Call and Response

This morning I worked at the ICMma Prayer Breakfast featuring Marion Wright Edelman. Her speech was very inspiring. But I worked full days on Monday and Tuesday in addition to classes and reading, and had to get up at 5 this morning to be downtown by 6 to set up, stayed there until 10 AM, and am totally beat.

I fell asleep while studying at lunchtime and was 5 minutes late to class, so I missed a quiz. He drops the lowest three, though, and I have been making 100s. I was so disoriented due to fatigue, though, that I didn't even know I was late until I got there and heard him talking as I walked down the hall toward my class. In my mind, the class started at 1:30, and I was early, even though all these weeks it had started at 1:00. It was almost like I was still dreaming. Very strange. I hope I can catch up on my sleep tonight.

We've been to Virginia Highland Church about 4 times now, and can't seem to get up the energy to go anywhere else right now. It is very comforting as far as the people and liturgy is concerned. We tell them how we will be visiting other churches because I need to see different denominations and worship styles as a seminarian, according to my professors and classmates, so hopefully they understand we will not quite be "regulars" for a while. I would like to find a church we feel at home in by Christmas season if possible, but I don't want to rush things either. It is hard to navigate this church hunting thing, both logistically and emotionally. It's so much like dating, searching for "the one" without jumping in to deep commitments too fast, but wanting to spend enough time with one to see if they are "it" yet not too much so deep commitment doesn't occur. I've always been more of the going with my gut type, which actually did serve me well in finding my husband, but I'm trying to follow everyone's advice this time and not go too fast.

All three of us outside our apartment when we got back! We were very tired! 

Behind us is the play area for kids, where they can run around a base, and stand on a play pitchers mound. They just ran and ran. There was a line to run those bases the whole time we were there. Also behind us is the giant coca cola bottle made out of baseball equipment and the cannons, both of which shoot fireworks, so it was fun to be that close to the fireworks every time there was a home run! 

Me and our new friend Hyun Ho from our apartment complex. 

But we had a great view of the field. You could actually see much better than you can tell in this picture-I could follow all the action and we couldn't even hear the announcers from where we were. 

We were up pretty high-Standing Room Only! 

Turner Field before the game-Great drum line! 

Today for my birthday, we went and shopped and walked around Little Five Points, this quirky neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta. It was so fun, and I got some sunglasses ($5) and some earrings ($6) so they have some great deals. We had some pizza at a place I used to go a lot called...little 5 points pizza! And it was still great pizza and a fun atmosphere. I loved it. Jim was so sweet to go in all those stores with me to look at clothes, shoes, and earrings, and we went in some record stores too, for both of us.

Then we went to Target, and I got some new shoes that are really comfortable, kind of like knockoffs of the Clarks I saw at Abbadabba's in Little Five for $129, only the ones at Target were only $25 each. They won't last as long, but I like new shoes every year or so anyway, to keep up with style at least somewhat, and prevent wearing tired looking shoes around just because they're so comfortable. Target shoes tend to last about a year for me, maybe less now that I'm walking more. We'll see. I didn't find the bookshelf or bathroom cabinet I was looking for, though. I will check a few other Targets and then if I have to, order them online. I really wanted to look at them in person, though.

All in all, a fun birthday so far. It made me feel young and fun and hip, and we're going to the Braves game tonight, so the fun's not over yet!

Went to South Georgia this weekend. Stayed at the lake. Saw all my grandparents, Jim's parents, and my Dad. It was fun, but we are worn slap out, and we came back pretty early today. I just took a long nap. Now I need to start studying.

I totally forgot to blog.

School=Crazy Busy.

Starting to settle down a little and lots of cool stuff to post, maybe by next week I'll catch up.

Nice Saturday at home, got some shopping done.

This evening we went to hear Cindy Sheehan at a very inspiring rally. It was great to see 400 people in a church listening to a program about peace. The Gold Star Families and Iraq Veterans against the War were hard to listen to, as well as Cindy. I found myself crying several times. Some black preachers spoke and really put a fine point on the connections between War, poverty, Katrina. This is the kind of truth-telling that so many people have no ears to hear. All the talk about "why didn't people evacuate?" [with no cars or money] is proof that so many folks don't get it. Maybe they never will. But I have hope that if the truth keeps being proclaimed, loudly and with no inhibition, the tide in this country has to turn.

TGIF. Didn't have to be at campus until 11.

Bus screwed me over again by taking us to next stop, stopping for 10 minutes, then having us get on the next bus that came along. Why didn't he just say, hey, wait for the next one, because I'm not going past the next stop and you'll have to get on it anyway?

Late for meeting with boss. Explained about buses, he seemed to understand.

