A Busy Week

Where did the week of Thanksgiving go? Wow that was fast.

It was a busy one, yet incredibly enjoyable to have the week of from homework. It didn't take long to fall into the habit of sitting and relaxing in the evening over the course of this week, but alas, that time has passed as last night I found myself starting up my reading for the week. 2 weeks to go Scott, 2 weeks to go.

There were several highlights to my week off from school (though alas, not from work). The first one occurred on Tuesday when I traveled to the radio station to be recorded. The local churches in the area will each record a short little blurb about "the reason for the season," aka Jesus. This year my partner pastor asked me to do it as a bit of my contextual work and I figured it would be doable.

I was surprised at how long it took to prep a 2 minute blurb, but in the end it worked out pretty well. So Tuesday I headed off to the radio station to do the recording. I ended up standing in the lobby longer than it took to make the recording. The lady at the station told me that they would start running the different recordings periodically from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Now 4 days after Thanksgiving, I haven't heard myself yet, or any of them for that matter, but I remain hopeful that one of these days I'll hear my voice coming out of the radio.

The next great thing about this week is the impact on work. I got off early on Wednesday, leaving about 1 instead of 4:30 like normal, which made for a nice short day at work. Then I had Thursday off and then Friday we wrapped up and left about 12:30, so it was another nice short day. It also made the day feel like Saturday, so the weekend itself seemed longer than normal, even though I did work on Friday. So that was a plus.

The other great thing...2 Thanksgiving feasts. The benefit of being married and having celebrations on different days. If I've never mentioned it, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I'm an eater so it's right up my alley. A highlight was hanging out with my brother, who is actually the closest of my family members yet I don't manage to see him a whole lot. We decided to also get together for supper over this past weekend with our families. The kids played together and the adults watched the newly released DVD of Star Trek. An exciting conclusion to the holiday weekend.

But now, its back to to normal. Work and homework, at least for a couple weeks.

Lord of all Hopefulness

I had a chance to sing with an awesome band Sunday night at Easter Lutheran Church in Eagan. I've been humming this song all day...so thankful God is with us throughout the break, noon, eve, and end of our days!

my side project // Generate Magazine

For the past year I've been heavily involved in a project that aimed to create a print magazine (I know crazy, right?) that is an artifact of a growing conversation among Christians from all traditions about the shifting nature of what it means to be the Church in the 21st century. We see the future of the Church in future filled with kingdom hope — we think its both here right now and yet to come.

In October, we released the inaugural issue of GENERATE Magazine at a gathering in Minneapolis and it was there that Paul Soupiset, Makeesha Fisher and myself sat down with Spencer Burke of TheOoze.TV and recorded the follow episode of Think Forward. — enjoy and subscribe to GENERATE today ;)






And in case you just can't get enough, Makeesha did a live interview on Doug Padgitt Radio (locally here in the Twin Cities on 950 AM KTNF) and you can LISTEN HERE.

Holiday theater goodness!

For the last few years, my mother-in-law has been purchasing mixed season tickets for the Children’s Theatre Company. Between the five grandkids, she will pick through the annual offerings and take the kids to plays they will like (in one season, the five grandkids will most likely not see all the same plays). Sometimes she will get extra tickets and the kids can bring friends.

For the last few years, my mother-in-law has started getting tickets for all of us to the theater’s Christmas show. We’ve seen “Aladdin, Jr.,” “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Today was our annual trek to the Children’s Theatre where all 11 of us saw the holiday performance of “Cinderella.” I have a three-word review: Best. Show. EVER. My 13-year-old son was complaining all weekend about seeing a “girl play” and I think he laughed the hardest of all of us. Two-thumbs up from everyone in the group. (This is a performance that requires audience participation which is a lot of fun!)

If you haven’t had a chance to see a play at the Children’s Theatre Company, this production would be a perfect introduction. This particular show is rated for “all ages” so you don’t necessarily need children to attend (though there are plenty of them there!). If you would feel better with kids, though, find someone on campus and borrow their children (my kids all want to see it again!). The wicked stepmother and step-sisters steal the show. They talk to the audience and the orchestra. It was laugh-out-loud goodness.

Make sure to check out some of the other shows this season, as well. They have shows aimed at all ages and each show will tell you the recommended age (My husband and I will be going to see “Mr. McGee and the Biting Flea” with the four youngest grandkids). I could go on and on about the amazing productions from the Children’s Theatre, but instead I suggest you visit yourself. While this is theater aimed at children, it is by no means a childish production. It is top-notch in both the quality of the production and the quality of actors.

Learn more about the theater at www.childrenstheatre.org

American Swedish Institute

In case you haven't noticed, I like going to museums from time to time here in the cities. There are more than I even know about! I know I've pushed museum passes from the library before, but here's another reminder: if you want to go to any museum--go to the library and check out a FREE museum pass. It can save you up to $10 per person to get into museums! (well, that's the most I've seen a museum cost so far). Last week we hit up the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. It was all decked out for the holidays, and a lovely site to see. Unfortunately, because there are so many priceless pieces of art in there, they don't allow anyone to take photos inside the museum (insert sad aww here). So, we took one outside, and I obeyed while inside. It was still pretty cool to go inside the mansion and see the fine woodwork, porcelain stoves, ceilings, staircases, and art! AWESOME!

Thanksgiving Video Message

Live from the kitchen of Rev. Russell Rathbun, pastor at House of Mercy and a good friend.

