Life at Luther

Life@Luther has MOVED!

2011-02-25T11:17:00.002-06:00

We're really excited to announce that our Life@Luther blog has moved to Luther Seminary's website! We'll have the same awesome content from some amazing students, we're just going to be in a new home at www.luthersem.edu/lifeatluther.

Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and dig in to what life is like for students at Luther Seminary!

Credibility

2011-02-25T10:38:00.006-06:00

I’ve had a couple of experiences lately that have made me reflect on where our credibility as church leaders comes from.

On Tuesday I had my first teaching experience at my church as part of the class for new believers. When my supervising pastor prepped me for this experience, he encouraged me to share something about myself so that people could get to know me, but not to focus on the fact that I’m a seminary student. As he put it, I would not gain credibility with people because of a degree but because of my experiences in the life of faith.

At first this seemed odd to me, since studying in seminary seems very relevant to teaching a theology class. Yet his explanation made sense, especially considering our context. First, we are in a church where pastors do not necessarily need to be ordained or have a seminary degree. Second, we are dealing with new believers or people who have been disillusioned by church, so emphasizing a seminary education or being a “professional” church person might put a distance between them and me.

Depending on the context, being in seminary might gain for us a certain degree of credibility. I have visited churches where people ask me all sorts of theological questions, assuming I have an answer. My voice was given a place of authority because of my education, whether this was deserved or not.

Then in my church history class yesterday the professor touched on this point, claiming that the office of pastor should not carry an inherent authority, but rather the authority or respect must be earned. One student responded that the reality is often that people automatically give respect because of the office, whether it should be that way or not.

I think there is a balance here somewhere. A seminary education is very important in preparing us for our ministries. In the class on Tuesday, I was able to answer many of the questions people had precisely because I have studied these issues at Luther. I think people are more likely to trust a teacher who demonstrates some knowledge about the subject at hand.

Yet my education or the degree I will some day have cannot substitute for relationships with people or showing that I understand questions of the faith on a personal level as well as an academic one. Eating dinner with the students is just as important as teaching a class, and in these moments there is no distinction between who has a theological degree or not, there is just being together.

My mom's garden

2011-02-23T20:43:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my mom’s death. Her death was a unexpectedly fast and devastatingly slow battle with breast cancer. She was much too young but sometimes it feels like forever ago that she died. But it’s only been one year.

Yesterday my family (husband and three kids) were joined by my father to have dinner and remember my mother. I wanted to do something special to remember the day but to not sit in our grief. I suggested we make paving stones for my mom’s garden. Well, I guess it’s our garden now since live in my parents’ house, but it will always be my mom’s garden. She loved the garden. It started out as just a rose garden but expanded to include whatever flower or plant my mom had a whim for each year. It is just beautiful and with my husband’s blessing (he likes to garden, I don’t), we are going to keep much of the garden the same. Come spring, we’re going to put these paving stones in my mom’s garden in her honor.

Christmas was also very important to my mom so we took some of her less favorite and least meaningful ornaments and placed pieces in the cement. (See the picture.) They probably won’t last very long, but we’ll know they’re part of the stones. It was wonderful to be part of a ritual where we all joked around and the kids thought very deliberately about what “grandma would love” as we all decorated.

It was important to have this moment with my family totally unrelated to the seminary and my ministry setting. It was important to see God at work in my own life.

A fine, fine evening.

2011-02-22T18:09:00.002-06:00

Internship is pretty great. I’ve been blessed with a lot of freedom and flexibility from my supervising pastor. Towards the beginning of the year, I brainstormed ideas for my internship project, which is a requirement from the seminary. After narrowing it down, little by little, I settled on a great opportunity to both serve the congregation and learn a lot.

This post isn’t about that project.

This post is about one of the ideas that were pushed to the side during the process. As you may now, I love to cook. I love communion. And I love people. I thought it would be great to begin a ministry of visiting our homebound members, cooking for (or with) them, enjoying a meal and conversation with them, and sharing the Sacrament with them. So, even though it’s not my official project, I still decided to give it a try.

This past Thursday evening, around 5:30, my wife dropped me off at the Landt residence. She hurried off to tutor a 1^st grader in reading, and I walked up to the Landt’s wooden front door, and rang the illuminated doorbell. From the moment they opened the door, it was a whirlwind of chopping, boiling, frying, tasting, sharing, talking, and laughing. A lot of laughing.

The only moment that escaped the whirlwind of fun and fellowship was Communion. After I had cooked, and before we began to eat, we sat down and shared in the bread and the wine. We heard the Lord’s promises and prayed the Lord’s Prayer, then ate the Lord’s body and drank the Lord’s bread. Without question, our small group of three added a fourth in the Lord. And there was peace.

Then, the night continued in just the same way it began. Thankfully, my wife was able to join us for dessert and more conversation--and wine.

It was a fine, fine evening.

I already have another couple lined up to visit in a similar fashion, and hope to involve more families in the cooking and visiting, too.

I think there’s something to this fellowship, to this sharing a meal, and to this breaking of bread and drinking of wine. I could get used to this.

Snow Day!

2011-02-21T11:55:00.002-06:00

I don’t remember the last time I’ve experienced an official “snow day,” when school gets cancelled. I especially didn’t expect a snow day at Luther, considering all the snow we got in December without classes ever being cancelled. It was a pleasant surprise to learn this morning that I have the day off. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

Sometimes (ok, often) I forget to take a day of rest. Ironically, I have all but stopped celebrating the Sabbath since I started seminary! Last year, when I attended the Spanish-speaking congregation, I was usually at church from 9am until 2:30pm on Sundays. By the time I came home and ate lunch, it was time to start my reading for Monday classes. Not much actual "down time."

This year I’m at a different church, where the services are exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes. I have mostly been going to the Saturday evening service, so as to have all of Sunday free. But instead of actually resting on Sundays, I tend to work ahead on my homework for the week, do laundry, make food, etc. I’m not good at resting.

This weekend I realized how exhausted I am. Besides the normal life of being a student, for the past two Saturdays I taught my “Greek for church people” class. It was a wonderful experience that went very well, but it did take some energy out of me. Four hours is a long class, both for teacher and students. Plus, I put a lot of preparation in figuring out how to teach Greek in 8 hours through Spanish.

All that being said and done, by the time Sunday rolled around I was really tired, but decided to work ahead on my assignments for the week. When I went to bed last night, I dreaded the thought of getting up at 5:45am to shovel my car out of the snow and leave enough time to get to Luther for my 8am class.

Early this morning I checked the Luther website, just in case, and found out that classes had in fact been cancelled. And I finally understood the message that sometimes I just need to take a break.

Ministry Moments

2011-02-20T22:54:00.003-06:00

You never know when an experience that happens in ministry is going to come back and smack you right between the eyes.

This evening, as I've been sitting at the table working on homework, my wife was watching a tv documentary called "The Man That Lost His Face." It's about a man from Portugal that had an extremely rare tumor that, over the course of this lifetime, engulfed most of his face in an extreme growth. The documentary followed him as he underwent surgeries that removed the tumor and began to reconstruct his face. One particular moment caught my attention.

Following the first surgery, the man was recovering and it was going well. After about two weeks, his surgeon walked into the room. He recognized the doctor and reached out to shake his hand.

Enter in my own personal experience last fall. In going to a routine home visit, I found a congregation member post heart attack. He was alive, but clearly in trouble. I phoned in the emergency, and then spent the rest of the day at the hospital with his daughter. Now in the end, the man died, but he lasted for a couple weeks before God called him home. It allowed time for him to connect with his children which meant a lot to them.

I got the call when he started going downhill, and went to the nursing home to visit with him and his family. When I arrived, I was told that he was in and out of conciousness, mostly out. However, when I walked in, his son whispered in his ear "this is Scott that found you." He woke up, reached up and shook my hand as he looked me square in the eye.

That was it. As soon as he did this, he lost conciousness again, and that was the last I saw him.

Watching this particular image on the documentary brought that whole situation back to me and I broke down.

Sometimes we experience some situations that are truly amazing. They are amazing in ways that don't necessarily mean wonderful, but yet they are amazing none the less. I feel incredibly blessed to be invited into these moments, and yet incredibly humbled at the same time.

Return of the Snow!

2011-02-20T21:41:00.010-06:00

The weather in the US is strange indeed. This week the snow had begun to melt and we had about 30 degrees outside. It would seem like the spring was coming to Minnesota. That would turn out to be false.
I just learned that Luther Seminary will be closed tomorrow (Monday, February 21) due to a snowstorm. This was no surprise to some, since we had a snowstorm raging on the whole day. So much, in fact, that I have been unable to go anywhere today which was a little sad since I had to cancel some plans I had with a couple of friends this evening.
In all honesty though, I kinda like the fact that I get to experience a real winter in the US. Our "snowstorms" back in Sweden seems small in comparison!

Otherwise it's been a pretty rough week, papers and books to read all over the place... and then there was the issue with taxes... Apparently we who are "aliens"/international students also have to pay tax and file tax papers. But instead of explaining (you who live here in the US probably know this better than me) let me sum it up with the following excerpt from my tax papers:

"part time residents or nonresidents: from schedule M1NR, enter the tax from line 27 on line 14, from line 23 on line 14a, and from line 24 on line 14b."

This is one of those things that makes me miss my native country...
Back in Sweden we declare and pay our taxes in the following way:
1. We receive a letter with our tax information.
2. We sign it.
3. We send it back. (We can do it online as well. If we do, we can skip this step).

Luckily there are a some nice people at Luther that have promised to help a poor and confused Scandinavian!

Deepest Fear

2011-02-16T21:45:00.003-06:00

This week I had my first Monday night class of the semester. This half semester class—Women in Ministry—is going to be interesting for a number of reasons. First, it is the largest class I have experienced at Luther. With over 40 students, small-group discussions will be a must. Second, it is my first opportunity to take a class from Professor Karoline Lewis. I'm rather excited about this. I've heard she is an excellent professor but as I am an MA who does not have to take the preaching classes that are her bread-and-butter, I didn't expect the opportunity to learn from her. Third, the topic is going to be very interesting. When we discussed why we were taking this class, I couldn't think of a reason. Then it hit me: I'm a mother. I'm a wife. I have two jobs. I'm a student. What I never address, though, is that I am also a woman who is pursing her call into world of ministry. A world that has not (and sadly is not) always welcoming to women in leadership positions. I think I’m going to look at this class as an opportunity to explore what that call looks like for me and what challenges I may face.

Professor Lewis began class with a reading. I think I’m going to post this reading on the wall over my desk (maybe I’ll make copies so I can post it at all of my desks). I might just have to read the whole book. I get chills just reading this, because it's true.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” —Marianne Williamson, “A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles”

Practical "Test"

2011-02-16T15:32:00.002-06:00

Last night I had an interesting time at my Teaching Congregation. It was the second week of the Discover Jesus class, but the first week we had small group discussions after the teaching. This class consists largely of new believers or seekers, which made for a very raw and honest conversation.

I was asked to co-lead a group this time. When I sat down to the dinner table where we connect with our small groups before the teaching, there was just one other young woman there. Within minutes she opened up about her life and quest for faith, which she admitted she hadn’t found yet. A co-worker had encouraged her to try Jesus for a year and see what happens, so this class is part of her “trial period.”

Speaking with this woman, as well as our small group discussion, was like a practical test of everything we supposedly learn in seminary. All the big apologetic questions arose, like “if God is powerful, why is there so much suffering in the world? Why do I pray and nothing happens? Why does God seem so distant? What’s the deal with the Trinity? Am I really supposed to believe in a resurrection?”

It’s one thing to discuss these questions at a deep academic level with people at Luther who already assent to the Christian faith, but entirely another to discuss them with people who have never been part of the church, or had been turned off of it at some point. This is not the place to discuss the social versus classical views of the Trinity, but rather to enter into people’s very personal struggles with faith.

As a seminary student, my tendency is to jump to giving solid Biblical answers to people’s questions (which of course assumes I must know them!). That is useful in this setting at times, and part of our call as church leaders (and as Christians) is to speak truth. Yet I also remember my pastoral care class, and how my role is not to have all the answers, but to facilitate a discussion, and above all, to listen. I learned a lot from my co-leader, who has led groups before and is good at drawing people’s own reflections out and opening the conversation to the group.

So, I look forward to the next 12 weeks of this class. I am thankful for the challenge of speaking about God in ways people can relate to—especially “non-church” people—which unfortunately seems to get lost at times when I am immersed in the academic study of the faith.

A Couple of Observations

2011-02-16T11:55:00.003-06:00

Two things occurred to me today. One of them is related to the transition from DL student to on-campus, and the other one...well...isn't.

First things first...the transitional one...and keep in mind that what I am about to share with you is completely observational based on my personal experience yesterday and is by no means statistically accurate or even plausible.

Okay...disclaimer aside...here we go.

It seems like the general trend of age groups on campus is younger than what I'm used to in the DL program. In a way, this makes sense. The DL program is really aimed at individuals that would have a harder time relocating due to constraints of family, employment, etc. In general terms, this applies to people that are older and more firmly entrenched in a particular location. That being said, people of the younger persuasion would likely have an easier time with the relocation required for becoming residential.

I bring this all up because yesterday I started to really interact with several different classmates that are in some of the same classes that I am this semester. Discussion that occurred included internship placement interviews, which of course are going on right now. I have on in about an hour as a matter of fact.

While I was having these various discussions with new classmates, it occurred to me. I'm older than these people.

I'm used to being one of the younger ones. I'm 31 and as of J-term (my last hurrah as a DL student) I was the 2nd youngest member of my cohort and I was okay with that. After 2.5 years, it seemed pretty normal. Now I seem to be interacting with a lot of classmates that are mid 20's (give or take a couple years). Granted, this isn't that much younger than me, but I do recognize the small gap. Conversations that show glimpses of what they are experiencing in life happened to me 5-10 years ago.

Is this what its like to officially realize that you're getting old?

Now, the second observation. Before coming over to campus today, I was reading for tomorrow's session of Reform of the Church (aka History 2). The section that I was reading was essentially "History of Luther" (the guy as opposed to the school). As I was reading it, I realized "Hey, I know this stuff. I've taught this stuff." Background, at my teaching parish back in Iowa, I taught Lutheran history as a part of our confirmation program.

Now, here comes the nugget of wisdom. I don't remember where I heard this, but I know I've heard it within the last 6 months or so. It could have been my supervising pastor, it could have been my CPE supervisor, it could have been a seminary prof, or it could have been one of countless other people.

Brace yourself...this is going to rock your world...

If you really want to learn something...teach it.

My realization this morning shed so much light on just how utterly and completely true this statement is that I had to stop (at least metaphorically as I was driving down the interstate when the light bulb went off) and laugh. Every once in awhile, we realize that the wisdom shared with us from the generations that come before us, is valid.

This is not to say that the wisdom that they share isn't valid all the time, but rather to say that every once in awhile, we actually believe it.

Signs of Spring

2011-02-15T16:47:00.002-06:00

For all the complaining I tend to do about winter, I must not miss this opportunity to rejoice over the recent signs of spring in Minnesota.

We have had several days in the 40s, which is a much welcome change from the sub-zero temperatures of just over a week ago. On Saturday I took my first outdoor walk since about October. Snow was melting into puddles all around me, and once again I saw people with their babies and dogs also enjoying the thaw. I had almost forgotten how refreshing and soothing it is to breath fresh air and feel the sun. Running indoors on a treadmill just isn’t the same!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true Minnesota early thaw if there were not at least one person outside in shorts the minute the temperature rises above 35 degrees. I saw at least one of these this weekend, which confirms that spring is near!

In the midst of being busy with school and other activities, I’ve been learning to enjoy the “little things.” To avoid the chaos of morning traffic on the way to school, I’ve started taking the side streets to get to the freeway. With the gain in minutes of daylight, this puts me driving past Lake Calhoun just about sunrise. It’s beautiful, and reminds me that soon I will once again enjoy Minnesota spring/summer activities like walking around the lakes.

Everything seems easier in spring, especially parking on campus. With the snow melting, many more spaces in the parking lot have appeared out of nowhere, and two cars can actually drive down the side streets at the same time. And I can now see over the smaller snow banks as I look for oncoming traffic while making a turn (tall people don’t appreciate this “little” thing).

While no one knows how long our early “spring” will last, I plan on enjoying every minute of it!

Starting to pick it up

2011-02-15T08:24:00.002-06:00

Here we are in week 2. Although with starting Week 1 on Tuesday, I didn't have all of my classes until yesterday. A fact that is strong in my mind as one of my Monday classes is Foundations of Biblical Preaching with Karoline Lewis, who is currently across the open space in Northwest talking on her cell phone...side note...remember that post I made last week of being surrounded by academics? This situation applies to that too.

But I diguress.

On Monday's I don't need to be on campus till 12:30, and I took advantage of that yesterday to hammer out a bunch of work for my single online class. However, I wrap up right at 4:30, which is not a fun time to attempt to drive across the metro. Behold the power of rush hour.

That being said, I've discovered a handy website that will show a map of the main driving routes and the current driving conditions traffic-wise. Its a good thing to have in the back pocket. I glanced at it right before packing up the computer and noticed that the stretch of 35W between 280 and 694 was moving really slowly. In my experience, this has been the worst stretch of the evening commute.

A fellow commuter that goes to my new church keyed me in to a tip a week or so back...buzz over to Snelling and go north. With the traffic report as it was, I decided to give that a shot yesterday. Now, I wish I could say that it worked perfectly and there were no delays at all, but driving any road at that time of day is going to be slow. That being said, I reached the intersection between 35W and 694 within about 15 minutes and as I looked down 35, I could see that it was backed up t the extreme. Probably would have been 30 minutes or more had I gone that way.

So it would seem that I had made a good choice. That being said, I also realized that instead of taking Como over to Snelling (which does curve ever so slightly to the south) I should have gone over on Larpenter. I'll remember that next time.

You know, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.

A new way of thinking...

2011-02-13T21:48:00.005-06:00

I now have one less week at Luther Seminary...
I'm enjoying my spring semester so far, even though I might have my strangest schedule so far. Somehow I have all my courses on Tuesdays, all five of them, meaning I go from 9 am to 9 pm. And that's it. Well, almost anyway, since I have a few classes on Thursdays as well, giving me 3 solid reading days every week as long as I can survive my Tuesdays. Something that shouldn't be a problem since I'm very happy with my courses so far. I also got reminded of something important this week. While attending class, I'm not just obtaining new information to cram into my head and then trying to apply it, I also to this a get to meet and be under the tutelage of many of the great minds at Luther Seminary. Sometimes I find professors who think in a way similar to my way of thinking, which is encouraging and makes them easy to follow and understand and sometimes I find professors who don't, which makes them a bit harder to understand. This time though I've found a professor who doesn't think like me, but somehow is easier to understand. In other words I'm being introduced to a new way of thinking, this is not the first time however (I've been studying at seminary for 3.5 years after all). But this time around it is different since the professor is actually challenging me to think in a completely new way.
Challenge accepted!

Greek, Part I

2011-02-13T13:56:00.002-06:00

I gave the first part of my Greek for “church people” class yesterday. There were just four students, but they were enthusiastic, which makes all the difference. It turns out that they are each from a different country and at some point have had to operate in a second language, so explaining the importance of language was very easy. It also helped provide examples of the difficulty of translating a word from one language so that it has meaning in another.

Being my first time teaching a class of this sort, I had no idea what would grab people’s interest and what would be easier or harder to learn. So I put in a little of everything—history, the alphabet, pronunciation, grammar, formation of the New Testament—with the goal of reading some of John 1 and pointing out key words and their meanings. The students seemed very interested in all of it, and asked some very insightful questions I was not anticipating.

One man would ask really good questions that I could only guess at, then later in the class he would come up with a great answer on his own. It made me realize that the person teaching has a lot to learn from the students, and the role of a teacher is to provide a space for everyone to learn from each other. This became more clear to me as one student laid out in detail the grammatical rules in Spanish for accenting, syllables, etc., then asked me if Greek does the same thing. At times I could just smile and nod and say, “Yes, you’ve got the right idea.” (Spanish class was many years ago!)

So, four hours of Greek went surprisingly fast, leaving me now to think about next week’s class (the last class). I want to introduce some key grammatical concepts we didn’t cover yesterday, but that the students were asking about. One student told me he is interested in studying more on his own, so I think I will explain more about the tools for Bible study using Greek, and give resources so that they can keep learning.

The impression I’m left with is how there are people in the churches that are hungry to know things we are learning in seminary, but don’t have the same opportunity to study in-depth, as we do. I think the teaching ministry in churches is crucial, especially when there is so much that leaders learn from interacting intellectually with the congregation. Yet at least in many churches I’ve been in, it’s underdeveloped. This is something I hope to change.

Keeping up with the Joneses. And Andersons. And all of Luther Seminary--including the Noncord.

2011-02-11T17:13:00.003-06:00

Whilst on internship, I struggle to keep in touch with my fellow seminarians, as well as the general happenings at Luther. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are vital in keeping touch with people. I also love the Luther Seminary website, namely the Inside Luther page.

