A gauzy, kind of in between place ...

So, I'm on a few weeks off, because of an injury.   Time spent recuperating is slow time.   Hospital chaplaincy has convinced me of that, & the last couple weeks have affirmed that.

I've spent time packing up some of my papers/essays, organising my book shelf, & catching up on my reading.  I've even taken my degree/diploma in to be framed at a local place that does custom framing.

While I am looking forward to the postulancy process, at this moment in time, I'm missing the idea of going back to school.  I enjoy it.   I enjoy the challenge, the learning, & the opportunity to articulate that learning through papers.  I've never been much of an athlete, but I love exercising my brain.

Having spent the last year of my MDiv writing a thesis (among other things), I found it a most enjoyable & rewarding experience.   If I were to use a sports analogy, I might liken it to driving a fast pitch out of the park, or sinking the last put on the course, and being way under par.

Maybe it's because I'm bored, at this particular moment, but I've begun to long for that feeling again.  It feels very much like being in a gauzy, kind of in between place.   

Catching Up

So, I've realised that it's been almost a year since my last entry.  So here's what's been going on recently:

SCHOOL:

In April I finished my MDiv, graduating in May.  In fact, since I submitted a successfully graded thesis, I graduated with Honours.  For those with whom I've lost touch, my topic was how the church has recognised the instruction of God throughout history.   I studied three historic events in church history, which may have been viewed as changing the direction of the church.   My hypothesis was that by examining how the church has recognised the voice of God in the past, we might be able to do so more easily in the present.   Given some of the issues facing the modern church, particularly about sex and gender, this seemed relevant.  In essence, I examined ideas about whether the idea of an unchanging God is directly connected to the idea of an unchanging mission for the church.  Can God remain unchanging, while the mission of the church does change?   I think my answer was yes, but the church had better be diligent to ensure that the change was God's idea and not from elsewhere.

Although a Master's thesis is much shorter than one submitted for a doctorate, it was very rewarding.   My work was supervised by someone whom I respect (the Dean of the Faculty of Divinity of my college).  It was a subject that I was personally interested in (heck, I proposed the topic), and I got to study at my own pace.  All in all, a very rewarding experience.

WORK:

I'm still  working as a chaplain at the Scarborough Hospital, although I'm on temporary leave while a broken wrist and ankle mend.   This job ends at the end of August, so I'm spending the time off actively looking for work for the fall.

VOCATION:

The day after convocation, I did an interview with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, for admission to their discernment process, and was admitted as a 'postulant'.  This process takes approximately 2 years to complete, during which I complete various other interviews, training, and evaluations.  God willing, in the spring of 2010 I will be ordained to the diaconate in the Diocese of Toronto.   After serving a period as a curate (assistant to the priest of a parish) I will then be consecrated to the priesthood.  My acceptance to this process really served as the capstone to my graduation.  Quite frankly, the primary function of a Master of Divinity degree is to train one toward ordination, so admission to that process (tentatively as it is), was very rewarding.

Well, I think that's it for now, but I close with the hope of being more frequent with updates.

Still smarting ...

Yes, I'm still thinking about what I posted yesterday. I couldn't help but wonder ...

"If someone were to 'leaf' through my blog, ending with yesterday's installment, how would it sit in the context of other posts - the ones about acquiring new geek gear, et al?"

I was briefly tempted to go back and Watergate all the incriminating stuff, but realised deleting would not be a true solution.

When all is said and done, I suppose each of us are all in progress. Hopefully each able to muster up the courage to act on any one in a series of convictions along our path.

I hope that I was fairly transparent in yesterday's post - heck, I enjoy the stuff too - as much (and sometimes more than) the next person. But that's not really the point, is it? Nor is it the point that someone else in line spent more than I did. Someone else's participation - whether intentional or not - does not absolve me from the responsibility of my own action.