ThxGivin' 09 from Tim Snyder on Vimeo.

abiding in the woods

Not sure if everyone at Luther knows about the awesome woods behind Stub Hall/LDR. I LOVE IT BACK THERE! If you're ever looking for a place to abide for a while, listen to God, squirrel & deer watch, or just plain go for a nature walk, that's your spot within the city to take it all in! It's absolutely beautiful, peaceful, and quiet. Kevin and I went out to take pictures back in the woods (he's helping me with a wedding tomorrow, so I wanted to teach him a few new tricks). Here are some of the fun shots we took in the best place in town:

Thanksgiving 09

Once again, I tried today to explain to my parents in Africa what "Thanksgiving" is. Just as we have done in the past years, we agreed that they have no reference point to understand why one particular Thursday in November is elevated above all the others to be that special day when families get together to give thanks. While it is understandable that families ought to get together, which is commonplace in their culture, they did not understand the fact that it has to be on the specified Thanksgiving Day that this takes place, with special food, and only once a year. When I told them that it was expected that some 40 million people will be travelling to spend time with their families, it became even harder for them to comprehend. 40 million people is three times the population of Malawi! (And Malawi is the size on Pennsylvania).

I succeeded in staying away from talking about this Black Friday phenomenon, partly because this is one thing that I have not experienced yet. (I look forward to finishing this post so I can drive around to see the queues outside shops).

However, I do not blame my parents for not understanding. I do not even think they need to understand. There are many things in their culture that my colleagues here would not understand. And this drives me to my point. I am thankful to be able to experience Thanksgiving here even though I dont fully understand what it is, which makes it even more fun. Jokingly, I have suggested to some of my friends to try some exotic meal for Thanksgiving one year. They all can not imagine it!

Each year, some friend has come up to take us to their family for the turkey. This year, a friend I just made at church picked us up to join her family celebrating the day. Without a doubt, it was an awesome experience. The food, the jokes, the kids running around and screaming, the card games, it was a great day. It made me wish every Sunday was a Thanksgiving day. This would be closer to what my parents have in mind, which is possible when the family is not scattered across many states like many families here. But it also different in that for them, such an event is not family oriented. It is community oriented since naturally, in their culture, communities get together ever so often to share bread and share life. Anyway, they will get it some day.

Well, let me rush for my first Black Friday experience!

name this character:

Kevin and I went to his Grandma Joan and Grandpa Jim's house in Grantsburg, WI for Thanksgiving today. You know the song, "Over the river and through the woods?" Yeah, it totally applies to this grandma! We got to go outside for an adventure hike, but had to wear orange since hunters were out prowling. Scary. I climbed into my first tree stand ever. Kevin found an adorable pom to play with named "Boots." Needless to say, we had a great time with family, and even played dress up in the afternoon. Here's what Grandma got out of the closet to give me this weekend: who am I?

Preparing for J-Term

One of the best things about being a student at Luther Seminary is JTerm. My undergraduate university didn't have this interlude of a semester, but it's freaking brilliant. Today I'm spending the day preparring for my J-Term...

Jan. 4-15 // London & Northern England
Independent Study: "Mission & Leadership in Context: A Case Study of Alternative Worship in the UK" with Prof. Chris Scharen

I'll spend 10 days in the UK visiting with community leaders and participating in worship gatherings out of the alt. worship scene. My central question: how do we improvise with tradition? (detail forthcoming)

Jan. 16-29 // Tel Aviv, Jerusalem & the Holy Land Cross Cultural Experience
A study of the culture and prayers of the people who live in the Holy Land. I'll be there with Prof. Gary Simpson and a group of Luther Students. (more later...)

So today, I'm prepping my independent study. I'm emailing leaders I'll meet with in the UK and solidifying our meet-ups, booking trains and hostels, and finally doing some prep reading. For the course reading I'm exploring some non-tradition literature for a seminary course. I'm reading into ethnography as a research method and all the while reading two texts on the art of jazz improvisation. My favorite quote so far...

There was something about the rhythm of jazz that I equated exactly with the gospel. I mean, the way we used to sing and clap our hands in church was just like the jazz drummer playing cymbals. It was the same swing feeling.

                   - Carmen Lundy, quoted by Peter Townsend, Jazz in American Culture

Enrollment Update

Yesterday, I slept in because I could. This week we're on break and I frankly need it. I then headed over to Northwestern Hall to listen in to a special celebration and enrollment update. Patricia Lull, Dean of Students, used the opportunity to explain how Luther Seminary thinks about its enrollment, who's a part of that and what would we like to see happen. The most surprising thing I found out was that apparently I'm on the Enrollment Team at Luther Seminary. Yeah...it surprised me too. That's because Luther sees enrollment not as a task to be done by special group of staff, but its the responsibility of our faculty, staff and students. So this means hospitality in that radical sense of being a welcoming community that despite our (relatively) large size we really work hard to think about who else should be a part of this? Who's missing?

Why am I writting about this?

Well, I think its a really telling part of the Luther Seminary community that a vital lifeline of our life together — enrollment (with out which we would be...) — is seen as a shared responsibility of the whole community. We all do hospitality. We are all part of what kind of culture gets created both on campus and trans-locally in our distributed learning programs. We create the vibe we experience here. I'd say even though there's always more to be hoped for...this "community" thing is hard work and for a place like this, a liminal place like a seminary we do a pretty darn good jump of creating an open environment where things like hospitality, innovation and community can happen. The good news is that our experience with prospective student visits backs this up. When students visit campus, they almost always come.

update

It's Tuesday, and the only thing I've finished is a 300 word response for Holy Spirit. All I want to do is sleep this week. Afterall, it's Thanksgiving BREAK, not Thanksgiving WORK! Is anyone else feeling this way?

