My Road-trip Route Map

Here's a basic map of my route over the next two weeks, in case you are interested in seeing where I will be for my vacation, and for my attendance at Exploration 2009. Sorry Kansas and Missouri - I'm making a giant circle around you. Maybe some other road-trip....

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In honor of Ella, my cat

So, I haven't blogged in forever, and all I give you is this graph? But it made me laugh out loud - I couldn't help it. Also, Graph Jam is hilarious.


see more Funny Graphs

Revgals Friday Five: Forks in the Road

I don't often 'play' Friday Five, but given my own current state of transition, and my own recent thoughts about "What Might Have Been," this "fork in the road" Friday Five caught my attention. Over at RevGalBlogPals, Singing Owl writes: I am at a life-changing juncture. I do not know which way I will go, but I have been thinking about the times, people and events that changed my life (for good or ill) in significant ways. For today's Friday Five, share with us five "fork-in-the-road" events, or persons, or choices. And how did life change after these forks in the road?

1. My path into ordained ministry was like my own faith journey - marked not by a 'conversion' moment, but by what I would describe more as a 'strainer' experience. The jumbled pieces of what I thought constituted a call from God into first camping ministry and then youth ministry were all poured into a strainer, and what was left behind was a clear calling into pastoral ministry. That's the best why I can describe it. A critical decision for ordained ministry happened in my college-search process. I just couldn't find a school that fit my hope: to major in youth ministry. The schools I looked at were all Christian colleges with an orientation that was much too conservative theologically for me, even in my high-school days. I finally visited and applied to Gordon College. My visit was awful. I attended chapel, and found myself so upset by what I was hearing in worship that I sobbed as soon as it was over. I had no idea where to go or what to do. My pastor suggested some UMC-affiliated schools, including Ohio Wesleyan, which seemed the best fit of the four he mentioned. I applied without visiting (although I visited later,) and found out they had a pre-theology major. Somehow, by the time I started my first semester, I was planning on ordained ministry, without even realizing how it quite happened.

2. Like my friend Amy, I strayed from the 'typical' pattern of education. I didn't skip a year in elementary school - I graduated a year early from Ohio Wesleyan, completing my BA in three instead of four years. I'm not really sure what even started me on this path - I had the plan to try it before I even arrived for my first semester. I looked at the course catalog and the requirements, and I realized how easy it would be to do, with my semester of credits I would start with thanks to high-school/college level classes. Just before my third year, I began to have doubts about my decision. I was really enjoying my time at OWU, and I knew I would miss my friends. If I stuck around a fourth year, I could add a second major. It was actually at Exploration '98 that I wrestled with a lot of these questions thanks to a workshop on discernment I almost didn't go to. Ultimately, I think I made the right decision - I was ready to move on from OWU. But I still wonder sometimes!

3. Choosing my seminary was another fork-in-the-road decision. I visited Drew, Wesley, and Boston. I loved the city of Boston. I loved the emphasis on religion and the arts at Wesley, and their program with religion and politics. But as soon as I visited Drew, I knew I would go there. It didn't have any particular program that compelled me. It was just a feeling. A widow of a pastor in my home congregation said to me, after I told her I was going to Drew, "I prophesied you would go there." She'd never said this kind of thing to me before, and never did after, but if there's anyone I would totally believe, it was her. I knew I'd made the right choice, and never wished I'd gone elsewhere.

4. In my last year of seminary, my childhood pastor invited me to commute to Drew and serve as his assistant pastor at his new(ish) appointment. We'd worked together with me as an intern when I was in college, and we worked well together. I agreed to take the position. And then - it just didn't sit right with me. I did not have any peace in my decision. So I sheepishly changed my mind. That spring, the then-pastor at my childhood church fell very ill. Because I wasn't working elsewhere, I was able to fill in at my home church almost every Sunday, preaching, teaching, visiting, etc., during an extremely difficult time for the congregation. I was so thankful I was available, and knew my difficult decision had been the right one.

