First Test

Tomorrow is our first test in summer Biblical Greek. Everyone is handling this task differently. Some people are freaking out and cramming as hard as they can. Some people are really confident in their skills. I'm somewhere in between. I'm feeling pretty confident, but I'm also nervous.

The good[?] news is this is only the first of many tests, so once we get the format down it's just a matter of using the information we've been given.

We are One in the Spirit

Today two very awesome things happened during group prayer.

#1
In our weekly chapel we say the Lord's prayer together at the end of the pastoral prayer. Normal stuff, right? Today I noticed that during the Lord's prayer "debts", "sins", and "trespasses" were all used. Instead of conforming to the way a church body normally prays like most people do when they visit a church, the chapel group paused and waited for the longer version to finish before picking up the ending together then paused again to allow some people to say "forever and ever" before saying "amen". This may sound like a little thing that doesn't matter, but to me, this matters. To me this small act of pausing tells me how open to different traditions and beliefs Princeton Seminary is. When I have visited churches that don't use "sins/those who sin against us" I have felt like my prayer was interrupted by the sudden cut off my of sentence. Now, congregations don't mean to cut people off. Most of the time congregations pray the way they've prayed. There's nothing wrong with that. To me, this was a very special, loving, embracing thing.

#2
During a small group prayer in my dorm, every person prayed out loud individually for general or specific things. I think we all prayed for rest and stress relief. When a gal named Sarang began to pray, she prayed in Korean. It took me a second to realize someone was praying in a foreign language, but it was wonderful. Instead of listening to the specific words someone was using, I heard the spirit of the prayer. I was able to keep my mind silent and listen for the Holy Spirit.

"We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; and we pray that all unity will someday be restored. And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love."

Advice

You know how you're always warned to take other people's advice with a grain of salt?

Today I learned that lesson all over again.

My professor and preceptor were giving us some ideas for the intensive studying we're doing every day. Someone said that getting off campus was a good idea, and I asked if there were any good coffee places nearby that weren't so small you felt bad about sitting at a table for a could of hours. I was given a sound piece of advice to go to "the Panera by the Target".

It took me over half an hour to find this Panera that is less than ten minutes away from Princeton Seminary. So here's the lesson: take advice but get real directions.

Faith's Mission Statement

My home church, Faith Presbyterian, has been actively seeking new ways to share God with others. One part of this quest is developing a new mission statement. Since I am not at home I sometimes am not as connected as I would like to be to my home church, and I was pleased to read on Dr. Tom's website that Faith has a new mission statement. Here it is:

“We follow Christ as Lord, relying on the Spirit’s guidance and worshiping God with our lives by serving our neighbors, cultivating community, and inviting others to join the exploration of faith.”

I have so much trouble saying things with few words, and this mission statement has done what I have so much trouble doing. In one sentence Faith has a mission statement, a goal, a philosophy of life, a strong theology, and several ways to focus all our gifts into the same vision.
Alleluia! Amen!

For more information:
http://tomtrinidad.wordpress.com/
http://www.faithprescs.org/

Class time

Now that I've been in class for a week I have adapted to the schedule.

Breakfast
8:45-10:00am Precept--Quiz and homework review
10:00-10:45am Break/Chapel on Wednesdays
10:45-11:30am Plenary--New material
11:30-12:15pm Precept--Questions, drills, and sight reading
Lunch
Studying/Homework
3:00-4:00pm Tutoring

During the evening I've been hanging out with other students and going on long walks. Trying to find a balance from the high academic load. Every day we have a quiz over the previous day's material. I really like my precept. There are ten of us in the group, and our teacher is a PhD student named Amy who is doing her dissertation on Hebrews. We're in Stuart with small tables and large windows. My table partner is a guy named Noah who used to work in the business world [specifically bulk coffee]. He took a year and worked as a church intern before coming to Princeton.
The food is pretty good here which is good news because I'll be eating there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three years. There's a good variety every day. I've been picking up anything in a tortilla or otherwise covered without asking what's in it. It's been a fun journey. Also fresh fruit and fresh salad stuff.

Sisters

I have recently become aware of how many of my fellow female seminarians have come from traditions that do not ordain women and had to convert in order to follow their Call. I am constantly amazed at the strength of these women in difficult times, and I just wanted to give a quick word of encouragement to all my sisters in the faith.

Remember to act like a church bell. No matter how hard something hits you, make a beautiful sound.


[This is paraphrased from a nun I heard on NPR. I apologize but I can't remember her name or her order. If someone recognizes the sentiment and the original speaker, please let me know.]

Princeton!!!

I have officially begun my seminary experience. On Sunday I moved into Brown Hall on the Princeton Seminary campus [with the help of my wonderful father and a couple of returning students]. Since then I have met too many people to count, and everyone has been warm and welcoming. I think it was a good idea to come in the summer because that meant fewer people were moving in at once. With a loaned hand cart and the elevator moving was pretty easy. My room is bigger than I thought it would be. Plus I don't have a room mate! I appreciate that everyone had their own space here. On Sunday my new friend Sara and I went to Hoagie Haven for dinner. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Then on Monday we had a light orientation with things like a library tour, an opening worship service, etc. We had an abbreviated first day of class. Today was our first real day of class. We meet in small groups first to take a quiz and go over homework, then have a break, then go into a lecture to introduce new material, then go back into small groups to clear up any questions. This class lasts all morning, and there are review sessions in the afternoon. There's a lot of work, but we don't have anything else to focus on other than the community and language.
I'm taking Biblical Greek with about twenty other people from all over the country and one gal from Korea. There are many incredible people in my class including a couple who just got back from teaching English in Hong Kong. We're using Learn to Read New Testament Greek by David Black. About everyday we learn one chapter, more or less. It's a year of Greek in two months. I'll keep you updated on how it's going.

