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| Greek nouns of the first declension |
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| 24 different permutations of the word "the" |
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
snapshot of what I am currently spending my waking hours doing...
Hebrew Bible Exegesis:
The book of Joshua, and in particular the battle of Jericho in chapter six, functions as an etiological narrative to explain how Israel gained control of the promised land, with the story of Rahab in chapter two, framed by the greater narrative, as a reminder of the Israelites' identity as a people in covenant with God.
The story of Rahab, when looked at critically and through the lens of literary criticism, functions on one level as an etiological narrative to explain the incorporation of a Canaanite group into Israel, but it also functions as an extended metaphor to remind Israel of its covenant relationship with God.
Contained within the narrative are elements of the suzerain treaty form, as well as allusions to a history of God's mercy in sparing certain righteous individuals from widespread destruction, and Rahab is considered righteous because of her reverence for Yahweh and her assisting of Joshua's spies, seen as critical in fulfilling the story of Israel.
Finally, the most poignant reminder of the covenant is the metaphor functioning as an allusion to the first passover in Egypt. The crimson cord tied to the window in Joshua 2:18, along with the imperative to Rahab to gather her loved ones into the house and stay there until the invasion is complete, is a direct allusion to the blood put onto the doorposts by the Israelites and the imperative to stay indoors in Egypt during the first passover.
My current favorite phrase in grad school is "prehending the orienting Gestalt." Which is fancy way of saying "understanding the underlying whole" with regards to counseling and pastoral care.
The book of Joshua, and in particular the battle of Jericho in chapter six, functions as an etiological narrative to explain how Israel gained control of the promised land, with the story of Rahab in chapter two, framed by the greater narrative, as a reminder of the Israelites' identity as a people in covenant with God.
The story of Rahab, when looked at critically and through the lens of literary criticism, functions on one level as an etiological narrative to explain the incorporation of a Canaanite group into Israel, but it also functions as an extended metaphor to remind Israel of its covenant relationship with God.
Contained within the narrative are elements of the suzerain treaty form, as well as allusions to a history of God's mercy in sparing certain righteous individuals from widespread destruction, and Rahab is considered righteous because of her reverence for Yahweh and her assisting of Joshua's spies, seen as critical in fulfilling the story of Israel.
Finally, the most poignant reminder of the covenant is the metaphor functioning as an allusion to the first passover in Egypt. The crimson cord tied to the window in Joshua 2:18, along with the imperative to Rahab to gather her loved ones into the house and stay there until the invasion is complete, is a direct allusion to the blood put onto the doorposts by the Israelites and the imperative to stay indoors in Egypt during the first passover.
My current favorite phrase in grad school is "prehending the orienting Gestalt." Which is fancy way of saying "understanding the underlying whole" with regards to counseling and pastoral care.
Friday, September 16, 2011
First week of grad school
I started grad school this week, and so far this is what I have learned:
1. Perhaps most importantly, fully caffeinated coffee only affects me marginally. I drank two cups last night around 8pm and still fell asleep without any problems. That was after two cups in the morning and two cokes in the afternoon. Bad habit.
2. Blessedly, I now know enough Greek to know that my tattoo is indeed grammatically and linguistically correct! Even though I had three people give me the right transliteration, including a native Greek speaker, I was still somewhat afraid that I would be tattooed with misspelled Greek the rest of my life.
3. A neat new party trick that I have learned is the Greek alphabet, and I now have a Greek vocabulary of about 50 words. Which puts me on par with a Greek toddler, but we can't have it all at once. At present, I am translating (using a Lexicon) phrases from the Septuagint and New Testament into English and vice versa.
4. I have enough information to now be able to intelligently discuss the formation of the Torah. Including the Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP), form criticism, tradition history and redaction criticism, plus their advantages and disadvantages. Also included is the ability to draw parallels between Ancient Near East (ANE) texts and the Hebrew Bible, including the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Creation Myth and the epic of Kirta. If this sounds like a tremendous amount of work for one week, you would be right.
