Wind Moving Through Branches
I'm sitting in my office at work with about fifteen minutes before I'm "on," teaching Frost and talkin bout writin. My gig. Not a bad gig.
But I wanted to say a few things: one, I am moving toward a fuller committment to writing on this blog. It's good for me, mostly. And it is something I enjoy. As I've been sorting out what I can and can't do in ministry now and in the next few years, one thing I know I can do: spew here. Having to read the entire bible for Discernment is extremely powerful...it is like being immersed to my neck in a fast moving river of ideas; I can't help but need to sort through that. I don't attempt formal apologetics here; well, maybe I did years ago a little, but now I would like to say some things on that topic (main point: in my experience, belief and lack of belief in religious experience go much deeper than clean reason). Oh, well, I just want to write more here is all. I'm not BW3 and will likely never be (what a job...read and write and talk about the NT for a living); and I am always painfully, painfully aware of the limitations of my own posts. At least I have been for some time. I think that's part of why I haven't been writing.
All that said, it's good for me to express myself here.
And my wife and I do have a seminary plan that just might work. She is recently finished with graduate school, building hours herself, and there are some student loans though she worked through that time and of course I did. But we are thinking: when our son goes to college in 1.5 years we could move out of the hills and down near my job; I could, just maybe, commute part time to a seminary that is not all that far away. Perhaps continue teaching for two more years, then go live on campus for the final two years of my M.Div. I would not lose my teaching job that way. I can take a leave of absence and return in case there are no priestly type jobs in the hopper when I graduate. It's just an idea, but it's the most financially feasible one we have found yet.
It also means years more of doing this. Self-educating, writing here, and waiting, somewhat wincingly, for the chance to live in an actual Christian graduate community. I crave, crave that. Oh, one other advantage to moving near my job would be we could go to a much larger, read, full sized, Episcopal congregation. That would assist with some of our struggles, I think. I have learned that where two are three are gathered...God is there. But sometimes, it's nice to have a few more bodies around, at least when one grew up in the big city.
Well, that's not much. But I just wanted to say hi and to share the new seminary idea. I visit this school in a couple of weeks and will surely blog about that experience. I wish I was 24 and could start all over in NT studies, do the Ph.D., be in active ministry (one of the things I admire about NTW...world class scholar, actual acting Bishop) but that is not the path I have walked. Actually, considering many parts of that path, things I have only hinted at here, it is amazing I'm even on my freaking feet at all.
Have to run. What the heck is a hopper anyway? Just sounded right.
Love to all. More here when I can.
But I wanted to say a few things: one, I am moving toward a fuller committment to writing on this blog. It's good for me, mostly. And it is something I enjoy. As I've been sorting out what I can and can't do in ministry now and in the next few years, one thing I know I can do: spew here. Having to read the entire bible for Discernment is extremely powerful...it is like being immersed to my neck in a fast moving river of ideas; I can't help but need to sort through that. I don't attempt formal apologetics here; well, maybe I did years ago a little, but now I would like to say some things on that topic (main point: in my experience, belief and lack of belief in religious experience go much deeper than clean reason). Oh, well, I just want to write more here is all. I'm not BW3 and will likely never be (what a job...read and write and talk about the NT for a living); and I am always painfully, painfully aware of the limitations of my own posts. At least I have been for some time. I think that's part of why I haven't been writing.
All that said, it's good for me to express myself here.
And my wife and I do have a seminary plan that just might work. She is recently finished with graduate school, building hours herself, and there are some student loans though she worked through that time and of course I did. But we are thinking: when our son goes to college in 1.5 years we could move out of the hills and down near my job; I could, just maybe, commute part time to a seminary that is not all that far away. Perhaps continue teaching for two more years, then go live on campus for the final two years of my M.Div. I would not lose my teaching job that way. I can take a leave of absence and return in case there are no priestly type jobs in the hopper when I graduate. It's just an idea, but it's the most financially feasible one we have found yet.
It also means years more of doing this. Self-educating, writing here, and waiting, somewhat wincingly, for the chance to live in an actual Christian graduate community. I crave, crave that. Oh, one other advantage to moving near my job would be we could go to a much larger, read, full sized, Episcopal congregation. That would assist with some of our struggles, I think. I have learned that where two are three are gathered...God is there. But sometimes, it's nice to have a few more bodies around, at least when one grew up in the big city.
Well, that's not much. But I just wanted to say hi and to share the new seminary idea. I visit this school in a couple of weeks and will surely blog about that experience. I wish I was 24 and could start all over in NT studies, do the Ph.D., be in active ministry (one of the things I admire about NTW...world class scholar, actual acting Bishop) but that is not the path I have walked. Actually, considering many parts of that path, things I have only hinted at here, it is amazing I'm even on my freaking feet at all.
Have to run. What the heck is a hopper anyway? Just sounded right.
Love to all. More here when I can.
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