5. Both coming to this appointment in New Jersey and leaving it are fork-in-the-road times. I struggled with the decision to come here, and I struggled with the decision to move back to NCNY. For me, making appointment decisions is so complicated because you ask questions not just about how the transition will affect yourself, but about how it will affect entire congregations, the one you serve and the one you might begin to serve. I've been blessed with congregations that have been particularly supportive and affirming in the midst of transition.

Google's Friend Connect

I read Jeremy's post today about Google FriendConnect and am trying it out here. Note the new boxes in the sidebar. I have no idea if this will prove to be interesting or not, but I don't mind trying it for a while!

Songs

Another meme. (I'll try to write a real post sometime this week.) Borrowed from David.

• What song makes you instantly think of junior high? Mr. Big, "To Be With You"
  
• What song takes you immediately back to high school? Songs from Rent, which was hugely popular when I was in high-school
  
• What song reminds you of your first girlfriend/boyfriend? Proclaimers, "500 Miles"
  
• What song reminds you of your first heartbreak? Bon Jovi, "Bed of Roses"
  
• What song reminds of being young and reckless? Haha. I was young once, but never reckless!
  
• What song is still your favorite after all these years? None are still my favorite, but Indigo Girls' "Blood and Fire" is still up there.
  
• What song reminds you of summer? Gloria Estefan's "Live for Loving You."
  
• What song reminds you of vacation? Rod Stewart, "Rhythm of My Heart," and Extreme, "More Than Words," - camp more than vacation
  
• What's the first album/cassette/cd you purchased? Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," the single
• What song do you still have in your collection after all this time? Indigo Girls, the first alblum, is probalby the album I've had longest
  
• What song do you think you can sing but you really can't? Tuck and Patti, "Time after Time"
• What song do you always mess up the words to? "Million Voices" from the Hotel Rwanda soundtrack. Part of it is in a different language, but I sing along as if I know what I'm saying.
  
• What song makes you immediately 'bust a move'? Any song that I associate with junior high dances, such as: "Finally," by Ce Ce Peniston
  
• What song do you wish you could fall asleep to? I have a hard time falling asleep to music - I can't not listen to it, and so it keeps me awake. But if I could... the pas de deux from The Nutcracker or "The Kiss," from The Last of the Mohicans.
  
• What song do you wish you could wake up to? Tracy Chapman's "Change," a good tone-setter for the day.
  
• What song do you want played at your funeral? Sorry - can't imagine having 'regular' songs, and not my favorite hymns, at my funeral. So..."Be Thou My Vision," "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry," "Shepherd Me O God," etc.
  
• What song do you want played when your casket opens? Open casket? No thanks.
  
• What song do you currently have as a ringtone? "Overture," from Jesus Christ Superstar, of course.
  
• What song do you currently have as a ring back? I don't have a ringback. But my other ringtones include U2's "Mysterious Ways," more Jesus Christ Superstar tunes, and "Masquerade" from Phantom of the Opera.
  

Seven Random Rules

I was tagged by Melissa to do this meme, and since I haven't been blogging about anything else....

Seven Random Rules
Here are the rules:

Post the rules on your blog.
Write 7 random things about yourself.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post.
Pass on the tag.
—

7 things:

1. When I was in eighth grade, I accidentally ran over my own ankle with a mini-van. It takes a special kind of skill to do that. I didn't break any bones. I remember feeling mostly embarrassed, because this took place near my junior-high school and I didn't want my classmates to see me.

2. I hate, hate, hate flying. When I have nightmares, they are usually about flying. Not about anything bad happening on the flight - just being on a plane in my dream is enough to constitute calling it a nightmare.

3. I love Irish things, and Irish names. I'm a little bit Irish (I'm a little bit of most every European background except Italian, which is ironic when you grow up in Rome, NY) but probably not enough to constitute my fascination. I especially loved the name Aidan, until everyone under the sun started naming their child Aidan. I blame this, of course, on Sex and the City. (Actually, just after I wrote this, my mom surprised me with a Celtic Nativity. Cool.)

4. I am extremely competitive about a lot of things. This is something most people don't know about me unless they know me well, because usually my introverted-ness and my hatred of conflict dominate in public settings, and I keep my competitiveness in check. But in reality, I like to compete! My congregation in Oneida used to get a kick out of this because I would rally our Relay for Life team to try to raise more, win more prizes, etc., so that we could be "the best."

