dawning activism.

Some updates on the happenings here at Luther: Part of my involvement in student council here is to commit to forming and being active in a committee. The committee are essentially campus groups engaged in specific work aimed at benefiting the campus and the community. So a few of us students decided to start the Community Connection Team, committed to service and justice in the Twin Cities. There is a really great core of people involved and we already have drawn up plans for campus wide engagement in issues of poverty. We are coordinating a "mitten tree" with Lutheran Social Services. So, if you are reading this and you are in the area, please stop by and pick up a couple requests for items to donate to LSS! My hope for this group is that we become more and more deeply involved in working against poverty. You know, perhaps the most disappointing thing for me in coming to seminary was what I perceived to be a lack of concern for social justice. There is a rich tradition of justice in Lutheranism (see Bonhoeffer) but I fear that we grace ourselves into complacency and acceptance of our roles in oppressive systems. Grace is important but we must remember that we are freed to be slaves to each other (see Luther's Freedom of a Christian and the uses of the Law). Great, we are saved by grace through faith, now what. Do we only believe because we get to go to heaven or are we captivated by the invitation to live differently than the world, to say no to oppression and fear and certainty and yes to justice and love and faith. The central question here is one that I struggle with on a daily basis: Why Christian? So I am very excited about this new development on campus.

Outside of this, the semester is winding down and that means work. Glorious, glorious work. Fortunately, my job at the phonathon is going to end next week, just in time to focus on the finals. Woo!

all souls day

Today, the day after all saints day, is the Roman Catholic holy day called all souls day. What an appropriate week in my own life. Wednesday saw the passing of the father of my best friend and the loss has rested deep in our community. This day takes on special significance right now in light of this recent tragedy.

The experiential emphasis in our religious experience is especially pertinent for me right now. The experience of the presence of the oppression of death is the one final common human factor. We all die. Unfortunately, we are united in death. Fortunately, in our frailty we meet Christ who has had his share of death.

The unity with Christ and the Christian community has been made especially clear in the last week. The support that Luther extends speaks greatly of the seminary as a Christian community. As a church goer recently said when I interviewed him for a class, "We do death well."

I am about to leave for my friend's father's funeral, thus the short and jumbled entry. I will write again soon.

Tim

wow-long time, short post

Good night.

I have not written in a very long time. I apologize for this and will try once again to make it at least a weekly thing. It has been crazy busy with midterms the past couple weeks and it looks like it will only get crazier in the near future. Oh well, I guess that is what I signed up for. I suppose the horrendous busyness is a good way to teach me to say no to things. For me this is a hard learned lesson, but one I am learning and that I know I will be thankful for in the long run. This is an opportunity to learn what self-care looks like in the midst of chaos. You know, it is kind of silly but the ELCA has this spiritual wholeness wheel that I have been trying to live by the past week or so. Last week was my synod's candidacy retreat and we spent a good deal of time talking about the wheel which has six parts: Physical, social, emotional, intellectual, vocational, and financial. Running through all of these is spiritual wellbeing. Now, I normally think stuff like this is ridiculous, but after just a few weeks of seminary, it is clear that so many church folk need to learn to better care for themselves.

I tell you that to tell you this: today was my first day at my teaching parish. This is a program where seminarians become a part of a single church body in the area. My context is a mission congregation called Jacob's Well. I feel like this is going to be a great fit and it will certainly get me started on my focus on mission and emerging ministries. Today's message was about economic justice and freedom (obviously, being Reformation day, this is not a "regular" Lutheran church). It really made me question my relationship with money which is something that I think about a lot. The question always bothers me: is it ok to still have plenty of money and just give, save, and spend it well or are we called to poverty? This is probably the question I struggle with the most. Jacob's Well today made one of the first decent cases I have ever heard for the first option of stewardship. You can check out their website for more info on the link above. Also, when you get a chance, look at this site. Talk to you soon.

Tim

a week

The second week is coming to a close and I certainly need the weekend. I probably won't write long today as I am frightfully tired.