Thank you

My son’s first Thanksgiving was 13 years ago. My husband, Paul, was in North Dakota (where we had lived for two years) while I back in Minneapolis for a new job. Our entire family had driven through very cold, snowy weather to have our first Thanksgiving dinner with Paul who wasn’t able to join us in the cities. Because there were so many people, my husband had purchased a HUGE turkey. We still have the picture of our chubby two-month-old baby next to the 23-pound turkey. That Thanksgiving we started a tradition we still do today: For our meal-time prayer, everyone went around the table and shared one thing they were thankful for that year (a lot of them had to do with the chubby baby at the table. He was the first grandchild on both sides).

We still say a prayer of thanks at the Thanksgiving dinner table, but in the 13 years since my son’s birth I have had to teach myself to say “thank you” to other people as well. We don’t realize how often we forget those two little words until you have a toddler watching you. It’s humbling the number of times I have been observed by a pair of bright blue or dark brown eyes when I ask my husband to get me something and don’t say “thank you.”

Since beginning my work in ministry, I have seen how important it is to send a short, hand-written thank you note. The first time I sent the notes (to my Vacation Bible School volunteers), I knew the notes had been received during the week because that Sunday, just about every person I sent a note to found me, gave me a hug and thanked me for the note. Now I try to make sure to send notes on a regular basis. I will even sent notes on a weird times to the Sunday School teachers. One Sunday is not enough to thank them for what they do all year!

When my husband and I went to Stillwater in October for our anniversary, I found a wonderful little paper shop on Main Street. I went in with one purpose: to leave with beautiful thank you cards. I found a beautiful set of deep purple note cards with silver foil on them. I haven’t had a chance to use them yet, but I’m thinking that Saturday, when I’m avoiding the malls and digesting all of the food from the family visits on Thursday and Friday, I might have to pull out the cards and send people thank you notes.

More important, I want to make sure to say “thank you” to those people who mean a lot to me. And since I have the forum, I’d like to give a shout out to my own husband. Thank you Paul. Without you supporting me, I could not do this work. God called me, you support me.

Rebuttal // Kennedy Barred from Communion

Yesterday, CNN released this article on Patrick Kennedy being barred from Holy Communion by Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, RI.

When I was in junior high, our Lutheran pastor refused communion to my mom because she chose the wrong Sunday School curriculum. "Wrong" meant that it wasn't published by the denomination's publishing house. The reasons for both these refusals are ultimately the same...someone didn't "behave properly" and so they were punished. Wow, I'm glad remembering Jesus's death and resurrection has been reduced to behavior modification.

Because I know that what Christians say publicly (whether they have a forum for it like a bishop's office or a blog like this one) matters, I want to give a rebuttal to Bishop Tobin. Thankfully, he does not represent the entire family of Christianity and his actions are not the final word. Communion is a gift. In a society which is based on economic terms — both trading and exploitation — gift giving is not something that fits well into the American value system and I understand this. But here's the deal...barring someone from communion doesn't exactly encourage healthy relationships. Historically, of course, this political warfare through the sacraments haven't worked out well. Often times it has serious implications and it rarely achieves the desired behavior outcome. So if it doesn't work, it creates more pain that anything and it often ends relationships, then why bother? 



What's interesting to me about this is that it speaks to a broader question about how do we relate to each other in the church when we have real differences. We believe (and so our actions follow) some very different things and yet there is still one, holy catholic and apostolic church. The ELCA understands this tension well at the moment. What's a helpful alternative to this kind relating? Maybe we give gifts...what kind of gift would I give someone who I differ with profoundly concerning sexuality? Yeah, I don't know...




any ideas?

Taste of the Global Church again

On Friday, many of us came together again to taste the fruits of the global church again. This time, it was the Tanzanian church, especially the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania that we were invited to taste. Faith Lugazia, a finishing PhD student from Tanzania took us through some of the findings of her research on the impact of neo-Pentecostalism on the Lutheran church in Tanzania. She has rightly observes that Pentecostalism, in its many forms, is shaping and reshaping global Christianity, with noticeable results in the non-Western world; South America, Africa and Asia. In Africa, the situation is made even more interesting when we factor in the African Initiated Churches, some of which could be counted among neo-Pentecostals. While neo-Pentecostal membership accounts for almost 25 percent of African Christians, with an even larger base of affiliates and adherents, it should be no surprise that they are indeed influencing the Christian landscape on the continent.

The observations that Faith makes deserve a larger audience. The influence of the neo-Pentecostals that she has studied in Tanzania does not end in Tanzania. Believe you me, there are Tanzanian churches in the Twin Cities, and they too are influenced. Not to mention the many other African Pentecostal Churches in the Twin Cities; Liberian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, etc. As a matter of fact, with over 600 million Pentecostals worldwide, we can comfortably say that on a global scale, one in every four Christians is a Pentecostal. What does this mean? "We cannot keep on ignoring them anymore. We must engage with them. While we recognize the loopholes in Pentecostal theology, (and they recognize the loopholes in other theologies: every theology has a blind spot), demonizing them deprives us of some learning opportunities." Yes, Faith is delighted that these opportunities of teachable moments are bearing much fruits in Tanzania. Intentional conversations are beginning to take place between mainline theologians and the neo-Pentecostals.

As such, Faith’s research, and others that follow provide us with tools to combat the fear that screams “The Pentecostals are upon us!” (Every time I hear that, I wish I could say, “It is the Spirit, stupid.” But you know, I cannot. I am a seminarian). Respectful engagement is the beginning of understanding the "other." I guess that is what Martin Luther would do if he lived in Tanzania in the 21st century. As an African charismatic and scholar myself, I actually think, the sooner you engage the African Pentecostals, the better. The problem (or blessing) is that they are no longer limited to Africa alone. They are here in your cities. They may actually go to the churches that you will serve.

