the hardest question | lectionary

Rev. Russell Rathbun, my friend/pastor/co-conspirator, is hosting a new lectionary resource/community called The Hardest Question with friends at Spark House. Every week you can not only read up on commentaries and all that goodness, but you can also join a live video blog at Thurs. at 10:30am. I'm seeing more and more of these kinds of lectionary "communities" pop up. Seems to me a good move towards recovering communal-collaborative hermeneutics. And frankly, no one can better help us wrestle with the texts than Russell.
I'm preaching this Sunday at Hope Lutheran Church (eastside, St. Paul) and I've decided on the gospel text so I think I will in fact try to join in this Thursday. Maybe I'll see you there.

Clay Shirky on TED talk | "cognitive surplus"

Today's TED Talk is particularly brilliant, I thought. Shirky highlights that our world population has over a trillion hours a year to commit to shared projects. He also talks about how in creativity it is not the gap between mediocre creative act and brilliant creative act that is most difficult to get on over...but it is the gap between doing nothing and something that makes is most difficult.

Posted via email from curatingthejourney.org

The Vote

I have mentioned in several of my latest posts that my home congregation has been facing the vote to leave the ELCA. It was scheduled to happen today following our regular church service.

I have been nervous about this vote for quite awhile. As a candidate for ordination in the ELCA, having my home congregation leave the ELCA puts me in a bit of a pickle. Add to the equation the fact that my wife works at the church, and it would certainly create the need for some quick changes.

The congregational president requested that I offer the opening prayer at today's meeting, which I appreciated, but it was difficult thing to prepare for. I struggled with offering a prayer pleasing to God that would also offer peace to the unrest being felt by so many in the congregation. In the end, I tried to remember what Jesus said in the sermon on the mount. Don't be like the hypocrites making long prayers just to be seen. Rather, I just tried to offer what was on my heart for the congregation and leave my personal view out of it.

The meeting was well attended, which I am happy about. Over 500 people were there to cast their votes. Granted, out of over 1800 members, this is still a small number of the total congregation, but yet, I was happy with the turnout. The agenda was fairly straight forward, though there were several hoops to jump through to make sure that the vote was legitimate. Once we got down to the issue at hand, there was some brief discussion. However, after about 5 or 6 people made short comments, the question was called.

Honestly, I think that was a good thing. People's minds were already made up. I don't think there were many (if any) that didn't know how they were going to vote leading into today's meeting. The vote itself took awhile to cast, and then it took an equal amount of time to tally the votes.

I was surprised at how emotional it was to sit through that process and wait for the results. While we waited, people struck up conversations. It was tedious, but I too had a few conversations to try and keep my mind off what was being decided. In the end, the president came back in and announced the results. I didn't catch the exact numbers, but the motion to leave the ELCA was voted down in about a 2-1 margin.

I was relived at the result, but yet, here a few hours later, I also find myself saddened. Saddened to know that while we are still an ELCA congregation, we are changed. Some will leave, I have no doubt about that. People that I respect and care about will look for a new church home. In future weeks, people will vacate the pews that they have always filled. We are one body of Christ, but now that body is different.

Weather in Iowa

The past two nights have proved...exciting...in terms of how the weather has shaped up. Here in Iowa we very commonly get a mix of heat and humidity partnered up with warm and cold fronts that will produce some pretty crazy weather. This weekend has been no exception.

Friday night, my wife and I spent the evening at my brother's house, which is about a 20 minute drive away. As we lounged around at his house, I started noticing quite a bit of lightning flashes out the window, but I wasn't overly concerned. As we headed home the lightning continued and as we drove through the country, rain drops started hitting the windshield. The rain increased and then suddenly the wind picked up. Visibility dropped to about 10%, which is to say that I could make out the middle line along the side of the car and that was about it. We slowed to a crawl but eventually we did drive out of the heavy stuff. Once we got home we flipped on the weather and discovered that we had just driven through an area that had conflicting wind directions strong enough to produce a tornado...it hadn't, but it had been a possibility. All's well that ends well I guess.

Fast forward about 24 hours. We went out with some friends last night for a late supper at a local restaurant that overlooks the lake. Half of the seating is under cover, and half is out in the open. As the group of us sat there, we watched some ugly looking clouds come rolling in over the area. Gradually the wind picked up and pretty soon all the people that were outside came in. The staff closed up the sliding deck doors, and after a bit, they started getting pretty concerned. Apparently a report came through that there was a tornado about 5 miles south of the restaurant that was coming that way.

They shipped all the people into the kitchen which was enclosed and actually shut the awning doors, essentially locking us in there. For the most part, everyone was in good spirits as we stood there, and the kitchen even handed out free food that had already been cooking and they needed to get rid of it. We were in there for about 15-20 minutes, and it was hilarious (to me at least) to see everyone on their smartphones and blackberries looking at the weather and texting people at home for weather updates. I was doing the exact same thing, so I shouldn't make fun of the situation. Pretty soon they did let us out though, which was good, because one lady was starting to get claustrophobic and that could have been bad if she started freaking out.

