Cache of My Links

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A lot of my people have interesting posts or ones that I would comment upon so… a cache of my links!

Bene Diction has some good Canadian links today. I loved the Canadian-American translator (though I wish the American English was my dialect of it) but the links on poutine made me mentally calculate the amount of damage I’d be doing to my arteries by eating it. (Saying this of course as I sit here eating my nice breakfast of Quaker oatmeal with raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon, and walnuts. And of course, drinking some Coke.) Cheese curd, fries, and gravy — ummm… no. That would be a Crohn’s flare-up in a bowl for me!

On Wayne’s blog, there has been the discussion on women and ordination. It’s been polite so far and then someone made the following comment:

The ordination of women should not be tolerated. There is no Scriptural support unless you willfully ignore clear passages and accept the more difficult ones (a clear methodological error by the way…) When Paul tells us that women are not to be in authority over the man in God’s church I think a 5 year old knows what that means.

Apparently, the 5 year-olds in my church are much more adept at New Testament history than the 5 year-olds in his church. 🙂 It also appears that he’s a little ignorant about the nature of Paul’s epistles and is neglecting to remember that they are letters to the churches addressing certain specific problems within those individual churches. The church in Corinth had problems with homosexuality that the church in Galatia didn’t have. My response was:

Most of the churches that ordain women also are not die-hard Reformed ones, so the covenantal matters that you speak of are not issues that they had to address. As I recall, Luther’s marriage to his wife Katie was counter-cultural for the time. And William, even the 5 year-olds in my church know enough about Paul to know that his letters are to individual churches. I’ll also invite you to my ordination in three years. 🙂

If you want more discussion on the subject, visit my candidacy blog.

Kristen speaks of wanting to hear John Donne recite poetry in heaven. I heartily concur.

Doug aspires to be a child again. A good goal… except that I just grew up. Ah well… I have the rest of my life to be an adult, but limited time to make use of my childish attributes. 🙂

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood

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My mom sent me The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood before Christmas when she found out that I needed something non-theological to read. Well… it was that and it got referenced frequently in discussions I was in at the wedding I attended in August. Anyway, I just got around to reading it.

It was kind of a Cajun Joy Luck Club except it actually made me cry. (I read The Joy Luck Club when I was 13 and a little more detached from life things than I am now. And yes, I am a sap. I will readily admit this.) It was interesting to see the devotion a lot of them had to Mary (Theotokos) and this only surprised me slightly because this was Catholic Louisiana. It was also amazing how you could start to understand Vivi as the memorabilia in the scrapbook was explained. Teensy reminds me a lot of my friend Linda and I think of all the Ya Ya’s, I am definitely Necie.

Anyway… good book. The movie, I am told by my father, is the consummate chick flick so I’ll have to rent it and call him when I’m done watching it, just to harass him. (Being the good little daughter I am of course. :D)

My Parents’ Beast

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My mother sent me these pictures:

This is Trail Kitty
The Trail Brat

This is Trail Kitty sensing drugs
Sniffing the catnip

This is Trail Kitty enjoying drugs
Addict!

The sad after-effects of drugs
We're looking into 12-step programs.

Trail Kitty detoxing with his “mommy blankie”
A cat and his blankie

Random Survey

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I’m bored so I’ll take a survey off of Tim’s site.

1. What is your opinion of Davey Henreckson?
He writes pretty nice stuff.

2. Do you like calico dresses?
When I have to dress up and look like I actually subscribe to some standard of modesty.

3. More than Davey?
It’s definitely a toss-up.

4. If you had to join a new, non-Reformed denomination, what would you pick?
Techically, I’m Reformed because I’m Lutheran but… I’d probably be Catholic or Eastern Orthodoz but without the incense. *sneezes 10 times in succession*

5. What is your opinion of the AAPC controversy?
Lots of unnecessary navel-gazing.

6. Have you ever chanted?
Heck yeah. I’ve been a cantor and they actually made us learn how to do all of this in seminary.

7. Have you ever been an acolyte or alter boy?
A few times, and shouldn’t that be altAr boy?

8. Have you ever attended three or more churches in a day?
On Easter Sunday, yes. (Long story.) I know people who do this regularly and this is including the 2 synagogue services the day before.

9. Have you ever touched Doug Wilson?
Nope, and unless I either want a restraining order placed on me for stalking or to attend a Reformed (Calvinistic) gathering, I don’t intend to.

10. Do you wish you lived in Spokane with Tim, Rick, Lynné, and Rachel?
I wish I lived in *Washington*. Spokane is a toss-up. It would be nice to meet all these people who have journals in which I lurk frequently and I would love to live in the Pacific Northwest again.

Why Religious Studies and why seminary?

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During my last year of college and in subsequent job interviews, I got asked frequently why I chose Religious Studies and why I chose to go to seminary. My answer is this: the way people live their lives based on their religion is a fascinating subject to me. Why are Buddhists such peaceniks? Why do Muslim women *like* wearing the veil? Why is there such tension between the Jews and Palestinians in my “History of the Modern Middle East” class? Why is my friend Vero so gung ho about Eucharistic adoration? All of this has to do with religion and when you learn about other religions, it really opens up the door to understanding other cultures. My fascinations are actually Catholic rituals and Islam. My father’s family is Irish and Catholicism has always really fascinated me. Islam fascinates me because it’s a religion which has a high modesty standard for the women as well as a high ethical one. Veiling is just very interesting to me.

As for why I chose seminary, let me ask you this: what else do you do with a Religious Studies major? 🙂 I had visited Jon at Trinity during my junior year of college and I saw that the classes he was taking were ones that I would like to take. God slowly showed me where He wanted me and what He wanted me to do. There’s also the fact that applying to Trinity was put on my heart in January 2001 and did not get off until I applied. 🙂

“A Grief Observed”

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My wonderful twin brother gave me a gift certificate to Amazon.Com for Christmas and one of the books I got with it was A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis. It was written after his wife Joy died and I have to say — it’s a very raw account. His other works (including Surprised by Joy which is his conversion account) are very polished. This was probably not the best book to read, given my mental state; but I read it nevertheless.

One of the most striking statements was that grief is like fear, and I can really see that. When my friend Steve died, I had no closure and I would get a pit in my stomach every time I thought of him, until I *finally* decided to seek closure 2 1/2 years later. It gives validity to the “how can I go on without ___???” idea that you get when someone close to you dies.

I think the thing I appreciated most about the book (other than his denunciation of platitudenous people as those who really don’t understand his situation) was that he really showed his thought process on how he was dealing with this in his faith life. He does refer to God as the “Cosmic Sadist” on occasion and I think that there are times when that feeling is appropriate. I know I know I know… all good things come from God; but the bad stuff does too. (I’m not into a dualistic God.) I think the bad stuff really causes us to look at the good times and understand where God has worked in us, and it makes us appreciate those good times much more.