the intersection of the temporal and divine.

the title of this post is a quote from a woman in one of my classes.  she was commenting on her dualistic interpretation of the old testament.  i thought it was well said and i wrote it down.

of course it has taken me three weeks to update my blog.  i always forget how busy school makes me and how quickly the non-necessities get shunted to the side.  but i'm going to try to make this a quasi-necessity, so i can keep it relatively up to date.

i'm sitting in the stacks at colgate in the pleasant coldness of book preservation temperature control.  it is glorious.  i don't even know where to begin with all the stuff i have been reading and writing and learning over the past three weeks.  seminary really smacks you in the face.  there's nothing like it.

i actually can't update very much because i still have reading to do and i've been sick this past week, so i'm a bit behind.  but i wanted to get something up here, so that i don't forget to update.  and the next time i do, i'm going to write about religion as a social structure and how it relates to rites and rituals in the church.  should be interesting.  it won't be three weeks from now... i promise.

so it begins.

i started seminary today at colgate rochester crozer divinity school.  crazy.  i don't think the reality of my choice to go into ministry has totally sunk in yet.  i get so wrapped up in the administrative details of what i'm doing that sometimes i forget why i'm doing it.  to put it simply, i want to help people.  i want to make a difference.  i want to be/do something that i can be proud of.

my first class was early church history.  i'm not going to go into all the details of the class, but my first impression was how tough the early church had it.  they were persecuted like nothing we can imagine and they stuck with it.  they held it together through crucifixions, burnings, drownings... you name it.  that's impressive to me, regardless of how i feel about christianity in general.  the early christian church was hardcore.  that kind of devotion is lost on most of us now, probably because we don't have to face it.  americans don't find themselves facing the barrel of a gun for their religious beliefs, thankfully.  but it certainly makes people certain about their convictions.  i doubt i'll ever have to face that kind of situation but i wonder how i would react if i did.  would i really stand up for the convictions that i say i hold dear?  how would you react?

i'm off to my old testament class taught by the famous dr. brummitt.  i'm really excited for this one.  i'll be giving a bit of my history in my next post.  till then... blessings.