It's a Girl!" because we elected the first female Presiding Bishop.

one down, a few more to go

I finished the first chapter of my thesis last night. Yay! I think it's actually going to be the last chapter - I'm not writing them in order. This one's about growth. I looked at several models including Kennon Callahan's 12-keys, and my newest discovery "Natural Church Development." I ended it with my own growth model proposal based on three kinds of growth. I've got some pictures and graphics I still need to add, but I'm sending it off for proof reading first.

There flows a strong current of leadership in growth models. I tried not to get swept away in the tide since I have a leadership chapter that I'm working on next. The whole point of these congregational development tools is that there is significant overlap in theories which allows the developer to mix and match to suit the specific parish context. I reckon I'll work on specifically the leadership component in November so that I'm fresh and prepared for my trip to Los Angeles in December.

In L.A. I'll be interviewing two Marines: a Colonel (and I think the base Commander), and a Gunnery Sergeant. We'll be discussing the leadership philosophy of military-styled leadership and its application beyond the military context. It's fascinating really. I'm also doing an independent study in the Spring on leadership. I plan to argue that military leadership models work better in church contexts than the ever-popular business/corporate leadership model.

For now, I'm off to Aikido, which I missed last week due to being out of town. Ahhh... Aikido.

as promised

I remembered to bring the camera to my second, and last, trip to Mundelein Seminary.
The grounds:



































The library: This place was gorgeous, but empty.














When in the midst of studying I often look up to the ceiling to pray to God what I'm doing. Here, this is what I'd see:













Looking back down, this is what God would see. Where are all the students?













This is another reading room. Barnes & Noble anyone? No coffee shop though. This is St. Mary's not St. Arbucks.













This tempting little reading nook is deadly as far as I'm concerned. I can fall asleep reading while standing up. This is just academic torture. And yet... still the library is empty. I can't imagine what can be more inviting than this:










On the way out I got the pictures I was hoping to get for you. Mundelein is crawling with deer. I saw three the previous night. I could have walked up and touched them, they were so close.


























This is Isaiah. It's comforting to know staring off into space is not a new phenomenon of thesis writing.













And speaking of academic workload... Buffy Cat illustrates how I often feel: buried in my own backpack of research. Thanks, Buff.