While randomly accessing blogs the other evening (and my apologies to the RevGal from whom I stole this idea), I came upon a great post: "Ask me anything." Sort of like The Carol Burnett Show, when she'd take questions from the audience.
So in lieu of another meme, I'm going to open the floor to questions. Yes; all five of you. Ask away. Ask me anything about anything -- myself, my dog, the Maternal Unit, the fair city of Outer Podunk, my little white clapboard church next to a hayfield...anything. Go for it.
25 comments:
Question: Have you ever thought about attending seminary?
Hi, J!
I thought about seminary, albeit not entirely seriously, when I was in college. I really don't see that as an option for me because of my family obligations and, perhaps most of all, because I don't have the fire in my belly for pastoral care, nor do I think I'm particularly good at it. Now, I'm never going to say "never" -- I once met a 79-year-old Episcopal deacon who had waited her entire life to be able to do what she was doing, and who was preparing to go on to the priesthood -- but I see myself in a more diaconal role. And I rather suspect that if I took the whole battery of psych evaluations and interviews that it takes to get into sem, or even our synod's Synodically Approved Minister program, I'd be told the same thing. And...there's a certain freedom in flying under the radar, as it were. My pastor tells me that I'm a missionary to the Christians, LOL...I kind of like that. Ask me again in five years.;-)
Now, if I went to sem to study spiritual direction...that might interest me. I mean, once I find an opportunity to go through this process myself, and get my own spiritual compass to a place where I think I could be of help to other people. And frankly I think that the ELCA is in desperate need of spiritual directors...that we've completely dropped the ball. I'm sorry, but a copy of "Christ in Our Home" is not spiritual direction.
LOL I love that "a copy of Christ in Our Home" is not spiritual Direction. Amen! I agree with you.
I'm currently seeing a spiritual Director every month.
1. Describe your first diary: how old were you when you got it, what did it look like, did you buy it yourself or was it given to you, how often did you write?
2. If Luther were coming to dinner tonight, what would you ask him/tell him?
My first diary was a gift -- an unappreciated gift -- from my mother when I was in about 2nd grade. It was one of those little vinyl-covered ones with the tiny lock and key; I think it was blue, and had "My Diary" written in gold on the cover. I threw My Diary in my nightstand drawer and didn't pick it up again until 3rd grade, when evidently I had more to say...mostly notes about my pets, and what I had to eat, and my despised teacher, Mrs. R. (Pets, food and knuckleheaded authority figures -- 30 years later and I'm still concerned about the same things.) I wrote every day for awhile, then not as often, and then I stopped writing in it altogether, until I hit junior high school.
2. If Luther were coming to dinner tonight (and he could have, because we had bratwurst), I would have told him "Thank you" for recovering the good news that it's not about earning points by doing stuff; and then I'd ask him, "What in living hell were you thinking when you wrote 'On the Jews and Their Lies,' and your screeds against the peasants???!" I'm sure it would be a lively evening of table talk.;-)
Okay, LutheranChik, this one is pretty simple.
What part of Michigan are you in? My best friend is in Cedar Springs. Are you anywhere near there in case I venture up that way this year?
Oh, I love giving directions the Michigan way! Hold up your right hand, palm inward, so your thumb is to the right. Got it? Find the junction between your index finger and third finger. Go down about an inch. That's where I am. So I'm kind of across the state, diagonally, from Cedar Springs. That's where the Red Flannel Factory used to be; right? Lots o' Dutch-Americans, too.
What species of birds do you get at your feeders, and which are your favorites?