In other conversations I have heard people use the argument "Look whose talking! (S)He's no better. Look at what (s)he has done! Look at his/her life!" As if another person's guilt absolves us of our own. No, it just makes the problem twice as bad. Guilt of the other does not absolve self, it just provides a guilty companion.

Peace

$9.69

$9.69
$9.69

Ladies and gentlemen ... friends ... I am ashamed. I am ashamed to admit that is what I paid for 2 cups of coffee yesterday. A friend asked me, yesterday, to stop and buy he and his coworker two beverages from S*a*b*c*'s - and I did it.

I've been there before, and I even admit to enjoying some of their products. As I left their establishment, nearly $10 lighter, with two MEDIUM sized cups of warm, frothy goodness I had an epiphany. It was as though I could see the light glimmering along the razor's edge of my conscience.

In a world where children are sold into slavery, women are shipped around the world in cargo containers as human commodities, there are people gulping down oblivion at $5 a cup. I have been one. It was small comfort that a man, in line ahead of me, was a worse offender than I. He paid in the neighbourhood of $75.00 for a dozen coffees for he and his film crew buds.

I do not claim the corporation with the green, circular logo, contributes to these societal abominations - not directly. But they, and all the corporations like them, contribute in as much as they proliferate unbridled consumerism. And shame on you and I (yes, shame on me, personally) for having contributed to that, and allowing it to happen by buying their product. Shame on us for throwing our money toward this Washington state conglomerate, rather than striving to end ... global hunger ... for one.

I wonder what would happen if each of those patrons traded in their $5 cup, for one that cost $1.50 and donated the difference (at the end of a month) to a shelter for the homeless, or for abused women. Just a thought.

A Favourite Commercial

One of my favourite commercials of all time is the "new" Tide to Go commercial. I laugh every time I see it. Occasionally it comes to mind, and I find myself chuckling. Good job Tide marketing guys.

Good News!!!

Hi Everyone;

Today I have some good news ... and no bad! This morning I met my manager, at work, to take my turn at leading the hospital's chapel service.

She informed me that she received approval to extend my contract! From September to June I will be working 3 days a week, as a chaplain.

Yay!!!

Geek Nirvana ...

A few weeks ago, I wrote to say that I acquired a new laptop computer. I still love it, and it's working great. In the interim, I have also found gainful employment for the summer. (Yay for cool jobs!).

Well today, I made a frivolous purchase. The one thing I've missed about having a laptop is that the monitor is just a little ... well ... little. I still have an external keyboard and mouse (bluetooth) so I decided I'd buy an external monitor. The plan is that while I'm at home, I can simply close my laptop, and use it as though it were a desktop computer. When I have a class, or want to go "on the road", I can disconnect the speakers and monitor (everything else is wireless), and off I go.

The wild thing is that - WITH MY WIFE PRESENT - I bought a 22" Wide Screen LCD Monitor. It has both digital and analog inputs. It rocks!!! Any my wife was there when I bought it - that's the best part!

Radical and Dangerous Thoughts …

Today’s post comes with a big ol’ warning, folks, please proceed with CAUTION! When I began this blog, I posted with a disclaimer – almost a badge of honour – to the effect that the thoughts I post here are my own, and are not representative of those with whom I associate. This freethinking “badge of honour” was quickly followed by relatively conscious (and maybe inconspicuous?) efforts to remain anonymous – naturally to protect those with whom I associate who might disagree with my contentiousness (insert nudge and wink here).

This week I finished the in class work for a course in Pauline Literature (the letters of St. Paul). I took it because it looked somewhat interesting, and because it completed my obligations in the Biblical Department.

I enjoyed the course, and almost wished it had run for an entire semester so that I could do more background reading (like I’ve ever had the time to do more background reading). The prof challenged us to look at Paul and his writing in new ways. To consider how those society (including the church) considers as ‘other’ would react to texts the church has traditionally considered liberating.

