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.