After the heart of the storm came through, we still had to wait for our food to come out, which eventually it did. After we ate, we wanted to get home, because that was where the report of the tornado had been. We were a little concerned as to if we would still have a house when we got home. After walking out of the restaurant into what was then only a very light rain, we got in the car and headed for home. We didn't see any damage on the way home, which was a good sign...and sure enough, the house was still there. All's well that ends well.

espresso-induced wanderings

I spent the morning (actually late morning/early afternoon) at Kopplin's in St. Paul. So far they've won my "Best Coffee Shop" award with stellar brewing methods, done by the cup, direct relationship with farmers, a fantastic vibe inside, and they even dodged the ever tragic pitfall of flaky wifi at too many urban cafes. It's a gem of a place my friend, Reed Carlson (student/barista/campus minister/aspiring OT theologian/co-conspirator) introduced me to.
Reed brought me this shot of espresso just as I was letting my mind wander through this past week...
+ I played catch up most of the week. I'm beginning to appreciate just how hard, and at time unexciting, it is to live life holistically. It was a bit more romantic of notion before I tried actually doing it. But I trust it is worth it.
+ Over the past few months I've been discovering more refined sense of vocation as I live more fully into leaving ordination behind and as I concentrate more than even on the now. I had a fantastic conversation though about my academic future with the dean here at Luther Seminary who oversees graduate research degrees. lt was encouraging in many ways...but particularly in his encouragement to trust myself and my own judgement of options down the road. I'll be applying in the fall to a few Master of Theology programs, but most likely pursuing that option here at Luther.
+ Ministry at Hope Lutheran is just beginning to take shape as the summer rolls into season. There's much work to do there and we have an active summer filled with deep listening and discernment. The people there are really quite beautiful.
+ My family (which I don't blog about much...not sure why) is in the midst of some transitions. It seems as if my parents will be relocating soon, though we are still not sure where. Two very different options are materializing and it has made me reflect on what those moves were like growing up. Reflecting on those crossroads and how they can forever shape your future is a bit daunting. I'm thankful for the choices they made — they do this pretty well by now — and how it shaped me into who I am.
+ I'm excited to have two of my brothers coming ot visit me in July. It'll be fun to welcome them to the Twin Cities. I really do like this place and it'll feel all the more like home having family visit.
+ I'm settling into my bandwidth and realizing that I have a few side projects too many. This happens often but I'm thinking I'll have to eliminate something come the fall. Why can't I be three of me?
+ Last night I took a friend to The Dakota...the weather was horrendous and yet the place was packed. It was fun to be there again and to laugh, smile and enjoy the whole experience: the music, the musicians, the good company, the wine. It's remarkably easy for me to be present when listening to live jazz. I think it probably makes me a better person.
It's too beautiful a day to spend the whole day inside on a computer (blah!)...off to mow the grass at Hope. That wasn't in my job description but who cares.

Things Are The Same But Different

This week has been a strange one. My kids are spending the week at my sister-in-law's place, and so since Sunday, it has just been my wife and I at home. In some ways, its business as usual. We're both working like normal this week, so that's no great change. However, it is a little bit odd in terms of how our evenings shape up.

Normally we head home from work and activities will revolve around the house as we've got the kids there. But this week has been different. We've been coming and going as we see fit, though not as much as you might expect. There have been normal evening meetings and homework on the agenda...so for the most part we've still been hanging around the house.

Last night we ended up going on a pretty long bike ride though. There is a very nice trail system around the area where I live. We've gone on a short portion of it before, but have never gone overly far as we always had the kids with us at the time. Last night we went several miles. It took me into a few parts of the local lakes area that I've never seen before, which was interesting. We also saw a little bit of wildlife, have two deer cross our path. I didn't get the camera phone out soon enough to snap a picture of either of them, but it was fun to sit and watch them walk around.

Another strange thing about having the kids gone has been the ability to dive right into homework when I get home for the evening. That's been nice as I've been able to get done what I need to get done and then relax for the rest of the night. I like that.

Granted, I should be using the time to work on the large paper I still have to write before next Friday...but I've been living in denial of that so far. There's always tomorrow.

I mentioned last week that my home church will soon be holding "the vote." That's coming right up. This Sunday as a matter of fact. I've got a strange feeling towards this whole situation. It saddens me that we as a congregation have even come to this point and it scares me that there is a possibility that the vote will pass. The implications for me personally are heavy if that is the case. However, that being said, I don't know what will happen. It may pass, it may not. But a lot of things have been falling into place for me lately that make me think that after the dust clears, my congregation will still be ELCA.

I won't go into great detail now, because nothing is set in stone...but I'm hopeful.

Sermon on House of Mercy Podcast

"Tradition...or in other words Improvisation" (sermon by Tim Snyder)

http://www.houseofmercy.org/?p=1102

The other week I preached at House of Mercy, where I've found my church home since moving here to St. Paul. I'll be honest it's a daunting place to preach because Debbie Blue and Russell Rathbun are such good preachers that's it's a little intimidating. The community is also used to their clever, challenging, intellectual, midrash-style of preaching.