One way to keep up on all that's going on at the seminary, including views on issues, general news, and what people have on their hearts and minds is the Concord Newspaper--read online. Being the lover of comedy that I am (even if I'm not actually funny), I adore when the editors of the Concord release the Noncord issue (an issue just came out!) . It's hilarious, though very contextualized. Knowing of the professors and students at whom the writers are poking fun is essential to work your belly-laughing muscles. You can still read it and chuckle at the cleverness, though.

I didn't figure I would miss the community at the seminary quite as badly as I do--and I am very thankful for the internet for keeping me connected and in the loop!

Spring Semester

2011-02-10T19:12:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned previously, the line between my J-term and Spring semester was rather blurry. I turned in my final J-term paper last Friday, and started Spring classes on Tuesday. Despite not having a break, I really enjoyed my J-term experience and was glad to get a full credit done in a month. Now it’s time to focus on the new semester.

What’s new for me? For one, I have class every day of the week. I have been spoiled all my other semesters by having at least one day per week with no classes, typically Fridays. On the plus side, having class everyday means I see people more often and am more likely to participate in activities on campus, like discipleship group.

Another new thing for me is having an 8 a.m. class—3 days per week. I am a morning person, but even for me this seems early, mostly because I never know how long the drive to school will take at that time. On Wednesday I left an hour early and it only took me 20 minutes to get to school. Yet if I try to leave tomorrow at 7:30am I might be stuck in traffic for 45 minutes. I’ll probably get the timing just right by week 6, when this class ends.

Maybe I’ve gotten used to seminary, or maybe my classes have gotten easier, but looking at my schedule for spring, I do not feel at all overwhelmed (as I have before). I haven’t had my preaching class yet, but that seems to be more practical than intensely academic. I’d say the same for my church music class. And after the first day of my History of the Reform class, I feel very relieved to only be covering about 400 years of church history in one class, as opposed to the 1500 years we covered in the Early Church History class. Things are looking good.

My most exciting class is Greek Readings. I’ve spent the past semester and summer as a TA for the basic Greek class, getting a good grasp on the basics. Now I'm excited to apply what I’ve learned (or hope I’ve learned!) to actually reading the New Testament, which is why we learn all that grammar in the first place. I’m enjoying taking a class that is not an introductory level course, going deeper into what I love most about seminary—God’s Word and of course, ancient languages!

Week 1

2011-02-10T11:32:00.002-06:00

Its Thursday of week one, and the last day I'll be on campus this week (of only 2 times this week, admittedly pretty minor). I just walked out of Chapel, and two things occurred to me. One was exciting, the other a little sad.

First, the exciting thing. I arrived on campus right at 11am this morning, and so chapel had just started when I walked into OCC. I walked in and sat in the back pew right next to the door, so as not to disturb anyone as I entered. A moment after I took my place, both President RichardBliese and Dean Kennedy walked in and sat close by me...not with me, but in close proximity. I looked around a little more and saw Professor Chris Scharen (who is co-teaching one of my classes this spring and also wrote a fascinating article that I just read and greatly appreciated). Professor Paul Westermeyer shared the scripture and commentary in worship.

In short, I realized that I am surrounded by "academia." I've been excited about the opportunity to study on campus for the duration of my seminary education, because at heart, I am an academic. I enjoyed college, and I've greatly enjoyed the chances to be on campus over the past 2.5 years for the DL intensives. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a ton during my online classes, and am even still taking one this spring. They are wonderful as well, but I've always been excited to be in the presence of some of the academic minds that wrote down some of the stuff I'm reading.

I've written several times about the up and downs of making the transition from DL student over to on campus (albeit it commuter) but this one was a good feeling. This one is exciting.

Now, the second thing that happened actually occurred as I was walking out of the chapel. Due to it being a wonderfully bright sunny day, light was streaming in from some of the second story windows and promptly blinded me. I waxed nostalgic for a moment because the same thing happened every single week when I would walk out of the sanctuary in my home church back in Iowa. Every single week. It made me miss home and it made me miss my church.

Granted, things like this are going to happen. Its common with any relocation regardless of whether or not it is for seminary or taking a call or simply moving on. But it is my prayer that they start to occur less and less. Minnesota is home now and will be for at least a couple years until I finish up school. Maybe longer depending on where I receive a call.

God has placed me here and with God's placement comes both joy and sorrow as I experienced this morning. But you know what...that's okay.

And Here We Go

2011-02-07T10:10:00.002-06:00

Last day before the start of my first full time on campus semester. I find myself a little nervous, but at the same time excited and ready to get going.

A couple of thoughts that strike me as questionable yet funny at the same time. First off a question. Why does class start on Tuesday on not today. Wouldn't it make more sense to start on a Monday? That's the beauty of an online class. You can really start any day you want to, provided the week's assignment is posted. But with on campus classes, it doesn't quite work that way.

I first realized that we would not have class today a couple weeks back during the j-term intensive. I was in ethics class and a couple of fellow on campus students tried to explain the reasoning to me. I kinda got it, but mostly I just shook my head and accepted that I won't really understand it.

However, the paranoid part of my brain wouldn't stop there and I've continued to wonder about it. By wondering, I've also managed to place the question of whether or not it was in fact true in my head. Therefore, I emailed my Monday class professors last week.

One of my professors, who will remain nameless, responded back that, in fact, classes do not start until tomorrow. Said professor also mentioned that the reasoning behind it was a big mystery for them as well.

That made me feel a lot better. If faculty doesn't quite get it, as a brand new (kinda anyway) student, I shouldn't sweat it either.

My next thought as I prepare to head to campus tomorrow is a bit of a repeat from J-term. What time do I need to leave taking into account traffic. J-term I had an 8am class. After the first day fiasco (thanks in part to snow over night as well as traffic), I started leaving the house at 6:30. Traffic was still moving and I was on campus by 7. I would head to the caf and hang out with classmates as they had breakfast before heading to class. Now I have class at 9. There's no way I'm leaving the house 2.5 hours early in order to beat rush hour traffic. I'm just not going to do it. But the question is in my head...well then, what time?

I'm considering 7am, but that still seems a touch early. If the drive is about an hour (which is what I expect if the weather cooperates) then I'm still an hour early with nothing to do (provided I finish up the reading for tomorrow before calling it a day today). I'm also thinking 7:30 but then if things are really nuts about that time (which I fear it will be) then I may be pushing it to make it by 9.

I'm so confused. Seriously, I just need to get week 1 done with so I can start to find my groove. But before I can finish it, I've got to start it.

And now to use a token quote that I use at the beginning of every semester (though usually on Facebook)...And Here...We...Go

Last term...

2011-02-06T16:26:00.008-06:00

The other day when I was thinking about my the spring term and all the courses I'll be taking, I suddenly realized that it is my last term at Luther Seminary! It's hard to think that I'm already past half my time here and in 4 months I'll be gone from the US...

The most recent 2 terms (Fall term and J-term), however, have been a very good time and I've learned incredibly much! Both from the excellent professors here at Luther Seminary (knowledge and experience I'll be happy to bring with me to my future ministry in Sweden!) and from my dear friends here in the US, helping me to experience and learn about the American culture (such as the Super Bowl), helping me to reflect on my own life and the culture back in Sweden.

As I mentioned in my previous post I'm happy that I've begun working out, especially since 3 of my 4 classes are in the same classroom, a classroom that happens to be in Bockman Hall, where I'm currently residing! But this is the beginning of my last term here at Luther Seminary, not the end of it. There are still things to learn, professors to listen to, books to read, people to get to know and papers to write!

Homecoming

2011-02-04T17:08:00.002-06:00

Convo is over. The amazing crew from the Center for Faith, Life and Leadership are quietly sitting at their desks, recovering from all of the work needed to put this amazing event on. As a student worker in the Communications Office, I was asked to work at the registration desk on Wednesday. I love the registration desk. Aside from checking in people who attend the event, I was able to do a lot of people watching.

Convo seems like the unofficial homecoming of Luther Seminary. Students return from their own congregations to learn and to socialize with friends and colleagues they only see once a year. From the registration desk, I see people shaking hands, hugging and catching up. This year was the added opportunity of seeing the shell-shocked faces of those from warm-weather climates as they had to walk from their car to Olson Campus Center. (As every year, the Norwegian sweaters made their appearance though I think their numbers were down. I really believe Norwegian sweaters are the unofficial uniform of off-duty Lutheran pastors.)

For the first time, I experienced Convo as a homecoming. A friend who has moved to her first congregation across the country from here attended Convo this week. I have eaten out more than I should and laughed so much my cheeks hurt. It was an amazing opportunity to become closer friends and not just spend our time catching up (that’s what Facebook is for) but to talk about things we care about and the share story after story about our lives.

I was able to catch some of the keynotes and they were fantastic (I did have to miss the workshops, much to my dismay) But it was the homecoming aspect of Convo which truly came alive for me this year.

Mid-Winter Convocation

2011-02-04T14:47:00.001-06:00

I made it to Convocation yesterday! I had some stuff to do in the Library, so I made a point to go to chapel while I was on campus. It was great to see the chapel full, although I felt a little out of place at first because I hardly saw any current Luther students there (but plenty of Norwegian sweaters, as promised!).

Then I ran into one of my friends that I have not seen since the end of fall semester. It was fun to see her, and hear of her adventures in Georgia for a J-term trip she went on. Slowly the pew I was sitting in filled up with students, and I felt a little bit better about being surrounded by life-long Lutherans!

Before the service started, three Faithfulness in Ministry awards were given to Luther graduates who are making a difference in the world by fulfilling their calls. The common thread in all their stories was working with or starting new congregations, in the US or overseas. This was encouraging to hear, since there is a great need in many communities for a church that meets the needs of the people there.

Then came the service, and a sermon by President Bliese. He addressed the general topic of “Engaging Scripture as Communities of Moral Deliberation” by speaking of some of his own humorous and trying experiences with difficult issues in the church. He reminded us that throughout history, God’s people have often resolved serious challenges in their lives of faith only through hindsight. Recognition and repentance can lead to communal discussions of what needs to change, and this also gives space for communities to retell their stories with a new perspective of faith.

It was a great sermon, and reminded me that for as much preparation as we get at Luther, life with a congregation involves a lot of trial and error and working things out together. I am sure we will all feel unprepared at some point to deal with some issue that comes up in ministry, but remembering that the process can be as important as the specific outcome is helpful. Communities grow together, and “failures” can be opportunities to reflect and start in a new direction.

Convo-A Little Different

2011-02-03T08:24:00.003-06:00

I've experienced Convocation twice before. Both times it was happening during the MDiv DL intensives and so I was staying in Stub while it was happening. Its been my experience (in the past two years) that campus gets very busy, chapel is loaded, and parking is nearly impossible (translation-don't plan on leaving campus with your car during the day or you won't have a spot when you get back).

This year Convo is a little different from two standpoints. First, its 2 weeks later, which means that J-Term is pretty much wrapped and the cohorts aren't here anymore. Second, I'm still around and am driving over to campus.

I had stuff going on yesterday morning, so I didn't head over towards campus until about lunch time. So I missed the morning speaker, though I hear he was pretty good.

I knew one of my good friends was planning on being there for the day yesterday, but she had followed protocol and kept her phone on silent, so she missed the texts that I sent her once I arrived on campus. So I milled around in Olson for a little bit, discovered that there were free lunch wraps from the Caf (YAY!!! FREE FOOD), and then headed over to the library for some odd reason. All I did there was surf the web.

Then I headed back over to the chapel to listen to Professor Matt Skinner give his lecture. I've never really interacted with Dr. Skinner, but since I'm taking a class with him this spring, I thought it might be a fun way to start to get to know him. His lecture was about learning how a community (specifically a faith community) can learn to exist in the face of issues of opposition. I really appreciated what he had to say considering the division of my old congregation that happened last summer. Its hind-sight of course, but I wish they could have heard his lecture prior to the split.

After the lecture, I jabbered with my friend for a little bit, and then headed out.

A couple of thoughts:
There don't seem to be as many recent graduates of Luther at Convo...aka I didn't see past students that I recognize from my time.
Free food is awesome.
The chapel can be a tough place to hear a lecture when you are really crammed in (my legs and feet fell asleep...though fortunately I stayed engaged and did not fall asleep).
Seeing people that wrote some of my text books in person is amazing...for example, I get a charge out of seeing Terrance Fretheim sitting in the pews.

I'm not expecting to make it to campus today as I have a lot of errands to run with my wife today. Tomorrow morning is a possibility though, but we'll have to wait and see. The commuter status strikes again. Being on the other side of the Twin Cities can be detrimental to just "dropping in" on campus activities.

Almost There

2011-02-02T17:45:00.001-06:00

Despite my good intentions, I also missed mid-winter convocation today. Not because I’m out of town or on internship, but because I locked myself away all day trying to get my final J-term paper done. As much as I like coming home from campus at the end of the day, sometimes I think it would be nice to live near Luther and be able to drop in on the stuff that goes on there. There’s always tomorrow.

The good news is that I’m almost done with my final paper, which really needs to be done so that I can focus on other things. The Greek textbook written in Spanish that I ordered arrived, reminding me that the Greek class I will be teaching is less than 2 weeks away. I realized that of everything I’m doing, this class is what I’m most excited about. Besides really enjoying Biblical Greek, I look forward to putting into practice all that I’ve learned to teach others. And I’m also learning new things in the process, such as the fact that the Greek breathing marks are called “spirits” in Spanish (perhaps that’s exciting only to me).

I’m also starting back at my teaching congregation this Sunday, meeting with the teaching team to talk about the new believer’s class that starts soon. I’m very glad to be getting more involved at church this semester. Being such a big place, I’ve felt a little disconnected by just going to services on the weekends. I typically run into one or two people I know, but it’s not the same as actually being part of the ministry. Sometimes I miss being at a small church where everyone knows you and is happy to see you on Sunday morning. Other times I appreciate how nice it is to enjoy worship without being pulled out to unlock the church office or make photocopies or do some other random task that comes with being on staff at a small church. There is a season for everything.

Speaking of my former church, I realized the other day that I still have my keys. I did not mean to steal them, but I haven’t seen my former pastor since a few weeks before I resigned. And since he is a recent Luther graduate, he has many of the textbooks I need and has generously been loaning them to me. He said I could keep borrowing what I need even though I don’t work for him anymore, which is quite nice, and another reason I’ve been reluctant to give back my keys! We decided that I’d turn them in when I’m done teaching this Greek class. In the meantime, I think I’ll stop by and “shop” for my spring semester books before I go back to the Luther bookstore. I guess leaving the “nest” of my former home church has not been as easy as I thought!

Missing things.

2011-02-02T10:47:00.002-06:00

I love being on internship.

It's tough to beat the combination of whetting my appetite for parish ministry and learning a ridiculous amount of stuff and getting to know a wonderful community of people.

There are, of course, several things that are less than fantastic about internship. One of them is missing things. Yes, I badly miss my family and friends--but I mean missing things like events in Minneapolis/St. Paul and, more specifically, at Luther Seminary.

I miss the rhythm of walking to and from classes. I miss the impromptu conversations that sprout streams of inspiration and interest. I miss daily chapel (even if I didn't go every day). I miss grabbing a beer at Manning's or another local bar. I miss the familiar surroundings of the Twin Cities--and discovering new pockets of awesomeness that I hadn't yet found in my 20 years there.

Today, especially, I'm missing the Mid-Winter Convocation. I'm missing the gathering of thoughtful, passionate colleagues and friends. I'm missing the interplay of lectures and workshops. I'm missing meals where ideas and information are consumed just as much as food. And I'm missing hearing Will Willimon speak (that guy is great).

The official topic is "Engaging Scripture as Communities of Moral Deliberation." Maybe it's my Lutheranism running amok, but I often dismiss--or maybe ignore--Scripture as a moral guide. It is true, though, that as communities of faith, we deliberate over morals and seek our identity as a people. This convocation is a great opportunity to explore how Scripture speaks to--and, along with prayer, is central to that process. [Now I'm missing it even more...great.]

I look forward to reading blog posts and having conversations with some of my fellow Luther Seminary students about the convocation. I am on Twitter (@ericedward), and definitely plan on following the convocation conversation (clever sounding, eh?) at the hashtag #convo2011. But still, I wish I could be there.

I'm loving internship so far. I feel truly blessed. But I still miss things. Today (and tomorrow and Friday), I'm especially missing the Mid-Winter Convocation at Luther Seminary. But I'm not missing what can only be scarce parking--or the frigid weather.

Filling my time

2011-02-01T20:20:00.002-06:00

So during this time off between J-term and starting spring semester next week, I've been concerned that I would get bored and go stir crazy. Admittedly, it did happen just a touch yesterday, but only a touch.

Today I had some more time on my hands and thought it more likely that I would get bored. However, after dropping off the kids and hitting the bank...side note, every time I go into the bank up here they try to saddle me with something new...annoying.

But anyway, I sat down and did my go-to time killer, which is of course facebook. I wasn't on there very long when one of my cohort classmates reminded me that internship sites were posted today. Considering that I'm up for internship this fall I figured that I best check them out.

What I didn't plan on was how long it would take to review them. I figured that it would be a quick scan through, but admittedly I was mistaken. It should be noted that I only read through the sites in the Twin Cities, completely disregarding the other sites listed.

It took me over 5 hours to work my way through them and line up my interviews with the supervisors.

No one was as shocked as I was. Well, maybe not. I guess anyone else that has done the same thing probably isn't surprised, but I sure was.

Next on the agenda, going through the interviews.

One Class, Two Finals

2011-01-31T17:02:00.002-06:00

I took my final exam for my J-term class this morning. It was not bad for a “blue book” test, since the professor only wanted 300-word responses (he said he actually stops reading after 300, so it was kind of funny to see us all nervously counting our words as we wrote them!).

I think just getting to school this morning was more stressful than the test. I normally can make the drive to Luther in the mornings in 30 minutes or less, but with the snow it took an hour today. I made it just in time for the test, and finished in less time than it took me to get to school!

So I decided to get my books for Spring semester, since I was already on campus. The bookstore couldn’t find one of them, which is for the only class I already have a syllabus for and know I will need next week. In the meantime, I still have a final paper to write for my J-term class. I saw a classmate while I was in the bookstore and he asked me how my “break” is going, referring to the month of January. I had forgotten that for some people J-term is done—either they had shorter intensive classes or they did their cross-cultural experience—and now they have some time off before spring term starts. My final paper is due by Saturday morning, so until then I am not officially done with J-term, but am trying to get a head start on spring as well.

On a bright note, my favorite aunt is visiting from Colorado, so we went to my favorite Greek restaurant for lunch to celebrate me finishing my final test. Seeing the huge photos on the walls of the warm, sunny, Mediterranean world made me think once again about escaping from the Minnesota winter. If they still spoke Biblical Greek in Greece today, maybe I could use that as an academic excuse to spend some time in Crete, brushing up on my language skills. Maybe someday…

In the meantime, I will keep working on my final paper—actually, a doctrinal sermon. I’ve never had to footnote a sermon before, or think about preaching to an academic audience, which is what this assignment is about. So it’s really half research paper, half sermon. It should be fun to write, and might help me get prepared for the preaching class I’m taking this spring semester, which starts next Monday. I guess I will have to wait until Easter to actually have a “break.”

More Transistions

2011-01-31T11:21:00.003-06:00

As I continue this transition from part time DL student into full time status, I continue to experience more and more things that are new...or in this case, experiences that I haven't had since my college days.

In this case, my new experience is idle time between semesters. I wrapped up J-term stuff last Wednesday. Thursday my daughter was home with me and I was preparing stuff for a trip back to Iowa to celebrate my mother in law's birthday. We were there most of the weekend, which broke up the monotony of the school break.

But now we are back home in Plymouth again. The kids are at school and my wife is at work.

For the most part, I have nothing to do. Granted, there are some errands that need doing. Some of them got accomplished this morning and some are pending for this afternoon, but I consider that a minor detail.

This week, I'm in what I like to call "bump on a log" mode. I don't have class. I don't have homework. And as I'm still dragging my feet on the whole employment situation (more on that in a bit), I don't have a job.

I literally have nothing to do and its already driving me a little batty. Good thing this is only lasting a week this go round. Otherwise I might go a little crazy.

Backing up to the whole work thing. Since moving up to the Twin Cities a month ago, I've been holding off on trying to find a job until I get into the full time semester. The main reason is that I have no idea what the time input is going to be in terms of homework for 5 classes. I'm used to 2, 5 is a whole new realm.

I don't want to start a part time job and then end up having to quit in a couple weeks if I discover that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. I also held off because it would not have worked to have a job around the 2 week intensive during J-term.

So now I find myself without a job, and beyond cleaning the house, doing the dishes and the laundry, I don't have much going on today.

That being said, I did venture out this morning and accomplish a couple things. First I went to the bank. In one of the last steps of moving (the actual last will be getting our house in Iowa sold...still not accomplished that yet) we closed out our old bank accounts last Friday, so I needed to get the deposits placed into our new bank up here.

So I headed to the bank and did said deposits. I also managed to procure the only open safety deposit box in this particular branch. Bonus points on that one. My next goal was to head across town to the school enrollment center to get my daughter's paperwork turned in for Kindergarten for this fall.

