Life Lessons 10/28
This has been a very powerful visit for me to my seminary alma mater. Some good workshops and chances to see very dear professors, plus the opportunity to make deeper friendships with alums and current students whose lives have intersected with mine.
My life is the richer for all of these interactions.
The theme I would put on the week--perhaps the events of the whole month--things seen and unseen. Since the events of last August in the Episcopal Church, it seems to me as if we are living through end-times--not the death of the whole church, as some proclaim, but as if a world I inhabited was coming to an end. Real crises reveal what is real under the surface. I have found out who truly supports and loves me; I have encountered what I believe is evil (as opposed to mediocre, faulty or imperfect); I am trying desperately to choose the light. I am someone who finds it easy to get along with others; I love people of many different shades and qualities, but now I also know there are times when I have to choose a side. There is pain and loss of relationships, but there is also grace in drawing closer to people who are with you.
One of the things about being an alum (as opposed to a student), wiser (I hope) and more able to see what is really going on, is that you get let in on what is going on underneath it all. I've learned some things about dear ones these past few days that are very painful to hear about. I've heard about more relationships that are not all they seemed to be. One of our presenters talked to us about leadership--that your congregation will not grow spiritually if you are not willing to grow deeper yourself. I hope that this month, with all its sorrows and challenges, is taking me deeper.
Let's be clear that I am also fully human, because I indulged for an hour yesterday in one of my own obsession/compulsions, and sped off the block for a quick trip to a local yarn shop (CloseKnit). Lovely yarn, but nothing that called out to me after my field trip to the Myers House on Monday, but I picked up a back issue of Interweave Knits for the train trip home (ok, so I've already leafed through it once. . .)
more blogging
Seabury doesn't serve breakfast until 7:45 (!!!) which is usually when David and I are on second breakfast (a hobbit reference. . .) so I'm continuing to blog away, and catching up on favorite blogs.
A few favorite reads posted this quiz, so I couldn't resist:
You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com/
What Kind of Knitter Are You?
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My home computer no longer likes Blogger--I think Blogger's pages have outstripped my 4 year old PC's ability to process--so I haven't posted in awhile.
There's been a lot of stress and therefore much knitting. At a lengthy and difficult church convention I spent the time working on a Mariner's Scarf for Ministry on the River. Whenever I would feel my emotions start to get the better of me, I would focus on the stitch at hand. Knit, knit, purl, purl, purl. By the 2nd day of Synod there were four of us handcrafters at my table--two knitters (one with socks) and a pair of needlepointers.
In the end I had to frog the scarf. I frogged it after the first session and redid it, but found after Synod, when I sat back down to it, that I was making mistakes all over the place. I think too much negative energy went into it! Since I was using some leftover Red Heart I didn't feel too bad about just tossing it. It served its purpose of keeping me sane. I do want to get one scarf done for Christmas on the River; I'll just pick a different color, this time, to make sure no negative energy left.
In the meantime I've been working on the baby blanket out of Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting. I'm using a light yellow Lion Cotton, and it's working up quite well. I've had some funny moments working with the circulars--this is the first time I've had a problem with the Denise Interchangeables coming apart on me, when I added an extension, but after making sure everything was tightened they have behaved themselves.
Just finished reading a book (title escapes me) about the friendship between JRR Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I had a bad night sleeping and just finished it in the wee hours. What jumped out at me was Tolkien and Lewis' commitment to having both intellectual and
imaginative responses to the Gospel. Their theology of narrative, if you will, is that all good stories have a positive relaitonship to the Good Story. That put into words my thoughts about Harry Potter, etc. and why I believe reading books like Harry Potter, or Middle Earth or Narnia far surpass what often purports to be "Christian" literature. Good storytelling does not have to have Christ explicitly in it and may point more deeply to the truth of the Christian story by its subtlety and deeper thinking.
Let's hear it for the imagination.
