Thin Place

     I went to church in Marble Falls in the Hill Country today. I have felt pulled to go back to the Hill Country since our visit to Mo Ranch in late August and today was the day to return.
       Marble Falls is about 50 miles from Austin west/northwest on Highway 71  The climb is gradual and the view is a surprise. Along the way, I catch glimpses of Lake Travis off to the east. I go through places called Bee Cave and Spicewood, past Paleface Ranch, and Muleshoe Trail Road. There are hard edged hills that roll to reveal high and low country. There's a lot of rock and dirt, short trees, scrub pines and dried up creek beds. (We don't get much rain here.)
      I take in the odd beauty. The landscape stirs something deep inside.  I can't get enough and I don't want to leave. There's a rugged soulfulness and it leaves me without words to describe it, it's a thin place. What I know about these thin places is they call us back; back to our deepest and truest selves where we connect with The Divine. Places such as these are where my soul is wide awake in anticipation of the beauty of creation. It knows it is getting fed, feels like it is being nourished but is never full.
          Awe and wonder prevail, there are no words, only the soul speaks.

Back to School

     The campus is waking back up after a week of Fall Break, it was a great week. Tomorrow we go back to the rhythm of school, classes, Work Study, Chapel and study. I've seen some of my classmates around in the last couple of days. Some who left and came back said they missed being here. We are becoming a community who misses those who leave and welcomes them when they return. It's not the same when we're not all here. This is "home" now to many of us who are here
           I read the newspaper everyday, (except one). I watered our community garden, am back at the gym, traveled to San Antonio, watched Auburn play and win two really exciting games (we're #1 in the BCS!!!) and I made some new friends.
     I did "...learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. " (Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum).

       It was a nice week and now it is back to school to do what ever is there to do-more papers, more reading, more projects and presentations and more prayers.

     Many prayers for our sister seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary and the loss of their Chapel to a fire. Our Chapel is the spiritual center for our community and I trust it was for theirs. One friend remarked this afternoon, "It is so sad, I don't know what we'd do if Christ Chapel burned." A moment's pause and she said, "Oh, yes I do. We'd pull together and find a place to be together, they will too." Yes, they will; and the communion of saints will be singing, praying, holding them up and holding them together.

Thanks be to God!

Mid-week Update

     I am so grateful for this Fall Break, it's been like a long hot bath, relaxing, indulgent and comforting. It's given me the time to get caught up with life which is not so easy while school is in session. I've been ticking off many things I needed to tend to and I have accomplished a good bit. There's a lot relief in getting those things off my list.
     My week has been most enjoyable and the weather has been beautiful. I had coffee with a friend, lunch on the patio at Austin Java with 2 other buddies, taken long walks, watered the community garden and yes, read the newspaper, everyday! Well..., almost everyday. (I missed today because I forgot buy one while I was out.) I had my car washed, found someone to cut my hair and on Friday I'll use the manicure gift certificate I received from being part of the Phon-a-thon.
     I will be refreshed, recharged and ready to go into the second half and looking forward to what I will learn and how I will grow... some more.
    
Sleep with the angels and fly with the Spirit.
Peace be with you this night.
Amen

Donna

WHEW!

     I made it! My Fall Break started yesterday at 3 pm. This is what my week before break looked like-Midterm in Liturgy I, a reflection paper for Spiritual Formation, a paper for Text & Context about story and listening, a paper for Bible and Hermeneutics AND (almost) all the required reading for every class. I have not been in the classroom for a very long time and I can say I spent the first 6 weeks figuring out what it takes to be a student. I don't have it all figured out but I have a better idea of what it looks like.  By the way, it looks like lots of books, at least 2 yellow highlighters close at hand, time in library and later nights than I am used to.
     Yesterday, as the mid-term exam was being handed out, I announced "This is a milestone, folks! We made it and we are all still standing!" I don't know about my classmates but I can say, I feel like I have accomplished something. I went to every class, I went to Morning Prayer, Eucharist or Evening Prayer every day and I did all the reading I could possible do. I now know that I can not do it all, even if I want to but I do have to give it my best committed effort. Grace abounds in this place.
     Fall Break is welcomed with open arms. I am going to rest, paint my bathroom, play and read the newspaper-everyday. I have not read a paper, including the Sunday paper, since I started school. Who would have thought reading the paper would be a luxury?
     I am  going to take a couple of trips to San Antonio to visit St Mark's in downtown San Antonio. (San Antonio is about 1 hour 15 min. each way. I will need to think about travel time as I consider it for my Field Education). St Mark's looks like a fascinating community to me, they are doing many things that excite me, particulary The Workshop. One of my professors, The Rev. Dr. Jane Patterson is a Co-Director of The Workshop (http://www.theworkshop-sa.org)%20and/ has graciously opened a couple of her activities to me, I'm excited about the visit.
     I haven't had the energy to post in the last couple of weeks and I've missed it. I'll have some time to catch up on my posts this week, there is much I want to share with you.
     Until then, "O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen" BCP 832