I thought I had the correct address in the gps to take me there, but I quickly realized my error. Fortunately, I was about to go past the school, so I pulled in there to get the correct address. While there, I was pleased to learn that I could turn in the paperwork there and they would forward it to the enrollment center for me. Bonus...saved me a trip across town in lousy snowy weather.

Then I headed to Target as there were a few essentials that I needed to pick up and then since I was in the vicinity of the church, I swung by to say hi to my wife and then pick the brain of the associate pastor that is my wife's boss. She is a recent (within the past couple of years) graduate of Luther and I wanted to gain her perspective of the whole process.

We had a good chat and then I headed home. It was only as I was about to step out of the truck that I caught a glimps of myself in the mirror. I then realized that I have not yet showered or shaved today, and I went out in public like that.

I must be getting a little more used to this whole "full time student" thing.

Working out (and in)!

2011-01-30T23:28:00.008-06:00

When I was preparing for my studies abroad at Luther Seminary I knew the studies would take its toll on my body (at least more than it does for a student in Sweden). Because of this I made a promise to myself to move my body every now and then (other than moving from classroom to classroom). It initially went very well since I managed to get a key to the gym at Luther (called God's Gym). Then there was the issue with getting some training clothes... and then the issue with actually working out from time to time..

This week, however, I successfully doubled my visits to God's gym! The secret? A workout friend! We both realized that we should be working out, but had a hard time finding the motivation to do so on our own. I must say it feels good to feel fatigue in something else than my mind for once!

When I think about working out I can cannot help but also think about a sermon from the pastor in my home congregation many years ago. I do not remember the whole sermon, but I remember the part when he spoke about him going to the gym, seeing many different persons working out, many of them being very fit, and asking himself the question "What if these people were training to keep themselves spiritually fit? Putting all that effort and all those hours in prayer and in reading the bible?"

The point was not that we should do a "spiritual workout" instead of just "workout", but the fact that we sometimes(or most of the time) tend to only doing one of them. "Spiritual workout" or working with our inside (working in) does not have to be the opposite of training your body (working out). Or as the saying goes "a sound mind in a sound body" or "a healthy mind in a healthy body" something that I as a student of theology forget every now and then.

Diversity

2011-01-27T19:30:00.001-06:00

I had an experience yesterday that reminded me that as a non-Lutheran student, I am part of the “diversity” at Luther. I ran into one of my former professors who loves to joke about my being “Baptist” (my nuanced self-description of “working with a church that is affiliated with a Baptist group but consider myself more non-denominational” doesn’t go very far with some people!). Of course, this professor makes fun of me in a respectful, non-offensive way that actually makes room for talking about our theological differences, which is a good thing.

So besides this encounter making me laugh at myself, it also took me a little off guard—I’ve been at Luther long enough now that I don’t always remember that I’m of a different denomination than most of the students. Of course, there are times in classes when I become aware that I have a different perspective than the majority, but overall I’ve encountered openness to hearing people’s diverse ideas and beliefs. This makes it so that students not only of different denominations, but also from different countries, different life experiences, etc., can feel at home here.

Thinking about my J-term class, amongst the six students, one TA, and the professor, we represent four denominations and three different countries that we call home. This is pretty amazing for a small class. And after reading different liberation theologies, which are largely based on experience, I realize how much each person/community’s experiences influence their faith and approach to theology.

So really, each student at Luther creates the diversity that makes it such a great place to be. The common faith and goals we share seem to unite us in such a way that we can respectfully talk about differences. And not that we should minimize our differing viewpoints, but I think being able to laugh at ourselves once in awhile is healthy.

A new experience on campus

2011-01-27T12:47:00.003-06:00

Wow...Juniors are really starting young these days aren't they?

So this morning I needed to head over to campus, but today was a little bit different. Thursday's my daughter does not go to school, and as I didn't have class either, she was staying home with me today...or more so, she tagged along with me to campus.

After my son hopped on the bus to head to school, the two of us headed on out for a little daddy-daughter time.

The cause for the trip to campus was two-fold. First I needed to drop off some books at the library, seeing as I finished up the research paper that I was utilizing them for yesterday. So that was our first stop. We dropped the books and then I showed her around the library, even going back into the stacks...she was ready to check out every single level (all 8 of them) in the stacks, but I refrained from that. After our adventure in the library, we walked through the tunnel into Bockman, only for the purpose that she can now say that she's done it.

Side note, we also checked out the ping pong table in the basement...if you are bored on a break from class, I highly recommend it.

After that we headed over to Northwest to drop off my CPE materials in the contextual office. It took longer to walk there than it did to drop off the stuff, but that's okay. It was somewhat warm and we enjoyed the walk. We also each got a piece of chocolate in the contextual ed office. That made it all worthwhile.

At this point, I had accomplished everything that I needed to accomplish, but she wanted to stick around for chapel, which was starting about 45 minutes later. How can you say no to that. So we headed over into the Caf where she kept busy playing computer games on the laptop, and I dove into the paper to catch up on the news.

We went to chapel, which was also fun with her in tow. I especially got a charge out of seeing her stand up when all of the students stood up. The thought of juniors being pretty small jumped through my head again at this point.

Then after chapel was done, we headed into the caf for a lunch date. Luther Seminary Cafeteria big sandwiches. Mmm mmm good.

So all in all, it was a fun new experience to be accomplishing things on campus with one of my kids in tow. this time worked out fine, though I don't think I want to attempt to take class with one of them tagging along.

I think I'll let them wait and attend seminary themselves before I subject them to one of these classes. Sound like a plan?

Endorsement

2011-01-26T08:12:00.002-06:00

So its been a big couple of days.

Over the weekend I was back down in Iowa, making the rounds, seeing a bunch of different people. I stayed at my brothers house and my parents house, culminting in my parents watching the kids while I road tripped for my last meeting of CPE. It being the last meeting, I received my certificate as well as my supervisors evaluation.

The good news...I passed. Credit for CPE. Now I just need to get my information turned into the sem. I intended to do that yesterday as I was on campus, but I kept walking into Northwest when the office was closed for various reasons. So that hasn't happened yet, but it will.

So obviously I was on campus again yesterday...for a very important reason. My endorsement interview happened yesterday. I got over to campus early, and took advantage by making some various copies and starting to work on going through my sources for my ethics paper that I still need to get written.

I was walking across campus about 30 minutes before my interview, and happened to notice the two synod reps sitting in OCC. So I sat and jabbered with them until it was time for the interview itself.

At 11, we headed over to Dr. Padgett's office, (my advisor). After introductions, they kicked me out to "talk about me behind my back," which I actually got a kick out of. After about 10 minutes, I headed back into the office and we talked for awhile. It was mostly conversational, which I really appriciated.

After that, they kicked me out again for a few minutes. Upon my return, they informed me that they were recommending me for endorsement...roughly translated, I passed, but they need to make their recommendation to the rest of the synod candidacy committee, who will then give the "official" thumbs up. But long story short, I'm unofficially endorsed and that's a good feeling.

End of an Intense Week

2011-01-21T16:28:00.002-06:00

Even though I didn’t have class until Wednesday this week (we had Monday off for the MLK holiday), the week flew by. I had a paper due Tuesday morning, and an oral presentation for class today, plus many, many pages of theology to read. I kind of like the intensity of J-term, but there’s not much opportunity to catch your breath without getting behind.

I did, however, escape campus for a short while over my lunch break on Wednesday. The same friend who insisted that I try to enjoy winter suggested that we go to the Como Conservatory, so we did. I had forgotten that there is a place just a few minutes from campus where I can walk around without a jacket and breath deeply without my lungs freezing in the middle of winter. The sun actually came out that day, which was an added bonus. That and the polar bear “enrichment session” (they have to keep the bears mentally stimulated—I guess seminary students aren’t the only ones!) we happened to catch on our short trip to the zoo. I definitely recommend the Conservatory for anyone who needs a break from the Minnesota winter.

So, perhaps this helped the rest of a busy week seem not so overwhelming. And thinking about the remaining ten days of my J-term class, I realize that the majority of the assignments are behind us. Just a final test and paper, which do comprise more than half of our grade, but are spread out so that we have four days after the class officially ends to turn in the paper. By that time I will also be reading ahead for Spring semester classes, and preparing for the teaching events I have in February.

Actually, for as intense as J-term is, it is probably more relaxing than life will be after it ends, when I have to juggle many different things once again. Hopefully by then I will have thawed out a little bit to make moving around easier. In the meantime, there’s always the Conservatory, and my found memories of warmer days (see photo from a previous trip to the Conservatory).

Reflections of the big switch

2011-01-21T12:48:00.002-06:00

Friday...cohort 2's classes wrapped up yesterday. Pretty much everyone has already headed home by way of Plains Trains and Automobiles..

Side note...that's a really great movie with Steve Martin and the late great John Candy...check it out.

I came over to campus this morning because I really needed to hit the library and get a couple of hard copy sources (aka books) for my Ethics paper that has yet to be written. That way I'll have it in hand over the course of the weekend if I get bored enough to start writting it.

Just for reference...its not due until next Friday.

My wife is gone for the weekend to a conference in Kansas City and since the kids are both in school, I thought I'd buzz on over. A couple of my fellow cohorters (though admittedly I should say that I'm now a former cohorter) are still around, though, as I mentioned most of them have flown the coop now.

I came into my friend Rick's room (as he is one of the few remainders). He's working on research and I spent a few minutes looking up sources for the library before I actually headed over to the library.

Here is my main observation.

The library was dead. There were a couple of people there...and by a couple I literally mean a couple. Like 2. One of them is a fellow student that I actually know that lives here on campus. Ironically she was in my Mission class this term, but that's neither here nor there. I jabbered with her very briefly as I was heading into the stacks and she was heading out.

After spending about an hour at the library finding said sources I headed back across campus to Stub hall. Once again, it was dead.

At this point it occured to me.

This is my reality now. When the cohort leaves, I'm still here. When campus is dead because everyone is "on break," I'm still around.

I have a new reality to get used to as a full time student.

But before I settle into that new reality...there was one intensive experience that I had yet to partake in...Mannings. I have been there each and every intensive since I've started. Up until today, I had not made it yet.

Knowing that Rick hadn't been there either, I sent him a message this morning asking if he was up for Mannings for lunch.

In the words that I've heard in a movie...though admittedly am totally blanking on right now...Its on like donkey kong.

So after doing my research in the library...Rick and I headed to Mannings for a burger and a beer.

Needless to say, I'm much less interested in working on homework now.

Short circuit!

2011-01-20T17:17:00.008-06:00

Being an Exchange student can be tough at some times. You leave your country, your language, your culture and your friends behind to go in order to travel to a new country, learn a new foreign language, meet a different culture and make new friends. It also fun, for me it's mostly fun!

One of the funny things are all the presumptions people tend to have towards your country (and of course all those presumptions you have about theirs as well).
The most frequent question I have gotten this week is as question about how could it is in Sweden now, the question is generally asked with the assumption that it is colder in Sweden than in Minnesota, and rightly so! Sweden is north of Minnesota after all, and is together with Norway, Finland and Denmark called "The Cold North" in Europe. E.g right now it is 5 Fahrenheit (-15 Celsius) in Saint Paul and 28 Fahrenheit (around -2 Celsius) in Uppsala (my hometown in Sweden).

This week I have also finished my final paper in my J-term course (Genesis to Revelation) at Luther Seminary. The remaining time time of the J-term I will take the opportunity to work with a course for one of my professors at Johannelund (my theological seminary in Sweden). Fortunately all of my books are in English (not unusual when you take a course in Sweden) and my professor has agreed to let me write in English!

The reason I want to write in English instead of practicing my Swedish (which will hopefully not have been forgotten when I return to Sweden) is because I am sometimes struck with what I would describe as a linguistic short circuit. It didn't take my mind a very long time to adjust to the English language, nowadays I both speak, think (and occasionally write) in English. The short circuit happens when I learn something particularly interesting I want to be able to share when I become a pastor in Sweden. I begin to take mental notes (in English) on how I should say it, only to suddenly realize that English is not the native language in Sweden! The problem that then arises is when I try to change languages in my head only to realize that I, in my mind, can't tell the difference. Leaving me unable to speak or write English and Swedish properly for a while.
That's one of the problems with being multilingual I guess!

Starting to get used to it

2011-01-19T07:20:00.002-06:00

So I've noticed something over the course of my tenure as an intensive student. Things start off crazy but then by the end we start to get used to it. I'm in that mode now.

It occurred to me this morning that the schedule seems to be evening out just a little bit. Here's a normal day.

Roll out of bed at 6am. Yes, this is as drastically early as it sounds.
Get ready for the day and head out at 6:30.
Say a little prayer that traffic hasn't kicked in yet and head on over to campus.
All things normal, arrive about 7am...walk over to the caf.
Pull out the computer and briefly live in the myth that I'm going to accomplish someting before class.
Greet the fellow classmates as they trickle in and fill the table.
Head off to class at 8...2 breaks are welcome between 8 and 11.
Head off to chapel.
Eat some lunch and then actually accomplish a little bit of homework till class at 1:30.
Sit through afternoon class...once again, breaks are welcome.
Class gets done...the cohort members breathe a sigh of relief...I tense up because its time to fight rush hour going home.

Side note...I actually made it home in 40 minutes last night.

So that's the norm. There's only one hitch. By this point of the intensive...namely half way through week 2...we tend to be hitting the wall. What was once a priority has slide down the "to-do" list.

This is an unfortunate thing because there's a very fine line between being used to the hectic pace and being at the point where you just don't really care anymore. I'm sitting right on that line.

As I ponder on that, I'm wondering about the upcoming semester. How long will it take for me to get used to the schedule again? We'll have to wait and see I guess.

FUNDRAISING. [dundundun....]

2011-01-18T16:50:00.000-06:00

First, did the dramatic and scary (and written) sound effect joke land? No? Okay then

Second, one of my areas of focus on my internship has been the youth of the church. They have expressed a desire to continue a tradition of a summer trip, and I have taken on that challenge/opportunity. I'll post details about the trip some other time, but right now, we're dreaming up some ways to offset the cost of the trip. Yes, I'm talkin' 'bout fundraising [shut your mouth!]

As of now, we're doing a scaled-down version of "144 envelopes" and a brunch/silent auction. My pastor father-in-law has been a great help, as have a few other colleagues. We had a little session during our internship retreat on fundraising, but I wonder--what do you think (that is, if people read this)? How do you approach fundraising, especially regarding the youth of the church? And...any specific ideas?

“Don’t Forget Your Friends”

2011-01-18T16:29:00.002-06:00

To continue my theme from yesterday about focusing on the positive…the sun came out today! That made reading some very thick theology from Moltmann all the more pleasant.

On another note, I got an unexpected phone call today from an unknown number. I usually don’t answer these calls, but something told me I should. It was Howard, a 70-something-year-old man from the Lutheran church that shares its building with the Hispanic church I used to attend. He wanted to know what happened to me—he hadn’t seen me at church in awhile, and felt like I had “dropped off the face of the earth.”

When I left that church last September, I didn’t realize that people like Howard would notice that I was gone. I got to know him several years ago by attending the Bible study the pastor of St. Paul’s (the Lutheran church) holds for his leaders, and a few random people like me. I never spent any real “quality time” with Howard outside of Bible study, but saw him in passing as his church service ended and mine was about to begin on Sunday mornings. He always called out to me in a boisterous voice, “how’s my friend Jenny?” and often pulled out huge Hershey dark chocolate bars to give to me from his bag of goodies that he always had on hand for his “friends.”

I guess I can consider Howard like the grandpa I never had (both of mine died before I was born), and I feel very blessed that there are people that care about me even though I didn’t realize how much—before hanging up, Howard said that he prays for me every night and that if I ever need anything, he’s here for me.

This reminded me of what the pastor of St. Paul’s told me as I was considering changing churches—that it would be good for me to get experience in a different setting, but that I should never forget about my friends. As seminary students, we pass through several churches in a short amount of time—our home church, teaching congregations, internships sites—but this was a good reminder to not lose touch with the people who have been a part of our journey, and will continue to support us no matter where we go next.

Knit and purl

2011-01-18T14:29:00.004-06:00

I’m not taking any classes this month. As a part-time student paying as I go, I have to watch what’s offered and when I can take it. Nothing fit my needs during J-Term so I have taken a break. Because it would be boring for me to tell you that I just work all the time (which I mostly don’t), I thought I’d give you an insight into one of my big break activities: knitting.

I started knitting many years ago. I’m not a fantastic knitter, but I’m not bad. My specialty is mittens and felted items (felted is where you knit something really big out of wool and then force it to shrink. Felting hides a lot of mistakes). Over the last two years I have been stretching my wings and trying more complicated patterns. Right now I am making a prayer scarf for a friend (I don’t have enough of a specific yarn for a prayer shawl. The pattern easily adjusts).

My mom started knitting at the same time as I did (though she had being doing croch

et work for a long time). My mom had a natural affinity for the yarn arts. She was knitting intricate shawls, afghans and her own specialty, socks. My mom created a beautiful shawl and submitted it to the Minnesota State Fair (it didn’t do

well enough to place but it was good enough to display… a big deal). She was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early summer of 2009 and died last February.

My inheritance from my mom was her yarn, knitting supplies and unfinished projects. Some of the projects I handed out to her two best friends to finish (a couple pair of socks and an afghan) but some of her projects have been special for me to finish. A hat for my youngest nephew (it turned out great) and hats for my daughters (they loved them). Before she died, my mom had each grandchild pick out an afghan pattern and yarn for a special blanket from her. She finished three, but only began work on the final two. Those are two projects I could not pass to anyone else. This weekend I pulled out one blanket (the easier pattern). It’s a little intimidating (that is a lot of knitting and pattern following…and wow, that is a lot of yarn…see the picture), but I think these both will be beautiful when they’re finished. I would have never attempted more complicated patterns without this project and for that I am grateful. Thanks, mom.

Blue Monday?

2011-01-17T16:05:00.002-06:00

I had no idea that the third Monday of January has been dubbed “Blue Monday” until I just saw an article about it on the internet. Apparently a British psychologist came up with a theory that calculates today as the most depressing day of the year. This seems ironic to me today, a day I decided to start being a little bit more hopeful about the gray Minnesota winter that lasts nearly half the year!

Actually, it was last week that a friend of mine encouraged me that if I tried to enjoy winter, it might not seem so unbearable. So after a second day with no sight of the sun, I’m trying to focus on the positive. One sign of hope is what you see in the photograph—I woke up this morning to find two blooms on the hibiscus plant that has been almost entirely brown and leafless since October. They seemed to have come out of nowhere, and with some warm lighting thrown on them I can almost feel a little bit of springtime. There is hope that winter will not in fact last forever.

What else can I be positive about? Well, J-term is halfway over for me now, and it’s not nearly as overwhelming as I expected. I’m finding that I like theology more than I thought, and appreciate the variety in the assignments we have to do for class. I just finished a “hymns and liturgy” paper in which I examined how my Christological doctrine is evident in our Christian music and worship services. This is a more practical use of theology, which I am finding to be refreshing and applicable to ministry.

Having an intensive class does make January go by faster, and the snow and cold actually might help me get more done, since I am not tempted to drop everything to go outside and enjoy the warm weather. I also spend more time studying in the library as opposed to going for walks on my breaks from class (which could be seen as a positive), and I’ve made it to chapel more times this month than during all of Fall semester.

So, even though I resorted to checking out airfare yesterday to warm destinations, I am trying to appreciate each season for what it is. And if my friends at Luther who come from warmer climates complain about the cold less than me, I guess I should try to be a better Minnesotan and just deal with it! Anyway, I am grateful for the little reminders that spring is not that far away.

Different Schedule

2011-01-15T07:31:00.002-06:00

After reading Jenni's last post, I have come to realize that our schedules don't quite match up. She's done with the second week of J-term, and while that is true, we here in the DL cohort are only through week 1. A few of cohort one aren't even showing up until this weekend so they haven't even started "week 1" yet.

Weird wild stuff.

Speaking of wrapping up our first week, things are going well and so far, we are all surviving it. One interesting thing did happen though. The majority of my cohort are taking Ethics 1 and Mission 2 during this intensive. Our first paper was due yesterday via upload in MyLuthernet for Ethics.

I had a goal of getting it done and uploaded by Thursday, as there were other things that I wanted to accomplish yesterday. The paper did get done, though admittedly, I don't think I've ever had to think so hard for 350 words. I guess it was a good assignment right?

Following the completion of my paper, I went ahead and uploaded. However, there was an issue. When I was browsing for the paper, I ended up in the wrong class folder and promptly uploaded a reflection paper from Mission.

This is a slight problem.

However, I did not realize my mistake until yesterday morning when I got an email from Professor Marga. While she praised an interesting read, it was clearly not the paper she was expecting.

So I emailed off the correct paper right away.

Later on at lunch time, the members of the various cohorts gathered to have lunch with their respective advisors. My advisor had another engagement and wasn't there, so I ended up sitting a table with Dr. Marga. We jabbered briefly about my mistake, but she was laughing and informed me that it happens all the time.

That made me feel better. But rest assured when I uploaded paper number 2, I double checked that it was the right one.