Posted via email from curatingthejourney.org

Back Home Again

Well, after a short time on campus, I'm back home again. The week went fast, but then, its been my experience that the first week on campus usually does go pretty quick. Its the second one that seems to drag, and I believe that this "week 2 drag" occurs for two reasons. The first reason is because you are starting to get brain fry. In January one of our professors commented on that very fact. "You guys are going crazy. There's a limit and I think you have all reached it." That was about Wednesday or Thursday of the second week if I recall correctly. The second reason for the week 2 drag is because we are all getting homesick by that point. Spouses, kids, pets, friends, families...all the regular stuff back home gets to calling you by the second week.

All that being said, I didn't have to experience it this time around. I showed up on Sunday and left on Friday. I've told several people that I was just getting into my groove and it was time to leave. However, I do have to say that the one week went pretty smoothly. My wife and kids stayed busy at home, and to hear my 3 year old talk, they didn't even miss me. Last Thursday my wife reported that she had said "My daddy is coming home tomorrow and that's good, but I don't miss him."

Not quite sure how I was supposed to react to that.

Now that my "in-class" work is done, I wish I could say that I was done for the summer, but I'm not quite to that point yet. I do still have a couple more weeks of on-line work to do before I can call the '09-'10 school year in the books, but that will go quickly.

I find myself getting back into the groove of being at home now...heading off to work instead of going to the caf for my morning breakfast sandwich. Answering the phone and doing computer work (which, when I think about it isn't drastically different than being in class, though the subject of what I'm working on certainly is).

The one plus is sleeping in my own bed. That's great...no more sleeping a small twin bed that I need to pole vault to get into like in Stub hall. Also, no more communal showers. My first shower at home Saturday morning was magical.

Well, maybe not magical, but still pretty nice.

Luther...you gave me another good experience for a week. Classes, Chapel, Community...all things things lump in with a lot of other stuff to make the intensives a positive experience.

Countdown till my next campus shot-6 months 19 days...and counting.

so long, farewell!

My last Life at Luther post! SAD! Let me begin by saying how fun it's been to be able to write and (hopefully) give you a glance into what the life of a student at Luther Seminary looks like. When I started writing I was just getting back from internship, excited about my last year of seminary, looking forward to being back in the twin cities, andunsure about the future. Today I am writing as a Luther Seminary Master of Divinity graduate, excited about getting married in 2 months, and thrilled to know my future includes travels around the world. I will definitely be blogging while we are flying and living abroad next year, so if you want to follow my blog, comment to this post with your e-mail address and I'll be sure to send you the link when it is up!

Two things I hope to accomplish in this e-mail, 1. top ten things I LOVED about Luther. 2. top ten things I might change at Luther (if I had some power).

10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT YOU:

1. Daily Chapel (not that I went daily)

2. Community Meals (free food)

3. Lots of opportunities to work on campus (thanks to seminary relations and the communication office for my jobs!)

4. Studying under an eclectic batch of professors!

5. Living in the dorms and meeting lots of awesome new friends

6. Checking my PO and finding a "package" slip

7. Finding that ONE great professor (you know who you are!)

8. Requirements like CPE and Internship (LOVED THEM!)

9. 25 cent ice cream in the cafeteria

10. Living within walking distance of a Wendy's

10 THINGS I'D CHANGE ABOUT YOU:

1. Restructuring or eliminating RTA

2. Let's have student art shows

3. More multimedia and secular songs in chapel

4. Require either discipleship or some other intentional small group time

5. Better coverage with our over-priced student health insurance

6. Less mind-numbing class readings we never even talk about in class

7. Updated classrooms with more outlets. Bringing your own power strip to class, really?

8. Allow the 'cushman' grounds crew drivers to give rides to students

9. Cream-puffs after chapel-EVERYDAY!

10. Free text-books for everyone!

Best of luck to the students starting this year (hang in there...even in Greek, you can DO IT!), and special well wishes to the students who will be finishing up in the next year or two! It's been a joy being in community with you! God Bless!

all alone!! :(

I think I just got a taste of what my mom experiences every time I travel. Kevin left at 4:00 this morning for Ecuador. Needless to say, I've been feeling sick about it all week, literally, not eating well (which is actually not all that bad), shaky, and nervous. West Africa, Guatemala, Mexico, Iowa: I've traveled too, but there's still something nerve-wrecking about watching the love of my life fly away to some unknown land. Please pray for Kevin and the 11 others from Spirit of Christ as they travel!!!!

I've seen and heard women say thing like, "YES, he's gone! I'm finally FREE!" when their husbands leave the house. I don't like that. I think that says something about the relationship. I'm happy to report our relationship is not at the point where I say statements like that. Mine sound more like, "HURRY BACK! I miss you already!" Pathetic? Maybe. But at least I know I love him a lot! And I hope someone smacks me if I ever start to say rude things about "feeling free!"

