First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. We light the first candle on the wreath for hope.

"The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined....
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"
Isaiah 9: 2, 6


Advent is the beginning of the Christian liturgical year, and it entails the four Sundays before Christmas and Christmas Eve. We wait hopefully to welcome the Christ-child into our hearts on Christmas Day. It is important to note that Christmas does not begin on Black Friday or on the first Sunday of Advent. Just because ABC Family is running their "25 Days of Christmas" campaign during December does not mean that Christmas is now. We are in the season of hope, the season of anticipation, the season of preparation. And just like in Lent we should be holding ourselves accountable to make room in our hearts for Christ. For the past few weeks I have been assisting a local church in preparations for their advent children's pageant. The children are wonderful, and it's going to be a great pageant. The children are teaching me about Christ's love and about the hope we should all have all year long.

Thanksgiving in Brooklyn

I had Thanksgiving with my father's cousin's wife's family up in Brooklyn. It was wonderful. Everyone was welcoming, and the food was lovely.
Last Thanksgiving I spent with my friend Clint and his family in Wichita, KS.
The Thanksgiving before I was in Greece.

On the train riding back from this Thanksgiving I thought about these past three Thanksgivings. They were all very different from each other, and none of them were with my immediate family. Yet, the people who opened their homes to me are my family. I am thankful for them.

Summer 2010

Good news, everyone! I have been accepted into summer CPE at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Hamilton! For those of you who do not know what Clinical Pastoral Education [CPE] is, it is an intensive, supervised chaplaincy. Most CPE placements are in hospitals. I will be under the supervision of a hospital chaplain who has years of experience and extra training in CPE. The program runs for 11 weeks starting in early June.

For the Presbyterian Church (USA), many presbyteries require CPE although not all. CPE is part of my ordination process. I am blessed to have found a placement at a hospital close to my seminary. I can stay in my dorm, and I will be able to remain a part of the seminary society.

Veterans Day

For all our veterans, thank you.

NYC 2

This weekend my parents flew in to visit me. They flew in on Thursday evening, and we went to New York City for the weekend. It was AMAZING. I was very tired from midterms which were last week [I think they went well], but I felt much better once I saw my parents. I miss having family around.
Friday we went for dinner at Teresa's Cafe on Palmer Square. The food was really yummy. We had soup and salad and shared a couple of entrees including a pizza with prosciutto. Teresa's also has a good wine list. So if you're looking for a restaurant in Princeton, go to Teresa's. This place was actually recommended to me by my field education adviser. So thanks to Rev. Neff! My parents and I love Teresa's Cafe!
Then on Saturday we traveled via train to Penn Station. Trains are still a new mode of transportation to me, but they are great, fast, and less trouble than cars. We stayed at one of the hotels near Times Square. It is so amazing to spend time in a city I feel like I know so well through movies and television. I know real New Yorkers probably hate it when others say that, so sorry New Yorkers! I do love your city. We went to Carnegie Deli for lunch which has the biggest sandwiches I have ever seen and good cheese cake. Then we walked around Central Park. The picture is of me in front of a gorilla made out of a bush in Central Park. That evening we attended the New York Philharmonic at Avery Hall in Lincoln Center. My parents are professional caliber musicians, and they instilled me with a great love of music of all kinds. To sit through a concert by some of the best musicians in the world and have that privilege was spiritually moving. They make me want to be a better musician. Sunday morning we traveled to Brooklyn, which is very different from Manhattan, where my dad's cousin Daniel and his wife and daughter live. They have a beautiful townhouse, and their little girl is a little over a year old. She is so darling! I don't have a picture, but believe me she's cute. We had brunch with them and then traveled back to Manhattan to see Wicked.
Let me say this about Wicked. I have never seen anything on stage or on screen that could top Wicked. No tv show or movie or even the musical we saw in London. Wicked is just a different level. Everything from the lights to costumes to the actors was just perfect. The set was unlike anything I have ever seen. I have acted in plays and musicals, obviously nothing close to this, and I have seen many movies. No set in a movie was better than this, and their pit was astonishing. I love the CD of Wicked, but the CD cannot match the real orchestra. When people say we don't need to support live music because of our recording technology, they must not have ever heard the NY Philharmonic or the orchestra for Wicked. During the entire show I just felt this electricity throughout my whole body. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. I would go see that show every weekend until it closes and never get bored.
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for investing in live theater and music.

Today we had breakfast before Mom and Dad had to leave for the airport. I miss them. Now I have to go back to the Masters program and do work after a magical weekend.

Instrumental thoughts

I know my father is going to disagree with me on this. [You know it's going to be a good blog if I start off with that.]

I think the cello is one of the most spiritual instruments. Is there anything as simply beautiful as a solo cellist to find your spiritual center? Every day at PTS we have chapel. This is not required of students, but I go almost every day. Today as an introit a student who is an incredible cellist played. I feel so bad that I can't remember the name of the song, but as the cellist was playing I noticed how his entire body was engaged in the music. That doesn't happen with other instruments. I should know. I've played enough different instruments to know how engaged you are with the instrument. When I played in marching band I played the baritone, and that was definitely not part of your body especially when it was cold. I am not saying that other instruments aren't spiritual, but the cello is one of the few instruments where it is almost as big as your body. It creates a different type of interaction with the music.
I love that my ideas of music are being expanded at seminary. Music is such an incredible part of our Christian journey whether it be hymns and organs or guitars and drums or an eclectic grouping. If you haven't heard of Church of the Beloved you should go to their website and check it out! They have an INCREDIBLE album called Hope for a Tree Cut Down that is FREE!