RLP

For those of you seniors out there planning on spring placement, how's the RLP coming? Wow...what a document! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the RLP (rostered leader profile) is basically a 20 page document/interview sheet/resume/? that goes out to bishops to consider you for their synod. It's due December 1, and let me just say it has a long ways to go! My goal is to get it done on Thanksgiving break, along with about 100 other things--we'll see how productive this week ends up being!

An Early Morning Encounter

So I'm sitting here with my kids, just waiting for it to be time to head out to church. For some reason, they thought it was a good idea to watch the Spanish version of Seasame Street. That's a little strange, but okay.

Today is a big day at my church. We are having a celebration and ground breaking for our new education wing. Due to that, my wife is on duty along with the youth for the meal after church today. They are having maid-rites or taverns or sloppy joes, whatever you chose to call them. They actually prepared the meat on Thursday in big roaster pans and left it in the fridge at church.

Last night my wife started getting nervous that the meat wouldn'twarm up fast enough, so she wanted to get the pans out of the fridge early this morning. They are too heavy for her to lift so she asked me to go out about 6:30 this morning. Not something I was super keen to do, but it wasn't the end of the world. I was awake anyway, although just barely.

I headed out the church, and not surprisingly, I was the only one there. Everything was dark and shadowy. For reference, the church stands just outside of town and so is pretty much by itself just off the highway. I fully expected to be by myself while I was there.

So I parked out front and headed inside, making my way through the dark fellowship hall into the kitchen. It took me about 30 seconds to pull out the pans and place them in the roasters. AS I was walking back out again, I thought I'd swing into the bathroom.

I should add a side note. This whole time (since I'd left the house) I'd been reciting the sermon on the mount in my early morning-just got up-gruff-very non Scott like voice.

As I was in the bathroom, my partner paster arrived at the church. I came walking out of the bathroom talking in my gruff voice and I hear "Good morning."

I recognized his voice right away, but I imagine that he had no idea who I was. It was pretty dark in the church so I was just a shadowy shape to him. I looked around trying to find where he was and then spotted him walking up the side hallway. I started walking towards him and heard "Who else is here on this early morning?"

"Morning Bob, its just Scott."

I explained why I was there and we had a laugh about it, but I can imagine he was a little on the freaked out side to see someone walking around in the dark at 6:45 in the morning.

"Well, I'm glad it was you, and not someone else. I'll see you in a couple hours Scott."

And then I headed for home again.

An interesting start to the day to say the least.

family photo day

I know there are a lot of people who cringe at the sound of "family photo day," but for me it's one of the most fun days of the year. Setting up the shot, trying to get good smiles from the kids, photoshopping some head-swaps once I get it the picture! It's great fun. Here's the product of our early-Thanksgiving celebration shot!

chocolate in class

Two different people brought treats to class today. 1. chocolate cupcakes for Kate's birthday to our John precept (thank you Kristin), and 2. Natasha brought a bag full of chocolate/fruity treats to our Ethics II class. Sometimes food is needed to stay awake!

Next week is Thanksgiving! A whole week to get homework done! Woo-hoo!

It's hard to believe there are only 4 weeks left in this semester. Where has the school year gone? Papers are coming due, paperwork and form deadlines are nearing, tests have been issued. December 18 cannot come soon enough!! A word to my fellow students: Hang in there!

city spotlight // the music scene

Luther Seminary is located virtually in between the Twin Cities and so there are incredible opportunities to see the cities. Matter of fact, its kind of weird to do this seminary thing without getting out into the city that defines so much of the culture surrounding us. Let's be honest, seminaries are bubbles and we need to break out. My suggestion to you: dive into the local music scene...

There's a rich history and a vibrant active music scene right here in the Twin Cities. I can't even begin to cover enough ground in a blog post and still maintain the mini-skirt rule (long enough to cover the material, short enough to keep it interesting). But here's two groups you should check out and one incredible club.

Meet My Friend Heatherlyn...

a singer-songwriter and a passionate advocate for social justice. Heatherlyn's music is acoustic folk with stunning vocals often paired with hand drum goodness and luscious cello. Her debut album is a fantastic intro to her work, passion and style. Visit her at www.heatherlynmusic.com
// word on the street (not public yet) is that Heatherlyn will be on campus for a special house concert in December.

listen | watch | shows


MUST SEE: We Are The Willows

I regularly worship with the good folks at House of Mercy (btw, you should come...its not that bad) and every Sunday we have artists from the community. Its always incredible stuff. This past Sunday was particularly good -- We Are the Willows. With roots in the Eau Claire music scene, Peter Miller is an inde rock artist who's textured sounds will do wonders for your soul. So there...now dive in: // two CD Release shows this weekend!

listen | watch | shows | photos

GO! to The Dakota!

It doesn't really matter if you like jazz or not, The Dakota Jazz Club is infamous and the music there is always so good that you'll be converted. It's cool, just think of it as reverse musical evangelism. Yeah, you know like you're getting evangelized into coolness while there. Serious, my friend Dave Hahn (a PhD student here at Luther) and I have been twice now and seen two of the best jazz acts in the counry: Marcus Roberts Trio and Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Sure you'll spend a little bit more than a Blockbuster night but its special experience so get dressed up, grab friends and enjoy -- I promise, you'll love it.

A Micro Date

During the school year, we tend to have a Wednesday evening ritual at my house. Have supper together, then the kids get their baths early and then we take them down the street to my in-law's house. They spend the evening there while my wife and I are both busy with church night activities.

That's the normal gig. Last night was just a touch different.

We still planned on having the kids head down to their house, but the in-laws had plans to go get groceries in the late afternoon. They said that was fine, but that they'd just take the kids along with them to the store.

I still sitting at work at about 4:15 when I got a text from my wife. It simply said "We are without kids."

Nice. I guess they decide to leave for the store really early.

