Done Done Done

My paper is handed in, we had our final lecture (on Hope and Theodicy), and we did the class evaluations. The list of Books I Want to Read, and the list of Books I Probably Should Read are both significantly longer at the end of this three week class. Luckily, Walter Brueggemann's Old Tesatment Theology can be added to the list of Books I Have Read. The class was amazing, and I'd really recommned the Notre Dame summer session classes. Its a great format, we had great people in our class. Just a wonderful way to spend some time when you're homesick for some good academia. I did post my twelve theses over at my other page. Its not my best writing, but I had some fun fleshing out what I like to call "both/and theology", and played a bit with some Old Testament ethics. I'll share a couple of thoughts I'm excited about from my paper here, and y'all can feel free to browse the rest as you see fit:

paragraph #7 - The ethics of the Old Testament are available to us not just in what Israel says, but how Israel chooses to present their witness.

paragraph #11 - Feminist theologians should continue the task of casting light on the history of patriarchy in interpretation and doctrine, but our primary task should be articulating the truths we know of God, life and the world in our own ways and our own voices.

paragraph #5 - Hope is the binding verb for Israel, and that hope is grounded in YHWH’s abiding presence and continued action. Therefore, the primary verb for YHWH in relation to Israel is found in Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM' ”.

Now.. Chicago, here I come!

Ten down, Two to Go!

I am working on my final paper for Dr. Brueggemann. Naturally, I have mostly left it til the last day, although I did some stuff before today. That is an improvement for me. Anway, I have two last Scripture verses for you all:

"Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh." - Ecclesiastes 12:12

"While he was making this defence, Festus exclaimed, ‘You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!" - Acts 26:24

Very often, the words we preach are as much for ourselves as for the congregation. I will post my theses on my other page when i'm done with them. In the meantime, for a distraction of another sort, go over to Tripp's page and read Barack Obama's speech one more time. I just think he is fabulous.

Prophetic Utterance

We have been talking about prophets and poetry in class for the last couple days. Today, we talked about promise and judgement in Isaiah and Jeremiah. Professor Brueggemann cited this verse as the mantra of all Cubs fans:

"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" - Jeremiah 8:20

Did I mention that the Prof is a Cardinals fan? Ah well. Its still another fun & entertaining out-of-context verse. Now, since Professor Brueggemann has graciously given us a break from our daily papers, I need to get to work on my final paper.

Meatless

I am staying with friends near Notre Dame while I take the Brueggemann class, and one of the things we do is watch the news twice a day. I think CNN needs to fill time sometimes, because they run news all day. So, this week, I learned that PETA has announced the Sexiest Vegetarians of the Year!Turns out that Andre 3000 from Outkast and Alicia Silverstone were this years big winners. My top pick didn't even make the list, but then again, I guess Luke isn't really famous enough yet! I think they should have the Sexy Vegetarians give some advice on how to be vegetarian - like their favorite cookbooks, or how they get enough protein. Of course, celebrities probably don't always cook for themselves, so I 'll just give you my favorites instead.
Moosewood Cooks At Home is yet another cookbook put out by the Moosewood Collective in Ithaca, New York. I like this one best because the recipies are fast, pretty easy, and they suggest menu combinations.

Jack Bishop's Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbookis also really amazing. Pasta, stuffed veggies, fritters, polenta, salads. My favorites out of here are Zuchinni-Lemon Fritters and Satueed Chery Tomatoes. Plus, there are pretty pictures! What could be better?

En Español

Every afternoon about this time, a group of students comes into my favorite ND computer lab. They always speak Spanish. I have this bad habit whenever I'm around Spanish of eavesdropping. Really, it serves two functions. First, I feel special when i can actually pull out a few words and understand them. Second, its a very good reminder that I used to know Spanish and really wish my Spanish was still at a functioning level. Then, College of Preachers held its first conference on preaching in Spanish. Someday, I will have my second language back in shape and I will be able to attend that conference. Someday.

By the way... I am so proud of myself for figuring out how to include the "ñ" in the title!