In gratitude for all that was, all that is and all that is to come,
Donna

The World of Lost Toys

     I have had a week to put this last week in perspective and share it in good humor. Last week I kept losing things; I couldn't remember where I put things, what I was supposed to do, where I was supposed to be.
     Last Tuesday morning I went for a walk, came home, got ready to go to Chapel and could not find my eyeglasses anywhere! I looked high and low, in every drawer, in between the sheets, under cushions, outside, no glasses. It took me one hour but I found them; on a tray I put on top of the refrigerator. Huh? Needless to say, I missed Chapel. Another day I printed off some assignments and promptly misplaced the sheets, finally found those. I lost my phone, lost my calendar and lost my patience!! I spent my week looking for lost toys, feeling lost, and feeling off balance because of changes in life.
     Life is changing, it's supposed to. I'm changing, I'm supposed to. Seminary is about change. Change is giving up the big stuff like dear friends & companions, Saturday night movies, my church home, AU football tickets/weekends and Publix. (Those who know me, know I love going to the grocery store and there is not a grocery in Austin anything like Publix or The Pig-so I'm really at a loss!) It also means giving up the little stuff, weekly manicures, my local library card, and walking the Lakeshore Trail.
     Change is about finding. Finding new ways to do and be, new places to go. It's learning new ways of expressing myself. And, change is also about being found. Here's what I believe about being found; it's all there. We have all we need to be all we already are.

So... go, do, be, find, change, discover, risk.

 Thanks be to God!

"...deny oneself and take up one's cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses one's life for me will find it." Mt 16:24

Time to play

I have finished my second week of classes, turned in one paper, am working on 2 more and need to get my CPE papers together for the psych interview next Saturday. This week I realized I was spending too much time studying, working and worrying about all the school work waiting to be done and I had not given myself any play time. I told one friend that I needed to play because all work and no play makes me cry, ...really.
     This is what I am going to do for playtime(s). After Friday class ends at 2:30 I am going to The Posse East and hang out with whoever happens to be there for however long I care to stay. The Posse is a bar at the end of the street where major theological discussions are continued, started or ended beween students, faculty and staff. Then at 4:00 I am going to the park for flag football practice. SSW and the "Presby's" (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is in the same neighborhood) have a friendly and long standing flag football game every November. It's called the Polity Bowl and we are the "Thundering Thuri-bulls" (play on thurible: a metal container used for incense in a procession on high holy days). We have shirts with numbers and everything! SSW won last year for the first time in many years and we (the Juniors) are determined to win again. I'm the snapper, because I can't catch a ball to save my life-not so great at blocking either but they have a no-cut policy, just like all good Christian schools! My teammates have said they are going to nominate me for "MVP Snapper" - I hope I win!!! Look for the results after November 20th.
     Now I have a group of football buddies to hang out with and watch football-not anywhere close to being at Jordan-Hare on a fall Saturday but will have to do...We went down to the Posse to watch OU and AU but UT fans had swarmed the place after their embarassing loss to UCLA. I guess they were there nursing their loss. So off we went to the Weeks Center (student lounge) to watch the games. We watched the first half of OU, turned on Auburn and then headed to the Posse at halftime. My friend Jamie and I showed the Posse what AU fans do to support their team-and taught them all "War Eagle-Hey!" We will have them doing it and singing "it's great to be and Auburn Tiger" before the season is over! We need a care package of shakers if anyone is so inclined.
     You might wonder where seminary fits into all of this...well it really does. I am learning about creating new life and new community and who I want to play with. I thought of this poem as I was finishing this up. It is a perfect reminder for how life is, how it will be and how it can be if we remember what we learned when we were so young.

"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum. 

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

My first paper for seminary is finished...

...complete with footnotes, citations and a Bibliography. Do you know how many years it has been since I wrote a paper with footnotes and a Bibliography? Too many to own up to, sorry. The assignment was write an essay and use the hermeneutical circle to explore and interpret the text from Ezra1:1-4. Sounds simple and quick doesn't it? Well, it probably will be in 6 months. Right now it is a challenge to stay focused on the questions asked, to understand them and answer them.
The good news is the first paper is done and will be handed in tomorrow, then it is on to the next one. The next one is a short paper as a writing sample. I am looking forward to doing it and getting it back because it's purpose is to measure our writing ability and that is one of the skills I want to develop. I want to be a good communicator of the written word and want writing to be easier and more free flowing.
This blog has been lots of fun and good practice for my writing. I really enjoy writing this and coming up with catchy headers and creative topics that will let you all know what and how I am doing. I hope you will send me your ideas or questions about what you want to know as it will be more fun to respond to you.

"Guide us waking, O Lord and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.  BCP p.134