Things are coming together…

2011-01-12T18:44:00.002-06:00

It’s the second week of J-term for me now, and I’m getting used to the rhythm of things. By the time I’m comfortably enjoying my new routine, it will abruptly change again!

Seeing as how I like to know what to expect, I was very happy to get a call today from my supervising pastor at church. We talked about the Discover Jesus class that’s coming up in February, and what my participation in it will look like. Two of the pastors will teach some of the classes, and another member of the church and I will teach the others. One thing I really like about my church is that all the ministries seem to run on team leadership, so I’m excited not only to have the opportunity to teach, but also to be involved in the planning and visioning of this ministry.

So, the first topic they gave me to teach on Week 3 is “What’s wrong with the world?” Whoops! Don’t get me started. Actually, that’s their clever way of introducing the topic of the “fall,” or sin entering the world. I will get a chance to introduce myself on the first night of class, so talking about sin won’t be my first interaction with the participants. That would be kind of a downer. But whatever the topic, I am very excited to teach—something I love doing but haven’t done in the church for a while.

Speaking of teaching, yesterday the pastor from the church I was at previously offered me a teaching opportunity that we first talked about last summer. Besides being a church-planter for the Hispanic Ministry of the denomination, he also started a ministry training program for leaders of Hispanic churches who may not have the opportunity to go to a formal seminary. So to kick off the new block of classes, he invited me to give a basic Greek class over two Saturdays in February. This is a great opportunity not just to introduce Biblical Greek to church leaders, but also its implications for understanding Scripture and how we teach it. At first I felt overwhelmed by the challenge of teaching anything useful about Greek in such a short amount of time (8 hours total), but thanks to some pointers from a couple of Greek professors I think I can do it and make it fun.

So, I have a lot to look forward to. It’s amazing how recently I’ve been itching for the opportunity to be more active in teaching and ministry again, and within 24 hours I’ve received two great opportunities. I knew God would surprise me!

Getting used to It Again

2011-01-12T16:08:00.002-06:00

After two full years in the DL program, which has consisted of four...let's see now, is it four? Let me count...yep four on campus intensives, you'd think that I'd be pretty well used to it by now.

You'd think that wouldn't you?

However, after said years in the program, I have learned that intensives are anything but predictable. This is true enough when I'm doing an intensive in the normal fashion. That being said, things are certainly different now as I'm adjusting to living in the Cities and commuting to campus.

In the "normal" scenario, I arrive on campus sometime on Sunday before class starts and other than little trips around the area, I don't really leave campus. I stay in the dorms and so I'm always right in the vicinity when its time for class to start.

Its different now.

Monday was the first day of class but cohort two didn't have morning class. Therefore, I hung around the house over on the west side of town till it was time for my son to go to school. Once I dropped him off I headed over to campus. However, it was late enough that rush hour was over. So I got to campus without much trouble. Likewise at the end of the day, I stuck around for a cohort welcome meal and so didn't leave campus until a little after 6. Rush hour was pretty well wrapped up by that time.

Long story short. Rush hour didn't effect me Monday.

Yesterday was a different story. Now for starters, we got about an inch of snow over night and if there is one thing that I learned yesterday, it is that snow seems to make commuters loose their minds and all ability to drive.

I thought that I would leave the house at 7am because an hour would be more than enough time to make the trip (its normally about 25 minutes). However, this was not the case. After averaging approximately 17 miles an hour for about 75 minutes, I ran into class huffing and puffing and 20 minutes late.

Fortunately, my professor was good natured and I hadn't missed much other than discussion of the syllabus. After class, it was about the same. I hit rush hour going home as well, though it only took me an hour that time.

Things have changed.

This morning I tried to adapt. I left the house at 6:15am...yes that's in the morning. Rush hour hadn't really kicked in yet. Plus the roads were cleared off...I arrived on campus at 6:45. It would seem that I still need to tweak things just a touch.

The one good part, other than not being late for class today, was that I discovered the Caf is a really great place to finish up the reading that I decided not to finish last night.

This is gonna take some getting used to.

They're Here

2011-01-09T21:52:00.002-06:00

Note...the title of this posting should be read in a way that emulates the little girl from Poltergeist. If it helps, turn on your tv to a channel that has no cable reception...aka snow...it will add to the effect.

Over the course of today, plus admittedly some of tomorrow...DL cohorts are making their way to campus. For some like cohort 1 (there are a couple of them here already) this is way old-hat. For others like cohort 4 (seriously, how the heck are we at cohort 4 already?) this is their first time being here.

For me, being cohort 2 and pretty old hat myself, its both a joy and a sadness. I headed over to campus early this evening, getting there about 6pm or so. I had been invited to speak at the welcome supper for cohort 4 and offer the newbies some of the "old-hat" perspective along with two other members of my group.

Free food!!! Can't go wrong there.

It was an enjoyable experience and one that I hope was helpful for the new group. I remember back to my first time descending on campus in January of 2009. We were fresh off a semester of Greek and everyone was limited to a tiny picture and a bunch of postings on Luthernet. They quickly became my Luther family, a source of great support both during those two week periods, but also at home (behold the power of facebook, email, and phone calls). Cohort 4 is about to experience all this...but I'll leave that to them.

Following supper and discussion time, we walked back into Stub and found a gathering of everyone that has made it to campus so far. Admittedly, with our first class not starting until afternoon tomorrow, many haven't made it yet. However, about half of our group was there, some of which I haven't seen for a year and it was great to see them again.

The sad part is that tonight was my last "first night together" with the cohort. They all know that I'm "jumping ship" to go residential (yes, I heard that phrase several times tonight." I'm going to do my best to enjoy this intensive, but admittedly it is already different. When they all gathered for evening prayer, I took my leave and trekked the 25 minutes west to come home. I sit here wondering how much I'll be able to interact with the group outside of class. That is an incredibly important part of the intensives and the cohort system.

So this one is going to be different. I know that and accept that. I'm not the first to leave the cohort to go residential and speed up the process, but honestly, I never thought that I was going to be one to do it.

But for the time being, I'm going to enjoy them as best I can. Class starts tomorrow.

I quote the Joker in The Dark Knight when I say (admittedly not for the first time)...AND HERE...WE...GO.

Old and New

2011-01-09T16:22:00.004-06:00

The first week of J-term came and went like a Minnesota winter storm. We covered hundreds of pages of reading, took a quiz, and started working on our first project. My head was still spinning after 3 days of studying philosophical terms for the quiz, and I even dreamt about them that night!

In the midst of it all, I’m trying to take some time to reflect. The “Christological doctrine” I’ve chosen to work on is the atonement, specifically, how Jesus’ death fulfills the New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34. One theme within this that keeps striking me is that of the continuity of our past, present, and future. I often hear people at Luther talk about how they were surprised to be called by God into ministry, or how drastically their life has changed since coming to seminary. I’ve even heard past careers referred to as “former lives,” as if one’s identity completely changes upon coming to seminary.

I think there is a tension of both “old” and “new” in the two Covenants of the Bible, as well as in our lives. Being moved by God’s gracious promise was definitely a reality to the people living before Christ, and Jesus came in fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel. Yet there is something new about God’s interaction with humanity in Christ—as Jeremiah 31:32 says, the New Covenant will not be quite like the Old.

Thinking about my own story, I definitely see the time I spent between undergrad and seminary as crucial to my formative journey of faith and preparation for ministry. And looking back, I can see God’s wisdom guiding my path—I choose a philosophy major in college not knowing what I wanted to do later on, but after Friday’s quiz, I see how entirely relevant it is to theology.

Yet there have been many changes—leaving a job to start seminary, spending less time with family, friends, and hobbies, etc. And this past September, I knew it was time to leave the church I had been at for 5 years so that I could have a new type of ministry experience in a different church. It’s challenging to change. Like my old, worn-out slippers that I can’t stand to part with (even though I got identical new ones for Christmas), we sometimes have trouble accepting that moving into the new requires us to let go of the old. It’s not that our past ceases to be part of our story, but it can’t be the last word in how God will move us today and tomorrow.

God surprised many people by coming to earth as a baby and by dying on a cross. It was the same God that the people had known for generations, yet moving in unexpected ways. Are we open to God moving us to new things, in new ways? This is my challenge for this year—same God, new adventures.

Will there ever be peace in this life?

2011-01-08T16:20:00.000-06:00

Just like everyone else, I'm saddened and sobered by today's events in Arizona. We blame this person or that for the violence and the divisive politics. What does it look like to denounce or speak against actions, without promoting further conflict and hateful rhetoric? It is so hard to love murderers. There is so much violence around the world. Is there hope of peace in this life?

A stand-up morning for a preacher.

2011-01-06T10:39:00.003-06:00

Nearly every day, I get up way too early. I try to squeeze in a workout and a shower. And then I eat breakfast. While eating, and before my time of devotions and prayer at work, I am on my computer. I watch TV shows on Hulu, listen to music, and catch up on podcasts. But my favorite thing to do during this early morning time of solitude is to watch stand-up comedy. This morning, I watched Louis C.K.'s Chewed Up (one of my favorites...although NSFW) on Netflix. What a way to get the day started, eh?

Now, I like to think of myself as funny (I know what you're thinking..."but looks aren't everything..."), but that's not why I love stand-up. I don't have dreams of being on stage with a microphone, guiding a crowd into roaring laughter.

I love stand-up comedy because it strips away layers of dirt and digs down deep in order to uncover some of the deepest human truths--love, heartbreak, conflict, injustice, and even the mundane. In the face of some big, and often sobering truths, a stand-up comic finds a way to draw out laughter and give joy. A stand-up comic finds a way to speak the truth in a way that not only makes light of it, but empowers those that hear it. Now, I should specify...not ALL stand-up comedy does these things...just good stand-up. There is, of course, a necessary role of jester--simply making people laugh. But even if it gets rude or crude, the noblest of comedy is always deeply honest--and I think, inspiring.

What if we, as preachers, found some guidance in stand-up comedians? What if we weren't afraid to "go there?" What if we didn't just make light of all the suffering and proclaim that "everything will be okay?" What if we truly step into the dark places in life, dwell there and speak to them, in order to provide hope and give life? Because, after all, isn't that what Jesus Christ does at the cross, for us?

Making the change

2011-01-05T14:39:00.002-06:00

The changes are really coming to a close now, though with that I'm noticing just how different some of the changes really are.

Today was finally my son's first day of school up here in the Twin Cities. We dropped him off this morning and he seemed just fine. But first change, drop off time isn't until 9:20. That's over an hour later than we are used to dropping off the kids. Uff-da.

After dropping him off, my wife headed off to work. I received a call this morning from the Twin Cities director of internships wanting to have a sit down with me, and he mentioned that he was going to be on campus today. That actually worked out really well as I was planning a trip over to campus as well. Divine timing I guess.

So I hopped in the truck and headed out, making my first trial run to campus. It was a fairly uneventful trip, taking me about 25 minutes...about what I expected, though this was past rush hour. I'm shuddering to think how long it will take when I have to be there for an 8am class next week. But here's another difference. I used to "attend" class on the computer. Now I have a 21 mile commute...one way. So much for my truck never racking up miles I guess.

While I was on campus I ran into a fellow cohorter, met one of my professors that taught a class I took fall semester, and hit the bookstore...in addition to having my meeting of course.

Here's the next difference that I noticed. I used to take 2 classes in a semester and books would run me around $100, give or take a little. now, with 5 classes this spring, my total is going to be right about $400...ouch. That's a big difference right there.

What other differences will I discover? Well, at the moment, that remains to be seen. I'll keep you posted though.

Back in Class

2011-01-04T11:10:00.001-06:00

J-term started yesterday. It felt good to be back at Luther and see students and staff once again, seeming to be more rested and joyful after the holiday break than during finals! I realized that although J-term classes are intensive, January at Luther still seems like a more relaxed time than during the semester. For most students, we get to focus on one class instead of many, and things around campus just seem quieter in general.

I really enjoyed the first day of my systematic theology class. With only six students (plus the professor and the TA), the class has a very causal, conversational tone to it. It’s a great opportunity to really dig into the material, and to be able to ask and answer each other’s questions as they arise. It would be nice if all my classes were like this, but I suppose that’s why most classes have a “precept” or small group component to them in addition to the lecture.

Another nice thing about this J-term class is that it only meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which means I don’t have to leave home two days a week if I don’t feel like it! It’s great to have a couple of complete days to study, and not have to commute and deal with traffic, even though I don’t have that far to go. Also, I study better in the mornings, usually getting more done between 7 and 10am than I do the rest of the day. I’m not sure when exactly that changed from my undergrad days of staying up until 2am to study on a regular basis, but now early bedtimes and Good Morning America are my friends!

Speaking of studying, I guess I should get back to it. We have our first quiz on Friday, and I also need to decide which Christological doctrine I want to focus all my work on for the rest of the course. That probably doesn’t sound very exciting to anyone reading this, but I’m looking forward to it. And until I start back at my Teaching Congregation, I probably won’t have much else to talk about for a while than theology. I guess that’s the reality of Life at Luther sometimes!

Things Have Changed

2011-01-03T21:30:00.002-06:00

FINALLY THE ORANGE HAT HAS COME BACK TO LUTHER SEMINARY!!!!

Well, almost. Due to some technical difficulties, I have not posted in a month...but it would appear that I'm back up and rolling now.

When I last updated, I was in the midst of wrapping things up down in Iowa. Now a month later...things are pretty well wrapped. My family successfully made the move to the Twin Cities last Wednesday so we are now Minnesota residents...although not legally yet...getting our driver's licence and vehicle registration done is still on the "to do" list. My wife started her new job at Mt Olivet Lutheran Church today, while I was road tripping around the countryside.

Today was my final evaluation day for CPE. So instead of being in the cities, I was back in Iowa for the day and then drove back up here in the midst of lousy weather and road conditions...very exciting let me tell you.

Regretably, due to my inability to post, I have missed out on keeping you all updated with my transitional time. However, I am back up in time to share my last intensive as a DL student as it starts 1 week from today. Then I'll do my best to discuss the transition into fulltime status in about a month.

One other big date coming up...the 25th. Endorsement interview...Yes. I'm starting to freak about that...ever so slightly.

Its good to be back.

Merry Swedmas!

2011-01-03T09:06:00.007-06:00

Two week flashed by and suddenly I found myself in America once again! As I mentioned before I spent my Christmas "home" in Sweden. It felt great to be back and see my family and almost all of my friends (it was indeed two intense weeks!). I even had the pleasure of participating at a Christian New Years Camp for Youths, both in the prayer team and as a last minute stand in as a leader of a workshop about how to interpret the bible! During my time at Luther Seminary so far all I've done is to receive, this time around I got the opportunity to share from what I have received!
A fitting way to end the year in my opinion!

With this behind me I was happy to return to the US once again and after an uneventful flight I started my J-term and begun with what might be the best class I've ever had. If you get and opportunity to take the class "Genesis to Revelation" with Professor Koester, do so (if not, take and opportunity to do so, you won't regret it!).

As promised I will now write a little about how we celebrate Christmas in Sweden!

First of all we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve (December 24). And for most Swedes there is a certain order in which things must be done:

In the morning around 8-9 o'clock (much earlier if you have small children) you eat breakfast.

At noon you eat a Christmas lunch, consisting of, but not limited to, Swedish Christmas porridge, Christmas bread with Christmas ham and Christmas cheese (yep, in a Swedish Christmas we have a lot of things with the "Christmas-" prefix).

At 3 pm all of Sweden is gathered in front of the television to watch "Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul" a TV program that has been an absolute must see during Christmas in Sweden since it first aired in 1960.

Afterwards at 4:01 pm all children who have been nice know what to expect: Presents!

Nice seminary students and nice dogs might get some as well!

After the most important event of Christmas it is time for the second most important event, namely the Swedish Christmas-table!

At 11 pm (after the stuffing ourselves and playing with our new presents) it is time for one of those rare occasions each year when Swedes actually go to Church, the Christmas Mass. When thousands of Swedes go to Church in order to hear about why we really celebrate Christmas and to receive Holy Communion.

That's it for me this time I hope you all had a merry Christmas and I wish you a happy new year!

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-02T22:10:00.001-06:00

Last year I made three resolutions and I didn’t really succeed in fulfilling them (I still think TV equals real life, I’m still intimidated by professors and I still talk about relational ministry in odd situations). Instead, it turned out to be the most difficult year of my life.

I can’t tell you how glad I am to be facing a new year. With a new year, I’ve decided to make more, shall we say, passive resolutions. I have no doubt I will be able to keep them this year.

1. I will continue to embarrass my children in public. My son is 14. There is nothing he hates more than my kissing him in public and saying, “Love you hon!” Will I keep on kissing him in public? Check! Will I search for more ways to cause my children to roll their eyes while saying, “moo-oom” in an exasperated voice? You betcha!

2. I will continue to show the high school kids in my youth group what an amazingly cool adult I really am. How lucky are they to have an adult who is so finely attuned to current events? I’ve got music from those hip Glee kids in my iTunes. I'm that cool and in-tune with the teens now-a-days. Fo’shizzel.

3. I will continue my cutting-edge, high-thrill hobbies. Oh yeah, I bet you didn’t know that about me. I am an adrenalin junkie. I will often work out of my comfort level and knit on circular needles. I know, hold on to your hats. When I really want to be dangerous, I will watch multiple television shows at one time while surfing my entertainment Web sites. Oh, yeah, I’m just quivering with electricity thinking about my thrill-seeking hobbies of pop culture, reading and knitting!

So hopefully 2011 will be an amazing year and I will be able to, uh, maintain my resolutions.

A New Year

2010-12-31T17:20:00.002-06:00

Yes, it’s New Year’s Eve and I am at home writing for Life at Luther. I guess my social life isn’t as bustling as it used to be, but I’m ok with that. Going out on New Year’s Eve gets pretty crazy, and the freezing rain we’ve been having in Minnesota today doesn’t help.

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, or even on noticing that we’re entering a new calendar year. I tend to be more reflective around my birthday, or other significant dates in my life. Therefore, I don’t have any deep insights right now—I’m just excited for whatever this new year brings, and especially excited that the days are getting longer again!

I’ve spent a good part of this post-Christmas week reading for my January term class, which starts on Monday. I’m through most of the reading for the first week, and am finding that I’m more excited about the class than I originally thought. It’s a systematic theology class, Jesus the Savior. I guess that’s an important topic and should be exciting, as dense as the readings are sometimes. Some of the language brings back memories of my days as a philosophy major, so it’s not altogether a foreign language. Yet the challenge is what I talked about in an earlier post—studying a deep and endless topic in such a way as to make it accessible and relevant to ministry in the church.

Speaking of the church…one of the new things I look forward to this year is helping to teach the Discover Jesus class at my church that I had been observing this fall, and which prompted my post about making theology practical. It’s one thing to sit on the sidelines taking notes and observing participants, wondering if they are “getting it,” and quite another to be handed a topic such as “Why did Jesus have to die?” and figuring out how you would explain it. I have yet to meet with the teaching team at my church to see who will be teaching which topics, but whatever I end up with, I expect it to be a great opportunity to put into practice all that I’m learning in seminary, keeping in mind the diverse audience of largely new believers that attend the class.

So, I am not making any grand long-term goals for the New Year—just taking it one step at a time. Between a J-term intensive class and preparing to participate more actively at my church starting in February, I have plenty to do for the moment. Besides, recently many things in my life seem to change last minute, or turn out quite differently than I expected, so I am learning to wait and not hold on to plans with a very tight grip. The planner in me hates that, but it does make room for the unexpected, which is often better than what I had planned!

Reflections on Home

2010-12-29T09:23:00.000-06:00

It’s interesting that Mattias wrote about “home,” because I’ve been pondering that as well. I think the concept of “home” is bigger than a physical place, having more to do with where one feels welcome and can be him/herself.

On Sunday I preached at small Spanish-speaking congregation that began about 2 years ago as a ministry of Calvary Baptist church in Roseville. It was my first time back in a Spanish-speaking church since I left the one I had been a part of for 5 years in September. It was an odd clash of feelings to go back to the type of setting that I have had most of my ministry experience in, yet at the same time to be aware that I am in another culture, preaching in a second language. Nonetheless, going back to a Hispanic church to preach felt more comfortable than going to preach at the Lutheran church I grew up in, simply because the former is what I have gotten used to, and where I’ve largely developed my own ministerial identity.

To make the experience more interesting, apparently the young man that was left in charge of the service in the pastor’s absence had no idea who was coming to speak, and announced that they had a special guest speaker there from Mexico. I waited a moment to see if anyone got up, thinking there might have been a change of plans, but when no one moved I waved my hand and proceeded to introduce myself. I was in fact the guest speaker, not from Mexico but from the neighboring suburbs, not visiting a different country yet invited into a different culture.

Or is it? How far do clear cultural distinctions hold up when everyone there operates in several different cultures at once? Yes, there are members who came from Latin America, but now Minnesota is their home, and their kids are growing up here. In fact, the kids from the Hispanic church go to the English-speaking Sunday School with the kids of the host church, which has their service at the same time. And as I looked at the small crowd of about 9 people gathered for the sermon, I realized that about half of them were non-Hispanic young women from the host church who are bilingual and come to support this new church start. So who is truly at “home” here, and which is the host culture?