Maxin' and Relaxin'

Professor Brueggemann gave us the day off from writing our reflection papers, and I am happy for the break. It also means I can spend some time looking up some extra articles for our final paper. We need to write 12 thesis statements, and then do some exposition (about a paragraph) on each one. Personally, I would rather come up with one good idea and spend more time on the exposition. But, I don't get to make up the assignments. Not yet, at least.

So, I'm sitting in the Touchdown Jesus library again. There is a really nice reflecting pool out front, with a low marble wall around it. I noticed today that there is a little tiny bridge going over the wall into the water! I guess its for ducks. Or very tiny people who want to go swimming in the pool. Anyway, it makes me happy.

More Bible Trivia

I have yet another favorite strange Bible verse, this one quoted in Brueggemann's book!

The LORD said to me again, "Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes." - Hosea 3:1

Raisin cakes?! Whats with the raisin cakes? I have no idea. Does this mean I should only eat chocolate-chip cookies instead of the oatmeal raisin ones? What about granola bars? Ah well, it was worth a laugh in the middle of an intense prophetic book.

94 and counting...

Luke's grandma turns 94 this month. She is an amazing lady, really the matriarch of the family. Luke and I won't be seeing her on her birthday this year, so we stopped by her place on Sunday for dinner. She recently moved into an assisted living home, where she has already made many friends. She told us about the new minister at her church, how the cousins are doing, and talked about whether or not anyone would want to actually live in the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Ann Arbor. She is very excited about my becoming a "minister" and told me she found a saying I might use sometime in a sermon:
 

Inner Peace

I am passing this on to you becasue it has deifnitely owrked for me. By following the simple advice I read in an article, I have finally found inner peace. It reads: "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started." I looked around to see all the things I started and hadn't finished. So, today I have finished one bottle of white wine, a bottle of red wine, a bottle of Apple Pucker, my Prozac, a large box of chocolates and a quart of beer. You have no idea how good I feel. You may pass this on to those you feel are in need of Inner Peace.
 
The best part? I think Grandma would actually love to hear a sermon with all that worked in. Gosh, I hope I'm as sharp-witted and have such a sense of humor when I'm half her age. Happy Birthday Grandma!

dreamland

Something about being back in class makes me want to blog more. Coincidence? I think not. So, speaking of being in class - I love the model of short, intensive courses where you can focus all your energy on the one class. Some of us like to fantasize about the seminary we're going to have someday. I would love to plan a curriculum based on the short-term, one class model. It wouldn't be so different from quarters- in a ten week period, you would take three classes, just one at a time. The curriculum could be filled out with lectures on other subjects, or afternoon-long workshops. The model would makes "interdisciplinary" work a bit more difficult, but I think that could be developed through the lectures. It would probably be very taxing on professors, however, if they only taught every other "term" it might be doable for them as well. If this interests you, and you want to go to seminary (or teach!) in about fifteen-twenty years, let me know and I'll sign you up!

Those Summer Nights

Well, my exicting love affair for the summer is here: Old Testament Theology with Walter Brueggemann. We're two days into our short class (three weeks at Notre Dame) and its amazing. Prof. Brueggemann is funny, witty, insightful, patient, respectful - and a rhetorical textual critic who has no more use for historic criticism than I do! Woo hoo! This does mean that my summer nights consist of lots of reading- we're using Brueggemann's own book, Theology of the Old Testament. Its a bit of an ironic title, since the Prof has already said that he doesn't believe you can have a systematic theology of the Old Testament- rather, there are many voices present in the text, and the tradition has been careful to preserve the countertestimony with the testimony. The book utilizes a whole trial-witness-testimony metaphor for interpretation and theology that is compelling to me as well. My reflection for tomorrow (we submit a one-page reflection each morning) will reflect on the role of community in this metaphor. Did I mention I love this class?

In other news... my LH* has been published!! I'm very excited about this. Here is the abstract for the article... the full text doesn't seem to available online. Yet? I'm not sure. It will appear in the journal Administration in Social Work. Anyway, its really wonderful.

One more important learning from class this morning.
"{God said} I will accept no bull from your house" - Psalm 50:9.
Sometimes taking verses out of context is just more fun.

*LH=lovely husband, of course!