Neither of us needed to be to the church until about 6:30, so we thought we would take advantage and have a little date night. Maybe it would be better for me to call it a micro-date as we were only out and about for a little over an hour. But it was still nice.

We ended up going to a nice restaurant in the area. Usually when we end up there we have a little wine and enjoy ourselves for awhile, but with church activities we both thought that it would be better to refrain from that. But the food was good, the conversation was nice, and we didn't have to put up with two crazy, easily distracted kids. Always a nice thing.

After that, it was on to church like normal, but hey, a date is a date right?

Pray + Break Bread // Christ Lutheran Capital Hill

You may remember my previous post on Pray + Break Bread, but honestly this practice (its not really an event per se) is just so different that our most recent outing last Friday equally deserves a shout out.

As a recap here's how it works. Students, staff, faculty, friends, whoever gather at 3pm on a Friday afternoon once a month. We head out together and visit with a pastor who speaks to us about the neighborhood their church is located in. She/he tells of the struggles and the celebrations. We pray for that pastor. Then we walk that neighborhood, praying as we go and ending up at some incredible local restaurant in that neighborhood. It's freakin' brilliant.



This month we went to Christ Lutheran - Capital Hill. Pastor Gary Dreier (husband of our very own Prof. Mary Sue Dreier) greeted us and shared. The biggest issue is the construction of the lite rail. While it would provide increased public transportation options, it would also divide several poor neighborhoods and consequently several current bus stops would be discontinued. For those who depend on those stops (an proportional number) the elimination of these stops will be difficult. Christ Lutheran houses several other ministries including the synod offices of St. Paul Metro Synod. You may remember this famous wedding video:

yup. that's Christ Lutheran Capital Hill. now you know.

Read my live tweets from the event: #luthersem.

pre-winter views

The latest look at Luther before winter places a white blanket over the land.

Kindergarden Drama

Last night was my weekly couple's Bible study. My wife and I have been participating in this group for a number of year's now, probably 6 or 7. The membership has changed dramatically over the years, and in it's current rendition, it involves us, my wife's parents, and another couple with kids nearly identical in age to ours.

So last night we met at the in-law's house and the parents met in the family room while the 4 kids (my two and the other couple's two) played in the toy room just off the family room. My kids are well familiar with it as it is Grandma and Grandpa's house. It worked fairly well, though there were instances of one kid walking out of the room crying because something got thrown or someone got pushed or whatever...typical kid stuff.

The interesting thing involved an interaction between my oldest (nearly 6 year old son) and their oldest (recently 6 year old daughter). These two kids have grown up together since they were about 3 and 6 months old respectively. They've played together for years and been best friends the whole time.

Things are starting to change.

Last night she chucked a toy that caught him in the head...much drama ensued. Granted, we weren't in the room when it happened, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that they were both throwing things back and forth and he just happened to get pegged. I could be wrong, but I have my suspicions.

After talking with the kids and starting to see just a tiny touch of animosity between them, we (the parents) came to a realization.

They're starting to get cooties.

I think that's hilarious...but somehow I get the feeling that it's going to be short lived.

When do kids starting dating?

MIA (NOT missing in action)

Have you had a chance to go to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts? My Exercises in Biblical Theology class took a field trip there this weekend and had a chance to see Professor Sarah Heinrich at work at the museum. I was there with my sister and two nieces. (The youngest one was 2, so she was far from attentive as we made our way through the museum). I didn't get to hear everything Sarah said, but enjoyed seeing the museum through the eyes of my 5 year old niece who saw things we missed. She was intrigued by a stone floor room in the Chinese exhibit. She said it was a place to hide from other people. She learned what a "statue" was. When we were at the Mall of America on Sunday, she pointed out the "statues" of farm animals on the kiddie roller coaster. Too cute! She likes to take pictures (just like her Auntie), so my sister gave up her camera and let her document the trip. I can't wait to see what she saw. Lots of awesome art lives in the twin cities. I bet Sarah would be glad to lead another tour for Luther Students, so get a group together and let her know when you want to go! Enjoy art!

GMI's Global Agape Fest

Weekend in progress, so far so good. There has been a lot of excitement in the soccer world today. I took a brief look at the games taking place in Africa, there was a great deal of activity. My national team was walloped again. Not that I expected them to win, but it is just frustrating that they keep on losing.

However, the highlight so far has been the Global Agape Fest, a dinner festival hosted by the Global Mission Institute at the Northwestern Atrium. Once again, this was a great opportunity to catch up with most of the international students. There was some good singing, clapping and even a little dancing. The music was Hispanic. For the African students, soccer talk would naturally take the lead, news from Manchester United down to the England-Brazil and Kenya-Nigeria matches taking place today. I also learned that a spouse of one of the international students has just been diagnosed with cancer, thank God, in its very early stages. (I cant mention the name here, but if you pray, God will know who you are praying for).

I had a chance to share tables with the Dean of Students, Patricia Lull. Following a brief exchange with the students living in House 18, and after being joined by William Obaga, an observation from one of us was made that "this agape fest has the largest number of children than any of the recent years." Indeed, children from all over the world were in attendance. We all agreed with Dean Lull in the faith for job security, when these childrens' generation comes to the seminary in 25 years. This is hopeful. A generation of global future seminarians is here with us!

Senior Preaching Rocks!

Senior Preaching is my favorite class by far. Lecture is usually alright, but today it was awesome. Here are some videos of the super experiential, song filled, Spirit filled class! Well...some people weren't all that into it. Drives me nuts. Oh well...those of us who actually enjoy it get to sing all the louder then! Thanks to our guest singers/teachers/awesome music leaders for the insightful afternoon of learning!

wordle (for now)

I meant to catch up on blogging this week. No luck. I've got some great content coming soon. Until then just know that I got four hours of sleep after several days of Hebrew studying, Moltmann reading/writing. Ugh.

this "wordle" is a visual representation of the "weighted words" from my essay I'll give later today to Prof. Padgett (he's been sick these last few days -- get better soon prof!)

calling all carnies

STEP RIGHT UP LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

The Luther Seminary Circus has come to town!