5. I am left-handed, and left-handed people are awesome.

6. I used to be extremely neat and organized. Then, in high-school, I had a very busy time during my junior year when I was in The Diary of Anne Frank, and a switch flipped, and I became a messy, disorganized person. I still have tiny pockets of extreme organization, like in my DVD and CD collections. But everywhere else, I have piles.

7. I've been keeping a journal since fifth grade. I used to index them (see #6) by person, so that you could figure out (and by you I mean me, since I've never let anyone read my journals...) on what page(s) I'd mentioned someone. I have about 30 volumes of journals. I used to write daily, and recently went through some very dry journaling times, but I've been writing a bit more lately. My journals are probably my most important possessions to me, aside from my photo albums.

Tagging:

1. Jason Moore

2. Tim Quick

3. Jockeystreet (if you would deign to such a post...) (Todd, I don't know if you blog about non-theatre things, but you can do this too if you want.)

4. John the Methodist

5. Gavin Richardson

6. Episcogranny, whose blog I've been reading of late

7. You!

Article from Christian Century: Handshake Ritual

I just read a very 'on' article in Christian Century, written by Martin B. Copenhaver, called "Handshake Ritual." Reflections on the practice of greeting the congregation at the door after worship.

Excerpt:
"Worship is over and I am standing in the doorway shaking hands. In front of me is a couple I do not recall seeing before. I say, "Good morning! I'm Martin Copenhaver." By my manner and my tone of voice you might think that I am greeting long-lost friends, rather than introducing myself to these people for the first time. The woman of the couple responds, "Good to meet you. We are Jill and Bob Townsend."

"Welcome. So good to have you here." I think, Focus on their names. Catch the names before they simply drop to the floor. But while I am chatting with the new couple I see out of the corner of my eye the person next in line, whose grandmother just died. I give a nod in her direction to let her know that I want to speak with her, but not yet. I need to be attentive to the new couple for at least a few more moments: "Are you new to the area or just new to us?" What is their name? Townsend! Whew. Still got it. My thoughts spin back toward the one who is next in line and I begin to second-guess myself. Wait, was it her grandmother who died or her grandfather? Actually, I think it was her grandfather. And then my mind lights ever so briefly on the person she is talking to, a parishioner I have not seen in worship in some time. I think, It's been, what . . . almost a year? I wonder why she is back today. But I need to stay focused on the new couple. Quick, file away their names before you lose them. Townsend. I can remember that because they are "new in town." Jill Townsend says, "We've lived here for years, but we're looking at other churches." OK, Townsend, as in "not new in town." I say, "Well, I hope you can stay for some coffee." She smiles and says, "Not today, but I'm sure we will be back." I look for someone to introduce them to, but they are out the door before I have a chance.

Next is the woman who lost her grandfather. Or was it her grandmother? I say, "I'm so sorry to hear about your loss." She says, "Thanks. I so appreciate that. But it was a blessing." I ask, "Was your whole family able to gather for the service?" It's a rather lame question, but I am stalling for time, hoping that she will drop a personal pronoun. Before she can respond, my teenage son comes up behind me and drapes his arms over my shoulders: "Dad, you know you want to give me money so I can get something at the bake sale." Normally I would remind him that this is no way to ask me for something, but I don't have time for a lesson in manners. "Sure, Todd, here." I give him a ten-dollar bill. It's all I have. "Thanks, Dad."

I turn back to the grieving grandchild. She says, "Yes, the whole clan gathered. He would have been very pleased." I should have remembered that it was her grandfather. I say, "Well, I know you were very close to him. We will continue to hold you in our prayers." She responds, "Thank you. And you know Mary, don't you?" indicating the member of the flock who has been missing in action. And I do remember her very well. I say, "Of course. It's great to see you, Mary." Mary says, "Yeah, well, I haven't been around for a while. There's just been a whole lot going in my life." I think, OK, there's something to follow up on. I say, "Well, it would be good to catch up when you have a chance." She says, "Sure. Any time." Using a common pastoral way of closing a conversation, I say, "I'll call you." And then I hope I remember to call.