I think something very interesting is happening in the church in our country—people of various cultural backgrounds are coming together around a common purpose and forming something new, which reflects aspects of all the cultures involved. This is beautiful, yet challenging at times. It takes good communication, patience, and mutual understanding to create an environment is which everyone feels they can be themselves and call the new church body “home.”

Back home! (or is it?)

2010-12-26T09:42:00.011-06:00

We live in a time of technical wonders. One week ago at 12:55 p.m. (local time) I got on a plane to Sweden, 8 a.m. (local time) I arrived in Sweden 12 hours later. In just 12 hours I had traveled to the other side of the planet, left my American friends, the culture and the language to meet my Swedish friends, culture and language.
Suddenly I'm back in Sweden again.
I received a warm welcome and the friends I was staying with (in my apartment in Sweden) had actually cleaned the place before I arrived (Well done guys!). I almost felt guilty for buying them a sign saying "Man-Cave" "Enter with caution", almost.
I received a very warm welcome especially when I went to my old home-congregation later the same day. With people throwing their arms around me and hugging me (yeah, we do that in Sweden, it's kinda weird...) and welcoming me "home" and some of them, the ones I'm closest to, inviting me to their homes. The latter was especially welcome, since I'd lost my luggage on the flight to Sweden (got stuck in Chicago, again...). I got my luggage back 38 hours after arriving in Sweden though, so with the help of a friend being kind enough to lend me some clothes that hadn't been stuck on me for over 24 hours I managed (note to self though, be sure to include laptop recharger in hand-luggage next time).
I also had the pleasure of visiting Johannelund (my theological Seminary in Sweden) since they didn't close for Christmas until December 22. It felt weird, yet familiar to walk in the corridors of my old school and greet professors and students alike.
After meeting quite a lot of friends I traveled to Skåne (the area south of Sweden) to see my father and my relatives on his side. Once again I was welcomed with the "Welcome home" phrase. I was very happy to see them, and I'm sure they were happy to see me. As I mentioned in an earlier post Christmas was a bit different this year since I actually didn't have to travel on Christmas Eve (in Sweden Christmas Eve is the day when we celebrate Christmas and get our presents, stay tuned for a "Swedish Christmas" blog special). On Christmas day I went to my mother in Växjö (Vaeckstjou), where I am now, in the southeast of Sweden to celebrate a second Christmas. For the third time since my arrival in Sweden I was greeted with a "Welcome home" phrase leading me to ponder the question "where is my home"?
The simple answer is that home is where you live. Since I have lived in the US for the last 4 months should my room at Luther Seminary be considered home? How about Uppsala where I have lived and studied for 4 years and do have an apartment (even though I don't live there for the time being and all my possessions have been moved out)? Or is home where family is? The problem in my case would then be that my family lives in different places and the fact that my family (both parts) have moved since I moved away from my parents. Meaning I have no old familiar room to get back to and no old house were I spent my childhood. Home for me must therefore be something different than where family or where I reside.
Taking this into account I have come the the conclusion that home must be where I feel at home, it's neither a specific building nor specific people that makes it home, but it may aid the feeling of being home. For instance even though I do not have any specific place to call home during my Christmas break in Sweden, I still feel like I'm back home!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas

2010-12-25T12:04:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

My family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, which is a wonderful tradition, but can make Christmas day seem a little bit anti-climactic. So, since I have some down time, why not write for the blog?

Christmas Eve Day began early for me…cooking! I like to cook, so I enjoy holidays when I have some more free time to do it and a captive audience to eat whatever I make! My brother and I are mostly vegetarians, so I specialize in meat-free dishes. Yesterday I made my second attempt at the eggplant lasagna I made on Thanksgiving. My entire culinary life has been revolutionized by the Magic Bullet I got for Christmas last year! The most laborious part of cooking for me has always been chopping the many veggies I love to throw into dishes, and with my bullet, it’s nearly a breeze. So, I made homemade tomato sauce, shred my block of mozzarella, made some hummus, and whipped fresh cream for dessert in much less time than it would normally take (I am not being paid to promote this product!).

After many hours of cooking, it was nice to relax before going to Christmas Eve service at my parent’s church. In the midst of the holiday busy-ness, I’m glad that we haven’t lost the tradition of taking some time out to actually reflect on Jesus at Christmas. I think the service is my favorite part of Christmas—candles, singing Silent Night, gathering around the communion table and holding hands with people, etc. It made me reflect on how some day, when I hopefully am a pastor, I would like to combine elements both of the Lutheran tradition I grew up in and the “non-denominational” movement I’m a part of now. I think the variety is good, and I like the idea of introducing people to different worship practices that deepen our spiritual lives.

So, we went to church, ate dinner, and opened gifts. It was nice, and it kept me up until 11pm, which is way past my bedtime! Today’s a good day to relax and maybe go see a movie, since that’s about all that’s open. As much as I enjoy Christmas, there is also a feeling of relief when it’s done. It seems like a lot of preparation for a day that flies by. Hopefully we all can take time this Christmas to reflect on why we as Christians really celebrate—something that’s often buried beneath the shopping and the cooking and the traveling. I guess I’ll have more time to think about that as I polish up my sermon for tomorrow...

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T10:30:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas to all!
May you find comfort in family, joy in giving, and hope in the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ!

Some thoughts on cooking.

2010-12-22T15:07:00.001-06:00

I love to cook. For me, cooking is not simply a means to an end, and eating is not simply for fuel. There is joy and pleasure in the process. Fluffy scrambled eggs and crispy toast in the morning, a gourmet sandwich for lunch, or a golden roasted chicken and root vegetables to bring the day to a close--I'll try cooking just about everything. There's something about the preparation of the mise-en-place, filled with careful planning and order, that gets my attention. But the actual cooking, the messy art, is what is most seductive to me. Gently coating a pan with olive oil. Searching for the perfect caramel-colored crust on a juicy steak. Coaxing out the natural flavors of local vegetables--onions, spinach, etc... Seeking a pleasing harmony from the cacophony of flavors available. Presenting the dish in such a way that one cannot help but have both their eyes and forks drawn to the plate. Out of the literal chaos and sweat and fire arises something beautiful (sometimes).

(from italyinsf.com)

And then, like a poet setting a work free to an audience, the meal now becomes something outside of you. It will either be savored and cherished, or sped through and consumed. Cooking is meant to feed and to please, of course. But regardless of a cook's talent (or lack thereof, in my case), it is their own passion for the process that delights them...and that keeps them cooking. And that's pretty awesome, I think.

“Final” Reflections

2010-12-20T18:37:00.001-06:00

So here I am, writing once again in the midst of a snowstorm. I guess I don’t mind being snowed in as much now that I am almost done with finals, and have finished the Tuesday night class I was helping with at my Teaching Congregation.

For as much as I plan and hope to get final papers done before the very last day they are due, it rarely happens. It’s that darn perfectionist in me. So here I am, putting the last touches on my Prophets paper, which is due today. I’ve been working on it since Thursday. That’s both the good thing and the danger of having 5 days after everything else is due to write my last paper! Yet I am not so much writing the paper for the class as for myself, since the professor told us not to try to impress him, but write something useful for ourselves. It’s nice to have that freedom, so I’m taking him up on it and writing about how my own life has been impacted by studying the prophets--a topic I’ve felt brewing all semester, but now have the incentive to sit down and write out.

So, if the snow lets up tomorrow I’ll try to get out and do what little Christmas shopping I do. It’s hard to believe Christmas is this weekend, especially since I’m just finishing the semester today. And in the midst of it all, I almost keep forgetting that I’ve been invited to preach at a church the day after Christmas. It’s a fairly new Spanish-speaking congregation in Roseville, where I was first invited to preach in August. It was an awesome experience of seeing how God gave me a message to preach that was in line with what the congregation had been studying. I never know quite what to expect when I’m a guest preacher somewhere, especially in newer churches where the membership seems to be constantly shifting. Not knowing your audience and not using a lectionary just makes depending on God more exciting!

So after Christmas and my sermon preparation is past, I’ll have just a week to get ready for my J-term intensive class. The professor sent the syllabus out near the beginning of November, so I got the hint that I should probably start reading ahead of time. So with Christmas coming up, preaching, New Year’s, and lots of Jürgen Moltmann reading, this break will probably fly by. I still plan to enjoy every minute of it, reminding myself that this is what I signed up for when I came to seminary!

Snowed In

2010-12-17T08:05:00.002-06:00

As anyone who lives in the upper Midwest knows, it snowed a lot last weekend. Apparently, we haven’t had snow like this since the Halloween blizzard of 1991 (which I remember well—it was my last year of trick-or-treating!). I don’t think many people did or could go anywhere last Saturday, unless it was absolutely necessary. We were all “trapped” at home.

While I’m not a big fan of winter, I appreciate the life reflection this storm occasioned for me. Especially in this country, so many of us are accustomed to the illusion that we are in control of our lives and our world. If you need something, you go out and buy it. If you want to “improve” yourself, you can get an education and supposedly, a better job. And if a “normal” snowfall occurs in Minnesota, you just get out the plows and shovels and go back to work. Not this past Saturday. I hope I wasn’t the only one who was reminded that nature is still powerful, and we aren’t ultimately in control of our own lives.

Reading Mattias’ post and watching the news about Sweden reaffirms my thoughts on this. What we consider to be our “safe place” can unexpectedly become filled with uncertainty. Unthinkable events can happen in our personal lives that disrupt the course we thought we were on. And the roof of the Metrodome can collapse and postpone the football game! While that is one of life’s lesser tragedies, I think it is a miracle that no one was hurt in the collapse.

Last week my discipleship group was reflecting on the meaning of advent. I don’t think about this very much, not being at a liturgical church that follows the church year closely. But this snowstorm made me think: part of advent, part of waiting, is recognizing our need for a Savior. We can’t do everything on our own, are we are ultimately not in control of our own lives. We are created to long for something more, an ultimate hope that is not in the things of this world. We need Jesus.

It’s surprising how being shut-in for just one day made me recognize a little bit of my dependence. It was a welcomed “mini-fast” from the daily busy-ness of life. It also amazes me how anxious I was to get out and go anywhere on Sunday, once the roads were finally clear. I guess I’m a product of my culture after all, although almost being run over on the way to Target by aggressive drivers who apparently were cooped up too long made me wish (just a little) that it had snowed for another day.

An Advent Sermon

2010-12-14T18:17:00.002-06:00

Given this past Sunday (12/12/10), centering on Psalm 146:5-10)

Brothers and Sisters, Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, AMEN.

Picture a neighborhood. Your neighborhood. With the usual amount of people. The usual amount of children playing. The usual amount of trees dotting the lawns. The usual amount of traffic passing through. And the usual amount of joy and thanksgiving. Of course, there’s also the usual amount of hunger. The usual amount of physical and mental disability. The usual amount of lonely people. The usual amount of broken families. And the usual amount of suffering and wickedness.

Sometimes, someone new moves in next door and disrupts the usual. Someone you and your neighbors aren’t so sure about. You don’t know who they are. For all you know, they could be a very sketchy character. Then again, they could be warm and kind. You might head right over and welcome them to the neighborhood, or maybe you’ll peek out your window every once in a while to see what kind of person they are. But only time will tell how they will fit in and what kind of effect they’ll have on the neighborhood.

The season of Advent is all about God moving into our neighborhood. Through the birth of Jesus Christ, God becomes fully present among us. Now, we’re getting closer and closer to God’s move in day, and we wait and prepare for his arrival.

But what kind of neighbor will God be?

The only way we can know what kind of neighbor God will be is to learn a little about the identity of God. Today’s Psalm is a description of who God is and what God does. It tells us of the miracles God performs and promises God makes. And then it praises God for these wonders.

Right away, the psalm tells of God’s work in the world through creation. God “made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them.” God creates. And God cares about the largest of mountains and the smallest of insects—and everything in between. Including you.

Next, the psalm reminds us that God is faithful. God promised blessings to Abraham’s descendants, God promised safety for Noah, God promised freedom for the enslaved Israelites. And God came through for them all. Today, we lift up God’s promise of a Savior. God’s promise of love for humankind. God’s promise of his full presence among us, bringing us peace, conquering death, and making us whole. It is this Savior, Jesus Christ, the one that that has come, has died, has been Resurrected, and has ascended into heaven, that God promises to send into our neighborhood. And God keeps God’s promises.

The psalm tells us that God is an active God. God does stuff. In fact, in this psalm alone, God is the subject of 11 different verbs. God makes, God keeps, God gives, God sets free, God opens, God lifts up, God loves, God cares, God sustains, God frustrates, and God shall reign forever. Quite the list, huh? Take notice of some of these words, because they reveal a lot about who God is and how God works in the world. And in our neighborhood.

God gives. God gives justice to those who are oppressed and God gives food to those who hunger.

God sets free. God sets free the trapped and captive people in our midst.

God opens. God opens doors and God opens the eyes of the blind.

God cares. God cares for the stranger and the needy when no one else will.

God sustains. God sustains the orphan and widow, and sustains us in our time of need.

Seems to me that God would be a heck of a neighbor. God transforms and heals a neighborhood and community. God puts an end to suffering and heartache. So when God moves in, God would really do some good…and probably keep a clean yard, too.

But when Jesus Christ first showed up on the scene in Bethlehem, and then made his way across the countryside and through cities, he was rarely received as the good neighbor that he is.

You see, there’s something scandalous about God. No, not some deep dark secret, hidden away behind closed doors. It's that God loves. Yes, God loves the faithful and righteous. But God also loves the outcasts, the wicked, and the down and out—God loves “those people.” This doesn’t sit so good with us. We’ve got a certain way in our neighborhood. There is its usual structure. There are the usual things we don’t talk about and the usual people we don’t talk to.

When God moves into your neighborhood, though, God shakes things up. God heals and God loves us all. Then, freed by God’s love and promise, God calls us to join in God’s good work in the neighborhood wherever we see a need. This can be quite the challenge, but through God’s love for us, God equips us for the work.

Luckily, God doesn’t just move in, do his thing, and move out. No, the psalm proclaims that “the Lord shall reign forever…throughout all generations.” Because of God’s deep love for us, God sticks by us. God moves into our neighborhood and makes it his own. God moves into our neighborhood, fills it with love, stirs up its people, and works for the wholeness of the community.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, God has signed the last of the closing documents. God has finished packing. The moving truck is in route. God is moving to your neighborhood. Things are gonna change.

Halleluiah, Halleluiah.

AMEN.

Back home...

2010-12-12T23:34:00.004-06:00

Dear readers!
The semester is at an end. In a few days I will be done with my finals and afterwards I will go back to Sweden to celebrate Christmas. It's been a fun semester and I have learned a lot and have had a lots of new experiences, both in my studies here at Luther and as a Swedish exchange student living in the US. It is hard to believe that it's already time to go back to old Sweden again. It's been interesting to see my home country not only from the inside, but from the outside. I have also learned that life goes on in Sweden without me, both in a good and a bad way. The most recently bad thing happened yesterday(Saturday) when the impossible happened in Sweeden. At 5 pm (local time) Stockholm was struck by blasts after an email warning to the Swedish people about Sweden sending soldiers to Afghanistan and the silence regarding the cartoons of Muhammad drawn by Lars Vilks. This is unreal, the peaceful and stable society of Sweden who hasn't seen war for over 100 years is suddenly attacked and threated with terrorism!
Luckily it could have been far worse, since only one person was killed (the man who set the charges) and two other people were injured. For me, as a Swedish citizen, it is not what could have happened that is the most frightening, it is the simple fact that it happened. My safe and peaceful home country suddenly doesn't feel as peaceful and safe anymore...
Things are changing in the world. There is one thing we can take for granted however, our Lord, who is the same yesterday, today and forever!

Missing traditions

2010-12-09T09:40:00.003-06:00

I’ve found it interesting how reading some of the posts on this blog have influenced my own blogging. I was reading Jenny’s post from Tuesday and started thinking about my own traditions.

I am one of those people that clings to traditions, especially now that I have children. Traditions mark the passage of time and celebrate the rites we experience in each phase of our lives. I’m not adverse to new things and I am always willing to try something new, but there are some things that have just “always been that way” and I don’t want to change those things. I love traditions so much that I can actually hear my husband’s eyes roll when I tell him (in good Lutheran fashion), “That’s an interesting idea, but let’s do it this way because that’s the way it’s always been done.”

This year, though, I find myself clinging to traditions that no longer exist. In February, my mom died. Last Christmas I remember thinking to myself, “This may be the last time we do this,” but I refused to acknowledge what would really be different. This year I am struggling as these traditions I have lived with for so long (some of them for my whole life) won’t be the same. I’m struggling as I realize that I need to start at ground zero and make new traditions with my own family. How do you continue the same old traditions when the person who led those traditions is gone? The family dynamics of grief are also affecting how we (my father, brother and I along with our own families) are interacting with these traditions. When grief is so new and still raw, how do we do what we’ve “always done?”

I’m sure that right now you’re anxiously waiting for my appropriate essay conclusion that tells you how my family has made it through this and how excited I am for the new traditions. Yeah, that would be a lie. We’re still struggling. I don’t have the answers for how to make new traditions when most of the old traditions have crumbled around me. All that I know is that I have to take it one day at a time and I know the prospect of having to do that sucks.

Traditions

2010-12-07T14:46:00.001-06:00

This is the time of year to celebrate traditions. As I was thinking about it, I realized how few traditions I seem to participate in. Perhaps the best marker of this advent season for me is: finals! This has become a tradition for me since starting at Luther, an important marker that another semester has come to a close and a chance to recognize that growth and learning that has taken place. Ok, that sounds really nerdy—the real perk of finals is realizing you’re almost done with classes and a break is soon to follow!

Actually, compared to other semesters my “finals” load is surprisingly bearable, and quite enjoyable. I have a final Bible study to prepare for my Paul class, which is due this week. Then, I have a final paper for both my Pastoral Care class and my Prophets class. They are short papers and should be fun, and they are due a week apart, so I can focus on one thing at a time. This is the first time that I have no final tests, and in fact, I have not had any tests all semester. I’m definitely enjoying it!

Since I’m not overwhelmed with finals, I had time on Saturday to participate in one family tradition: the Latvian Bizarre (my mom is from Latvia—she came here as a refugee from World War II). Twice a year, my family enjoys going to this event at the Latvian Church in Minneapolis. We eat traditional foods, including homemade baked-goods and desserts, and shop for Christmas gifts made my local Latvian artists. The church feels homey to me and reminds me of when my grandmother and other Latvian relatives were alive and we celebrated special events together. Yet at the same time I feel very removed from my own cultural heritage, since I don’t speak the language (my mom tried to teach me when I was 9, but it didn’t go so well). In any case, it’s good to remember where my family comes from, and to visit with the few relatives that have come here from Latvia in recent years.

The other tradition I have this time of year is the annual get-together with my High School friends. I just got the email today about this year’s gathering, and it keeps amazing me that even so many years after we graduated(I won’t say how many!) we still manage to get about 8-10 of us together each year, plus spouses and kids. I hardly see any of these friends throughout the rest of the year, but they are the kind of people that would be there for you if you need them. At if you miss the yearly party, you’re behind on all the gossip at least until someone has a summer BBQ or until next Christmas! Not all traditions are the best, but they are something you can pretty much count on in life nonetheless.

Some thoughts on Advent (from my church newsletter entry).

2010-12-06T23:34:00.004-06:00

Waiting stinks, doesn't it?

We hate to wait in that line of overflowing carts at the grocery store. We hate to wait for the mail deliverer to bring that package for which we've been so excited. We hate to wait for that weekend that breaks up the humdrum days, cooped up in the office. We hate to wait.

Waiting never has, and never will be easy. There are many examples of people struggling with anxious anticipation throughout Scripture. The Israelites struggled to wait for deliverance. The followers of Jesus struggled to wait for the Resurrection. The early church struggled to wait for the second coming of our Lord. In fact, much of the Biblical witness is about waiting.

In the season of Advent, it's all about waiting. We anxiously await the birth of our Lord, and God's physical presence among us--and all the wondrous gifts he brings.

In Advent, we are invited to dwell in the process of waiting. We are invited to savor the moments of anticipation. This is quite subversive, really. Rather than go along with our culture that has already jumped to Christmas, we acknowledge and honor the coming birth of our Lord by waiting and preparing.

There is, well, a lot of crap going on among us. There are wars. There is sickness. There is poverty. There is suffering of all sorts. We need a savior--and we need one now. Take heart, brothers and sisters in Christ, for our Savior is coming! So instead of speeding through these weeks of Advent, let us focus on the coming of our Lord with expectant and joyful waiting.

O Come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you,
O Israel.

Let us rejoice in the promised coming of our Lord, preparing our hearts, minds--and world--for his birth. Alleluia!

Milestones!