In the spirit of the thankathon, Seminary Relations hosted carnival games and a dunk tank this afternoon. Karoline Lewis, President Bliese, and Eric Baretto willingly hopped onto the seat and got knocked repeatedly into the tank! It was a riot!

Cotton candy and a community lunch too! What a great day! I hope you didn't miss it!

Nina Bliese taking down her husband!

The shot that sunk Karoline Lewis!!

Ben was the first to put Karoline in the water!

Nice vest, Karoline! :)

The Routine is Starting to Drag

Last night I was in the midst of trying to pick my way through homework for the week. Here in week 10 of the semester my routine is pretty well locked in...Sunday night finish up responsive postings for the previous week and start reading for synoptics class, Monday night finish up reading for synoptics and take the weekly quiz. Tuesday night produce my weekly discussion posting for synoptics. Wednesday night begin reading for pastoral care (depending on how much time is available after getting home from church night activities), Thursday night finish reading for pastoral care and attempt to get that posting done. Friday night, slack off unless the posting's not done yet.

That being said, here in week 10 I also find myself hitting a wall. Classes have been in session for two months now and I'm worn out. So instead of jumping right into work last night (after my young kids, 5 and 3, went to bed), I ended up on facebook.

Side note...I think facebook could be considered the drug of choice for Distributed Learning students. We are on there all the time...Gotta get my facebook fix...gotta get my facebook fix.

But I digress.

Anyways, while on FB, I got into discussions with several of my cohort/classmates. It seems like we're all in the same boat by this point of the semester. Tired from long days and late nights. We work all day, do our class work, stick in contextual work within a congregation, many are doing extended units of cpe. I wonder how we all manage to refrain from going a little gaga.

But somehow we manage.

It also seems to be the feeling of the group, or at least the ones I talked to last night, that we're all looking forward to our next intensive, which is coming up in January. 2 weeks on campus, this time in the snow and freezing cold weather. A year ago we say 35 below zero. But we are all looking forward to it.

Why you may be asking?

Well, it allows us to focus on one thing for a couple weeks. Class...nothing else. Well now, that's not entirely true. We are also focusing as best we can on what's going on at home with our families, but what I mean is that our attention can reside on a single task for a short period.

That and we all get to see each other which only happens twice a year. So that's a plus too.

change + society + story

This past Sunday afternoon I had a brilliant phone conversation with my friend Thomas Knoll and he reminded me of this beautiful quote from Ivan Illich. For those of us trying to improvise between tradition and culture, this can serve as a call to re-focus on what really matters — this is especially true for those of us in mainline Protestant denominations.

How do we practice the art of storytelling in the midst of crisis?
How do we practice the art of storytelling in the midst of disagreements?
How do we practice the art of storytelling in the midst of discontinuous change?
How do we practice the art of storytelling in the midst of learning a new cultural language?
How do we practice the art of storytelling in the midst of building up the community?

TIM K. SNYDER :: creative | editor | networker
www.curatingthejourney.org

Posted via email from curatingthejourney.org/lite

Created and Led by the Spirit

November 6 and 7 of 2009 saw a gathering of over 150 dignified scholars and practitioners of mission and theology at the campus of Luther Seminary for a missional church consultation under the theme "Created and Led by the Spirit: Planting Missional Churches."

It was a landmark conversation, at least from my perspective, in its effort to manage the tension between being academically rigorous and spiritually powerful at the same time. Generally, there has been a watershed between the two. However, in this conference, the two managed to meet in an amazingly sweet way. It was an excellent sight to see the openness of many to the Spirit--something most people agreed would not have happened a generation ago.

All the four plenaries were great. The workshops and break-out sessions were also incredibly resourceful. The mix was even better than most of us expected; the practical aspects of missional church planting, the theological-philosophical aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit, not to mention the cultural mix of the participants. Some of the highlights for me were when I talked to two missionaries from Asia that are now serving in New Jersey. Hearing their views on evangelism and church planting as foreign missionaries trying to work in a multicultural context in the US was really helpful.

I am already looking forward to next year's consultation.

chapel aSISTA!

Yeah, that's cool girl talk for chapel assister. I got to help Jannie Swart in chapel today. He's a PhD student here at Luther finishing up his dissertation. I'm definitely not that cool, which is why I was his assistant. :) He's from South Africa, all about extemporaneous (aka: Spirit filled worship), and no albs. Basically, he's my hero. If you don't get a chance to be in chapel, did you know you can always listen to past days? Just go to www.luthersem.edu/chapel. I haven't been up front in a leadership position since internship, so I was back to the nervous morning ritual, and sick half the day over it. It's so true: the more you do it, the easier it gets!

Lessons in leaf removal

I thought about doing homework today. Really and truly I did. But alas, it was not really meant to be...at least for the most part. I also thought about taking a nap this afternoon, as is my normal Sunday custom. This one really didn't happen.

It's my own fault though. I'll claim it.

Here in northwest Iowa, we have a wonderful (catching the sarcasm yet?) season when all the trees turn beautiful colors (aka really ugly brown) and fall off...all over my lawn. I swear that there is an invisible barrier that separates my back yard from the three adjacent lawns and ever leaf stays in my yard. Actually, the boundaries are caused because I have retired neighbors on all sides. They have the oppurtunity to clean up the leaves during the day when I'm slaving away at work. But that's beside the point.

