Procrastination

I guess my trend for blogging has been a sparse, if regular, creation of new entries. I do read your blogs almost daily, however, and get much enjoyment from them.

I started grad school, and that has required much of me in terms of motivation for writing. Others who have attended grad school would maybe agree with me that it is not necessarily more difficult than undergrad in terms of the intelligence required to succeed...but in terms of the sheer volume of work, it's just off the charts. I have read and written more in the last five weeks than perhaps in 6-9 hours of undergrad work.

That said, I am enjoying myself immensely! I feel like I've already learned so much, and can't wait to get started with the fall semester. But first I need to knock out what promises to be a pretty lengthy literature review paper on Borderline Personality Disorder. Like, this weekend. Because it's due Tuesday. And I haven't even started gathering sources. Oh, my.

And it seems that, just like during my undergrad work, I still believe that there is no motivator like procrastination.

Total change of subject...

Can I just say that I REALLY dislike politics? Or maybe I just dislike the talking heads that endlessly parse and spin every political event, even the most insignificant ones, ad nauseum. Can somebody PA-LEEEAASSEE just tell us what happened, without this compulsive need to tell us what they think about it or what this-or-that expert thinks about it or - worse yet - what I apparently think about it.

It goes like this..."Today, this amazing thing happened in so-and-so with whodilywho and what's-his-face..." And then they'll report verifiable facts (what used to be called news reporting) for 45-60 seconds...and then they'll go to their panel of experts. "Dr. Ambiguously-Qualified, what do you think this means for the American people?" or some other opinion-inducing question will begin a 4-5 minute discussion that is best described as a mini-episode of "The Real World: Washington D.C." And as I see it, this is just the beginning of a chain reaction...

The Right complains about how the Left distorts the facts.

The Left complains about how the Right distorts the facts.

(They BOTH distort the facts, by the way.)

And then we have otherwise civilized people yelling elected officials off of stages in high school gymnasiums...

And the non-yellers complain about the yellers...

Until, as I heard a Republican strategist say on NPR the other day, "This is no worse than the abuse President Bush took at his town hall meetings a few years ago."

That's awesome. The they-started-it defense.

When it comes to politics, I question EVERYTHING. I am uber-skeptical of every single sentence that anyone says about politics. And the more confident someone seems in their own position, the more skeptical I become. "How can you be so sure," I think, "when we possess a cultural disinterest in what actually is?" Maybe that's why I can't really land anywhere philosophically speaking. But can you blame a girl, after she has witnessed this massive comedy of errors for so long?

Coming Soon...

...to a multi-ethnic church near you! If you live in Little Rock, that is.

Redirect

The Hunk and I have bought a house. We will be moving into this house at the end of the month, and our roommates have rented/bought dwellings of their own. Thus ends the (current) community living experiment. I am going to maintain this blog, however, because: 1) I expect and hope to remain intimately involved in our current roommates lives, and 2) I am still very, very interested in growing into greater community with the other believers the Father has put in our life.

I am also in transition professionally speaking. Last Tuesday was my last day as a public school teacher, and I will begin work on a master's degree in marriage and family therapy next month. It was bittersweet leaving that campus for the last time, the campus where I spent three years developing a foundation for a solid choir program...where I often sat staring at the walls at 4pm completely overwhelmed by the emotional and social issues of my students and the hefty workload of teaching...where I more than once threw up my hands at the futility of my fledgling classroom management skills...where I saw some kids fall in love with music, and in the process believe in themselves a little more...where I saw others battle their demons, and sometimes lose...but then sometimes they won. I lived for the winning moments. And, oh yeah, we made good music with increasing frequency.

But now, if the Lord wills, I will very shortly be connecting with other kids like these about those emotional and social issues...and not about the issues through the vehicle of Latin pronunciation or lyrical interpretation or music theory. Because while I love teaching and I absolutely love my subject, I have discovered that I love people more. So why not cut out the middle man, so to speak?...And even now my demons of inadequacy and rejection peek around the corner at me. It is obvious they are scheming. They would perhaps even manipulate the mouths of other people to speak lies and condemnation. Salt water from a fresh spring. They are persistent, I'll give 'em that. But they are also foolish, because they're fighting a losing battle.

There's this old hymn we used to sing growing up, I think probably from the Heavenly Highways hymnal, at that country church in El Paso. It's taken directly from:

2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV): "I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

2 Tim. 1:12 (ISV): "I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I'm convinced that he is able to protect what he has entrusted to me until the day that he comes."

And here's the hymn text of I Know Whom I Have Believed, by Daniel W. Whittle:

1. I know not why God's wondrous grace
to me he hath made known,
nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
redeemed me for his own.