A teenager approaches with a cast on his right arm. I search my memory: Did he have that cast on last week? I playfully extend my right elbow and he does the same. As our elbows touch we share a little laugh. I say, "How are you hanging in there?" He responds, "OK. I broke it playing soccer." So the cast is something new. I ask him how it happened and he tells me the story. When he is finished I put my hand on his shoulder and say, "I'm so sorry. But you should see the other guy, right? I'm just glad you play soccer instead of tennis so that you can keep at it."

A man about ten years younger than I, who has been waiting in the wings, suddenly steps forward for his moment: "You don't remember me, do you?" He does look rather familiar, but in the way a person can remind you of someone else you know. He bails me out: "I was in the first confirmation class you taught, 25 years ago." I say, "Of course I remember you. Absolutely. But I have become very bad with names in my old age. Help me with yours." He replies, "I'm Scott Harrison." Shaking my head in contrition, I say, "Of course you're Scott Harrison. Absolutely, I remember you. That was a great confirmation class. How have you been?" Then, after a few more snippets of conversation, I offer him my hand again as a way to draw this conversation to a close.

Someone else approaches who says, "I really have to take issue with your sermon today." I say, "The sermon is just the beginning. Then comes the conversation, which often is the best part." He says, "Well, maybe that's a conversation we'll have." I say, "Great. I welcome that. Will you call me?" In this instance I want to put the onus on him to call."

Oh, I so relate!

Cat Blogging: Ella Writes a Sermon

This is how I found my cat, Ella, earlier tonight:


















Maybe she'll have some ideas for my Easter sermon.

back from vacation

I got back yesterday from my week's vacation in the Caribbean on a 9 day cruise with Royal Caribbean. I had a great time. I went with my mother, brother, and his girlfriend, and we visited Haiti (sort of - because of the weather that day we couldn't get off the boat - but I was in the waters of Haiti taking pictures of Haiti, so I think it counts...), the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas (picture at left) and Puerto Rico.

I didn't have a problem with seasickness, which I was worried about, although getting off the boat proved to be more difficult. I currently feel like I'm bobbing around on a rocking boat. I hope this feeling goes away in the next day or two, because I'm not enjoying it. My vacation was extremely relaxing. I have a bad habit of working through my vacations. Usually when I vacation, I take work with me, end up answering too many work related emails and phone calls, or spend time doing worship planning and sermon writing. I did have internet access on the cruise, but it was pretty pricey, so I kept communication to the outside world at a minimum, and phone service was also expensive and intermittent. So on this vacation, I got to be actually on vacation, without spending most of my time thinking about church-related things. In fact, I only once said the words, "I'm a pastor," and that was on my last day to my stateroom attendant who commented on my "love thy neighbor" t-shirt and asked if I was a Christian. I said, "yes. I'm a pastor actually."

The cruise was fun. I was reminded a lot of the campy resort you see in Dirty Dancing in many ways - complete with fantastic ballroom dancers who were on board, cheesy group games that were surprisingly fun, and announcements over loudspeakers of upcoming activities. Like when I was little and going to camp and wanted to be a staff person, I felt very curious about what it's like to be part of a cruise ship staff. For the 3000ish cruisers, there were 1000ish staff onboard. They work crazy schedules - they don't get days off during the week, just blocks of time during days. They work six month contracts with 6-8 weeks off in-between. Many of them (waiters, stateroom attendants) depend heavily on tipping from guests to make a living wage. And they have to deal with sometimes demanding, sometimes rude, sometimes just thankless guests! I'm not sure how they handle it, honestly. We experienced nothing but great service the whole trip. There were some delays getting started (the cruise before ours had had a medical emergency and had to divert back to Puerto Rico, causing a delay in our start time), and some changes to the schedule, but nothing that they didn't scramble to make not-a-problem.

