Nothing Much

I have a few minutes now before work, and I thought that I'd say something because I haven't said much in a while.

The past two weeks have come to an end and have been more wonderful than I could have imagined. On Saturday, February 24, I presented my paper on Rahab, immigration, and a faith-based ethic of hospitality at the Calling to Justice conference. I dreaded the day, not because I wasn't looking forward to attending the conference, and not because I wasn't proud of the paper I had written and the honor of being selected to present, but because this subject matter, while of great interest to me, is not what I would consider to be my specialty. Moreover, since the keynote speaker, Luis Urrea, is an author who tackles subject matter such as immigration and life in poor Mexico (due to his own upbringing and experiences), the conference was full of people who were interested in immigration-related topics. This means that while the other presenter during my time slot had an audience of 10, I had an audience of 45. That'll put the pressure on you to want to present well and make sure that you know what you're talking about. The presentation, according to my own standards and expectations, didn't go at all as I would have planned or hoped for myself, and yet it emerged successful nonetheless. It turned into a conversation about the Bible and justice in general instead of an illuminating discussion of Rahab, and that was fine. One man commented to his discussion group that I was his new hero, and when this message was relayed back to me, I realized that my own agenda in this presentation wasn't nearly as important as the fact that I had opened up a conversation about justice and immigration that many people in the room wanted to join. Conference #1: successful.

And then there was this past weekend. I presented four sessions on worship and the church at my church's Faith in Life weekend. I also preached at all three services...which means that I spent 12 hours at church over two days! This weekend exceeded all of my own expectations for it. I didn't know how many people were going to attend - I had expected 8-10, and had expected to carry out the weekend in a seminar-fashion, sitting around a big table in the church's lounge. Instead there were 25 people there, and so I ended up standing at a podium facing four rows of chairs! We began Saturday morning with the service of morning prayer from the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship book (because why shouldn't we start with worship if we are going to spend a day and a half talking about worship?), and then spent the next hour brainstorming and discussing what worship is, who/what worship is for, and essential elements for worship. In our next session, I walked them through the specifics of the Holy Communion liturgy - our Sunday morning liturgy - and then talked about ways to envision the nature and purpose of the Eucharist itself. This was important to me. Something that I've learned through my seminary career about the Eucharist is that I love theology, and getting down to the nitty gritty of what exactly happens with the elements, and the way that Luther's theology differs from the Roman Catholic church, from Calvin, and from Zwingli. BUT, while I enjoy that as a theological discipline, there are more important and relevant things to say about the Eucharist when looking at its implications for people of faith and for the church. About the way that the table communicates to us God's promises, and the way that we come to the table as a true community of faith. How the table is "risky" and asks us to share in God's promise with those whom we dislike, or those with whom we disagree. How the table points us beyond the walls of our own sanctuary, and how the meal we share drives us out into the world for the sake of the world. We all had a really insightful, edifying, and passionate conversation about these things - I think it turned out to be the best and most important session of the weekend. After lunch, I presented passages from Amos and Isaiah in order to initiate conversation about the relationship between worship and justice, and then on Sunday, I presented the basics of our new hymnal to the Adult Forum. And preaching went well, too. (I'll post my sermon later.) I was certainly more comfortable presenting this type of material, as opposed to the Rahab and immigration material. Worship and liturgy are my passions, and because of this, I have explored these topics more deeply and have a greater base of knowledge to draw from. I love teaching about these topics, and I can't wait to find more opportunities to do so!

And now, back to the normal ins and outs of seminary life. Today, Monday, is my long day: class from 8-10:50, work from 2-4, choir from 4:15-5:30, and class from 6:30-9:30. And tack on a 25-30 minute commute to both ends of the day. Meanwhile, Matt is at home, enjoying the first real day of his spring break! He's definitely earned the break. And from here on out, this week gets to be more and more fun. After my full day today, I only have one class tomorrow and Thursday, and I work Wednesday and Friday afternoons, so my schedule slows down. Also, some of our friends from college are coming to visit for the weekend, so I'm excited to see them! And it means that I get to do fun things like bake lasagna and make chocolate chip cookies. :) Cooking rocks. Maybe I'll even find time to finish the pair of mittens that I'm working on for my sister! It feels so nice, for the first time in two weeks, to have a week where I have nothing to do except my normal routine. No outside work. I'll enjoy it while it lasts...because research papers are indeed lurking around the corner.... :)