Refrain:
 But I know whom I have believed, 
 and am persuaded that he is able 
 to keep that which I've committed
 unto him against that day. 

2. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart,
nor how believing in his word
wrought peace within my heart.

3. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing us of sin,
revealing Jesus through the word,
creating faith in him.

4. I know not when my Lord may come,
at night or noonday fair,
nor if I'll walk the vale with him,
or meet him in the air.

 But I know whom I have believed, 
 and am persuaded that he is able 
 to keep that which I've committed
 unto him against that day. 

Emergent/C - An Invitation from Karen Sloan

Hey friends! I received this in an email from a friend who knows of my interest in intentional community. I thought I would post it here for those who are also interested. Grace and peace...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Formation House:
a place for folks considering intentional community

By Karen Sloan

In conversations about the church emerging some participants have an inescapable tug to life in community, for purposes of announcing the Kingdom of God is near. But there is often a gaping hole between folks' visions and sustainable lived reality. I was one of these people. Then, six months ago, a few week stay in Pittsburgh led into a structured commitment of intentional community training, which I am excited to invite others to join me in.

As the author of Flirting with Monasticism: Finding God on Ancient Paths, I have met countless people seeking ways to embody missional faith in intentional communities. And my ears have perked up when Emergent leaders validate this part of emerging Christianity (see quotes below). Yet, after a multi-year search of knocking on community doors, I failed in finding long-term new monastic training.

What I gained was a number of formative pieces, which equip me for living out a blend of prayer and work with a community. Now in God's unexpected ways I find myself organizing a foundational year, for others to become leaders with intentional Christian communities, sharing rhythms of prayer and work: Formation House.

A hope of the diverse team working to get this dream launched in the next six months is to serve monastic stirrings within friends of Emergent Village. If you are this flavor of emergence, it would be a joy to have you check out the information on our website and consider applying to enter an annual cycle (and perhaps join our facebook page?). A key distinctive for participants in Formation House is not only sharing daily rhythms of prayer and work, but also receiving substantial support through a growth process of becoming a well-formed intentional community member.

Apply now for this year's cycle beginning at the end of August!

Pray. Work. Grow.

Phyllis Tickle: "I don't think anybody knows exactly where the Great Emergence is going, much less where the Christianity, emerging/emergent, coming out of it is going to go exactly, but there are some contours that are clearly visible right now and can be described. ... It is definitely communal, even to point that about a quarter of it is probably engaged in a form of monasticism."

Brian McLaren: "What's needed is a profound reorganization of our way of life, not a squeeze- another-hour-for-'community' into the week. ... I expect that this thirst for community will lead to a lot of experimentation in the years ahead. Perhaps many of our churches will become more like Catholic churches in the past, where the ideal parish had a few households where monks or nuns lived in community, practicing radical hospitality that would overflow to the community at large."

This week's TheOoze.TV segment is an interview with Karen all about flirting with monasticism, living in intentional communities, and Formation House.

Karen Sloan is a PC(USA) minister and an Emergent leader. She often hosts conversations about monastic life and leads groups in ancient practices like the Liturgy of the Hours.

Upcoming Events: 2009 Emergent Village Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann

email: newsletter@emergentvillage.com
web: http://www.emergentvillage.com

Emergent Village | P.O. Box 390104 | Minneapolis | MN | 55439-0104

The Long Way Home

Well I stumbled in the darkness
I'm lost and alone
Though I said I'd go before us
And show the way back home
Is there a light up ahead
I can't hold onto very long
Forgive me pretty baby but I always take the long way home

Money's just something you throw
Off the back of a train
Got a handful of lightning
A hat full of rain
And I know that I said I'd never do it again
And I love you pretty baby but I always take the long way home

I put food on the table
And roof overhead
But I'd trade it all tomorrow
For The highway instead
Watch your back if I should tell you love's the only thing I've ever known
One thing for sure pretty baby I always take the long way home

You know I love you baby
More than the whole wide world
I'm your woman
You know you are my pearl
Let's go out past the party lights
We can finally be alone
Come with me and we can take the long way home
Come with me, together we can take the long way home
Come with me, together we can take the long way home

Knowing

I'm in a Lucinda Williams mood lately, and truth be told, often. I just love her voice and her songwriting ability. And I can think when I listen to her.

The Accepting

By Me, April 18, 2009

You are the answer to my loneliness
But you elude my touch, my eyes, my ears
I can't hold you
I can't look at you
I can't listen to you

But you can hold me (up)
You can see (all of) me
You hear my (unformed) thoughts

I rest in the utter fullness of
The knowing of me and
The accepting