On my way downtown, this morning, I had an epiphany. Two weeks of this class, and three years of influence from other classes, profs, and students, have helped me begin to realise how SOME (heavily emphasis on the word some) can find institutionalised religion (namely the church) to be an obstacle to God. I’ve begun to consider the rare times when I’ve felt this in my own life, and I am hardly representative of the marginalised. I began to consider when and how our understanding of scripture and our practice have driven people away from God rather than to Him.

I can almost hear the conservative voices of some of my family, and friends cry out “Does this mean that we exchange TRUTH for warm cuddlies and molly coddling?” Well, no, because I don’t think that lying to people is a loving thing to do either. I know a few people who would argue that TRUTH can be divisive, and cite scripture that talks about the world hating these TRUTH tellers for the sake of the name of Jesus. (Probably the same voices crying out the first question.) Yes, scripture does say that but I don’t think it means that simply by offending people, and being intentionally hurtful in delivery, that that means that we are doing the will of God. This leads me to the question “Can a person be correct, in the particular, but be wrong in the global sense?” (That is right with the message but wrong with the delivery.) I would think the answer is yes. It’s the difference between speaking the truth in self-righteousness, and doing so in love (Ephesians 4:15; 1 John 3:18).

So, what does all this realisation and self-awareness stuff mean? I don’t know yet, at least not the full impact. Does it mean I hate the church, that I’m chuckin’ it all to go grow fair trade coffee or hemp products somewhere? Probably not. At the moment, I think it means that I’m more aware of the fact that other people may not get the warm fuzzies from the same stuff I do – that they may even be offended by it. Hopefully, this will affect the way that I interact with people. Well, I’m off to put on a pair of work socks and sandals, sit down with an herbal tea, and listen to the CBC for a while.

I'm going legit!

So, I'm loving my new laptop - a 13" MacBook, with a pair of 1.85 Ghz processors. It's great - with wireless internet access, built in Bluetooth access, etc. It's fast and powerful, it's beautiful (IMHO), and it's small enough to be portable. I can even sit outside, on my balcony, and enjoy the temperate weather we've been having lately.

I've also gone legit with all my software. I don't mean to make all sound like I have access to thousands of dollars worth of illegal software.

I've made a decision of conscious, though. I took a trip down to the school bookstore yesterday, and bought the educational version of Microsoft Office. I have to admit that it's pretty sweet. For a student, it even comes with a layout which makes your typed notes look like they were taken on old school binder paper - and you can also do voice recordings - of lectures, etc.

It's also nice to know that I'm the registered, licensed, owner of this version of this software. Sometimes it feels good to do the right thing.

Great News ...

I've just come back from a meeting at Scarborough Grace hospital, where I've been offered a 2 month contract to work as a chaplain.

At this point, I don't know whether it will be extended into the fall. Although that would be nice - right now I am greatful for the experience and the pay.

Father's Day BBQ

So, last night we had a BBQ - not the kind of our own making. At about 1 a.m. we were woken by fire alarm bells.

Apparently some wizard saw fit to light fire to the pile of abandoned furniture behind our building. The furniture had been left behind after a recent move out.

The flames reached high enough, & hot enough , to melt 2 or 3 of the protective panels on the balcony above.

Although Sharon and I did not get much sleep, little Kayleigh slumbered through in innocent oblivion.

Last Weekend ...

I meant to mention ... I spent last weekend on the back of a motorcycle. A 250 cc Suzuki Marauder to be exact (see picture). It's something I've always wanted to learn how to do (ride a motorbike).

It's a lot tougher than it looks (that may be obvious to some). They all have manual transmissions, which complicate things even more.

After dumping the bike several times, add in sun burn and heat stroke, it took me 2 or 3 days to recover. Suffice it to say that I did not pass the road test at the end of the course - BUT - I didn't particularly expect to. Having never been on the back of a motorbike before, I learned alot, enough to possibly pass it on another attempt, should I so choose.

That didn't last long ...

Okay, I can hear it now ...