The picture is of Stuart Hall where our classes are held.

Ida

Today my father and I checked into a hotel near Princeton Seminary where I will move in tomorrow, and we were blessed to meet a woman named Ida. She is a Coptic Orthodox Christian from Egypt who immigrated to the US so her children could have the religious freedoms she did not have growing up. She joyfully told us about how much she loved God and how Egypt's religious laws are changing and how many people are converting. She asked us what kind of Christian we were, and we told her we were Presbyterians [which she hadn't heard of], but she knew what Protestants were. She said there were only three types of Christians in Egypt: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant. She informed us that it didn't matter because we all worship the same God and Jesus. Ida had attended a Protestant church sometimes in Egypt with friends, and now she regularly attends the Orthodox church that is only a few miles up the road. As she was telling us about growing up Christian in Egypt I felt an incredible sense of connection. This woman's heart and soul were only for God, and nothing was going to stop her from expressing that. She sounded like so many Greek Orthodox people I know from my study abroad experience, old experiences flooded back to me. It was in the Orthodox world that I decided to become a pastor, and here I am.
We can make distinctions in Christianity all we want: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, right-wing, left-wing, Fundamentalist, Mainline... but when you are facing a person those labels don't matter. You're just a person who decided to live a faithful life, just like the person you're facing.

There's an incredible song entitled "Peace" by the Church of the Beloved:
"Let us see and not destroy. Let us listen. Let us listen.
Let us suspend judgement for the sake of love, for the sake of love.
We need each other more than we need to agree.
Father, Son, Spirit bless us with your love,
with your grace and peace."

This is my personal prayer as I enter seminary and for Christians everywhere: "We need each other more than we need to agree." Christianity goes beyond any human divisions whether they are political, cultural, or linguist. In Christ there is no East or West. Thanks be to God!

Ida's Church with information about the Coptic Orthodox faith and multi-media formats for their worship. It's a cool website.
http://www.saint-mary.net/

Update

My father and I are traveling to Princeton. Tonight we are stopped in Pennsylvania, and it's beautiful country. Everybody is doing well, and I keep getting e-mails from faculty/staff welcoming me to PTS. Yay!


For Sermon Fridays:
This sermon was given by a pastor I know Rev. Memmott. I apologize but the embedding has been disabled, so here's the link. Hope you enjoy.
:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X6aUVuQdbU

Summer Reading

In June I received a summer reading list for my Masters of Divinity program. I was surprised because I haven't had a summer reading list since high school; however, I was thrilled. So here's the rundown.

I am reading:

Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction

Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [not on the PTS list]

I have read:

Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Sally Bruyneel and Alan G. Padgett, Introducing Christianity

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Paul Scott Wilson, The Four Pages of a Sermon: A Guide to Biblical Preaching

Jean Comby, How to Read Church History, vol. 1, From the Beginnings to the Fifteenth Century

I have yet to read:

Roger Olson, The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform

Gordon Fee, How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour

Giving Thanks

Something in today's Lectionary reading caught my eye.

Psalm 108
[1] My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!
[2] Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
[3] I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
[4] For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

So many times in Scripture we read about giving thanks with music. As the daughter of musicians I find myself engrossed in a world that constantly reminds me of music. One simple word can trigger any number of melodies and lyrics. Oftentimes I don't even realize I'm singing to myself as I go about on daily business. A long time ago when I was on a mission trip with my middle and high school youth group, I was given an award for singing too much. Those in the group thought it would be funny, but I was very hurt. I wasn't singing to annoy them. I wasn't singing because I had nothing better to do. I was singing because I was happy. ["I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free, for His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."] Psalm 150 tells us to give thanks with all sorts of instruments, Psalm 96 and others says to "sing a new song".
King David gave thanks by singing and dancing. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." It's one of the harder activities we are called to do. How can we give thanks when our hearts are broken for ourselves or others?
I'm not sure we can.
Sometimes our hearts are not steadfast, they are broken.

I can only offer one idea, and it's not even my own: "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit" [Psalm 34:18]. Psalm 34 does not tell us how the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, only that God is. If our hearts are broken, it is God's love that must fill us so hopefully once again we can raise our voices in thanksgiving.

" For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds."

Sermon Friday Intro

Every Friday I will be bringing you information about sermons. Sometimes I will post sermons here that I have heard and enjoy/think it's awesome. Sometimes I will post sermons that I don't like or don't agree with theologically but that are effective means of communication and effective in bringing a deeper understanding of God. I will attempt to bring in sources from a wide variety of places and people. I welcome your thoughts, views, comments, arguments, and questions about anything on this blog.

To begin with, here is a small clip from YouTube by Rev. Yvette Flunder, United Church of Christ. I love how Rev. Flunder connects with the congregation. Communication and connection are the keys to a sermon as I currently understand.

For my dear friends on their loss

God With Me Lying Down--traditional Gaelic prayer

God with me lying down,
God with me rising up,
God with me in each ray of light,
Nor I a ray of joy without Him,
Nor one ray without Him.

Christ with me sleeping,
Christ with me waking,
Every day and night,
Each day and night.

God with me protecting,
The Lord with me directing,
The Spirit with me strengthening,
For ever and for evermore,
Ever and evermore, Amen.
Chief of chiefs, Amen.