Find Your Voice, Sing your Song.......

What promised to be a very stressful week with a 277 page book to read, 2 assignments due and my first major graduate school exam in Old Testament turned to be the most blessed week of the year starting withEmmanuel Lartey's Sermon in chapel on Tuesday.  You must listen.  It was unbelievable.  Wednesday I spent the morning reading my 277 page book at Barnes and Nobles where I discovered Southwest Quiche and had a Banana Strawberry Smoothie to go with it!  By the time I left there I was mostly finished with my 277 page book and was prepared to go defend free love as an assignment for my Communalism in America Class.  What was so amazing about that experience was that we were in a safe space to be able to discuss such controversial matters that would have never come up at SBTS where I attended 20 years ago without major repercussions to the professor.  These are all discussions that could come up in our careers with various people so it is certainly a discussion we should be opening our minds up to and wrestling with.  Wednesday night I gathered with my WNC classmates to study for the exam.  I am so glad to have these two wonderful individuals in my life to share pizza, wings, stories and study with!  I returned home Wednesday night and retreated to my room to continue my studies.  At midnight my body told me it was time to go to sleep.  I laid down and pretended to give it what it wanted but along with all my classmates, my mind was not willing.  It sounds like we all spent the night laying awake, our minds too full of anticipation to go to sleep.  I awoke to my alarm clock at 5:00 Am and was at the train station by 6:15 AM arriving at school at 7:00.  On the train I read a facebook post from our Student council president stating that he was praying for the first year students as we take our first "celebration of learning."  What a great reframe and fresh perspective.  When I arrived at school I stopped by the food court for a chick fil-a biscuit (no haters please, it was the quickest thing and they sure do taste good.) and a boost of caffeine.  From there I headed to the classroom to do last minute reading.  I was not the only one who opted for an early arrival.  The classroom was already full at 7:15 AM for an 8:00 AM class.  We all sat quietly looking over notes and anticipating when an announcement came into the classroom via a 2nd year student that Dunkin Donuts and coffee were available courtesy of the 2nd year students.  What a grand community I have landed myself in.  We took the exam as the minutes ticked away on the big screen in front of us.  5 identification questions, 6 or 7 matching questions, 2 name the source passages and 2 of 3 essay questions (worth 80% of the grade) I read the test through twice.  I then knocked out the quickest and moved onto the essays.  As I began writing I realized that I knew more than I thought about the way the Pentateuch was formed and the promises/threats of Abraham's time.  My friend Aryn was one of the first if not the first to finish.  Little by little as the clock approached 9:20, we began filing out of the class room and the lobby and halls were abuzz.  We were all a bit relieved I think.  We had all come to the realization that we have learned some stuff in the last 3-4 weeks.  We had survived and we definitely were more connected to each other having gone through this experience.  Although I had an assignment due for my 1:00 class, I decided that going to Chapel to be in God's presence and to thank him for the miracles I had seen occur was a must and boy am I glad I went.  My friend Marcus and his friend played African drums, we had an old testament theme in most all that we experienced in Chapel.  The highlight was Noel Erskines well presented sermon.    This is another must listen for you!     To give you a preview His sermon was based mostly on the psalms and it was about each of us having our own unique voice and our own unique song to sing.  He challenged us to rid ourselves of our parent's voices, our professors voices, our mentor's voices, our pastors' voices and to discover our voice and our song!  I have some clues as to what song I must sing though God and I are still in conversation about it.  What about you......have you discovered your unique voice and song? 

Praise be to God for I have been waiting for 30 years for such a time as this. 

3 Important Lessons

In the midst of learning about the significance of water in the OT, Johan Wesley and his pals, Martyrs, and the Shakers I learned three other very important lessons during my 3rd full week of school. 