2010-12-05T22:36:00.005-06:00

When I went to Target a couple of weeks ago I found it quite weird that they already had begun to put up Christmas trees and decorations. Christmas is still so far away, right? Especially since it's Thanksgiving before Christmas. What I didn't really reflect upon is the fact that Thanksgiving actually is quite close to Christmas!
That's something I learned about myself recently: I tend measure how much time there is until something by the events preceding it. In other words, if it weren't for the Thanksgiving celebration (and all of my final exams) Christmas wouldn't be that far away!
If I'm rational about it Christmas is only about two weeks away, meaning I'll soon return to Sweden again (fear not! I will be back for J-term!), in extension that means that I've almost already been in the US for one whole term! Time sure flies fast!

With my (temporary) homecoming so close-at-hand I though this would be a good time to write about Swedish and American traditions.
I really hadn't thought that much about traditions before coming to the US. It was just some time during the year me and my relatives would do something together. Almost the same every year. This year though, I learned that Christmas back home was going to be a little different than it used to be, something that, to my surprise, I got a little upset about. Something inside me was saying why can't it be the way it always have been?
So I guess that's what I really think about traditions, some time a year when I and my relatives do what we always do, milestones in our lives to measure to distance and the time that have passed. This year though, I got to experience a new "milestone" Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a simple and interesting tradition. Put simply (in the eyes of a Swede) the American people meet with their family and relatives in order to think back and give thanks for what they are thankful for. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated when the first settlers in America, after having almost no food and worrying about how to survive the winter, got food (corn, turkey etc) from the Indians. The Thanksgiving today is a remembrance of that time and has also come to be a thanksgiving to God. (the opposite of Christmas in other words, since Christmas begun with celebrating the birth of Christ, and nowadays is mostly about giving and receiving gifts, for most people). Of course Thanksgiving is not without some connection to earthly possessions, something I got to experience on "Black Friday" the day after Thanksgiving. I got up quite late in comparison to most (only at 5 a.m.!) and managed to only buy things I "need" (honest!). Black Friday was a black Friday in more than one aspect though, since I also got some very bad new about some of my friends and former classmates back in Sweden. Another milestone on some people's lives...

Aside from that I had a very pleasant Thanksgiving and I'm especially thankful to the families that gave me not only one but two (!) Thanksgiving dinners and to my friend from Sweden who came to visit and share this milestone with me!

Lasts and Firsts

2010-12-02T12:00:00.002-06:00

I'm moving into a season of "lasts."

We move to Plymouth on the 29th of this month and because of that, things are starting to wind down. We're close to the end of the fall semester (week 12 of 14, how'd that happen already?). As I'm going to full time status in the spring, this is my last semester as a DL student (which admittedly makes me a little misty to think about). Last night, I attended my last Deacon's meeting where I was able to reflect for a short time about my experience within the congregation. I spoke of the growth from volunteer to board member, then moving into a contextual education role, and finally being hired to serve as lay minister which coincided very nicely with my unit of CPE.

Speaking of CPE, I just finished writing up a verbatim. I thought it might be my last one as well, though alas, I do have one more to write up in a couple weeks.

I'm beginning to consider some of the other "lasts" that I will experience. I taught my last confirmation class a couple weeks back which surprisingly (as I consider how fearful I was to teach two years ago) was a sad deal for me. I'm preaching next weekend, which will be the final time of a "normal" worship service that I preach at. My last "official" act will be preaching at 2 of the 4 Christmas Eve services, and fitting with the theme, I'm preaching at the last one.

To be honest, I'm losing track of all the "lasts" just as I'm sure I'll lose track of all the "firsts" that I will experience over the next few months following our relocation. One comes to mind. Just the other day I registered for my first semester as a full time student. That was kinda neat, at least until I got to thinking about the first "full time" tuition bill that will come along with all those classes.

Firsts and Lasts...they are a tough reality in ministry, because we're never going to stay in one place are we? God has this funny little tendency to send us places. Personally, I blame the apostle Paul...maybe if he'd slacked off on his missionary journeys, we could all stay put...well, maybe not.

If you're wondering, here's a list of what I'll be taking next spring, and maybe I'll even throw in January term as well. Just in case you were wondering.

J-Term (likely the last time I'll get to share classes with my cohort *tear*)
The Mission of the Triune God II (better known as simply Mission 2)
Ethics I

Spring
Reform of the Church- With Walter Sunberg...aka Skip...aka one of my favorite profs to date
Worship
Truth and Meaning-my one and only online class
Foundations of Biblical Preaching
1Thessalonians and Galations
and the one fun kicker, Orientation to Internship (HOLY COW!!! HERE WE GO!!!)

Working towards being a healthy leader

2010-12-01T18:38:00.002-06:00

I have a love-hate relationship with my son’s Wii. Normally I play Mario Kart on it, kick the kids’ butts (I’m pretty good at that game) and move on to television watching or knitting. But recently my husband was able to get us a Wii Fit. For those of you not in the know, a Wii Fit is basically a board you can stand on and play games (shifting your balance, stepping on and off, walking on the board). There are supposed to be other games you can buy to use with the board, but we’ve only been playing with the game the board came with. And those games are exercise games.

At first, I thought to myself, “Hey, self, that is awesome! You need exercise because walking from the book I’m reading for class to the fridge for a snack isn’t really exercise. Especially when the snack is pie from Thanksgiving.” I also thought maybe it would give me a push towards participating in the “Living Well at Luther” program this year (part of Healthy Leaders).

I started out happily enough (except that every time I step on the board a surprised voice from the game says, “oh” which I believe is actually the game saying, “Oh… wow, you weigh more than I expected. Maybe you should lay off of the carbs for a few weeks. Could you put one of those tiny kids back on?”). There are a lot of fun games like yoga (Apparently, I have bad balance as I find the Wii Fit repeatedly asking, “Do you trip a lot when you’re walking?”), skateboarding, strength training and Hula hooping. There is even jogging around a lovely island. Despite my reservations, I started to play the game regularly and pushing my self to do better than the kids (we’re a competitive family). As a nerd girl, I can’t think of a better way to exercise than using a video game to trick me into working hard. That’s the love of the relationship.

Let me introduce you to the hate. See, you can play against other family members in this stupid game. What do my 10-year-old daughters love to do? Why the two-person run with mom, of course. Normally I jog at a slow-ish pace getting my heart rate up and trying not to fall over (okay fine, Wii Fit trainer, yes, I do trip a lot when I’m walking). My daughters, on the other hand, are young enough to think that people actually run for fun. And for speed. We start off with a nice, gentle run. But soon they feel restrained and dart ahead of me. Then they stop and wait for me to get close and dart ahead again. The entire run is spent playing catch up with the girls. Who don’t get breathless, either. I’ve found a good mantra to keep me running is, “I hate you, Wii Fit” which they think is a hoot-and-a-half.

Despite the hate of the stupid Wii Fit (wait, these games require me to use my muscles? That’s why I’ve been hurting each morning?), I refuse to let the anthropomorphic board on the screen win. One day, I hope to step on the board as the healthy leader I know I can be and have an “oh” that really means, “Oh… you’re so light and amazing. Nice work!”

A lot to be thankful for…

2010-11-30T09:32:00.001-06:00

It was nice to have a whole week off for Thanksgiving. At first, I felt sort of like Lisa Simpson on the episode when the PTA goes on strike and school gets cancelled. She doesn’t know what to do with herself without the structure of school and having homework to do, so she starts inventing projects and insisting the Marge grade her for nothing. I wasn’t quite that bad, but it did take me a few days to get out of “school mode” and ease into having a whole week just to do normal life stuff, especially since I don’t actually travel anywhere for breaks.

Last Monday I made a visit for my Pastoral Care class—an 85-year-old woman who spent 40 years as a missionary nurse in Pakistan. I enjoyed hearing about her experience in a part of the world that is difficult for Americans to enter today. While it was sad to hear that most missionaries have now left Pakistan, it was encouraging to look at her photos and think of a time when people from the US could build mutual relationships with the Pakistani people and share daily life and ministry. I left this visit feeling like I received more from this woman than I was able to give her.

On Tuesday, I finally had the opportunity to catch up with a friend from Luther that I hadn’t seen in awhile. She is an international student, and I realized again how much I can learn from others’ experiences, including the great sacrifices people make to be able to study and prepare for ministry. She also taught me how to make Southeast Asian tea, which I should have learned on my study abroad in India, but now I finally had my chance to try it out.

The rest of the week was quite normal—a quiet Thanksgiving at home with my parents and brother, cleaning, doing laundry, catching up with friends—all the “normal” stuff that often gets put on hold during the busier parts of the semester.

Then my week ended on an unexpected note—I had to take my dad to the emergency room Friday night because he had severe kidney pain. The good news is that of all the possibilities of what could have been wrong, the doctors discovered that the problem was a small stone that should pass through on its own. We were all thankful for the hopeful diagnosis. I am also thankful to be reminded of what’s important in life: people. I brought my pastoral care book to the ER because I didn’t know how long we’d be there. As I sat at my dad’s bedside, he saw the book, and jokingly told me that now was the time to try out what I’m learning. That’s when I learned that the most important aspect of care is often just being with someone, even if you don’t say a word.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T11:39:00.003-06:00

Somehow, I find it ironic to be sitting here writing a blog. At times, it almost feels like another assignment that gets added to the list (sometimes, not every time). This week, being Thanksgiving, is of course sans-assignments. Needless to say I'm very thankful for this. After 11 weeks of semester...I'm ready for a week off.

My wife's youngest sister lives in Northern Virginia, just across the river from Washington DC. Everyone except me (which includes my immediate family and the whole set of in-laws) has been out to visit. This year it was my turn.

So, Monday, following my normal day of CPE classwork, I got in the car with my wife, my daughter, and my wife's dad (my son had gone earlier with the other car) and we headed east. We left at 4pm. I drove the first leg, which got really long. While driving, I added some new states to my list that I've visited. By 5am Tuesday morning (yes I was still driving at that point), I had driven into Indiana and Ohio. At this point...namely the west side of Columbus OH, 13 hours of driving and 800 miles did me in. I'd been up for almost 24 hours at that point and I handed off the driving privileges to dad in law.

I slept for a broken 2 hours, during which we got the rest of the way across Ohio. Then I woke up as we shot across the north finger of West Virginia and into Pennsylvania. I took over driving again, and five hours later we had gone through Maryland and into Virginia to arrive. Long drive, but we made it.

Yesterday we traveled into the city. I was hoping to see "the Mall" but only managed from a distance. We did go to Arlington National Cemetery though. That was really amazing. It is indescribable to walk amongst the many graves...to see the many monuments. I saw JFK's grave, which was a high point. But for me, the greatest thing, and the most compelling was the tomb of the unknown solider.

We arrived at the top of the hill just in time to see the changing of the guard. And then we sat there and watched the new guard walk his steps back and forth in front for a few minutes. I sat there with my daughter in my lap and some tears in my eyes as I thought of the many brave people that have given their lives for my freedom and at that moment I was honored to be an American. I have never worn a uniform, and very likely I never will, but it is my hope that I am able to offer something to those that I will serve as a pastor.

Its certainly different. No doubt there. But that is my hope.

Home.

2010-11-22T12:20:00.004-06:00

I've always thought of home as a fairly fluid place. Wherever I felt loved and could truly be myself--that was home. I've had many homes over the years, especially since high school. I've been away from family or friends for months at a time, but these past few months have been different. Neither my wife nor I have any friends or family in Salem. Of course, we have a new church family and have some family about an hour away, but it's not quite the same. Please forgive my whining, but I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss home.

That's why this week is extra special. My wife and I have flown home to the Midwest. We're splitting our time between Grand Forks, ND and Minneapolis, MN. We're spending time with family and friends--recharging our "home meter." Nevermind the cold, the travel time, the cost, and the busy-ness--we are happy to be home.

As fast as this week is going, I'm making a point to slow down and appreciate the fleeting moments and feelings of home. Here a few favorites, so far:
-sitting on the wooden floor of my parents' kitchen while petting the family dog
-watching friends play video games, sharing our concerns and laughing at the future
-dinner at my family's favorite restaurant...and the unavoidable food coma that follows
-warming our bodies and hearts over $1 Grain Belts at Old Chicago
-filling a whole afternoon with lunch and a teeter-totter of memories and dreams
-enough kind words, warm smiles and big hugs to last a lifetime...or at least the rest of the year

Thank you for indulging me in my sappy post.
I pray that you all (if there is anyone reading) might find a place where, or group of people with whom, you feel at home. As the sky grows dark and the air turns cold, it is the gift of 'home' that will sustain us.

J-term time!

2010-11-22T01:01:00.001-06:00

This has been a week of revelation! I realized that I had to apply for a J-term course (again with a lot of courses that are not available in Sweden, and I want to take.) That there is no "doom Sunday" in the church year of ELCA (instead you have "Christ the King Sunday") and Thanksgiving is something much greater here in the US then I originally though. What I am going to focus on this time around though, is my concern when I was about the apply for the J-term.

What should I choose? One of those intellectual and interesting courses, one of those super-practical courses where you go away to another city, something in between or something I never would chose otherwise? That made me once again think about the differences between seminary in Sweden and seminary in the US (see the post "my impressions so far part 2" for more info. Jenny's post about "making theology practical" also came to mind). When I think back to my fellow students at seminary (and myself) I sometimes feel like we are removed from reality and put into the small world that is the seminary and the people we meet there. The returning question for me has always been "how do I get a wider perspective?" Going to abroad (to the US) for a year to study certainly helped widen my perspectives and I got to see a whole different system on how to study theology! When I look at the pastors (primarily those in Sweden), the main issue does not seem to be that they feel or seem removed from "reality," rather the opposite. Many of the pastors I have met seems to be removed from theology! Now how can this be? Do they get too much of it at seminary and then forget about it? Or do they think they have gotten enough of it to last for a lifetime? (I have to admit that I even I feel like that sometimes.)

What I like to think is that seminary is a time for learning, preparing and laying the foundation for my theology and what I am going to do. Internship and doing practical things from time-to-time helps as a reminder to what I really am studying for. And that is what I think many pastors fail to do, making theology practical both in theory and in practice. Seminary does not alway help with preparing for what is to come when you are a pastor. But you can use seminary to help you to prepare for what is to come. Thus my final choice for J-term was a course that was both theoretical and practical!

Finding the Future

2010-11-21T19:35:00.002-06:00

I’ve been reading a book for my pastoral care class called “Hope,” by Andrew Lester. It seems obvious that hope is something everyone needs; yet as the book says, it is something that is often not addressed in caring for others. He talks about attending to the “future tense” of our lives, which is a necessary part of hope. For many people who are suffering, the issue is not just the painful thing that happened in the past, but how that trauma disrupts a person’s envisioned future. To help people heal, the author suggests, we need to help people see that their future story is still a possibility, or help them to imagine a new future.

I have several friends who have gone through divorce recently. One of them is watching her second marriage fall apart. She told me that what devastates her most is that now her dream of raising her child in a nuclear family with both biological parents living together can never happen. Her envisioned future has been shattered. How can we help people like her imagine a new future, a good future?

Again, I am reminded of my Jeremiah class. Last week we talked about the famous verse, 29:11, that is often on graduation cards: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Sure, this can be comforting to someone in a normal life transition who faces some future uncertainties. But its real impact comes in recognizing that this exhortation was written to people in exile. They had hit rock bottom. Their envisioned future was crushed, and this promise didn’t mean they were going back to their beloved homeland. God promised to give them a new future, right where they were, in exile. Out of tragedy and destruction, God imagines a new future for us, even when we can’t.

As pastors, leaders, and Christians, I think our role is to help people who hurt imagine a new future in which the pain of their past experience is not the last word; a future that may not looked like they imagined, but still fulfills some of their core longings.

Last year, the pastor that I had ministered with for a year in Mexico City passed away unexpectedly from cancer. His wife, only about 45 years old, grieved the loss of her husband and ministry partner. What still inspires me is that instead of thinking that the ministry they had built ended with her husband’s death, she took over as pastor. Perhaps she never saw herself in this role, but with God’s guidance, she is able to continue the vision she shared with her husband and do the one thing he would have wanted her to do: keep sharing the Good News that God redeems our disrupted futures.

Give to the Max

2010-11-16T08:48:00.009-06:00

I've been thinking about stewardship a lot lately. It's the time of year when letters arrive from churches asking for help with next year's budget. My home church is embarking on a building campaign. Not because the church wants to grow and make the facilities more awesome, but because the building needs a new roof and brick work along with other maintaining repairs. The church I work for is struggling financially and needs financial support to make sure bills are paid.

Today is “Give to the Max Day” in Minnesota. There is an organization, www.GiveMN.org, where people can donate to Minnesota non-profits. They are all officially recognized non-profits. While the Web site accepts donations every day, there is a push for a special day of giving today (as of this writing, there were over $2 million in donations today). There are special donations, matches, prizes for donations today, Nov. 16.

Giving money has been challenging for me. My husband and I are paying for school, have a mortgage, three kids and all that comes with a house and family. I’m not great at remembering my checkbook on Sunday mornings (something I’m finding more true as I work in the church). I do give a lot through in-kind donations (purchasing supplies for an event/activity and not asking for reimbursement). But I would like to be more active in my giving. God has provided for me. No, cash hasn’t magically appeared when I face a crisis (would that be great?). I have still had to face financial difficulties. But I haven’t been alone during these difficult times, ever. I have been blessed with an amazing family and community of friends who have supported me when I haven’t been able to support myself.

To start this giving, I am going to donate to GiveMN today. I haven’t decided if I will donate to Luther today (I have also received Give to the Max Day appeals from my college, my son’s high school, Como Zoo and my beloved local library system), and I won’t be donating as much as I wish I could, but I’m going to start giving back.

If you donate to Luther Seminary today (find the seminary’s Sustaining Fund GiveMN page here), all gifts made today will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Something New

2010-11-15T17:26:00.000-06:00

I gave my “Lutheran sermon” yesterday at the church I grew up in. It was quite a special experience. When I spoke with the pastor last week, he mentioned that this church, like many small congregations, is facing the possibility that it may not be around much longer. That is in part why he invited me to preach—he believes it’s important for the congregation to see the “fruit” that has come out of it, even if it ends up closing.

I had some mixed emotions after that talk. It was sad to think about this congregation maybe not being there much longer. Even though I haven’t regularly attended there since high school, it was a big part of my life, and has always supported me. I also felt a little bit of pressure to deliver a powerful sermon, since I’m supposed to be something this church can feel proud of!

Added to that bit of healthy pressure was the interesting passage that came up in the lectionary last week: Luke 21:5-19. What are the odds that my first time preaching at a liturgical church I would get a passage on persecution, destruction, famine, betrayal, etc.?

After a week of prayer and preparation, everything went well. I am thankful that God inspired the sermon, and people were blessed by it. I am also thankful that there is a community of people who support me in following God’s call without reservation, no matter how long I’ve been away. And I’m especially thankful for new opportunities like this that help me to see the reality of ministry in new ways.

Working on this passage about persecution, along with thinking about the tough situation this church is in, reminds me of what we’re studying in my class on Jeremiah. The call to preach God’s word isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to deliver a tough word, to people in difficult circumstances. Sometimes the hope we are called to proclaim isn’t quite the answer people were hoping for. And there are no guarantees as to where God’s call will lead us. Yet through it all God promises to always be with us and sustain us.

I definitely saw that as I stepped into a role a little outside of my comfort zone. I wasn’t familiar with all the ceremonial aspects of the service, and I wasn’t sure if they would be able to find a robe short enough for me (they did)! Yet trusting that God had called me to be there gave me peace and confidence to go through with something a little bit different. I’m glad I did, and look forward to the next unexpected opportunity that comes my way.

In Charge For Worship

2010-11-14T15:49:00.002-06:00

There are several things happening at my contextual site right now, or at least there was as this weekend's worship services were approaching.

A side note, my supervising pastor is gone for a two week block. He, along with about 25 other people, is visiting the Holy Land. I spoke to him last Thursday morning (Thursday afternoon for him) and he was in a hotel on the shores of the Seal of Galilee. I was instantly jealous because its the Sea of Galilee...he's walking in the footprints of Christ himself.

Anyway, with him gone, I'm kinda the go-to guy in terms of a pastoral presence...which is fine, but a little bit different for me. The nice thing is that we had additional help this weekend. I've been working off an on for the past couple months setting up a good friend of mine as a guest musician. James Hersch. He actually hails from the Twin Cities, though I met him in southern Colorado at family camp a few years back. This turned out to be the weekend that he came.

Additionally, we had a guest preacher. A local retired pastor, who had volunteered for the purpose of letting me off the hook of preaching two weeks in a row. Both of these guys are a huge blessing and I was looking forward to them being around.

As of Friday, everything was in line. Then Friday night, something detrimental happened. Winter set it. Just before I went to bed Friday night I looked outside and saw that tell tail sign...whiteness.

At that point, I wasn't too concerned, but when I got up Saturday morning, I was a little more worried. It was still snowing, it was cloudy and windy, though the temperature was hovering a little above zero. I went outside and shoveled my driveway, carefully watching the weather. The weather forecaster didn't help any as he mentioned that the path of the weather went right up to the cities.

As the day went on, I was pleased to find out that he was on his way anyway...braving the weather. Then next hurdle that I hit was going out to the church about 2 in the afternoon and finding that our snow removal plans were not yet finalized and there was wet sloppy snow all over. So I spent an hour scooping the sidewalk and car drop off point. (Is that a normal activity for a pastor?)