I did attend worship onboard last Sunday. They offered a Catholic Mass, a Jewish Sabbath Service, and an "interdenominational service" for Protestants. The service was led by one of the cruise director's staff members. She read a few stories of the inspirational email forward / Chicken-Soup-for-the-Soul variety, asked us to share places we'd seen God at work in our lives, and closed us with singing amazing grace. I'm not sure what her personal religious background is, but I can't imagine she ever anticipated leading worship as part of her job description. I found it pretty bland, with very few references to God, even, and certainly no mentions of Jesus or anything so very specific. It was - interesting at least!

I loved our days in port - we went on a great tour in the Dominican Republic with a guide who showed us some more authentic, less touristy parts of the country. We swam at Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, surrounded by islands and clear blue water, and went to Coral World and touched starfish and had an incident with a very hostile bird. We walked around San Juan, Puerto Rico, in search of places to shop where the items didn't say "Made in Ecuador" and "Made in India," and found a lovely arts and crafts store featuring the work of local artists. And being on the ship was fun too - I loved walking on the jogging track on deck 12. I loved that I could find times of silence and solitude even on a cruise ship with 3000 people. I was amazed that I could so for a walk on the track in the evening and see hardly anyone else at all. The food was great, even for vegetarians, and even with the constant food availability, I managed to lose half a pound (thanks to that track!) I loved getting to play mini-golf and go ice-skating on board. I loved the shows - the dancers, the ice-skating show - and the celebrity headliner: Charo!

I would definitely cruise again. We're already talking about persuading our extended family to go on a cruise together. And I'm thinking (unrealistically) about that around-the-world 144 day cruise brochure a brought home. Maybe a future sabbatical?....

on vacation....

I'm on vacation today - leaving for a cruise(!!!) to the Caribbean. I suspect I won't be blogging much until I return til the 13th....

United Methodist of the Year

The folks over at UM Portal have a post up about choosing a United Methodist of the Year.

They mention George, Dick, Hillary, and John, as well as Billy Bob Thornton, but I'm not intimidated. I've decided to toss my hat into the ring.

My qualifications:

* I always try to add more potlucks to the church calendar.

* I belong to the "We are Ridiculously Methodist" group on facebook.

* I was confirmed at age 10, and so have been a UM for a really big percentage of my life.

* My friends tell me I'm just like John Wesley.

* I survived the ordination process.

* I have three copies of the current Book of Discipline.

* I'm really into the doctrine of Christian Perfection.

So go put in a good word for me. If you vote for me, I can promise snow shovels and babysitting.

Living with an Actor

I've mentioned before that my youngest brother, Todd, is an actor. Living with him can be - trying. I tease him all the time that his career is "pretending" for a living. Right now he has set up a mini-photo studio in the basement to work on his headshots. I constantly have to run lines with him for his auditions, and he's currently doing very loud vocal warm-ups for today's audition. We just had a conversation that went like this:

Me: "Actors. Can't live with 'em...."

Todd: "And they won't move out of your house."

Exactly.

Rev Gals Friday Five: Post Thanksgiving Day

Since I'm not doing anything particularly productive on my vacation (I guess that's how vacation is supposed to be, but I feel like I should be doing work), I may as well play the Rev Gals Friday Five instead of striving for a more theologically-trying post. (I replaced the RevGals pic with a Tofurky pic to better represent my Thanksgiving experience)

So here it is:

1. Did you go elsewhere for the day, or did you have visitors at your place instead? How was it?

This year we went to my aunt's house. For the past four years, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my parsonage, but now that I live in New Jersey, I couldn't get everyone to come to my new parsonage! We had 18 people altogether, including four generations of the extended Mudge Family. We had a good time. Now that my cousins are mostly grown (the youngest is 13, most of us are in our 20s and 30s), we seem to have rekindled our interest in getting together and keeping in touch/keeping close. We've always had a close extended family, although we've had some shaky years, and I think we're starting to remember and re-value that tradition.

2. Main course: If it was the turkey, the whole turkey, and nothing but the turkey, was it prepared in an unusual way? Or did you throw tradition to the winds and do something different?

We have a mixture of meat-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans at our dinner. Main dishes: Turkey, tofurky, spinach tortellini. Stuffing cooked in the turkey. Vegetarian stuffing. Vegan stuffing. Chocolate milk. Eggnog. Soy eggnog. Mash potatoes. Mash potatoes made with soy milk. We've been doing this long enough though that this is a pretty typical meal for us now.

