A Weekend in the Mountains

That sounds like the title of some romantic getaway, I think, but it's nothing of the sort.  I spent Friday evening to this afternoon at my grandparents camp on Limekiln Lake, 14 miles north of Inlet, NY.  Ok, house is more like it, not camp.  Anyhow, it was a lovely relaxing weekend.  Everyone left me alone to read for most of yesterday, which is exactly what I wanted to do--I've been indulging my romantic streak by reading the Anne of Green Gables novels.  I started and finished Anne of the Island yesterday--can't remember the last time I did that.  Then I went tubing with my brother and tried to get the dog to jump in the water after us--her name is Mango, she's 70 pounds and an absolute chicken.  She would not jump off the dock for anything.  My grandmother cooked sukiaki for dinner (pronounced ski-ak-ki)--a Japanese beef dish with mushrooms, green onions, celery and a type of soy sauce.  We had sake with the meal as well--my grandfather complained that it was too sweet, but it seemed to go down just fine.    After that we spent the evening taking the dog for a walk, watching Harvey and chatting.  We had pancakes for breakfast, lounged around on this sunny Sunday morning, and then Sean and I drove home.  A very pleasant time and a nice rest before I head out for Dayspring.  I'm afraid my description doesn't make it sound as pleasant as it really was, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then tomorrow its off to Houghton for training then camp, camp, and more camp.  Should be a grand time .

Currently Listening Mockingbird By Derek Webb see related

Tales of a Traveller

After three weeks of travelling, Grace, Rivka and I are back at the FMC in London—very much a home away from home.  I’m rather pleased to be somewhere so familiar again, but I don’t think that I could have asked for anything more over the last three weeks.  I won’t bore you with all of the details of what we did or saw or ate, but there are a few tales worth the telling, so this is sort of the very abridged version. 

In Galway, for example, we popped into a small pub to listen to music one night and the whole affair proved to be an eventful one.  We knew that the session didn’t start until 9:30 or so, but we arrived early to see if we could get a table.  I stepped up to the bar to order a pint of Guinness first and managed to display my utter ignorance of what I can only call “Guinness etiquette.”  The bartender filled the glass about ¾ of the way at which point I paid and proceeded to remove the glass, but got reprimanded for that.  Apparently the ¾ of a pint is supposed to settle first and then is topped up, as any good Irishman/woman would no doubt know.  Whoops.  But he was obliging enough and just told me to wait.  He even topped the pint with a shamrock in the foam.  J  We searched for a table after that, but could only find a counter to stand at.  We were satisfied, but a rather tipsy Aussie thought it a pity for three lovely young ladies to have to stand so he found stools for each of us, raised his pint, and wished us “Cheers” before heading out.  The music of the evening was great, if difficult to hear, and we stayed until 11 or so (party animals I know).  On the way out we were standing near the stairs that came up from the loo to listen to one more song when all of a sudden there was a drunken Irishman with bushy eyebrows two inches from my face querying “’Ow are you?”  I was startled and just sort of ignored him for a minute as he turned away.  But then he turned around and said “Didn’t mean to frighten you. (pause)  But ‘ow are you?”  And he was two inches from my face again.  I said, “Just fine, thanks.”  He replied, “That’s what I wanted to hear,” and wandered off.  The music had stopped for a bit by then and we headed home for the evening.

And then there was the time in Dublin when we watched the Chelsea v. Liverpool game in a little local pub called the Celt.  Rivka got hit on by a very drunken man from Nepal or Naples or something that time.  He was pretty far gone, not particularly charming, and a rather swarthy character on the whole.  But a good last night there.

In Bratislava we drank hot chocolate that was more like chocolate soup and wandered around one of those lovely cities that is an interesting and asethetically pleasing cacophany of medieval, classical, and modern architecture.  Amazing and in very good company.  We also ate a lot of garlic in Bratislava, visited Devin Castle (pronounced something more like “Jevin” Castle—I never did get it right) and had an incredible time just chatting with “the legendary Heather H.” and her family.  On the last day of our visit, Heather’s mom asked us to share a bit about our semesters at the school that she runs there.  I loved hearing Grace and Rivka share about Tanzania and it was actually really great to be able to babble about London for a little while with a more or less captive audience. 

Amsterdam was nearly as enjoyable, though Bratislava was admittedly the highlight of the trip.  We stayed in Haarlem, just west of Amsterdam, with a very energetic family—the mother was a college friend of Rivka’s dad.  She married a Dutch-man and their three children are bilingual, intelligent, and endearing.  The 10-yr old girl in particular attached herself to me—she babbled constantly and I don’t think she ever stopped moving, but she’s great.  And the middle boy (12 yrs old I think) was kind enough to lend the three of us his room for our stay without too much grumbling.