Decided I will walk to school slowly between 7 and 8 every morning Tuesday through Friday and just set up shop in a cubicle at the library over there from then until 3 or 4, then catch a bus home. Sort of like going to the office. Should eliminate bus stress.

Had a good class with funny OT professor.

Bus worked correctly on the way home. TGIF

Completed reading for today at 1:00 AM this morning. Slept late due to dead battery on alarm. Missed bus or bus didn't come, not sure. Ran to campus despite bum ankle. One minute late to class, professor was already talking. Mortified. Didn't have to work today, and no chapel service. Ate free hot dog. Waited for bus 50 minutes before it came. Found out one of the two buses on my route had been broken down all day. Had to change buses and wait 10 more minutes on the new bus before it took us home. Finally got home to crash after an hour and 10 minutes in transit. I can walk in 30 but have to walk up a big hill (see aforementioned bum ankle). Bus stress must be eliminated if I am to succeed.

Much better, didn't have to be over there until 11, but bus nonsense screwed me up somewhat. Tres stressful. My Old Testament professor is a real card. He reminds me of my granddad. Enjoyed chapel today as well.

Had dinner tonight with some people we know from south Georgia. That was nice. They have a really nice townhome. He is a senior MDiv student at Candler, and a physician.

I thought it would make our place seem small when we came back, but it still does not seem as small as it is. I hope to learn how to post pictures of it soon, I downloaded the little tool that Blogger recommended, but haven't had time to play with it yet.

Jim is a little stressed out about his job, as students apparently wander the halls all throughout the day. He says it interrupts class when they stroll in late and there is a potential for bad behavior with so many people wandering around. He's been giving tardy reports to them, calling parents, and giving detentions to his late kids to no avail. At some point he will need to talk to the administrators to ask what the next disciplinary step should be. So I'm stressed out right now because he is.

Wow, that was totally overwhelming to a degree I had not anticipated. Going to school full time and working part time on call is very different than working 8:30 to 4:30 5 days a week and taking classes one-at-a-time. I was able to see some of my new acquaintances, so there was a little familiarity in the midst of all the strangeness. The classes were fine, but I kept fighting sleep. Syllabus reading is so boring. But once the material starts, the lack of the morning crisis adrenalin I had become dependent on as a social worker shouldn't be so much of a problem. I enjoyed the chapel service and sang in the choir, but even during the sermon I had trouble staying awake and engaged and I was on the front row, right in front of the Dean. How embarrassing! I am going to love my new job, but the unscheduled hours, stop by my office when you're free and I might be there, not knowing how much work I will have to do, having to do the work at home while Jim is talking to me and and watching the Braves, is frazzling me so much. That is something else I didn't anticipate, but the professor I am working for is preparing for the big event with Marion Wright Edelman in September and things are supposed to quiet down after that, thank goodness. No homework tonight. I am just going to veg out.

Great article on the call to be a modern-day prophet. This is a call I feel pulling me at times, and fight it every step of the way, just as the prophets of old.

"But in my case, God, I am really not qualified...."

"Don't pick me don't pick me don't pick me please don't pick me"

I have pretty much done every possible bit of negotiating with God on this, my favorite bit being where I say, "Okay God, I'll be a truth-teller as long as I can do it by writing books while being a college professor," and God just laughs and laughs.

My husband woke me up this morning with a beautiful gift of spring rolls, krispy kreme donuts, and fresh flowers (roses and pink peruvian lilies, I think). He said it was because tomorrow is my first day of school. What a sweetie!

Typed a long post about the Braves game. Eaten by Blogger. Summary:

Marta ok.
Marta passengers obnoxious.
Game fun.
New friends fun.
Walk back to Marta long.

Friday was another long day, with an even earlier start at 8:15. I walked and made it in plenty of time. We started this day in Bishops hall, where most of the classes are held. We received an introduction to the MDiv curriculum and a panel discussion by faculty on the facets Theological Education, focusing mostly on Biblical scholarship. We also heard information on the IT services and the Theology Library, which is the 2nd largest Theology Library in the US. The largest is at Union Seminary in NY.

After lunch, we met with our advising groups, which are also our Contextual Education groups, and our advisor. Dr. Smith is my boss, advisor, and Con. Ed. instructor. I asked him if that was a problem and he said it would be fine. It is a great opportunity to connect with a mentor, because he is a professor of Church and Community, which is my primary area of interest.