3. Other than the meal, do you have any Thanksgiving customs that you observe every year?

-Most years, we have crayons set out to color on our table cloth.
-We exchange names for our "cousin exchange" for Christmas shopping. We started doing this because we have a huge number of cousins in the family, and we used to try to buy for everyone. It got to be too much. So we started drawing names and just buying for one cousin. Now, we don't actually draw names. It was too tricky to make sure everyone got someone not in their immediate family, or to honor special requests, so now I just tell everyone who they're buying for. (Ah, what power I have!)

4. The day after Thanksgiving is considered a major Christmas shopping day by most US retailers. Do you go out bargain hunting and shop ‘till you drop, or do you stay indoors with the blinds closed? Or something in between?

When I was in high school and my mom (a nurse) would have to work a very early shift on Black Friday, my friend and I would drop her at work, go get Dunkin Donuts, and then hit the early sales. Now, it depends. I did shop some today - my mom had the day off for the first time in years (actually, she's currently out of work with an injury). We didn't go at the crack of dawn though! And my locations included places like Cokesbury, Fair Trade Marketplace, and the Syracuse Food Coop. (Ok, and Target.)

5. Let the HOLIDAY SEASON commence! When will your Christmas decorations go up?

Growing up, we had firm rules on this. Advent Calendar - December 1st. Everything else, not until the 15th. I'm not exactly sure why, but I would lean toward this tradition myself if there were no other circumstances. BUT, now I have an open house every year, so I usually decorate a couple days before that, whenever it falls. (And the Advent Calendar still goes up on the 1st.)

Who are voting for? Who should you be voting for?

I was doing some reading on the web the other day, trying to figure out what kind of impact Stephen Colbert is having on the polls so far, which is an interesting topic in itself. But in my searching, I came across this tool from Select Smart, which allows you to respond to your views on many topics, and rate the importance of those topics, and then it will tell you who you should be voting for.

I found this intriguing because I'm not always sure we're committed to voting for the person who actually supports what we want to see. There's a lot of reasons that might be the case, some more and less sensible! I can tell you that I wasn't surprised by who this quiz said I most agreed with, but that I'll most likely be voting for the candidate who showed up 5th on my list. Why? Electability. The candidate with whom I'm most in sync I doubt could get elected.

How about you? Do your results match your actual voting intentions?

Fake Pastors

Have you seen this site? Hilarious. I especially like "Fake Joel Osteen" and "Fake Rob Bell."

(h/t to Gavin)

Red Bird Reflections

I got back Friday night from my week at Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Kentucky. This was my second trip to Red Bird - I went in 2004 with my church as well. St. Paul's has had a team going to Red Bird for fifteen or so years, and the trip is pretty well supported by the whole congregation. We run a little league concession stand all spring and summer, which mostly pays for the trip. Participants really only need to 1) work at the stand and 2) bring some spending money for the meals there and back and on the 'day off'. This makes the trip an option for everyone - the team strives not to have cost be an issue for anyone.

This time around, I wasn't able to go to the work site with the rest of the team, since I'm still recovering from my ankle surgery, and gimping around with a cane. I worked in the Community Store instead, which sells used and donated items at reduced cost. The store is quite an operation. I worked behind the scenes, where all the preparing of items takes place. Nothing is wasted. Everything is used somehow, if it all possible. Items in the store are rotated every two weeks! I enjoyed getting to know this other side of Red Bird. I did feel frustrated and not particularly useful, but the nice thing about Red Bird is that they really do try to find a place for volunteers of all kinds.

The heat in Kentucky this week was pretty oppressive. The heat index kept us at about 105 or 106 most days. Here I was lucky, since I spent most of my day in an air-conditioned building. The Red Bird staff clearly worried about so many (mostly very young) volunteers out in the heat all day. The humidity was such that the floors were actually sweating (my cane was sliding all over the place). I thanked God seriously many times for air-conditioning in the sleeping cabins. I can't imagine surviving the week otherwise.