We took a few trips to Target for travel sized shaving cream, medications, and snack bars. He raided my Chapstick and headache medication collection, said goodbye with tears (from me, as usual), and out the door he went. I realize it's only 10 days, but when we're in the midst of wedding planning, finalizing, and craziness, it seems like an eternity. Not sure how Kevin managed for 10 months while I was gone in California! I hope to get a lot done while he's gone. With the help of Jeni Wojahn, Linda Brandt, and my family, we're going to surprise Kevin with a much shorter to-do list when he returns! So thankful for the people who are working hard to help us with all these tasks! But even more thankful for a groom who constantly says, "How can I help you today?" Seriously, I do not take his helpfulness for granted!

Yesterday Kevin worked hard to get his bags packed all morning so he could come with me to the wedding I was shooting in the afternoon. It is sooo super helpful to have a second set of hands to carry bags, ladders, and tripods. He actually spent most of the day behind his own camera acting as my second shooter. He's really gotten quite good. Looking for details I am missing, capturing candids, and seeing things through his own set of creative eyes. What a gift! I have another wedding today (yes, two in one weekend), so needless to say, having him there helped keep my mind pre-occupied, and made the day much easier on me, giving me more energy for my second wedding today. He's something! After four hours of shooting, he said, "I'm not sure how you do this for those eight and ten hour wedding days."

Here are a few shots of Kevin and I in action at the wedding. He likes to take shots of me...you can tell who the true professional is in this relationship. The only photos I have of him are when he creeps into the background of my photo! Laughs. AHHH---I miss him already. It's been a total of 6 hours since he left. 9 days and 18 hours to go until I get to squeeze him once again! Can't wait!

Community in Many Forms

Last night, members of my cohort met with the academic dean, Rollie Martinson. We shared a meal and then spent some time discussing the current DL "state of the union." This is a normal experience when we gather on campus and one that I am grateful for. If I can say one thing about Luther, they are very intentional about continuing to make this Distributed Learning program not only work, but to shine. Many thanks to everyone involved with the program for that.

One of the things that we discussed at the meeting was the need for community and Rollie told us that everyone looking from the outside sees a wonderful sense of community within the cohort system. I have to agree.

Tuesday night, we grilled out. One of my classmates had a ton of meat and we cooked it in style.

Our hope when we do communal meals like this is always that people will gather. We didn't have an issue with that. A nice afternoon in a building with no air conditioning means that windows are open...and that grill smell makes its way to everyone.
Members from all three cohorts showed up to partake in a wide variety of grilled meaty goodness. The running joke was that we were having table fellowship without the table...though this is not entirely accurate as you can see the picnic table in the picture. However, with about 15-20 of us gathered around, the table was insufficient to seat us all.

One of the other examples of community that Rollie discussed last night is the faith community that each DL student is actively participating in at home. This is a very important part of our education and one that I cherish.

That being said, last night my faith community...aka my church back home...was holding a meeting. This meeting is a precursor to a congregational vote that is coming up within the next couple weeks. In my discussions with various classmates over the past few days, I have simply needed to say that we're having "the vote" and everyone pretty much seems to know what that means.

My wife is on staff at our church, and as Wednesday night is church night, she was of course on hand for the meeting last night, so I received reports (as obviously I was not able to be there). Our sanctuary is designed to seat about 500 people and apparently it was full to the rafters. I think this is a good thing. People care about this vote, and they should because it is a monumental decision. However, as expected, people also tried to turn it into a debate, which was not the point of the meeting itself. I'm told that the congregational president did a good job of steering away from that situation though, which I think is good.

I admit to being fearful of the vote that is coming up because of the wide spread implications of the result. Either way, my home church will be different following this vote. That is my feeling. If the vote to leave the ELCA does not pass, I believe that a fair amount of members, people that I am very fond of, will walk out the door for the last time. On the other hand, if the vote does pass, it leads down a road that I personally cannot follow. I am a candidate for ordination in the ELCA so being a member at a congregation which leaves the organization doesn't really work so well.

This situation is scary. It means a lot of changes, changes which at the moment I can't begin to fathom. It raises many questions, questions which at the moment cannot be answered. But perhaps this period of waiting is yet another lesson from Big Guns Upstairs.

He's tried to teach me this lesson many times over the years. You'd think I'd learn it one of these times.

I can almost hear a voice whispering in my ear right now...Be still and know that I am God.

Maybe I'll just start with a deep breathe...

TORNADO!

TORNADO CENTRAL! This is craziness! Start praying for all these people!!!! This reminds me of St. Peter way back when the tornado wiped out half of the town. Goodness...maybe we can arrange a clean up effort to do help?! Anyone interested?

Everyday Liturgy // June 2010

My article on developing creative worship is now published over at Everyday Liturgy. My friend Thomas Turner curates a create blog/resource over there. I'd love your feedback on this if you get a chance.