About a week ago, a pretty fair share of the leaves had dropped, so I went down the street to my in-law's to borrow their mulching mower. That did a pretty good job chopping everything up. Well, fast forward a week and it was time to do the followup leaf cleanup as the trees were pretty much done shedding. I began this process yesterday afternoon.

I had no more than started raking and burning leaves slowly in my fire ring, when my neighbor from across the street (ironically another online seminary student...though not through Luther) came walking over with his leaf blower.

"Here man, this makes it way easier."

Which turned out to be true. I worked on blowing the leaves into very large piles and continuing to burn them (very slowly) until it got too dark to see. I knew that my mission would continue to though, so all was not lost.

Well, I did in fact finish it all up this afternoon, but in doing so, I learned two very important lessons.

Lesson #1. Never mulch leaves before using a leaf blower. Even a week later, the little chopped up leaf pieces are a major pain in the tail to blow around.

Lesson #2. Only applies to my personal situation. Loading the leaves up into the truck and hauling them across town to the dump works much faster than trying to burn them all in very small fire pit. Someone with a large garden or other type of bare ground could burn much large quanities faster, and someone that does not have a truck would have a hard time loading up leaves to haul them.

Lessons learned.

I just wish I'd gotten a nap.

Missional Church Consultation

Incase you missed it, this weekend Luther hosted the Missional Church Consultation. Speakers and missional church folks from all over the country stopped in to teach, learn, and be in dialogue with one another. As a photographer for the communications department, I get to sneak into all the major events on campus whether I'm actually invited or not. I used my new video camera and ran into the event...here's a peek at what the consultation looked like.

Here are a few shots from the event, including the 13 wild turkeys that were sitting on their post ready to welcome people. (No, this is not where the seminary event planning $$ go...they showed up on their own)!!

A funny situation followed up by a serious one

Today I had the oppurtunity to go with my pastor on a home visitation. Two things happened. One was very moving, and the other was just funny.

On the way to the home of the couple, we (my pastor and I) pulled up to an intersection. As we stopped, we both noticed something smeared out on the road in front of us. We were not able to identify what the substance was, only that it was a strange brownish-yellow (I'll let your imagination take that one). As we sat there trying to figure out just what we were looking at, my pastor asked "Is that [insert the proper colorful word here]?" Then he said "I sure hope not." I looked the direction he was looking and a car was very slowly spinning its wheels through a very large amount of the mystery substance. Needless to say it was spraying all over the car. I really hope that the driver was taking a trip to the carwash.

For the record...I think it was a spill of used cooking oil...but I'm not sure.

Now onto the serious side of this.

The visitation was with an older couple within the congregation. That in itself was a wonderful experience. The man is suffering from cancer, and they are both realistic about the eventual outcome. However, their outlook is one that is truely inspirational. His faith shows through very strongly and it was evident that he was at peace with God taking him home in the long run. While it was difficult to sit there and see the pain that his wife felt as she recounted the past few months, it still felt like a postitive experience to witness their interaction as they discussed their life situation. One that I will carry with me in my future ministry.

ice cream social

I hope everyone got a chance to swing by the Thankathon table today for free FRESH FROM THE OVEN chocolate chip cookies and icecream. Incase you're wondering: YES, there were toppings! Thanks to Lynne Moratzka for all her wonderful hospitality and treats as we go and do what we should do: Thank donors who give so much to us!

Dorothy Day & A Guitar

So Dorothy Day is famous for saying: if you have two coats, you've stolen one from the poor (my paraphrase). A few months ago I was getting ready to move here to St. Paul and I learned that my friends Tim and Laurie Thornton (the blackthorn project) was looking for a guitar to take to Peru. When they do these trips as artist-missionaries they like to take instruments that people have donated so that they can leave the instruments with budding worship leaders and songwriters who will then even further bless the communities of faith there. I've had a great Takemine guitar in my closet that I acquired under well sketchy circumstances. I'll explain.

A former roommate of mine had lost his driver's license and in a less than thought through plan he pawned his bike and this guitar. He needed them both back and time was running out so I gave him $150.00 for this guitar. I have no idea what he used that pawn money for and I wasn't about to ask. Since then I got a new guitar and so have this extra one has just been ridiculous so when the Thorntons needed a guitar to bring to Peru, I was happy to give away this beauty.


This morning I got an email from Tim Thornton telling my about Jeremias (Jeremiah):

Tim, this guy, jeremias ( jeremiah) is just faithful. He's holding two guitars because he received the one he's been using from Ben and robin a year and a half ago on our last visit. Well he's been using it every day, leading worship and writing songs. They have written one or two that their congregation loves to sing together. Well one of my strings broke so I played the guitar he has been using, and I was amazed that he was able to do as much as he's done with it. That was a fine starter guitar but while I led worship with his beater instrument, the Lord impressed it upon me that he really needed an upgrade, so after the service I said, "what does God do when a man is faithful with what is put under his care?"Jeremias said "He enlarges it." I showed him the guitar and said, "well there is your increase. Now you get to bless someone else with the one you've been playing." He couldn't believe it. I also gave him a floor tuner and your cable. I know he's going to be able to do so much more with a guitar that keeps it's tune and sounds so good. Thanks Tim for giving him a gift of quality that is more than a token, but an upgrade for a faithful musician. I'm really excited that he can play something that will inspire and not distract him. He's really using his music to serve the body, and i think it blessed his soul too because of that principle that God rewards faithfulness, and that he now gets not only to receive, but to give too. As you pray for him, you can remember that his wife has taken the kids and left him and that's pretty tough on him. You can ask for them
to be restored to him and to a healthy life and to the lord.