The Fire Department at Red Bird serves ice cream once or twice a week, a dollar a scoop. The sign indicated Tuesday was an ice cream day, but apparently that was a mix-up. So about 75 of us were waiting for ice cream on Tuesday, when it became apparent no one was coming. Finally, one of the firefighters drove in, just to pick up something from the station. He had no plans of serving ice cream. But seeing so many of us there, he had pity on us, and scooped up what ice cream was already in the freezer. I think if he hadn't, there was a serious chance of a riot taking place.

This area of Kentucky is beautiful. Wednesday is a day off for all the work teams to enjoy the area. We went to Cumberland Falls State Park. We drove through the mountains, and looked at all the coal mining operations. The miners trapped in Utah was clearly on the hearts of the people I met in the Community Store - they are mostly spouses or family members of miners, and I'm sure a dread of experiencing the same kind of accident is always with them.

Other random observations:

• Vegetarian cuisine isn't always easy to come by in Kentucky, though better than you might think. Red Bird works on serving vegetarian options at all meals, though I admit I had a lot of 'veggie sandwiches' - bread, condiments, lettuce, and shredded carrots. They make up for it with fabulous desserts, which are always vegetarian!
• The gender dynamics are - interesting.
  
• The Red Bird Missionary Conference office is tiny. But they get a lot done. The whole Red Bird campus is quite elaborate, and covers a huge range of services for the community.
  
• Kentucky has many strange insects all over that you'd never see in Central New York. I packed carefully to make sure they all stayed in Kentucky where they belonged.
  
• There are many Dairy Queens in Kentucky, and not nearly enough in New York. (For better or worse, there are several within 10 miles of Franklin Lakes...)
  

INFJ

***Update: I created a methoblogger group for these personality profiles where we can see them all in one place, per gmw's suggestion in the comments. Email me if you want to be added, and I'll send you an invite. Might be fun.

It turns out Red Bird has wi-fi now! I won't write any detailed posts yet though, but here's something fun from Jay's blog:




I am an INFJ - apparently only 1% of the population scores this way - but the good news is that 'clergy' is on the list of professions that work well for INFJs!

Theology Meme

My internet is MIA at my house/church right now, and I'm in the library trying to do everything I might need to do online before I crutch it back out to the car. (6 days to go...) I still have a review or two to write, but for now, for brevity, is this theology meme I saw over at Philosophy Over Coffee:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 high), how would you rate your theological knowledge and breadth/depth of reading?
Oh boy. Probably a 4 or 5. I feel pretty comfortable with my understanding of theological concepts, but when it comes to knowing which historical theologian thought what exactly, I'm not very well read. I have some areas of strength, but not, probably, a good overarching grasp on the major thinkers. Alas - systematic theology class seems so long ago!

2. What thoughts and feelings come to your mind when you hear the word "theology"?
I was a 'pre-theology' major in undergrad, and my little brothers always used to tease that it was "before the study of God." That's the first thought, honestly!

3. Who is your favorite theologian, and why?
Process theologian John Cobb is my very favorite. I instantly fell in love with process theology when we first studied it in systematic theology at Drew. I felt like I was reading a theology that combined everything I thought about into one system, and asked (and tried to answer) exactly the questions that have always most troubled me. John Cobb in particular is my favorite because his United Methodist background and Wesleyan theology combined with process theology is a dream combination for this United Methodist nerd.

4. Who is your least favorite theologian, and why? Oh, a tie between Martin Luther and St. Augustine. Both of them seem to have had a fantastic way of looking at the scriptures and coming up with the exact opposite interpretation than I would. Not to say that they both haven't (obviously) made hugely important contributions to theology/Christianity/the church. Of course they have. But I don't think we'd be buddies.

5. Which theologians have you been meaning to read, but have not gotten to yet?
No one in particular - I've been meaning to read a lot of the 'classics'. I've been meaning to read a great many things!

6. If you are Catholic, can you name a favorite Protestant theologian, and if Protestant, Catholic? Like PoC, I'd have to say Thomas Merton. My older brother hooked me into Merton's writings.