Posted via email from curatingthejourney.org

Faith & Belief on CNN & Huffington Post

I'm intrigued that Faith/Belief is getting more attention in the Media/news. It's an interesting development that two major news sources (conclude what you may about perceived political biases of these two...it's still interesting) have launched Religion blogs. Both CNN and Huffington Post have launched significant blogs which seem to really doing (at least) a decent job of covering the full range of religious experience here in America.

Check them out:

CNN // http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/
Huffington Post // http://www.huffingtonpost.com/religion/

+++++

Please comment on this stuff -- would love to get others reaction.

Also check out the Pluralism Project (at Harvard University).

Posted via email from curatingthejourney.org

Things Are Getting Cut in Half

Life continues here on campus. Some things are the same, some are different.

Odd feelings stem from having so many of my classmates not here. I fully expected this, but its still a strange situation. There were a few more of my class here last week, but they have departed. Of the 15 or so people in my cohort, there are only about 7 of us here this week. Much more limited in terms of seeing people. Also, the overall length of time that I'm campus is cut in half. I've only been here a day and a half, and in another 3 days I'm heading home.

It seems as if things have been cut in half this time around.
On the other hand...some things are exactly as I remember them. The past two mornings I have headed to the caf with my friend Rick (aka "Partner," you would think we were cowboys in the old west or something) for our normal breakfast sandwiches. A Philly with cheddar. Essentially its an egg McMuffin with ham...though this morning the ham was absent. More's the pity.

Yesterday, I was able to satisfy a craving that I've had for the last couple months. A Luther Caf "Big Sandwich." Essentially, its a cold meat sandwich, but its awesome. Based on what I call it, you may recall Elaine from Seinfeld always wanting her Big Salad. If you think about it, the name is pretty self explanatory. The big sandwich...its a big sandwich.


Note that there's also a big piece of pie. That was tasty as well.

In other news of things being cut in half. My habitation space (habitation? is that even a word?) has also been cut in half...sort of. For the first time, I've got a roommate. Partner as a matter of fact. Not only do we eat together, but now we're sharing a room as well. As the DL program grows, room availability shrinks. Rick was unable to secure a room. Rather than to see him sleeping on the bench that I currently see outside the window right now, I volunteered to share a room with him. So far so good. For the past couple of days we've been in co-habitation pretty well. You hear horror stories of bad roommate situations, but this is not the case with Rick.

Granted, the week isn't over yet, but I think we're going to be okay.

aWARD winning wedding!

it's raining...it's dreary...C'mon summer! Thunderstorms are awesome, definitely, but after four days of NO SUNSHINE, a girl has gotta put her foot down! Last night the thunderstorm was so powerful, I woke up, freaked out, ran to my computer, and did the crazy unplug madness just incase something might fry up. Do you do that?

All this water has definitely made for some clean vehicles, crazy hair days, and ugly shoe contests. Besides rain boots, are there any cute rain shoes?

Brian and Kira Ward got married on Saturday at a sweet outdoor setting, with a barn, and amazing cupcakes. It rained, but that certainly didn't bother the two of them! The beauty of the umbrellas, raindrops, and friends made it soooo awesome to be a part of! Congratulations to the newlyweds!!!! We LOVE you!!

SHOWER POWER!

Today was the first of three showers for Kevin and I. We can’t even begin to express our thanks to the people who care enough about us to put sooo much effort into throwing us these amazing parties! We are so grateful. This was the first official wedding event we’ve had. It all became really real that in less than 3 months, we’ll be married, and leaving the country. Wow…where has the time gone?

My sister Holly (my matron of honor), my mom Sue, and her friend Alice Hoffman put their heads and hearts together to dream up a shower in Worthington and invited all my favorite hometown, and out of town ladies to make the day extra special. Early during the shower, each woman had a chance to introduce who she was and say how she knew me or tell a funny story. It was then that I realized there were women there from every chapter of my life. Some of them were there when I was born. Some of them taught me in elementary school, or knew me through their children in high school. Others met me in college classes, one was my boss, all were dear friends. There seemed to be a thread throughout most of their stories: singing and shopping. I do believe those are my spiritual gifts, you know.

Games. Every shower has them. A quiz about Kevin…I did better than I anticipated. I now know his favorite food is chicken (who knew!), he hates Wendy’s (sooo sad), and he wanted to be the president of the United States as a child. I wouldn’t put him out of the running yet for that one: he’d be great!

Presley, Madison, and Mersaydes were there eating treats, being adorable, and came running when it was time to open presents! Wow, were there a lot of presents. It was overwhelming. Good thing Presley was there to do most of the unwrapping. Kitchen utensils, bowls, an ironing board, crock pot, the most amazing “Bergeson” tile sign (from my sister–she has one and knew how much I love hers!), a dishcloth cross-stitched by my late Grandma Marten, cupcake decorators and carriers, pyrex, awesome bath towels, cookbooks, picture frames, food choppers, even some pampered chef goodness! When Kevin showed up in Worthington to see all the wonderful gifts, we agreed, “WOW, we are blessed!” Thanks so much to Holly, mom, and Alice for their kindness and creativity at the shower. It was a wonderful celebration, and a great excuse to get dressed up and have fun!