1. Graduate Students should not eat in the main cafeteria.  I purchased a meal plan which includes three "swipes" at the DUC (the main cafeteria).  I looked at the menu Wednesday night and decided I would use one of my swipes.  I gave my Emory Id to the cashier who didn't swipe it quite right.  She stated "that was a parent card right?"  Translated:  "you're too old."  This was confirmed once my swipe "took" and I was granted passage into the food frenzy.  Lines here and there with little rhyme nor reason and kids, kids, kids everywhere.  I think I shall use the rest of my swipes at Breakfast time when the undergrads are still sleeping. 
2. Don't wait until 6:30 PM to leave for Atlanta in a rain storm.  It took me almost 4 hours to get to Gainesville and I finally stopped and spent the night there.  The dark roads of Tullulah Falls and Rabun do not shine very brightly in dark rain. 
3. The Marta after 9:00 is a totally different experience then the MARTA in the daylight.  The car should be picked up and driven back to campus when you are going to be there late.  Otherwise, you will be listening to stories that are non-chalantley being told about people getting shot. 

Facebook in the 3rd century b.c.e.

I giggled to myself and then outloud as I read for my History of Christian thought class on Wednesday night.  It occured to me that the same arguments that Christians have with each other today have been going on since the beginning of time.  I read and reread the paragraph as though I were experiencing dejavu.  My Uncle Stan is my mentor.  He is the one who helped me as a teenager get beyond the knowledge of the Bible and to the application of what the stories teach us.  Many would call him a bleeding heart liberal.  I call him one of the finest Christians I know who truly lives with the most integrity of anyone I have ever come across.  He writes a daily blog at www.inourelements.com.  Frequently a long debate will follow on facebook following the sharing of one of his blogs.  As I read the paragraph again from

Ferguson, Everett (2009-08-30). Church History ,Volume One: From Christ to Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context (Kindle Locations 2642-2644). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

I told my cousin that I just had to share this with her because it read so much like a Stan facebook debate.  If there were face book in the 2nd or 3rd century B.C.E the above referenced passage would read like this:

Hippolytus:  (labeled a rigorist)  certain sinners such as mrderers and adulterers can not be reconciled to the church, some sins only God could forgive.
 
     comment:  Calistus (labled a laxist) the church is able to forgive such and readmit them to the fellowship of the church.

     comment:  Hippolytus:  How could you conive to condone adultery and murder. 

Here we are some 2010 years later having the same kind of rigorist vs. laxist arguments.  Makes me wonder if we will ever have true kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven." 

From Sea to Shining........Pond

Thursday August 30 was Convocation, the first chapel service of the semester.  I learned that there must be an unspoken rule about backpacks during chapel for when I arrived I arrived through a sea of backpacks that had been checked at the door.  The chapel was full, almost Standing room only.  First year students, eager to participate, 2nd and third year students excited to be back on campus and among friends.  There was lots of pomp and circumstance as the faculty was ushered in wearing their best robes and hoods.  Classes had begun the day before but for many this was the first day of class with only 1 or 2 classes under their belts.  The room was full of excitement and anticipation.  Tuesday, September 4th as I approached the chapel door I noticed that the sea of backpacks had dwindled to more like a lake of backpacks.  We had been to every class at least once.  Everyone had spent the weekend trying to figure out a rhythm for getting the reading done.  Fear had set in for some as the realized the intimate nature of some of their classes and the weight of reading in others.  There was less Pomp and circumstances.  Tuesdays are a service of word and table.  We came to the table together with all of our fears and anticipations.  Thursday September 6th as I approached chapel I noticed that no longer were there a sea of backpacks or a lake of backpacks but more like a pond of backpacks.  I heard a couple of people make statements about skipping chapel, lack of sleep, the need to read.  I understood.  I was exhausted having had a written assignment due that day and our first quiz.  I had fought sleep during my first two classes that morning.  At one point I embarrassingly shook myself awake.  My classmates either didn't notice or allowed me to keep my dignity one.  I'm not sure which.  I plugged on to chapel though and I am glad I went.  For a listen into the intriguing words given by Tom Long follow this link:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/tom-longs-sermon-9-6-12/id422868582?i=120320996.   Because none of my text books have an audible version the current book playing in my car is Steven Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people.  It it he quotes Martin Luther saying "There is much work to be done today, I need to spend another hour on my knees."  That resonates much.  My fellow journeymen and journeywomen, there is too much work to be done not to take the time out to feed your spirit daily.  If chapel is not your thing please make sure you take the time out in some other way during the day.  The spirit will be our lifeline over the next 3 years, let's not neglect it.