All that being said, 5 o'clock rolled around and both of my assistants showed up. Worship went great and I took James to our friends house following worship for supper. They had gone to camp with us this past summer and had gotten to know him as well, and it was a wonderful evening of fellowship.

This morning went great as well. Two worship services and he played a concert between times as well. All in all, things went really well...but worrying about everything for two days wore me out.

Let's just say that my Sunday afternoon nap felt amazing.

Preparing a sermon-swedish style!

2010-11-14T14:58:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone!

This week two good things happened!
1. We got finally got some snow here in Minnesota!
2. I got to prepare a sermon for one of my classes!

As I mentioned earlier we don't get too much practical or confessional things at seminary in Sweden, (see my post "my impressions so far! (part 2)").

This means we don't get to learn very much about how preach and how to prepare a sermon. Exegetics in Sweden is mostly about how to write an interpretation and/or an academic paper. We do however have one class in preaching, but since it's a confessional thing the teachers had to merge it with rhetorics and communication. Since then I've had one additional non-credit class where I got to prepare a sermon. Sure we've had some opportunities to learn more about preaching, but not to actually prepare a sermon.

I'm very passionate about preaching! For me preaching and prepairing a sermon is something much bigger than me. It is the Holy Spirit working through me and in me throughout the preparation and during the preaching. Thats why I used to say that a sermon is not done until it has been preached!

When it come to the process of preparing a sermon I'm a big fan of Expository preaching. In short it is a form of preaching that that explains in detail the meaning of a text/passage in the bible. The reason I like this form of preaching is that it is not about what I have to say, but what the texts have to say. Or as Paul would say "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16). The main purpose of expository preaching as I would see it, is not only explaining what the text have to say, but also to teach and give the congregation the tools necessary to read and understand the bible themselves. Especially in Sweden since most Swedes don't tend to know very much about the bible and rarely reads it (I don't know what it's like here in the US though).
That being said I have nothing against topical preaching, something I also think is very important since it gives an opportunity to raise important topics in the congregation that sometimes is very much needed.

It was very interesting to share my sermon with my classmates in class this week and see how others, from a different context prepare their sermons! I do have to admit, however, that Expository preaching is something thats is very rare in Sweden (it's unheard of in the Church of Sweden) something I hope to change when I enter my ministry in Sweden!

Send Me to Sweden

2010-11-10T20:15:00.001-06:00

After reading Mattias’ last post, going to seminary in Sweden sounds quite appealing. This week happens to be one of those in which everything seems to pile up. I have something due in all of my classes, if not two things in some of them, plus a sermon I’m working on. I’m not complaining, just wishing stuff could be spread out a little bit more evenly. The block system is looking pretty good right now, especially since I get really into whatever I am studying at the time.

I guess that is what J-term is about. I signed up to take a semester’s worth of systematic theology in 3 weeks so I could focus on just that subject, but now I’m sort of wondering if that was a good idea. The professor already emailed the syllabus, and it’s quite rigorous, especially considering the subject matter and the short time frame. Yet I do enjoy challenges, and with only 6 people signed up for the class, it will be sort of like private lessons! Besides, what else I am going to do in Minnesota in January?

To completely change the subject (my creativity’s tapped out this week), today was Community Meal day at Luther. They host free lunches once a month as a way to build community and gather donations for the food shelf. Today was a Thanksgiving meal, and the cafeteria was packed. One thing I enjoy about these meals (besides the free food) is seeing kids at Luther. I saw several cute babies today, and toddlers chasing each other through the dining hall. In the midst of a busy week of studying, kids remind me not to take life too seriously. I appreciate having the joys of childhood brought into what I normally think of as an academic setting. So, thanks parents/students!

Back from Boston

2010-11-10T18:02:00.006-06:00

I arrived home late last night from Boston 2010, the last of four conferences celebrating the centennial celebration of the historic Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference. To put this event in its historic context, one of the keynote speakers (I believe it was Peter Phan) said that Edinburgh 1910 was to Protestantism what Vatican II was to Catholicism in the 20th century. Many historians consider Edinburgh 1910 the beginning of the modern day ecumenical missions movement. That being said, this centennial celebration was filled with both reflection and constructive dialog that sought to set the stage for a new movement (and hopefully paradigm) for Christian mission.

Though some of them are a bit "academic"...here's some of my reflections on the event:

I was very encouraged by the emphasis on student scholarship and research. The event gave considerable time and resources to make this be a center piece of the event. The event sponsor, the Boston Theological Institute (BU School of Theology, BC School of Theology & Ministry, Harvard Divinity School, Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Episcopal Divinity School, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary and St. John's Seminary), brought together students from all sorts of backgrounds and interests. I had the pleasure of presenting a paper on one of the eight panels. I presented my research on Alt. Worship in the UK as a Case Study on the "Changing Contours of Christian Unity" panel. Overall I was quite impressed with the panels, but sadly the moderator during my session did not allow equal time for discussion and so I didn't get much of a chance to really engage the audience. It was a great learning experience though to present a paper at such a big event. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

I'm struck by the importance of our reflective work on missions over the past century. I'm humbled and encouraged that there is a keen sense that we must reject the Colonialism of Edinburgh 1910. Post-Colonial and post-Christian/post-secular perspectives were assumed; if not in concept then in concern. I was however reminded of my on-going frustration with so much of mission studies being dominated by historians. I was quite affirmed on this point when Brian Stanley (University of Edinburgh), perhaps THE historian on mission, repeated often the "there are limits to the usefulness of the history of missions." I'm biased here, but I'm think a lot about the connections between mission and ecclesiology (theology of church). I'm struck how much of doing church/mission ought to be a matter of critical (prophetic if you'd rather use the Biblical term) engagement with the culture, with the context in which its done. If Christianity really is a "way of life" then it just seems like Jürgen Moltmann was right when he wrote that the church has a "witness of existence." I take it Moltmann meant existence in the past, present and future, but the focus of scholarship leans to heavy towards the past.

Perhaps there was the most clarity around this question: what is the relationship between Christianity and the world in a post-Colonial, post-Christian world? No small question I realize, but it is in many ways THE question. We are more aware today of how just how complicated our world is than ever before. We're also aware of how complicated Christian identity is. The relationship between the two doesn't simplify either of those two realities...of course it complexifies it all!

Is is possible to observe both Halloween and All Saints?

2010-11-09T16:23:00.003-06:00

I can't count the number of news articles I've read and conversations I've had with people in which Halloween is condemned. Quite often, All Saints' Day is lifted up in its place. Me? I like 'em both.

For me, Halloween brings about community and creativity in a unique way. Costumes, trick-or-treating, parties, and good natured scares are fantastic--and, I think, good for us (especially those of us who tend to become so serious or lethargic as it gets darker and colder). Halloween was over a week ago, now, but I remember it vividly. The Saturday before Halloween, my wife and I drove up to Portland to spend time with her cousins. We went to an Ingrid Michaelson concert (which rocked, btw!), dressed as...zombies.

As you can maybe see from the picture to the left, we went all out. The highlight of the weekend was the time spent getting all "zombified." We shared many laughs, tried crazy new things, helped each other a lot, and grew as a family. Such a good time.

As for All Saints' Day, well, that's one of my favorite church festivals. At Holy Cross, we didn't go all out for All Saints' Sunday--we lit some candles, read aloud the names of those who have recently gone into the care of our Lord, and held those people (along with other saints lifted up by the congregation) in prayer. It was simple. It was beautiful. It was such a powerful experience for our congregation of sinner/saints to commemorate the saints that have gone before us.

Obviously, I think it's perfectly fine to not just observe both Halloween and All Saints' Day, but to celebrate them both. Both of these occasions remind us of death, but in very particular (and good) ways. In Halloween, we recognize death--but make a joke of it. After all, ultimately, death is a joke. Christ has conquered death, and it no longer has power over us. We are free to come together and celebrate life (and eat candy). All Saints' Day doesn't make a joke of death, but confronts it. We mourn those whom we have lost, but celebrate their eternal and full communion with God--and are reminded that we, too, are destined for similar glory. Both are occasions to celebrate!

I'm still alive!

2010-11-03T20:23:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone!
I somehow managed to survive the dreaded mid-terms! Which mean I can finally have a life again (that is until the next period of exam comes around)! It seems like I'm finally are getting used to the new way of studying here at Luther Seminary. In Sweden we take classes in blocks, meaning we read one course at a time. One semester consists of four "blocks" making a block approximately four credits (yeah, we are tad lazier in Sweden). With exams taking place at the end of those blocks, making it impossible to have more than 1 test on the same day (unless you're reading a couple of courses parallel, such as Greek or Hebrew). It's good in one way, since you only have to concentrate on one subject at a time. Bad in another way, if you don't like the subject, find it to easy or if are very interested and want to spend additional time with it, you still have the same amount of time for all of the courses (unless again you're reading a special course such as Greek or the History of Christianity, which takes up two blocks).

I have also recently realized that I've been in the US for over half a term and that I am actually living in the US. A thought that seemed so far away when I first arrived in this foreign country in what feels to have been a long time ago...
I also realized that this has made me multilingual, meaning I make no distinction between English and Swedish in my mind anymore. Something that's generally a good thing but sometimes can be problematic, like when I accidentally answered my phone in Swedish and when I was telling a friend about my mistake afterwards and suddenly realized that I was doing the explanation partly in Swedish! Being multilingual has it's downsides (but mostly upsides)!

Reformation Sunday

2010-11-03T12:53:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday was, of course Reformation Sunday. One would think that as Lutherans, we would get pretty excited about this special day in the church year. In the very least, we would expect to know what it is that we are celebrating.
A bit of background. Since moving into our current church facility a little over four years ago, I've somehow gotten the job of going up a rickety extension ladder to change a colored drape that hangs about 20 feet off the floor from a cross in the middle of the narthex. The drape matches the color currently featured in the church season, so you can imagine how often I'm up and down the ladder. Actually about 4 weeks in a row at the moment, but that's neither here nor there.
Mid way through last week I made one of my treks up the ladder to switch the drape from green, which it has been for months, to red in celebration of Reformation Sunday. I knew it was red and I knew it was Reformation Sunday. That being said, Sunday morning, early, I sat down to prep the prayers of the church, part of the worship service that I was doing. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that we were celebrating Pentecost Sunday. So I wrote the prayers, highlighting the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples and the changes that we go through when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. All in all, I was pretty pleased.
Fast forward an hour or so and I was sitting in the front pew. My partner pastor stood up to do the welcome portion of the service and he discussed Reformation Sunday, when we remember the reformers that came before us and the contributions that they gave us.
PANIC!!!
Luckily, prayers of the church are way towards the end. So I reached over in the pew, grabbed a pencil, and quickly rewrote the prayers to be a little more applicable.
You'd think that would be the end of my troubles...but of course it wasn't. We also celebrated Confirmation at our second service, which I helped with. Things went pretty smoothly, with one exception. One of the last kids that I gave the confirmation blessing too had a little hiccup, or more so I had the hiccup. Instead of just beginning the blessing and inserting her name in the blessing, I began by saying her name. Then I had a mental argument with myself.
Here's the inner monologue.
"You messed up. You weren't supposed to read her name yet. Idiot. Okay, you can salvage this. Make a joke. People like jokes and they'll laugh. Wait a second. This is an important occasion for this student. I shouldn't be joking right now. Just ignore it...yah, that's good. That's what I'll do. Just ignore it. Maybe no one noticed."
And so I just went on and gave the blessing.
In the very least, the staff got a kick out of it this morning at our weekly staff meeting when I finally did make the joke at my own expense.
Better late than never I guess.

Time

2010-11-02T16:57:00.002-05:00

Time seems to be a big concern to most seminary students. There never seems to be enough of it to get everything done, let alone have time for “fun.” Yesterday I was talking with some students about this. One student said that she has to choose between doing normal life stuff on the weekends and getting homework done. If she chooses the former, she starts off the week behind on homework. If she continually chooses the latter, eventually she feels she will loose it if she doesn’t take a break.

Last night in one of my classes the professor brought up an analogy he’s been using that speaks to our mortality: an hourglass glued to the table (from Anna Nalik’s song, “2am”). This a horrifying image to him, because each moment inevitably slips away, and there’s nothing we can do to reverse it.

Thinking about this can be kind of a downer. How are we supposed to balance homework with maintaining our church, family, work, and social lives? What about all the other activities on campus that we would like to take in, such as chapel, lectures, discipleship group, movie night, etc.?

I was wrestling with this very issue this weekend, and needed to take a break from my normal homework routine. So I went to the Saturday evening service at my church, just for a change. It turns out that the sermon dealt with exactly the issue I had been struggling with. The pastor called us to recognize that we often think of time as a commodity we can spend like money. Yet ultimately, it runs out, and there’s nothing we can do to get more. This is the stress the world creates around time. Then he provided a different conceptualization of time by looking at God. God does not seem to be in a hurry—not with the creation, not with our lives. Even Jesus, who had an acute sense of timing in his life and ministry, didn’t seem in any hurry to get started with his Son of God activities until age 30.

So what’s the message to us? That time is a gift from God to be enjoyed. Yes, there are many things we need to do, but being stressed out about them doesn’t help. If we recognize that time is God’s, not ours, we can receive each moment as a gift, and ask God how we should live that moment fully. Trusting God with time helps us create space for relationships and “normal” life in the midst of busy schedules. I think at this point in the semester we could all use a little of that.

On Sermon Writing, Preachers, and WorkingPreacher.org

2010-11-02T16:17:00.003-05:00

I love preaching. I'm no expert, but I can't get enough of it. I enjoy the preparation, the writing, the risk-taking, the contextualization, and the performance apects of preaching a sermon. I also enjoy listening to them. Yes, you're right--I am a nerd.

For me, the preaching of a sermon is an incredible moment--when the influx of the Holy Spirit that takes God's Word, and through the hose of my mouth, douses the congregation with Law and Gospel. It never gets old. Yep--still a nerd, but a passionate one.

Since I've started internship, the writing process of the sermon has also become a great joy (although sometimes a great stress, too). This is what I've found works for me:
First, I always carefully read the text well in advance. I sit with the text, and it becomes part of me--a lens through which I see and live that week.
On the Tuesday before I preach, I do exegetical and commentary work, filling up pages and pages in a notebook.
On Wednesday, we have our local pastors text study, and have some fantastic discussion. Not only do I get to hear new and creative ways to preach a particular text, but it is a safe place where I can share and test ideas. There are some phenomenal theologians in our group.
On Thursday, I begin writing, but it's mostly brainstorming...and mostly just in my brain.
On Friday, I write. And hope to have a finished draft...that's happened once so far.
On Saturday, I finish the sermon. If I don't have plans and am not exhausted, I practice a bit.
On Sunday, I get to church a few hours before service starts and read through my sermon, making a few last-minute changes, then preach!

Essential to just about every step in this process is WorkingPreacher.org. The commentaries are always on point, and are directed towards preachers. Next, Sermon Brainwave is incredible--in the form of a podcast, we are essentially welcomed into a text study between (at least) three Luther Seminary professors. Then, if that conversation is not enough, we are invited to join online text study groups, of which I take part. Then, if you need inspiration, there are many Preaching Moments videos, giving helpful tips and and stories about the craft preaching.

Thanks to my supportive congregation, text studies, WorkingPreacher.org, preaching classes, and a lot of practice--preaching is evolving into more than a passion and a calling. It is becoming a skill. I don't mean to brag (because, let's be honest, I'm very much still a greenhorn in the art of preaching), but I look forward to honing this skill as my year as an intern goes on.

After speaking with some of my classmates, preaching for us interns has proven to be both a joy and challenge. As we get to know our congregations (and ourselves) better, we look forward to discovering how God will speak through us this year. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the preachers and preachers-in-training out there--keep up the good work.

All Saints

2010-11-01T18:18:00.002-05:00

Today is my first All Saints Day. No, not the first one I’ve ever experienced, of course. But the first one that I’ve recognized a new saint on.

I’ve had grandparents die. One died when I was very young, two I wasn’t very close to and one died after a very long life and several years of severe Alzheimer’s. Until this year, I’ve been blessed to not have any close friends or family die. This changed in February when my mom died at a pretty young age after a terrible fight with breast cancer.

I know what All Saints Day celebrates. We are celebrating the fellowship of all saints and especially remembering those individuals in our lives who are now living, as Professor David Lose wrote on WorkingPreacher.com, “in the nearer presence of God.” (I really love that wording).

This has presented me with a struggle, though. See, while I believe in Christ’s promise, and I know my mom is in a better place, I would much rather have her with me. I don’t want to spend today remembering the saints who have gone before me. I spend every day remembering the saint missing from my life and I wish she were here. I cling to the understanding that I will see her again and it will be a joyous meeting and it is a better place for her (especially after watching cancer ravage her body). But I miss her and today, where we celebrate those who are in a better place, I’m a little angry and I really just want her back.

Dreaming of Lutherans

2010-11-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

Some people dream of winning the lottery, or going on vacation to some exotic location; I dream of…Lutherans! Not every night, but about a year ago I had a dream that stuck with me. I dreamt I was invited to preach at the Lutheran church I grew up in. Now, after a recent invitation from that church’s current pastor, I am preparing my first “Lutheran sermon” to give in a couple of weeks. God works in interesting ways.

The dream was humorous. I walked into the church thinking I was well prepared, but quickly realized I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know where to sit. I didn’t know where the robes were. I had no idea when it was my time to preach, and did not have a bulletin. All of a sudden, I realized I wasn’t preaching in a Baptist church, as I’m used to. So I started to panic, and turned to my dad who was sitting in the pew behind me (my parents still go to this church). I said, “Dad, what am I going to do? I prepared a Baptist sermon, not a Lutheran one. We just write a few notes down and roll with it, but Lutherans write it out word-for-word. They even script in their jokes—I didn’t do that!” My dad’s reply was, “Jenny, you just get up there and do what God’s called you to do.”

The dream ended before I actually preached. I guess now is my opportunity to work on the happy ending. It’s interesting that just this past week the passage we were discussing in my 1 Corinthians class was about Paul becoming all things to all people. I feel like this is a good life lesson on that. You never know exactly where God will call you, and I’m thankful that I can be comfortable in different settings. And thank God for that dream, because now I can make sure that I know ahead of time what to do that day!

For now my task is to write my first sermon in English, and to be concise. All the times I’ve preached before I’ve have a 30-45 minute time slot. I was told that now I’ll have about 14. I trust that all will go well, despite my dad’s constant joking that he’s going to sit in the back row in case I embarrass him and he has to make a quick escape. I prefer to focus on his response in my dream, and remember that that God doesn’t call us to do things without helping us do them.

a quite semester...sort of.

2010-10-31T22:34:00.000-05:00

I see most of us have re-introduced ourselves heading in to this new year. I'm Tim and I'm a second year masters of arts student in the congregational mission & leadership program. My course of study is largely at the intersection of theology and culture -- with special attention to ecclesiology (theology of church). I am not sure where this journey leads but I'm beginning to hear a call to some combination of teaching/creative ministry/networking.

We'll it's been a quite semester for me as a blogger. This has been true not only here but on my personal blog also where in the past I've often blogged 3-5 times a week. I've not blogged on either in months now. I always have times like these where my blogging/journal needs to take a break. But mostly this time around its because the semester has been an intense season of academic reading and writing. This season has been my biggest foray into being an "academic" yet. I'm learning a lot about the discipline it takes, but I'm also finding it really transformative for me.

In many ways this semester has been the culmination of many years. I've spent the last year and a half trying to understand (make meaning) out of the three years I spent starting a church in Austin, Texas. I realize most people go to seminary and then start churches. I never was good at doing things in the right order. I'm also growing a lot in my sense of call, though I'm still working hard to NOT figure out what is next after graduation this spring. For now I'm trying to let the now lead simply to what's next and leave the master plan to the Master.

This week is a big week for me as I head to Boston, MA. I'm presenting a paper at Boston 2010 part of a global collection of conferences re-imagining mission in the 21st century. I'm presenting a paper on alt. worship in the UK and presenting it on a panel called "Changing Contours of Christian Unity." This is a pretty big deal for me since the conference is international and part of the historic centennial celebration of Edinburgh 1910. Hopefully I'll post updates from the road. Until then, I've got to get to bed here so I can start this week on track.

My "semester" so far.

2010-10-27T23:53:00.002-05:00

As you may know from reading my previous post, checking my bio on the right, or knowing me in person--I am on internship. This year, the idea of "semesters," "classes" and "campus" only have importance when thinking about some of my friends and fellow classmates at Luther, or my sister in college. It's a strange feeling, but I love internship.

These past two months at Holy Cross have been incredible. The best part about internship so far is that I've felt more welcomed and supported here than I ever could have imagined. As a result, I've been free to try new things, fail miserably, learn a lot, and have a great time doing it.

I began internship by shadowing my supervising pastor and easing into worship leadership. Less than two months in, I'm beginning to do my own thing and find my own way--supported and challenged by my supervisor. I'm preaching every other week and the weeks I don't preach, I do just about all the liturgy. I am doing all my pastoral care visits with my supervising pastor, but that will change in the next few weeks. I look forward to cultivating my relationship with Holy Cross and figuring out how I can not just learn from them, but serve them.