A quick run down of the highlights: since last post I found a new pub to frequent (the dubliner)...you know it's funny, I sat here just now for about three minutes trying to think of other things to say but other than studying I can't think of anything. I basically study. All the time. I am beginning to realize I may have bitten off a rather large chunk this semester. But secretly (not so secretly) I am really enjoying it. I love spending most waking hours studying. And when I am not studying I am normally eating, talking with Pippi, or playing ultimate frisbee. It's a pretty great life. Oh yes, I guess I did get a job with the phonathon which will be great (grads expect a call from me), and I think I've decided upon an emphasis. I am really leaning toward New Testament. I have always pictured myself there, and even if I want to study missiology later on, a NT master's will serve me quite well. This decision is due mostly to the fact that my Luke class and History class are amazing.

For those of you who know her, Pippi is doing great. She is loving her school but is looking forward the end of these six weeks so she can focus on the princess gig. In other related news, we may start a group for spouses on campus just to get together. Many of my friends complain that theirs are depressed and lonely. It shouldn't be that way. Ok, if you can't tell from the poor writing, I am very very tired. So I will try to write more soon. G'night.

Tim

the move

Today is Sunday. The day before the beginning of orientation. Two days after moving in. A week before classes. It has been an eventful couple of weeks since the last post. For those of you who know her, Pippi moved to her suburb and has successfully been organizing her Princess Parties business. She handed out hundreds of business cards, set up a website (http://sites.google.com/site/princesspippiparties/), and appeared at Woodbury Days in her full get up to play with kids and give away cd's she made. She has also secured a full time, 6 week substitute music position at Inver Grove Heights.

Last week was spent blindly preparing for seminary and I moved in on Friday. The whole process went smoothly. It has been odd with no roommate for the last couple of days. First year housing doesn't leave room for more than one person. Hopefully this will not impede community. For me, community is central and it is the only thing that I am nervous about here. Luther is the largest ELCA seminary and I know that it is easy to get lost in a crowd, especially with a fiancee that lives off campus. So, I resolve not to get lost in the crowd. I will find strong community here and make relationships. It is my primary goal. Education is enriched when it is communal and the Christian experience is not Christian without other members of the body. Finding a balance of solitude and community will be a welcome challenge.

This morning, I went to church at St. Anthony's right next door with my friends Peter and Steve. It was obvious that this was a faculty congregation as the service was tremendously "liturgical" (the quotations are because all churches are liturgical in the own way, but I cannot presently think of a better word). The sermon, based on the lectionary readings, concerned the recently passed sexuality statement. I bet this will be true for the next few months. I just hope that all discussion is based on mutual love and understanding and we don't sink into bible bombing as I know that this has certainly happened before. What a wonderful opportunity this business is to realize that our foundation is Christ and that we are bound by nothing else. What an opportunity to stand together as the diverse body of Christ in discussions based in mutuality and respect. Still, I fear that these opportunities will be ignored. I feel very blessed to be in the ELCA at this time and especially to be part of a seminary body which gets to immerse ourselvevs constantly in discussion. I can't wait to see what happens.

Well, orientation starts tomorrow. I will post more regularly now and will let you know how the week goes in a few days. Later.

great preparations

I'm Tim. I'm 22, just graduated from Wartburg College in the Spring and at the end of this week I'll start the process of moving from Elburn, Ill to St. Paul, MN to begin seminary at Luther. The move in process will start Saturday when I help my fiancee, Pippi, move into her new place up North. All in all, the future looks pretty bright. Pippi will live close as she pursues her dreams of being Princess Pippi at birthday parties and libraries, and substitute teaches music classes.

I am outrageously excited to begin seminary and life in a new context.

This summer has been one of great preparations. Together, we have been preparing for our wedding and life together and she has been amazing in encouraging me to prepare for seminary and pastoral ministry. Alone, I have spent the summer working at a day camp in Naperville, IL and studying Greek. The camp gig came to an end a week and a half ago and I have since been focusing more on the Greek. Since I took two years in undergrad, I saw no need to do Summer Greek, but found my skills to be quite rusty. So, I have been rereading the good old text book. Getting Mounced as it is. Nothing like a chapter on Liquid Futures to really brighten up a morning on this little acreage in Illinois. Other than Greek, I spend a lot of time eating my future parents-in-law's food, watching Scrubs, gardening, and reading and meditating.

As may be obvious, I am waiting for a lot to happen right now. I am very much at an in-between stage in life. I am waiting for seminary to start, to get married, and to explore more specifically where God is calling Pippi and I to serve and be. That's not to say that I am discontented with where I am, itching to reach some end. Quite the contrary, I am loving this journey and being out here with people who are grounded deeply in love. It is good. But still, I am excited for the change to come.