5. On the off chance that caffeine does start to keep me awake, I have discovered two new sleeping aids:
The Anchor Bible Dictionary (all ten volumes, each about 4 inches thick) or The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (which weighs about 12 pounds).
One week down, nine weeks to go this quarter.
1. Perhaps most importantly, fully caffeinated coffee only affects me marginally. I drank two cups last night around 8pm and still fell asleep without any problems. That was after two cups in the morning and two cokes in the afternoon. Bad habit.
2. Blessedly, I now know enough Greek to know that my tattoo is indeed grammatically and linguistically correct! Even though I had three people give me the right transliteration, including a native Greek speaker, I was still somewhat afraid that I would be tattooed with misspelled Greek the rest of my life.
3. A neat new party trick that I have learned is the Greek alphabet, and I now have a Greek vocabulary of about 50 words. Which puts me on par with a Greek toddler, but we can't have it all at once. At present, I am translating (using a Lexicon) phrases from the Septuagint and New Testament into English and vice versa.
4. I have enough information to now be able to intelligently discuss the formation of the Torah. Including the Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP), form criticism, tradition history and redaction criticism, plus their advantages and disadvantages. Also included is the ability to draw parallels between Ancient Near East (ANE) texts and the Hebrew Bible, including the epic of Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Creation Myth and the epic of Kirta. If this sounds like a tremendous amount of work for one week, you would be right.
5. On the off chance that caffeine does start to keep me awake, I have discovered two new sleeping aids:
The Anchor Bible Dictionary (all ten volumes, each about 4 inches thick) or The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (which weighs about 12 pounds).
One week down, nine weeks to go this quarter.
Friday, August 26, 2011
assorted and sundry updates
Since it has been so long since I have written an update for my blog, it is probably time to do so. So here is what I have been up to lately.
First, I got a new tattoo. It is on my right ankle. It is the Greek conjugation of the genitive form of the word Grace, meaning "belonging to Grace" or "by means of God's Grace." Which is how I choose to live my life and tremendously important to me as a Lutheran. This is also informing my theological studies, and my vocation. As a funny side note, the day after I got the tattoo I was managing the emergency services department along with one of our volunteers, Kathleen. Kathleen is a hilarious older woman who says exactly what she means. When I was showing off my tattoo to a coworker, Kathleen remarked, "Well I sure hope that is religious." After I got done laughing hysterically and telling her that, indeed, it was religious, she said that was okay and if she was younger, she would do the same thing. And I couldn't agree more. If you are going to put something on your body forever, you need to make sure that you feel strongly about it. Which is why I have an ichthus on my back. My dear friends here in Denver knew how much I wanted a new tattoo, so they got together and collected money and gave it to me on my birthday. True friends encourage permanent body modifications!
Next, I registered this week for classes at graduate school. I will be taking 14 quarter hours, which differ slightly from semester hours. Our quarters are only 10 weeks long. So in other words, I am going to have my hands full and it is good that I won't be working this quarter. I will be taking biblical Greek, Old Testament (Hebrew) exegesis, pastoral care theory and a vocation discernment class. But I am WAY excited to go back into academia. Evidenced by the fact that I am totally geeking out over the fact that I need to go buy a much bigger bookshelf to hold all of the exciting text books!
A couple weeks ago I was awarded entrance into the ELCA candidacy process for Diaconal Ministry. Back in May I wrote this post on diaconal ministry. (click to follow link) Candidacy is the communal discernment process through which the candidate and their church body (in this case, the Rocky Mountain Synod) mutually explore internal (from the candidate) and external (from the greater church and others) sense of call. I wrote a couple essays, endured an intelligence test/psych evaluation and a couple interviews earlier this summer. On August 12th I had my panel interview with my candidacy sub-committee. They asked questions about my essays, sense of call, vocational goals and theological understanding. While the process is grueling, I am very appreciative of it, because it means that the people who are serving the ELCA are really qualified and called to do so. A mainline denomination such as the ELCA can only exist because of careful attention to who is called to serve and shepherd it. Mainline protestant ministers and church leaders are very well educated and informed, and this is helpful because it means that churches are not built around the "cult of personality" of a charismatic preacher, but rather, rooted in a firm understanding of theology and sociology and caring for others.