It's official, after merely three days of Greek I dropped it. I learned a lot, I gained a deeper appreciation of the need for the language, as a scolar - but - I wasn't picking it up fast enough. That became evident after the first quiz, held on the second day of class.

This likely means that I will still take it, but at a later date, over the course of two full semesters (like it's usually done) - not half of one seemster. In the meantime, I still have my textbooks, and I can try to do some of the memorisation, and grammatical work before enrolling in it again, for credit.

In the meantime, I've signed up for another course which starts in a couple of weeks. It will give me a single Biblical credit (rather than the two I would have gotten for Greek).

Summer Classes

In a little over a week - next Monday to be exact - I'm starting summer school. I'm enrolled for 2 credits of Greek, at Knox College, which is the Presbyterian seminary affiliated with U of T.

How do you say feta with a Scottish accent?

A Grumpy Little Camper

Okay ... I was reticent to change to this new and improved Blogger format. I'm even less impressed by the fact that I have to create a new web based email address with Gmail to do it.

Couldn't access my blog w/o doing so. Couldn't figure out how to cancel my Blog account w/o doing so.

Now I wind up w/ yet another web based email account that I don't need ... except for my Blog. I'm tempted to cancel the dumb thing just on principle.

Okay ... I think I'm finished my tantrum. I'll try to place nice with the other kids now. I promise.

A New Gimp Stick!!!

That's right - things are moving in the right direction. Lost the crutches in favour of a cane. Who thought I'd be happy to use a cane at under 40?

Polished off my last paper of the semester today. I have a bit of paperwork left to do to finish up my internship stuff, other than that, I'm pretty much done! Yippeeee!

A new addiction

I've discovered "Facebook". It bills itself as a "social utility that connects you with the people around you". If you've ever heard the term "6 Degrees of Separation" you'll get the hint of Facebook pretty quick.

An update on "Gimpy"

Went to the orthopedic surgeon today, at the hospital. I was issued a removable hard plastic and metal removable cast for my ankle. Apparently, while the break is minor, I did a "really good job" on the tendons and musculature in my left ankle.

In all this , I must give a nod to Sharon , whose picked up the role of Florence Nigthingale quite quickly. I'm really quite impressed.

Falling of the Wagon ...

Well not quite - but I bet it got your attention!!! Would you believe my mother-in-law's front stoop? Yep, went for a tumble today, and broke my ankle.

I went on line today, to try and find some fancy picture to include with my posting, but they were all too dramatic. As the local medicine man explained, while it is broken, it is not a severe break. There is a small bone in one part of my ankle, which ought to be attached, and has broken. There is also some really good spraining of stuff. It involves tension bandages and crutches, for the next couple weeks, and a date with my local orthapaedic surgeon (- just to make sure).

For those of you who may be concerned, and here is the good (or the bad news) they say it won't adversely affect my canting.

Touching base

Well, friends;
Reading Week begins on Feb 18th. Which makes next week - the week before Reading Week - probably the most stressful time of the academic year.

I've been musing about why profs seem hellbent on assigning everything the week before Reading Week. (Yes, I think that seminary profs can be hell bent.) One friend posited that it was so that profs could mark during Reading Week. So, why not call it "Marking Week"?

Another friend suggested it's done because no one uses Reading Week to actually READ or be productive (wherein "Going forth and multiplying" does not qualify as being productive). So, if students aren't going to study, during Reading Week, why not have assignments due the week before.

In a programme which involves practicums, field placements, and chapel team assignments which often run concurrently to academics I would contend that the current method is neither productive, nor does it provide training in good time management skills (as I sit blogging - the irony is not lost folks).

When all kvetching is said and done - I must tip my hat to my friend M. While I hunker under a part time work load (two credits plus a bit of a third which is a carry over), as well as a part time field placement, my good pal M is taking SIX credits, plus student council stuff. For a lady who is pretty much 30 yrs older than I - I am impressed!!!! CHEERS!!