Claimed, gathered and sent

Sally at revgalsblogpals posted the following for the Friday Five: I have recently been reading a book entitled Jesus wept , it is all about vulnerability in leadership. The authors speak of how Jesus shared his earthly frustrations and vulnerabilities with a select group of people. To some he was the charismatic leader and teacher, to others words of wisdom were opened and explained and some frustrations shared, to his "inner circle of friends: Peter, James and John, he was most fully himself, and in all of these things he was open to God. So I bring you this weeks Friday 5: 1. Is vulnerability something that comes easily to you, or are you a private person? It comes to me very easily, at times too much so. I feel that I have nothing to hide. Of course, I'm in seminary with a wonderful community of faith. In the parish I suspect I will need to be more guarded in what I share and with whom. 2.How important is it to keep up a professional persona in work/ ministry? I despise p...

Corporate prayer is one of the great joys of seminary life. Along with worship, it is at the heart of why we're here, what we do, and how we are empowered for service. One of our favorite prayer times is compline or evening prayer. Each night at 10:00 we gather in the courtyard for this student led prayer service. For the Lutherans, it begins on p. 320 in the ELW. Whether spoken or sung, it never fails to move me. It's like God is tucking me in for the night. Tonight was my turn to lead compline. At 9:45, Abby stood up in our apartment and looked at me. Her expression was, "Mom, it's time to go now." Normally her sense of time revolves around meals and snacks. But tonight it was for prayer time. She enjoys it because she gets to see people that love and pay attention to her. But it was still amazing to me that she has the timing down now for compline. Thanks be to God to have such a sweet reminder. Flickr picture.

Please take a look at this post on Dream Awakener. A prayer of Walter Brueggeman's was posted which is incredible. It's not about us, was the message as we gathered today for orientation. The center of our life together in this place is worship, as it should be. Flickr picture.

Yesterday Ray left to spend 3 weeks in training for a new Seeing Eye dog. He had a great train ride from Harrisburg to Newark, NJ. and is all settled in at Seeing Eye. He will get his new guide dog tomorrow. Meanwhile, back at home, Abby is officially retired, which sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The down side is that Abby is used to going everywhere: work, church, chapel, the refectory, restaurants...there were no limitations on where she could go with Ray. As a dog of leisure, whose primary responsibility is to hold down the rug, Abby will now be spending time being left behind at home. My classmates have been wonderful. Everyone is concerned about her and have offered to help walk her and give her lots of TLC. She did really well yesterday and I have been trying to pay more attention than usual to her. This morning however, was difficult. She can no longer go to church with me. The look I got before leaving the house was heartbreaking. It was like she was saying, "You're...

Summer Greek 2008 ended yesterday. And a sigh of relief was heard from all. We have had some marvelous cheerleaders throughout the process--previous years' students, profs. We've had ice cream socials, picnics and prayer. The 2 weeks was concluded with a celebratory Greek dinner last night, followed by a round of plate smashing. The stress levels were high in the intense 2 weeks of whirlwind, head spinning study of Greek. We stood on the patio of the refectory (dining room) for the plate smashing. Plates were smashed in honor of our class, spouses, the profs etc. Our class has been divided into 2 groups based on grades and where we would fit best. There is the rabbit group and the turtle group. I am happily a turtle. The pace will be such that what didn't stick in our brains during the fast pace of Summer Greek will have a chance to stick. We were reminded of the old proverb, "Slow and steady wins the race." I couldn't help but think of this video as an expre...

We are now halfway through Summer Greek. My head has finally stopped spinning around long enough for me to write. Most of us in Greek class this morning had a case of scrambled brains. Our first exam was this past Fri. We studied hard for that and most everyone did well, including me. But by Fri. night, I didn't want to go near Greek...Sat. I made myself do a little...Sun. a little more...and finished the assignment this morning. It seemed like I had poured everything I knew about Greek out of my head and onto that exam with nothing left. Many could not remember the simplest things we knew cold last week. But then we were reminded of the grace and love of God that continues to work and see us through--even through intensive, two sessions a day, quiz each morning Summer Greek. God's grace is sufficient . It is that which bears us up and carries us. Students that were in our shoes a year or more ago keep reminding us of this. Flickr picture

Since our arrival on campus, Abby, my husband's Seeing Eye Dog, has been making friends. I have been walking with Ray around campus so he and Abby can learn the way. The plan was for Ray to meet me after class, to attend chapel and lunch. We did not know ahead of time that the class time would run much later than anticipated and that it would be followed by chapel. I called Ray and told him and he and Abby set out, unassisted, to make their way to chapel to join me. Ray said that Abby got so excited when she realized that they were going for a walk that she started to bounce, almost skipping along the way to chapel. She was in her glory as a Seeing Eye Dog, helping Ray get around campus. At the evening picnic, she was "off duty" and could be petted by any and all. She loved it. She even made friends with another student's pug, Bella. The difference in size didn't bother either one of them as they sniffed, licked, tails wagging the whole time. Perhaps we ha ve some...