7. What theologies do you love like a rescue dog that saved your life?
John Wesley's understanding of salvation, sanctification, social holiness, and perfection.
Process theology - complexity, answering the "why bad things happen" questions, eschatology
Paul Tillich's The Courage to Be and Cobb and Griffin's Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition probably come closest to actually "saving my life" during my first year seminary mini-life crisis.

8. What theologies do you see commonly abused and wish people would stop it?
I think John Wesley's theology is often abused/misconstrued. His understanding and interpretation of scripture and his understanding of salvation particularly come to mind. Prosperity gospel/theology.

9. What theologies do you think are from the pit of hell, inspired by demonic powers?
The theology of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, for starters.

10. What theological concept is most needed but ignored in contemporary Christianity?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

11. What other intellectuals or pseudo-intellectuals should blog this meme?
Anybody - everybody!

RevGals Friday Five: Harry Potter Special

Today, I've reached the breaking point in this whole being in a cast nonsense. I had a lot of running around to do today, after a busy week, and I'm just wiped out. My ankle doesn't hurt - it is the rest of my body that can't wait for the cast to be off. Ugh. So, even though I have more thoughtful posts in the back of my mind, I think it was best to play some RevGals Friday Five instead:

Option 1: Accio Friday Five!

1. Which Harry Potter book is your favorite and why? I think they keep getting better and better. As the characters age, we see more depth of emotion, intense action, etc, and more unfolding of Rowling's carefully, complexly crafted world. Four, five, and six are especially excellent.

2. Which character do you most resemble? Which character would you most like to get to know?
Oh, Hermione for sure. I'm afraid I was always a bit of teacher's pet in school. To get to know? Harry, of course!

3. How careful are you about spoilers?
a) bring 'em on--even if I know the destination, the journey's still good - I am generally a reader of spoilers, which drive my older brother crazy. Here's something else - I usually read the last page of books first! I can't help myself. I still read the whole book, of course, but I can't help peeking ahead.
b) eh, I'd rather not know what happens, but I'm not going to commit Avada Kedavra if someone makes a slip
c) I will sequester myself in a geodesic dome to avoid finding anything out

4. Make one prediction/share one hope about book 7.
I hope Snape turns out to be on the 'good' side - I will be awfully disappointed if he's really with the Deatheaters.

5. Rowling has said she's not planning any prequels or sequels, but are there characters or storylines (past or future) that you would like to see pursued?
I think more about the early days of Voldemort would be interesting, and about Albus Dumbledore as a young wizard.

RevGals Friday Five

Playing this week's RevGals Friday Five:

1. Personality tests; love them or hate them?
Love them if they're just for me, hate them if someone else is using them to find out about me, like, say, the Board of Ordained Ministry. When I took my psychological assessment for the ordination process, my results showed that I had a very high degree of defensiveness toward psychological testing. Of course, I could have told them that without the test - except, I wouldn't, because of my high degree of defensiveness! ;)

2. Would you describe yourself as practical, creative, intellectual or a mixture ?
Intellectual primarily, then practical, and occasionally creative. I have some close friends who always amaze me with their creativity - in worship, in visual arts, whatever. I think I can be creative, but I really admire people who just ooze creativity.

3. It is said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame; have you had yours yet? If so what was it, if not dream away what would you like it to be?
Not yet, though walking into a room full of Methobloggers who said "It's Beth Quick!" did make me feel pretty famous. I keep telling my actor brother Todd that when he makes it big I want to be the spiritual advisor to the stars....

4. If you were given a 2 year sabbatical (oh the dream of it) to create something would it be music, literature, art.....something completely different...share your dream with us...
To create something? I think I would take lots of dance classes and try to create myself into a dancer!

5. Describe a talent you would like to develop, but that seems completely beyond you.
See #4. I'm getting better at tap dancing, at least, though being in a cast puts a serious damper on my progress.

Bonus question: Back to the church- what does every member ministry mean to you? Is it truly possible to encourage/ implement?
I think it is completely possible and necessary to implement every member ministry. My mother instilled in all of us a strong sense that each one is called by God, and we just have to figure out what that calling in. And I always believe what my mother tells me!