My next step is to start classes this fall and complete a unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) next summer in a hospital. After this year of didactic studies and the CPE residency are complete, I will write a few more essays and undergo some more interviews to progress into the Endorsement phase of candidacy. At this point, I will have to discern whether or not I am going for consecrated or ordained ministry, and my studies will follow accordingly. After that, I have a couple more years of study and internship, and finally the Approval phase. Approval tests theological competency and understanding and ability to serve and culminates in Call. I feel blessed to be supported by a wonderful candidacy committee, my congregation, my clergy mentors and a whole bunch of friends. Right now it is just one step at a time. I am working on finalizing my affiliation with an ELCA seminary (Luther in MSP) for supervision of my Lutheran formation classes and getting really excited to start classes on September 12th.
Next, I registered this week for classes at graduate school. I will be taking 14 quarter hours, which differ slightly from semester hours. Our quarters are only 10 weeks long. So in other words, I am going to have my hands full and it is good that I won't be working this quarter. I will be taking biblical Greek, Old Testament (Hebrew) exegesis, pastoral care theory and a vocation discernment class. But I am WAY excited to go back into academia. Evidenced by the fact that I am totally geeking out over the fact that I need to go buy a much bigger bookshelf to hold all of the exciting text books!
A couple weeks ago I was awarded entrance into the ELCA candidacy process for Diaconal Ministry. Back in May I wrote this post on diaconal ministry. (click to follow link) Candidacy is the communal discernment process through which the candidate and their church body (in this case, the Rocky Mountain Synod) mutually explore internal (from the candidate) and external (from the greater church and others) sense of call. I wrote a couple essays, endured an intelligence test/psych evaluation and a couple interviews earlier this summer. On August 12th I had my panel interview with my candidacy sub-committee. They asked questions about my essays, sense of call, vocational goals and theological understanding. While the process is grueling, I am very appreciative of it, because it means that the people who are serving the ELCA are really qualified and called to do so. A mainline denomination such as the ELCA can only exist because of careful attention to who is called to serve and shepherd it. Mainline protestant ministers and church leaders are very well educated and informed, and this is helpful because it means that churches are not built around the "cult of personality" of a charismatic preacher, but rather, rooted in a firm understanding of theology and sociology and caring for others.
My next step is to start classes this fall and complete a unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) next summer in a hospital. After this year of didactic studies and the CPE residency are complete, I will write a few more essays and undergo some more interviews to progress into the Endorsement phase of candidacy. At this point, I will have to discern whether or not I am going for consecrated or ordained ministry, and my studies will follow accordingly. After that, I have a couple more years of study and internship, and finally the Approval phase. Approval tests theological competency and understanding and ability to serve and culminates in Call. I feel blessed to be supported by a wonderful candidacy committee, my congregation, my clergy mentors and a whole bunch of friends. Right now it is just one step at a time. I am working on finalizing my affiliation with an ELCA seminary (Luther in MSP) for supervision of my Lutheran formation classes and getting really excited to start classes on September 12th.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Grandma Amy, I miss you
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| The final project! Every once in a while, something takes me aback and makes me miss Grandma Amy all over again. Grandma Amy taught me how to sew, and was one of the most talented seamstresses that I have ever met. She made my mother's wedding dress, my first prom dress (after all I specified was that I wanted to "look like Cinderella") and several dresses for my sister Katie. |
Yesterday I decided to sew a laptop sleeve for my new MacBook Pro. I looked at patterns online to figure out the proportions for the sleeve, then went to JoAnn's to get crafty. As I meandered through the aisles of fabric and picked up all the necessary things, it made me miss Grandma Amy. I feel very blessed that I was able to learn as much from her as I could, but really wish that she was still around to call when I have questions about my sewing projects. Or furthermore, to just call when I want to talk. I really wish that she was still with us. The world is a little lonelier without Amy Rody in it.
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| I cut the fabric and attached fusible fleece to the outer layers |
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| Then I angled and pinned the zipper and sewed the outer layers together and inner layers together. |
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