I will most definitely post more specific stories and whatnot about my internship, but even though there are definitely some challenges, I couldn't help but share how much my internship has already been a blessing to me. It's been quite fulfilling to witness and participate in the understanding of and responding to God's grace in this church family.

Okay, fine. One story...during the first week of my time at Holy Cross, my wife and I were invited (along with my supervising pastor and his wife) to a parishioner's house for...a pickle party. Sounds strange, right? Well, it was glorious. This woman, along with her daughter, had a surplus of pickling cucumbers, and needed to put them to good use. She ended up getting swept away into the world of pickling, creating 21 different varieties! There was everything from bread & butter slices, to pickled green beans, and your standard kosher dill pickles. Throw in a little meat and cheese, and a few glasses of wine--and you've got a night my wife and I will never forget.

It Goes By Fast…

2010-10-27T20:53:00.001-05:00

I’m with Scott—it’s hard to believe that we’re past the halfway point in the semester already. It seems like yesterday that we were going around the classroom introducing ourselves, and I still get confused about which room a couple of my classes are in (2^nd floor, Northwestern Hall—they all look the same!). And with the beautiful Minnesota fall we were having until yesterday, I hardly noticed that summer had ended. Now I’m looking ahead to finals!

One thing that really makes time seem to fly is having a six-week class. By the time you get adjusted, it’s halfway over and you are working on your final project. I finished one a couple of weeks ago, and saw my grade posted yesterday. At least for goal-oriented people like me, it’s satisfying to be halfway through the semester and already have a class completed, and to know that it turned out ok. It’s also nice that I’m not picking up another six-week class, so I can focus on my other three courses for the rest of the semester.

I’ll officially be a Middler after this semester ends. With the amount of time I have been dedicating to ministry, I have not been taking a really full load, meaning five classes at once. Honestly, I don’t think I could cram that many subjects into my head at once and dig deep into any one of them. I’m much happier with 3 or 4 classes each semester!

At the rate I’m going, I will graduate after a total of 3.5 or 4 years at Luther. My denomination doesn’t require me to do an internship, so I could have done the academic work in 3 years, but I’ve chosen to have other learning experiences along the way that I wouldn’t want to trade in. It’s been nice to be able to take things at my own pace, but the achiever in me is often trying to speed things up and plan ahead and move things around…

Perhaps the most valuable thing I can learn from this season of preparing for winter is to be content where I am, and not be focused on always trying to get to the next step. Winter in Minnesota is almost half of the year, so if you wish time away, you will be miserable very quickly. As I settle in for winter and think about my seminary career, I don’t want to see it as something just to get through to get on to the next phase, but as an experience to be enjoyed for however long it lasts. And when I do get to the “next step” (hopefully being a pastor), I’ll probably look back at being a Middler at Luther as the “good old days” when life was simpler. There’s no need to rush. Life goes by fast enough as it is.

The half way point...on many levels

2010-10-26T17:55:00.002-05:00

Week 8? How the heck did we get here already?

As I sat down last night, opened up the laptop, pulled up Luthernet and started working out the week’s assignments, I realized that the semester is past the half way point already. This coincided with another halfway point for me. Yesterday in CPE we discussed our mid-unit evaluations which will be on the docket to be discussed at next week’s session. That’s another thing that’s right about half way done already.

I thought some more, and realized that with the upcoming move to the Twin Cities, and speeding up school, I’m coming up on another halfway point. At the end of this school year, I’ll be right about half way through seminary. Granted, this still leaves a lot of ground to cover, and that being said, there’s a lot of ground to cover between now and the end of the school year as well, but…

HOLY COW!!!!

Somehow, the prospect of approaching the halfway point of this whole deal is daunting. The DL program is wonderful, but it is so long. I’ve already been at it for almost two and half years, and until this upcoming move, I was a long way from finishing. I was only half way to internship. That’s obviously changed.

As I ponder on the speedier track that I’m about to embark on, I realize that I have a LOT of work to get done asap. I need to write my endorsement essay as well as start the process of getting ready for internship, which I’m now expecting to occur next fall.

I think about all these steps that I need to get done, and I realize, I’m nowhere near half way done with all of that stuff. I better get moving…because time is flying whether I keep up or not.

The Next Great Novel

2010-10-26T08:46:00.003-05:00

This has been a very busy semester. I’m only taking one class this term, but it is a very brain-intensive class (Lutheran Confessional Writings). Lot’s of memorizing and processing concepts that I’m not very familiar with. I’ve also got three very busy children, a husband and two part-time jobs (which both seem to be extra busy this fall, as well).

Needless to say, when I have free time, I’m usually asleep. While sleep is a necessary part of one’s healthy lifestyle, it’s not really personally fulfilling. I still find a little time to read non-school books (a habit I will never give up), knit and keep up-to-date on pop culture, but it’s like I’m in a rut. So what does one do when she is in a rut? Why try something she’s always wanted to do but never has: write the next great fiction novel.

I just found out yesterday that November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It’s a challenge to write 50,000 words by Nov. 30. If you finish and post the novel online in time, you win a certificate and a Web banner. No publishing rights, no money… a Web banner. And I want that banner!

It starts next Monday and I have exactly no plot, no characters and no ideas. I most certainly don’t have time to write the 1,700 words a day needed to reach the goal. This is out of my comfort zone even though writing is not new to me (my first job out of college was as a newspaper reporter/editor in North Dakota and I used to love writing short stories as a teenager).

Do I have time in my life for this right now? Absolutely not. But I have spent so much of my time of late with my nose in thick academic books that I need to do something out of the ordinary to make me stop, look up and see God’s amazing creation at work around me (and maybe write about it in the process).

Making Theology Practical?

2010-10-24T10:32:00.001-05:00

Maybe I’m alone in this, but sometimes it feels like the longer I’m at seminary, the farther removed I become from how the “average” church member approaches their life of faith. Theology is necessary, but the question we all eventually face is how to apply it to life and integrate it into our ministries.

I suppose this is why Luther has us serve in “Teaching Congregations” while going through the Master of Divinity program. I just started at a new church a couple of weeks ago—a wonderful place in St. Paul called Woodland Hills (actually, this was my home church before I left to work with a Spanish-speaking church). My first assignment is to address the question of making theology practical. The church hosts a weekly “Discover Jesus” class for people new to the church or to Christianity to find out more about our faith. My task is to listen to the classes and read the materials to discern if they are accessible to people of different cultural and social backgrounds, levels of education, etc.

This week’s topic was, “Why did Jesus have to die?” Participants were asked to discuss what they thought a random person on the street would answer. The responses were varied, and we realized that it is not easy to sum up and communicate to others such a basic tenant of our faith. Personally, I struggled to silence the different atonement theories battling in my mind so that I could think of what I might say to a friend who has no Christian background.

I left church that night wondering how the Gospel seemed to get so complicated all of a sudden. Then I remembered what we talked about the day before in my 1 Corinthians class—that without the Holy Spirit awakening faith in us, a crucified God is foolishness. We can have great theology and explain it in various ways, but we rely on God’s power to create faith through the preaching of Jesus Christ. Yes, we should work to be effective preachers and teachers. Yet through all this, I am glad that it is ultimately not up to me to “discover Jesus,” but rather Jesus discovers me, as well as those we minister to.

My impressions so far! (part 2)

2010-10-23T13:37:00.003-05:00

Hi again!

While my first impression was the cultural differences I feel that I have to mention something about the academic differences I have experienced!
The classes I take here at Luther are different in many ways from the ones I take in Sweden.
In Sweden, we have something called "National Agency for Higher Education" (called "Högskoleverket" in Swedish). The purpose of this agency is to oversee the higher education in Sweden and make sure taht it stays objective and secular. Unfortunately this applies to theological studies as well. Meaning that someone who is study to become a pastor in Sweden cannot do something that could be interpreted as religious. (e.g no internship, no CPE, no praying in class and definitely not preaching!). The seminaries have to follow these guidelines if they want to be able to graduate their theology students. How is this possible?
In 1949 a man called Hedenius published his book "tro och vetande" (belief and knowledge). Hedenius was a Professor of Practical Philosophy at Uppsala university and a famous opponent of organised Christianity. The main line of argument in his book was that it is not possible to have a rational debate about religion. Theology can not be classed as knowledge, but belongs outside it as "quasi-knowledge". Therefore Christianity is irrational and the study of religions and their development should be separated from theology and become a non-religious academic discipline.
This had a major impact on Swedish academics and the ideas of Hedenius are followed to this day.

Some schools outside the bigger universities, such as my own, realize that this is not a good thing if you are studying to become and pastor. In my school we try to get around this by having courses that gives no credit and goes "under the radar" where we can learn and practice how to preach and do some internship. But since we get no credit for it and still have to fulfill the criteria of being "academic", making the "religious" elements have a small place in our education.

With this background I am sure you can understand my bliss when, in one of our first classes, my teacher here at Luther Seminary says that the goal of the course is to make us better at having bible studies and preaching!

My impressions so far! (part 1)

2010-10-20T17:03:00.001-05:00

Dear readers!

Time sure goes fast! I have now been at Luther Seminary for half a semester!

I arrived about two weeks before "first week", in order to make myself at home before the classes started, something I highly recommend, especially if are from another country.
At the first week I was overwhelmed at first. At Johannelund in Sweden we have about 100 active students, at Luther Seminary we received over 200 new students! I received a warm welcome, especially since I was an exchange student, and we had a couple of extra "first days" for us coming from other countries. It was also interesting seeing the other "international students" (I am using the term "international" since not all are "exchange students" in the aspect of exchanging students). It also helped my to get some perspective.
I am from Sweden, a rich welfare country where education is not a privilege, it is a right. Everyone has the right to study and the government in Sweden promotes it by making the school free (no tuition) and giving us money every month to support our studies. We also have the right to borrow money from "CSN" (financial aid for studies) with low interest. In Sweden we often complain about how hard the life of a student is, having to borrow money to survive, have to study all the time and during the summer break we "might" have to work if we spent too much money during the semester. Many Swedes complain about this "hard" student life. Gaining some perspective changes that. Here in the US education is not a right, it is a privilege (at least at higher levels). Most American students I have met here have to receive scholarships and still work while they are studying to be able to afford school. I admire my American friends for being able to pull this out. When I meet the other international students many of them have been forced to leave their families back in their home country for this rare change and privilege to be able to study!

This makes me consider if I should feel ashamed, coming from a welfare country and in addition to that receive all the privileges of an international student at Luther Seminary, or greatly blessed for having what I have and to be a Swedish student here at Luther Seminary.
Perhaps both?

Another Step

2010-10-19T17:33:00.003-05:00

For those of you that have been following me, you know that I'm in the process of transferring up to the cities in preparation for a new job for my wife and full time school for me. This weekend my wife and I headed up to the cities for 3 different reasons.
The first reason was to go to the funeral of my aunt that has been fighting cancer for the past two years. It was a hard day, but not an unexpected one. As difficult as that day was, I also think it was a bit of a relief as we've all been worried about her for a long time. Now her fight is over and she's home with Jesus.
The second reason that we went was that this was my wife's birthday weekend. Typically we get together with my sister and her husband and visit a bunch of wineries. Its a fun way to celebrate her birthday, but this year we skipped the wineries because we had other business to attend to.
This brings up the third reason, house hunting. We had a couple leads on potential places to look at to live when we make the big jump north. We checked those out, as well as a batch of other locations as well...all in all, we probably looked at a dozen different condos, townhouses, and apartments.
Finally in the end, we did find a townhouse that we both really liked. So we'll be settling in the north part of Plymouth. Its very handy for my wife who will only be a couple miles from work. My commute will of course be a little longer, but if I can manage to avoid traffic, I should be able to make the drive in about 30 minutes each day. For the Twin Cities, that's really not too bad.
Additionally, over the course of the weekend, the sign went up in the yard at home. So the house is officially on the market now. Additional good news...I got a call today from a Realtor that wants to show the house on Thursday morning already. Hopefully the people looking like what they see and put in an offer.

Hopefully.

Greetings from the other Jenny

2010-10-17T18:14:00.002-05:00

Hello!

My name is Jenny Pietz, and this will be my first time blogging, ever—no Facebook or anything of the sort, so I am excited about trying something new!

I am a Master of Divinity student at Luther, starting my second year. I wish I could say that I’m from somewhere exciting like Sweden, but alas, I live in a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis—St. Louis Park. That makes me a commuter student, which gives me the best of both being fairly close to campus life, as well as being able to go home at the end of the day.

One unique perspective I will hopefully bring to Life@Luther is that of a non-Lutheran student at Luther. I do not identify myself with a specific denomination, so I have a hard time responding to the question, “What denomination are you?” I like to say that I’m a Christian who is working with a group called Converge Worldwide. The next question is often, “so why did you come to Luther and not go to Bethel? (Bethel is another local seminary affiliated with Converge). My first response is that I wanted a challenge. I believe my views and theology will best develop in a diverse environment that provides a perspective other than what I get at church, or in other ministries I have been a part of. Looking back at my first year at Luther, I can see how much I have learned and definitely know I am where God wants me to be.

My goal upon finishing seminary is to be a pastor, and hopefully go on to further studies. I am passionate about teaching in the church, with the aim of helping people discover their own gifts and call in service to God, each other, and the world. I spent the past 5 years working with a local Hispanic congregation, and hope that I can continue to participate in ministries that bridge different cultures with the Gospel.

When asked my hobbies, my first thought was, “what hobbies? I’m in seminary!” That’s not to say that there is not life outside of classes at Luther in general, but rather reflects my nerdy-ness—I really do like to study things like the Bible and Greek. I am a full-time student, so it’s nice that what I do each day is something I’m really passionate about it. When I’m not studying, I enjoy spending time with friends, being out in nature, travel, and photography.

Well, that’s my brief introduction. More to come soon…

Sorry, no jazz hands here

2010-10-15T08:55:00.003-05:00

I’ve been watching a lot of Glee lately (my daughters like to watch the episodes over and over) and I thought it would be great to introduce myself with a musical number. Except I can’t sing or dance very well. And, you know, this is a blog, not TV. So I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way and just use paragraphs.

My name is Jenni and I am an older, part-time commuter student. I am a senior in the Master of Arts program with a concentration in Children, Youth and Family Ministry. I have been married to my husband, Paul, for 16 years. We have three children (Patrick, Hannah and Zoe), a cat, two hamsters and a bunch of fish.

This is my fourth year at Luther. Because I don’t want to leave school with more debt, my husband and I are paying for classes out-of-pocket and with generous support from our home church. We are blessed that my husband has a full-time job (his calling is that of computer nerd with full benefits) and I have two part-time jobs which allow us to do this. Needless to say, we are a busy family. My husband and I grew up in the Twin Cities so our family is blessed with a community of kind, caring people in our lives.

I love dark purple and hot pink, T.V. and movies, reading and pop culture. I knit in my free time (or while watching T.V. or reading for class), wouldn’t trade my Macintosh for the world and am a graphic designer by trade (that is also one of my two jobs). It has been amazing to watch God at work in my life connecting all of these different things I enjoy into my own ministry work with children and youth. I look forward to seeing God at work in the lives of my family and I as I move forward through this process and we live out our own individual calls as part of a family.

Introduction and Eric Hoffer Trivia

2010-10-14T14:19:00.007-05:00

My name is Eric Hoffer. I'm an M.Div. student who is currently on internship at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Salem, OR. While I was born and raised in Edina, MN (for you non-Twin Cities residents, that's just outside of Minneapolis), I am truly loving the Northwest. It's tough to beat mountains plus ocean! Of course, I definitely miss my friends and family in the Midwest.

I’ve been blessed with a great family, and they mean the world to me. My parents are Mark (a small-town boy) and Cindy (a city girl)—the reverse of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” I have a younger sister named Hannah, who is a senior at Denver University. Over the years, we’ve become very close. About 14 months ago, I married Kirsten Anneke. Our marriage fills my life with joy, adventure, and comfort. As with any marriage, though, it’s also created some hard work, a bit of stress at times, and a lot of dirty dishes. One of the great parts of marrying Kirsten is becoming part of her family—many of whom live in Oregon, and all of whom have been welcoming and loving. I’m so thankful for everyone in my family.

I love adventures of all sorts. I love stories, and my favorite movie is “Big Fish,” because of its exploration of what stories mean to people. My second favorite movie, though, is “Renaissance Man.” It might be cheesy and poorly-acted, but it lifts up the idea of the Renaissance Man. I identify with the movie because I have a wide array of interests, including sports, reading, music, languages, pop culture, camping, people, and (of course) film. But seriously, “Renaissance M an.” Check it out.

I look forward to sharing all about my experiences and adventures from my internship and my life, in general; but before I get back to my sermon preparation, let me close with a few pieces of Eric Hoffer trivia…because this information is truly trivial.

- I can’t wink with my right eye
- I share my name with a moderately famous philosopher
- I went to a French immersion elementary school
- My wife and I both love the smell of books—both new and old
- I love to cook and I dream of becoming a chef someday
- I also dream of managing a professional sports franchise
- …or a pastor.
- I always manage to blink for pictures
- I am goofy. Very goofy.

P.S. To prove the last two points, here’s a photo of me and another summer camp counselor about to sing "Every Rose Has It's Thorn." (I'm on the left):

An Intro and A Tough Day

2010-10-12T08:31:00.003-05:00

For starters, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Scott Dalen. I've actually been blogging on Life at Luther for a year now, and am glad to be back again this year. I'm currently a member of the Distributed Learning program, which means that my Masters of Divinity degree with take longer to achieve, but the vast majority of my school work happens online rather than being on campus. At least at the moment. I posted earlier this week that my family and I are moving to the Twin Cities about the first of the year. She has accepted a job at a church in Plymouth and I'm planning on going to to school full time.

So my perspective currently comes from the distance learning direction, but only for a few more months when I'll be more of a full time commuter.

All that being said, today's a tough one. We have a funeral at church for a beloved member of our congregation and community. It hits close to home for me because he was such an outgoing guy and always joked around with my son at church.

Something else is going on for me personally which doesn't make today any easier. My aunt died last night. She's been fighting cancer for a long time, but we knew that she's been losing the battle. God called her home last night.

So now I sit here, trying to figure out how to offer any sort of comfort to a grieving family, at least in a support role along with my partner pastor, when I'm experiencing my own grief. Grief for a man that I respected and enjoyed, and grief for my aunt. It's certainly a mixed bag.

International blogger!

2010-10-10T20:53:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone!

I'm the new international blogger here at Life@Luther!
For those who don't know me (which would be most of you, since I arrived in the US only about 2 months ago) my name is Carl Mattias Gustav Olofsson (I go by "Mattias") I am an exchange student from Johannelund theological Seminary in Uppsala, Sweden. This is my 4th year studying at a seminary, and after this year I hope to return to Sweden, finish my studies and become ordained as a pastor for Swedish Evangelical Mission (EFS).

When I'm not blogging or studying my interests and hobbies are reading, computers and doing the dishes (you read the last words right, although I am a little disappointed that there aren't as much dishes as there should be here at Bockman hall were I'm staying!).

To be an international student here at Luther Seminary in the US is interesting to say the least!
My goal with my posts here at the Life@Luther is to reflect how it is to be someone from the outside coming to Luther Seminary and the US, and will deal with issues such as culture shock, the different way of learning and thinking as opposed to how we do things back in Sweden.
I have been maintaining a blog in Swedish for some time now and will try to make some of it available at this blog to give you a sense of my initial experience here at Luther.

If you have any questions or comments to this foreign student feel free to post them by clicking to "comments" button below.
Stay tuned for more posts!

A Big Change

2010-10-10T19:58:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted for awhile now. I'll admit to being pretty quiet...but I hope that this posting helps explain what's been happening.

About a month ago, my wife had an interview for a position at a church in Plymouth, a suburb on the west side of Minneapolis. Apparently the interview went pretty well because they asked us to join them for worship and the chance for my wife to meet with some more of the staff members. We did that about 3 weeks ago and admittedly, it went pretty well. They contacted my wife a couple of days later and offered her the position.

We've been talking for quite awhile about the possibility of moving to the cities so that I could go to school full time. Now we have been faced with the reality of that possibility. After wrestling with the decision for about a week or so, seeking advice from a few trusted people, and a lot of prayer, we felt that it was the right move. This is the direction that God wants us to go.

Tonight, my wife had a meeting at our house for the high school youth group so that she could tell them directly. So its in the process of becoming official. We need to announce it to the staff...though a couple of them know. I also need to let them know at my other job, something that I really need to do, probably tomorrow.

We are both very scared about this change. This is the biggest change that we have gone through as a family up to this point. But at the same time its exciting too. We have a lot of steps that we need to go through, a big one is getting our house sold. We've been working our tails off through the weekend trying to get a lot of little improvement projects done. Funny, we've been meaning to get these little things done for a long time. I guess that it takes moving out to get ourselves psyched up for it.

So where do we go from here?

Well, good question. This is just one more thing to juggle. Two classes, work at the church, cpe, and now trying to get ready to move.

Spring semester is going to be a big change.