Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Whew. I have midterms next week. How did that happen? We are mid-term. Fast.


Here's where I seem to be standing:
1. Acing Hebrew. Lots of work, but it's working.
2. Doing well in Christianity and the City. Fun class, relaxed, lots of time for contemplative thinking.
3. Hebrew Bible and contents: Eh. I'm doing well, but I don't care about it much. I've done most of this work before, and I miss my old professor.
4. Philosophy for Theologians: killing me. Really. Killing me. I am apparently the world's worst philosopher. I'm not stupid, but I could not really care less about some abstract postulation about the stupid hidden Forms in some stupid person's head. Especially while that person has slaves. Especially when that theory is going to turn into a big mind/body dualism within Christianity. I care about how things play out, how people live them. I don't do this big mental abstract supposedly-not-related-to-anything crap very well. (Sorry, MLG.) So I am seeking extra help from my prof (the aforementioned radical Jesuit), and struggling. I like school, I am good at school, and nothing has ever been so hard for me as this. It's pratty intense.




In other news, I have a spiritual director. His name is Fr. Bill Wizeman, and he is a young Jesuit. He works at Corpus Christi (which, after I mistakenly called it "Corpus Crispy" once, now cannot stop laughing at the thought of: toasty Body of Christ, anyone?), the Catholic parish across the street where Thomas Merton was baptised and came to faith. We are working on prayer life, which has suffered some the past year. (Well, a lot, really - this past spring I was so mad at God I wasn't even praying grace anymore. Sue helped me come back to little bits of prayer, but I am really working on a daily, intentional practice.)


In still other news, can I tell you how much I love my job? I love my job. I love talking to chaplains on the phone. I love being at the Episcopal Church Center. I love lunchroom chat, and I love midday chapel. Plus, a week ago Friday, Frank Griswold presided! For the 20 of us!


I must go study for midterms. I might go to the Emerge service (an updated liturgy) tonight at St. Bartholomew's, a gorgeous Episcopal Church in midtown. I went last week, and left feeling fed, and might return.



I love you all! You are free to leave comments, you know. Blessings!

Notes.

I began work at Episcopal Church Center today. Which would have been fabulous, but I am knocked OUT with a cold. I survived my half day with a LOT of Dayquil. I did manage to notice the following wonderful things:
1. I have a cubicle! With a scanner! And files!
2. I can go to chapel every day and not have it count as my lunch hour. Excellent.
3. The Bishop invited me to bring term papers to work, if I need to. I love chaplains. They care about you.
4. The PB's (presiding bishop's) office is just through the double doors from my office. Woo-hoo! After Katherine's installation, she's going to be RIGHT NEXT DOOR.




Finally, please keep my friend Ingrid in your prayers. She has just had a tumor removed, and is awaiting the results from the test that determines whether she has cancer.

So much to catch up on.

So. I am in school, very very very officially.

I am going to try and post once a week. So much happens here. I can feel God breaking me open and pouring Godself into me and healing me and speaking.

Here's the overview:

1. I am taking, in typical Shelly Fayette overachiever fashion, one less credit that they will allow me to take (next semester, I am taking all 15 credits they will let me take. Woo-hoo!).

2. I am taking:
*Hebrew Bible (dates, context, critical-historical method, redaction, etc.)
*Hebrew Bible Contents (um, actually reading the Hebrew Bible)
Although. One note on this. At Union, it's all called "Old Testament". Isn't that ridiculous? No one worth their salt calls it "Old Testament" anymore. We actually had someone in my tutorial say, "Well, it's called the Old Testament because we don't need it anymore, right?" ARRRRRGH. So *I* call it Hebrew Bible. But Union doesn't.
*Christianities and the City (a course about urbanity and Xty, about NYC and Xty, about the city in Xn thought - it's very good).
*Philosophy for Theologians (excellent, much needed, and taught by a fabulous radical Jesuit named Roger Haight)
*ELEMENTARY BIBLICAL HEBREW!
OK. A note on this too. When we were having orientation, we were told to take one class "just for ourselves" every semester. I thought "Oh, Hebrew! I have always wanted to take Hebrew! It will be so fun, so refreshing!" Hah! It's a pile of work. A pile. Oh. My. Goodness. We have done the alphabet (the aleph-bet, literally!) and vowels and basic vocabulary. Interesting that for Biblical Hebrew, basic vocabulary includes: God, the gods, prophet, grapes, righteous, king, eternity, convenant and knowledge. If I ever go to Israel, I will not know how to ask for the bathroom. But I will be able to quote Proverbs at length.


3. My roommates are fabulous.

4. I am really growing as an Anglican. I have made friends with other Anglicans, and we recently had a "Disco Episco" chapel service ( a mass set ot disco music and using disco lyrics for various parts of the service). I am learning, through the experience of being in daily worship from a variety of traditions, that I am very attached to the Anglican hymnal and liturgy. I just love it, down to my bones, down to my toes.

5. It is so wonderful to be "out" as a religious person, to not have to translate for people all the time. It's a relief to able to talk about my personal relationship with Jesus Christ and not have people start looking at me like I just bombed the Planned Parenthood. It's so good to be able to ask people for prayer, simply and easily, and receive prayer.

6. I have been hired at the Episcopal Church Center (the national offices for the ECUSA) as the intern in the Chaplaincies office. They oversee all federal chaplains (military, prison, healthcare). I start next week. I really wanted to be connected to both the national church, to see how people integrate our values and life on a national and global scale as well as be connected to a small church. Both have happened.



I can't tell you all how happy I am. I am exhausted. Constantly. But exhilarated.


There will be more to tell next week: remind me to talk about praying in tongues, a chapel service for women who have been sexually assaulted, fellowship through running in Riverside Park, the subway, Queens and more.


Please continue to pray for me. I love you all.