Community

So I was going to write about the awesome issue of the Concord that came out yesterday. It's about faith and the economy. I wrote a little article (page 7 if you'd like to read it) about the abundance I've found in my life despite the economy. After this morning, I wanted to write about something else, though.

See, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this summer. It has spread to her bones but treatment seemed to be working well. She had some weakness in her leg that wouldn't go away though. After some back-and-forth, the doctors finally decided to get an MRI to just check it out on Tuesday.

Suffice it to say, the news wasn't good. I'm not going to go into detail because we don't have a complete diagnosis yet, but it wasn't good. It's times like this I realize how lucky I am to be part of the Luther community. Today I stopped by the Communications Office (where I work) to drop off some DVDs for my boss. I had told them via e-mail earlier this week and the news was shared with the people who love me. I was embraced and sorrow was shared. I know as my mom and my family go through this journey, my friends at Luther will be there to cheer on the success and grieve the failure. To me, it's one of the greatest assets of this place: The community.

We have some pretty amazing faculty at Luther, but if you haven't had time to get to know the staff that runs this place, take some time to do so. I've been thanked with hand written notes and special meals for something that is really just part of my job. My son is invited to visit offices when he's on campus to pick up a piece of candy or two (one awesome staff member even wanted to know what kind of candy he liked so she could make sure to have it on hand when he visits!). I have participated as entire offices pray for a family member going in for surgery or as graduates leave.

I sometimes feel like an outsider as a part-time commuter student, but I have found my home at Luther through the staff I am blessed to work with. When you're taking time this week to thank a donor for their contributions, make sure to find a Luther staff member and thank them, too. Luther wouldn't be the same without them.

got gratitude?

I work in Seminary Relations and have been cutting out hundreds of "got gratitude" stickers lately. I want to remind all the students here at seminary that this week, Wednesday-Friday there will be a table set up in the OCC for you to drop off your thank you letters to donors. I've also been informed there will be milk and cookies as well. Mmmm!! If you cannot make it this week, next Tuesday evening, and next Wednesday during the community lunch, there will be a table and people happy to help you. Let's reach 100% participation this year and thank all the generous donors to Luther Seminary! Thanks in advance for taking the time to write an important note of thanks.

A cat with street smarts

I was driving home from work yesterday afternoon, making my way down a residential street. As I drive, I noticed a cat walking towards the street a few houses away from me. The cat got to the edge of the road, and then proceeded to jump down off the curb into the gutter. At this point, I was wondering if it was going to keep moving, there by causing me to slam on my brakes to avoid making street pizza out of someone's pet.

Here's where it get's weird.

As I'm watching the cat, I see it turn it's head and look down the street. Then it turned and looked the other way, towards me. It repeated the process. Then it stopped, waited for me to drive by, and then continued on across the street.

The cat...looked both ways. A cat did this. I can't get my 5 year old to figure that out.

In other news, we had some people over last night for short introductory Bible study. The purpose of our meeting last night was to review two different topics for future study, but I decided to make use of the group and hold an informal text study. I'm on duty for preaching this weekend, and have some idea of what I'm going to preach on, but it's not entirely formulated in my mind yet. I figured, what better way to gain insight than to get the impressions of a few people on the text that I'm using.

I got some good ideas too.

Go Fish in Jackson

Last weekend I went home for 11 photo shoots, but cut my shoots off early on Saturday night so I could go with my two nieces to the Go Fish concert in Jackson. It was a crazy sight. You probably remember Go Fish a number of years ago singing their tight Christian harms. This time, they were jumping around like puppets on a string bringing the story of Jesus to life for children. Kids were going balistic. Now, I've been to some kick butt concerts lately, so Go Fish hardly compared in my mind, but imagine for 5-15 year olds how exciting a concert like this would be. It was pretty awesome to see three adult men with energy coming out their ears, and kids singing the books of the Bible and smiling and having a good time.

If you want to see the excitement for yourself, click here. Enjoy!

Halloween

As a parent, there is one time a year when I am subjected to walking around in the cold and knocking on the door of complete strangers.

Halloween.

This year, I was accomplanied by Darth Vader and a ladybug that kept losing her antennea (antenei? is that plural?). Not to mention a cowboy (my Godson) and a slightly crabby princess (after a complete meltdown regarding the hairstyle that Cinderella wears).

The good news...the weather was clear and not overly cold. At 40 degrees, I was warm enough in my coat, gloves, and BLAZE ORANGE STOCKING HAT (Keep an eye out for in January. I'm notorious known for wearing it now). The next bit of good news...we obtained enough candy to successfully keep my kids sugar buzzed until just after the turn of the next century...or the second coming of Christ. We'll have to wait and see which one happens first.

The highlight of the evening occurred when we ended up at the door of someone I actually knew. One of my former coworkers (that I actually just played catch up with at my sis-in-law's wedding a couple weeks ago) and her husband, who is also an area youth director (meaning that he interacts with my wife on a pretty regular basis). They actually live about a block away from our friends (whose neighborhood we terrorized this year).

We walked up and she came out. After greeting our friends, she looked around at the rest of us. A few seconds later, she recognized me (the hat probably threw her off).

"You guys know each other?"

"Yeppers"

"How?"

"From church, we've actually known each other for about 6 years."

So that was pretty cool. I'd call it the highlight of the evening.

My kids, on the other hand, would likely call the highlight going to a house that has recently been graced by a batch of lab puppies (our friend had the inside track on that one). So we had to go around through the yard and check out the new puppies. Of course, they were little and cute, as new puppies tend to be...but I wasn't fooled. I just watched Marley and Me a week ago. I know what those pudgy little buggers grow up to become. Also, the fact that my show managed to find a certain pile of...well, you can probably imagine what I found while walking through the yard.

I would call that the low point of the evening.