Strange Feeling Gone

The time 2:40pm central standard time...the location...this awesome place called Java Train.

At that time and place...the odd feeling that I've had for the last week went away. Yes, other DL students have been on campus for a week already and I was home.

Things have changed.I left home about 11:45 this morning, having packed up the truck and road tripped my little heart out. Odd side note...I never stop while driving to the cities by myself, but today I had to. It must have been the water I was drinking, but after about 2 hours I really had to go to the bathroom.

Okay...side note over.

Here's the weird thing...although I have driven past campus, I haven't actually stopped there yet. I wanted to get right to the coffee shop for two reasons. One is that several of my friends were there.

See evidence here.
Disregard the slightly dorky look on my face...it took a long time to take the picture...also disregard the evidence of my nasty farmer tan...no, I have not been to the beach this year.

Reason number two is because the food is awesome, and after only having a bowl of cereal for lunch...I was pretty well starving. One panini and chips later (did I just mix a singular and plural word in the same phrase?), I am feeling much better.

Now I suppose I should actually do some homework. But before I do, I must mention that my good friend Lisa reminded me that in January, I posted my first "on campus" blog from this same location...well, technically it was about 5 feet to my immediate right...but who's counting...The awesome thing is that she referenced When Harry Met Sally...to which I just responded with a reference to Tommy Boy.

Not here...and not here so much...but right here.

Yes friends...it is official...the countdown is over...Finally the Scott has come back to Luther Seminary...and apparently that makes him speak about himself in the third person.

Weird.

ENGAGED!

Our engagement hit the Worthington Daily Globe TODAY during the Worthington Windsurfing Regatta and Unvarnished Music Festival. Why does that matter? That was the day when the Daily Globe gave out FREE newspapers to everyone who wanted them. We wanted them alright! How about 100 of them!? Here’s the little blurb that was in the paper. If you want to check it out online, click HERE for the link to the Daily Globe website! Pretty cool, huh?

community @ The Seminary

I'm doubtful that I could even come up with precisely what it means to live "in community." But at the very least it is my own (and others) gut-level response to a society that values the individual over our shared identity, obligations to one another, and our very interdependent existence. I know...I know...for not blogging much lately this is awfully existential. Well, for whatever we might mean by "community," maybe it's enough to say that it is the experience of being known, of knowing others; simply the moments when we know we aren't alone on our journeys. Yeah, that'll do for now.

So given that my journey has brought me to seminary...that strange place where church leaders are cultivated, teachers discover their passion for learning, and all kinds of people figure out what it means to live into vocations as followers of Jesus, I guess I thought this would be a place that does "community" well. And it does, in the institutional, campus schedule, show up for chapel, community meals (translated...free meals if you show up), kind of way. But it's still hard to cultivate community in a place where everyone has too much going on, where uncertainty about the future is highlighted but rarely made meaningful, where specialized degree programs, cohorts, and ministry tracks often create silos of belonging more than they celebrate the diversity they represent.

I wish seminary were a laboratory for healthy Christian community; a school for spiritual practices that gave way to both significant learning and spiritual discipline. Less bureaucratic-academic crucible; more of a discipleship dojo.

It's not that...but under the surface of branding campaigns, strategic plans, academic schedules and coursework there is something — a ground swell I hope — that is happening here that does resemble that as-yet-unrealized dream of mine.

What does it look like?

...cooking simple meals for each other and opening our lives to another through out the long summer evenings.
...sitting in a professor's backyard going over a paper you're trying to get published while he waits for his kids to get home.
...having your adviser interrupt your walk home from the corner grocery to make sure everything is good before they go on sabbatical
...text messages from a professor making sure you stop by the parish nurses office
...car rides filled with folks from North America, Africa and Asia...on our way to a conference...but the car ride is really where it is at.
...the United Nations (that's my nickname for it) playground where kids from God knows how many countries play together
...welcoming newly arriving students (who you went to undergrad with); giving them the tour of cool local places (Mannings, Hampden Park Food Co-Op, etc)
...wine and cheese parties with the distributed learning cohorts...at Dean Martison's house.
...email conversations explaining how crazy life is and so your posts for the online course will be late.
...Facebook wall posts, messages, events and chats with the Norwegian exchange students that you waved good by to days before...like mom waved you off to second grade.
...helping a professor get on Facebook
...being on a professor's internet radio show; then going with them to celebrate a promotion over drinks
...weddings, graduations, new babies, funerals, baptisms and all those sacred moments

And that's just what I've noticed in the past three weeks or so. "Community" may be elusive here at the Seminary; it certainly falls short...but it is here in the spaces in-between.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from curatingthejourney.org

Strange Feeling Continues

So yesterday another small portion of my class of Cohort 2 descended upon Luther. I was in contact with a few of them over the course of the day as they traveled, coming from various directions into St. Paul...some by car, some by plane...at times there have been some by train.