Then we met with our denominations. I got to be in the "other" group. I was quite happy there, because my UU tendencies mean I tend to be happier in a very diverse crowd. There were people that were non-denominational, Pentacostal, Apostolic, Brethren, UCC, DOC, and UU. It was fun and I was strongly encouraged, being "undecided" when it comes to denomination, to visit as many churches in the area as possible before getting too involved with any one. Both to see what feels good, bad, and ugly about the different service styles and theologies and to make an informed decision for next year when we have to do our Contextual Education in a church setting. Our faculty host was UCC and resembled Dick Cheney and kept making jokes about it. I thought that I would never get them confused because Dick Cheney can't smile without that crookedness and this guy smiled all the time.

Finally we got to worship. This one was a little harder to get excited about due to the sheer exhaustion of receiving so much information in the last few days. We sang "God is Here" (sequenced by Bob Sorem) from the regular Methodist hymnal, then "O God You Search Me" (sequenced by Bob Sorem) which was printed in the order of service, from some hymnal, not sure which, for the psalm. The preacher was incredible, he is a professor of preaching, and he had us laughing, crying, listening, and although he didn't take his interpretation of the text exactly where I would have taken it, I admired his powerful delivery, one of the best I've ever heard from a white preacher. After the sermon, we had a lovely communion service including the song, "Come and Fill our Hearts," and then closed with "Thuma Mina".

All in all, Orientation was an exhilarating, exhausting, uplifting, humbling, confidence-building, fear-inducing, centering, frazzling experience. But I'll never be a new seminarian again, and I am so grateful to have been a part of this week's activities, which I will remember the rest of my life.

OK, when I left off, I was describing the chapel that was the site of our first day of Orientation. The program began with some corporate singing, with no hymnals, no printed words, and the leader, the Dean of Worship and Music, lined out the songs. Now, if you had never been to a Christian church, ever, you might have been lost, but they were familiar songs, with a gospel, clap on 2 and 4, kind of beat. "Lord I Want to be a Christian in my Heart," "Bless the Lord, O My Soul," etc. It was a great way to start the day.

The Welcome and Introductions followed and then we worshipped. It was a lovely, reflective service, with several responsive readings, a sung response to the psalm, and many hymns. Most were from the new Methodist Hymnal Supplement, called The Faith We Sing. The first was called "The Summons" (sequenced by Bob Sorem), then we sang "Jesu Tawa Pano" (which we would sing often throughout the day), then "Lead Me, Guide Me", apparently an Elvis gospel number, judging by the only midi I was able to find (I was not aware). A sermon by Dr. Teresa Fry Brown was amazing, she is an incredible preacher! Then we closed with "A Charge to Keep I Have," which seemed like an appropriate tune to start our seminary careers.

The rest of the day mainly consisted of introductions to various seminary faculty and staff, student groups, and a plenary session by several faculty members about "The City of Atlanta and the King Legacy as Context for Theological Education" followed by a field trip to the King Center with a short dialogue between several more faculty members on "The Vocation of the Public Theologian" afterwards. Then I went to practice with the choir for the Convocation on Tuesday and met Jim outside after that to attend the BBQ for new students and their families. I met so many people during the day I can't even comprehend it, really. Had to be at least 50 that I introduced myself to but of course I can only remember the names of about 10. After the BBQ we went home and worried a little more about the gas situation, but mostly I just fell in a heap in front of the tv due to sheer exhaustion.

What a week! The hurricane tragedy continues to preoccupy my mind when I'm at home, but I have been so busy that I haven't been at home very much.

Wednesday was a much needed day of rest, but of course I couldn't turn away from the news coverage of the people waiting in New Orleans to be rescued. Wednesday night Jim and I went to a dinner for residents of the Theology School housing where we are living. It was nice to see all the other new residents, and talk with some further that I had already met. It was too short to really meet people, though. After that, we went to get Jim a haircut and try to get some gas. I had heard about gas prices shooting up and gas lines after lunch on Wednesday, but we didn't realize some stations would already be out of gas. We only found one station pumping and the lines were enormous. We gave up and Jim had to drive my car, which has no A/C, to work for the next two days. That experience was very stressful, and so I went to sleep the night before Orientation with a lot on my mind.

Thursday morning I tried to walk over in time for Morning Prayer at 7:30, but there was a lot more traffic, so I had to wait longer to cross the street and was late. I sat and enjoyed the early morning cool for a while instead, then took a few minutes for private meditation in the tiny prayer chapel at the seminary. The official Orientation sessions began at 9:00 in the big chapel, which is also the campus chapel for the whole University. I had attended a labyrinth and a tour there earlier in the week, and it is a very modern, but very architecturally beautiful space. It is stark, with soaring ceilings filled with windows. It is designed to resemble a train station, with seating in different areas at different levels, which taken together forms a spiral towards the altar. I normally prefer more traditional church architecture, but this chapel has a definite presence which seems to center you and bring you to attention when you walk through the doors, similar to more ornate sanctuaries I have experienced.

More about that later, gotta run....