We also stayed with the Ramsay’s friends from Kazakstan (I think I butchered the spelling there) in Halle, Germany.  They are wonderful, faithful, hospitable, talented people.  I loved listening to Mr. Ramsay and Rivka and their friends reminiscence and could not help but be jealous of Rivka for knowing such incredible people.

It was refreshing to just relax after this semester and I loved hearing the stories swapped between Mr. Ramsay and some of his college friends.  I hope that 20 years after we graduate we can still find each other around the world and laugh and chat about our lives in the past and the present.  It was also very encouraging to stay with people who either are or have been missionaries or are at least really involved in their churches.   I’m still mulling over Claiborne’s thoughts in The Irresitible Revolution as well as the constantly plaguing question of just what I’m going to do with my life and it gave me great hope to see that there really are people serving God with the best of themselves.  They’re not doing exactly what Claiborne does (we didn’t stay with anyone who lives with the homeless or even works directly with the poor), but in that wonderful Franciscan spirit they are spreading the gospel and using their skills as God has called them to, often very much in what we would call the “secular” arena.  I want to do that more than anything but am still quite uncertain of how to go about that.  I’m waiting for someone to give me work to do—just have to be patient I guess.

Like I said, couldn’t have asked for anything more—we had some great adventures in Ireland and stayed with wonderful people everywhere else.  And now I’m back in London, a city that feels more like home than anywhere else right now.  If I could marry a city, this would be it.  Not a bad place to be.

Currently Reading The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical By Shane Claiborne see related

Irresistible

Kate sent me Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution and it is both wrecking my life and giving me hope.  For those of you who don't know who this is, or what I'm talking about, go to http://www.houghton.edu/spirit/chapel%20recordings.htm and click on the chapel for March 14th.  I'm listening to it now, and it sounds like he's summarizing many of his main points.

I looked at the pictures in the front cover and I my heart cried out, "This is what I want, this is what I've been looking for!  This is what I want to do from the bottom of my heart!"  (A St. Francis quote, appropriately.)  I want to serve like this, I want to live like this, whatever that looks like for me.  I might go join the Simple Way when I graduate or God might show me a more effective way to serve at that point (I'm toying with Peace Corps).  But that's a year away.  So here's what's plaguing me now: what does this revolution, restoration, redemption, work of God look like in Allegeny County in the next year?  Our college is in the second, maybe the poorest county in New York and I don't know (I mean really know) any poor people--there's something wrong here.  So I'm wondering if you'll help me brainstorm ways to do this.  I really like Claiborne's emphasis on people doing whatever they can--he doesn't expect everyone to become a homeless person.  He talks about the good of business people and lawyers and chiropracters and teachers and single mothers and kids--all are a part of the work of Christ.  So I don't think that participating in God's work in Allegeny County only looks like one thing.

I'm going to get in contact with people at Salvation Army (where I've been attending for the last year and a half) to see what they're already doing and how I can be more involved.  I know ACO does some stuff with kids, which is great, and we have stuff like the Turkey Drive at Christmas, but I want more.  Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of wondering and thinking and being provoked to thought--I want to act, whatever that might look like.   I'm both super excited and incredibly scared about the possibility of living like this, but I think if there are others who want to live like this, I'll have more courage.  What do you think?

If you haven't read the book I'm more than willing to lend it to you and I will pray that you find even a small hope of something more.

Literacy

I would like you all to note the third comment on my last post.  The comment reads, "Is Kierkegaard really subtitled "A Man For All Disciples."  As a matter of fact, it's "A Man for All Disciplines."  Please practice your literacy, dear reader (who happens to be enrolled in a PhD program).  Thank you.

Currently Listening Blue on Blue By Leigh Nash see related

Courses for Fall 2007

I finally chose my courses for next fall--it's sure to be a challenging semester, but I'm pretty excited :

Systematic Theology  TR 1:15PM  2:30PM Case

Kierkegaard: A Man for All Disciplines TR  9:35AM 10:50AM Stewart

ST:Readng Sem European History:1945-2005  TR  2:50PM  4:05PM Airhart

ST: Medical Ethics MWF  1:15PM  2:05PM Lipscomb

Reason and Religious Belief TR  8:00AM  9:15PM Fisher

Are any of you taking one, or a few of these?  There will need to be moments of comisseration no doubt, but hopefully some thrilling discussion as well...