Hey that rhymes...score.

Anyways...as they were all heading towards campus, I was busy at work...and once again the strange feeling settled on me. They are there, sitting in class for a few hours (which is actually continuing for them today) and I'm at home. They were learning...I was mowing my lawn...they went out for burgers at Mannings...I was snoozing on the couch.

I'll admit it, it bummed me out just a little bit. Fortunately though, the strange feeling will not last long before I too join the mass on campus.

Countdown to Campus: 1 Day...and I'm watching the clock pretty closely.

Welcome DL Students!

Woo-hoo! I am not alone anymore! Stub hall has finally been filled with LIFE again at the return of the Distance Learners~ WELCOME! Kevin and I hung out with a few of them tonight as we watched the season finale of GLEE! It's good to see that people gather 'round for the music of Journey at any age! I'm not gonna lie though: talking the DMin students really got me thinking about more school---no, I cannot believe I just said that. A DMin in Biblical Preaching, now that sounds like fun! With the preaching fellowship next year, I'll be getting started on a thesis topic I am deeply interested in learning, reading, and exploring.

How admirable for those DMin students (and others) to take 3 weeks each summer to come to Luther, dive into a few classes and work toward their degree. Not only are they leaving their congregations, but their families and homes to roam the halls of Stub Hall. We are glad you're here! Enjoy your stay!

An Odd Feeling

I have a strange sense about me this week. Sunday night...the vast majority of the DL students descended upon Luther Seminary, but I was not among them. For the first time in two years, I'm not on campus at the start of the intensive.

Some of my classmates won't be on campus at all this summer. Others are already there and will be leaving after this week. Some of us are arriving later on. I fall into that last group. The class that I'm taking this summer meets on campus during the second week of the intensive, so I won't be showing up until Sunday afternoon and will be jetting out the following Friday.

Yesterday it was very easy to tell that class was in session based on the multitude of activity on Facebook. I also received a message from one of the guys in Cohort 1 (a year ahead of me) asking where I was. We like to pick on each other, and ironically are in the same work group in this summer class. I think he was missing the opportunity to spook me in the dorm, which is what prompted the question.

Fear not Chip...I'll be there in a few more days.

Countdown to campus...5 days.

no pants?

I was recently doing a wedding outside Chicago and was struck to see a sign posted upon entering the church "All women must wear skirts inside the church!" Luckily I was wearing a dress (which I usually don't do), and didn't notice it until the church women greeted a bridesmaid by saying, "What do you think you're doing wearing pants up in here?" So much for "Welcome to our church, please come as you are!" A few women had to run to a local store and buy skirts, and those who wouldn't go guy one had to be wrapped in a cloth made to look like a skirt. The other young women in the bridal party spent the rehearsal dinner talking about how ridiculous their rules were, and makes them never want to step foot in a church. That was a missionary Baptist church. What are our Lutheran rules that might be keeping people from coming inside or coming back?

about to die...

I’m writing this blog entry from somewhere over Wisconsin. I have no idea how high in the air I am. The pilot never mentioned that. Probably because he knew how terrified all the passengers were after take-off and figured it wasn’t worth the small talk.

I think it’s safe to say I had a near death experience today.

During take off, our plane began wobbling from side to side like the pilot was jerking the steering wheel. Some little alarms began going off, but I never know what those beeping noises mean. I was seated only three rows from the back, the engine was right under us, and it was loud. The noise didn’t help matters. Once we hit the air, within seconds, we dipped drops I swear were close to ten feet. My knuckles were white as my left hand gripped the armrest. With each drop, my reflex was to say, “Geez” out loud. I was scared; I couldn’t help it. Finally, I found myself with my hands clasped together tightly praying. I can’t remember the last time I prayed that hard. My fear escalated to the point that I began praying for the safety for my family after I died.

I definitely fell into the category of: “I pray more often in crisis than I do in good times.”

Within 10 minutes, we were high enough that the jerking stopped. Interestingly, so did my prayers. I busted out my laptop, worked on a few odd projects, and didn’t think about my prayers until we began our descent (only 35 minutes later on a short flight to Milwaukee) and the same nightmare I had experienced earlier reoccurred. Wobbling, shaking, swaying, dipping, “Geez”ing, and praying. God, thanks for the reminder that the praying should’ve continued that whole flight not simply when I thought I was going to die. Equally, my prayers day to day need to be continual, not only when I feel the world crushing down on me.

Finish up one thing, start up another

I have my first week's worth of work completed. Actually as of 9:59pm last night, my final posting for the week was done and I was able to call it a week.

However, that being said, I'm not totally slacking off today. This week, in addition to my homework, I have turned my attention a slightly different direction. CPE, Clinical Pastoral Education. For any of you readers that are fellow students, you know what I'm talking about. If you are unfamiliar, it is a pretty healthy program that each of us must go through during the course of our seminary education.

The typical student, or perhaps I should say the traditional student, or more so the full time-on campus student, will usually do this program during their first summer break due to the large amount of time required for the program. CPE requires 400 hours...uff-da. However, as DL students that are (for the most part) working full time in some form or another, we don't have the ability to drop everything and spend a summer doing the program.

There is a solution, the extended program. Longer time frame, easier schedule during the duration.

At this point, 2 years into my DL journey, a lot of my classmates have either already done CPE or in the process of doing it right now. I was slated to do it last fall. I was excepted into a program and all set for it. However, life got in the way and I ended up not doing it.

Now, fast forward a year. I'm facing the upcoming school year with a lot of things pointing me in the direction of needing to do CPE this year. I won't go into great detail here, but long story short, I'm planning on it for this fall.

This brings me to the application stage. I'm actually in the process of applying to the same program that I was going to do a year ago. Fortunately, this gives me a little bit of a leg up. I need to update the application and attached essay's to include the past year, but I don't need to completely rewrite them all. That saves me some time.

I will finish up that process today and send it off. My next step will be an interview at some point over the summer, and if all goes as expected, I'll start the program in late August or early September.

Graduate Preaching Fellowship

Back in December, I submitted a proposal to Luther Seminary in the hopes that my idea would be chosen out of a list of qualified applicants. A few months later, I received a call from one of my favorite professors at Luther Seminary, Karoline Lewis. She excitedly said, "Amber, the preaching faculty and a few other staff have met in review of the applicants, and I am pleased to announce you are the 2010-2011 recipient of the Graduate Preaching Fellowship!” I was in Herberger's at the time trying to contain my excitement while gripping the clearance rack. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! A few of the other applicants were friends, so I knew either way would've been either a). excited for my friend, b). excited for ME! I can’t lie, I was thrilled to be honored with such an amazing opportunity.

My proposal was entitled "visual preaching." A study of how people in other countries interpret Bible stories based on where they live and what they see around them. My hope is to talk to Christians and non-Christians to hear where they see themselves within a biblical text and how they interpret the texts. I am going to use four specific texts and ask the same questions everywhere. With that information, I will try to find correlation to what they say and what I see in the people, buildings, homes, and environments around them. My eye and my camera will be doing the second part. My wildest dream is to come back and publish a book with what I discovered. Incase you're wondering where we're off to, here's a loose itinerary of our trip:

September-December (Hong Kong)


Late Dec-Early Jan (back to MN to love on my nieces!)


January-February (India)


February-April (Jerusalem)


April-May (England)


June-July (Sweden)

For those of you wondering: Kevin is coming along, and will be resigning from his church at the end of July. It's hard to process all the emotions that go along with leaving home for a year, letting my growing photography business take the back burner, leaving a church Kevin loves, and planning a wedding and year-long honeymoon. Excitement, sadness, joy, gratitude, fear. I could go on.

Oh, last thing: I will definitely be keeping a blog as we discover, meet people, fly, live, eat amazing food, and experience the first year of marriage in far away lands. Once that gets created, I'll give you a heads up so you can feel free to follow our journey as we take it. Exciting for sure!

Here's what you can do to help me: offer suggestions for texts from the Bible you think would be interesting to hear interpretation on. Just a reminder, both Christians and non-Christians will be involved in this study, so they need to be stories both groups of people can easily understand. Let me know what you think!!

Andy Root BlogTalkRadio: "Will Death Ever Fall in Love?"

Yesterday I sat down with Prof. Andy Root (assoc. professor of youth & family ministry, Luther Seminary) and we talked about his newest book The Promise of Despair. In this radio show we talk about his chapter titled "Will Death Ever Fall in Love?" Our conversation centers around this question posed by Anyd's over-reflective (but brilliant) 3 year-old and unfolds to say that God is found alongside death in its full range of expression: losing love, losing jobs, depression, despair....and yes the grave too. In this episode I share a bit of my own personal experience of losing love and hardly believing that God met me in that place. We also geek out on Trinitarian theology and dream of a church where the only requirement to join is a liturgical litany of admitting that you don't have you shit together.

So...if you're willing to listen in to such a vulnerable and honest conversation...check it out.

a free sucker!

The celebrations continue...long after graduation is over! Great fun tonight with some folks over at LDR. Non-lighter-fluid-infused-hotdogs, brats, strawberries, suckers, and lots of french onion dip! Woo-hoo!

Here we go again

New Books.

There are more of them, this isn't the whole set...but this is what I have with me at the moment...these two, along with several online articles constitute reading for the first week.

Jesus the Savior and the Triune God is my summer class...though we tend to shorten it up to Jesus. Somehow I find it ironic that DL students that are taking a longer track through seminary like to shorted up the title of classes. But I digress.

After a long weekend of camping, actually not overly far away from Luther's campus (I probably could have headed into town and gone to Graduation on Sunday) I'm back at it today. The short break is over, and the summer semester has begun.

My first posting is due by 8am tomorrow, but I'm going to try and have it done early this evening. Emphasis on try.

Though to quote Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."

Somehow that seems fitting.

Arrival on Campus-12 days...and counting