Some of the birds that come around here include chickadees; titmice; nuthatches; blue jays; cardinals; goldfinches; purple finches; downy and hairy woodpeckers; the strangely named red-bellied woodpeckers (they're not); pileated woodpeckers; an occasional brown creeper; a couple of different types of sparrows; mourning doves; crows. Very occasionally a ruffed grouse or turkey picking up spilled seed. Last year a barred owl would show up at dusk to, I think, hunt the mourning doves, who tend to stick around until it's almost dark; and we've also had accipiter-type hawks dive-bomb the other birds. My favorites are, I think, the chickadees, because they're fun and actually seem to enjoy human company; and the goofy pileated woodpeckers -- they're the big Woody-Woodpecker woodpeckers, like miniature pterodactyls. The ones here are quite tame and nonchalant about people wandering in the yard while they're at the feeder.
LC - an ornithological question!
What is the difference between a chickadee and a titmouse? We have Tit(mice) - known as Tits - Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits and Crested Tits (in Scotland). there are also Marsh and Willow Tits, rather rare, and they say "chickadee-dee-dee-dee"! But all of the genus 'Parus'.
So I'm curious about your tits (so to speak)
I love the chickadees too and often thought how cute they'd be perched all over a Christmas tree! Where we used to live, it was more wooded, but this neighborhood we now live in was once literally a cow pasture, and so there are few grown hardwood trees, and so I usually mostly see house finches, goldfinches, chickadees, sparrows and doves. Every now and then I'll get a nuthatch or a wren, and the occasional cardinal and titmouse. I have had a yellow bellied sap sucker at my suet, and I get to see Eastern meadowlarks as well. Last year, I had the thrill of seeing an indigo bunting. The bluebirds come to my feeders which is really cool too. I agree, watching them is way more fun than TV. :c)
Nicodemia: Well, I'm glad someone is! ROFL
Chickadees look a lot like a marsh tit -- maybe a little rounder; also with a black cap but in a somewhat different pattern. Titmice are a bit larger and leaner than a chickadee; instead of a black cap, they have a gray crest. They're also a bit shyer and more sedate than a chickadee. As I mentioned in another post, chickadees are comedians, like budgies, always swinging on branches or pinecones, hanging upside down, etc., and they also seem to truly enjoy human company; while titmice are quieter and not as inclined to make up to human beings.
Samtzmom: We have the sapsuckers in the summer...they like the paper birches and the alders along the water...you can see their quite amazing cribbage-board rows of holes on those trunks. My parents, and later I, have tried to attract wrens to our yard -- I have several lovely wren houses -- but to no avail; every couple of years one wren will stop by and start stuffing twigs (some about three times as long as himself) into one of the houses trying to attract a signficant other, but it never works, so he leaves. We're right in the woods, so we don't get the meadowlarks or bobolinks or other field birds I remember fondly from my farm childhood (although, sadly, we do get cowbirds, which I despise because they predate warblers and other songbirds...and they're not even native to Michigan). Strangely, I can't get an indigo bunting to hang around here...in the spring and fall they'll spend a day or two hanging around the house, but they disappear again. They seem to like the terrain better farther along the neighborhood...I see them every so often on my summer walking treks.
One of my favorite birds is a scarlet tanager -- I've actually only seen them maybe four times. One spring I was home sick with the flu here, and there were a pair of them in the trees in front of the house...it almost made the fever and throwing-up worth it to have seen them.;-)
A train travelling 30 miles per hour leaves Centerville for Midwood, which is 200 miles away. At the same time another train leaves Midwood for Centerville travelling at 20 miles per hour. A fast-flying bee, travelling 60 miles per hour, starts from the first train and flies to the second train, whereupon it turns around and flies back to the first train, repeating the process until the two trains eventually meet. By that point, how far has the bee flown?
Omigod -- I'm back in third grade...
Why would the bee keep flying back to the first train? What's on the first train that's so compelling? Wouldn't the bee want to fly into a nice flowery field along the route?
Ever try star thistle honey? It's really good.
What do you think about that "bee charming" stuff in Fried Green Tomatoes? Do you think that people can really be bee charmers?
How many bee stings can the average person get and still survive?
How can bumblebees fly?
What do you think about the mite problem in American apiaries?
What would happen if, via natural selection, a population of hybridized killer bees with cold resistance was created?
[diversionary tactics while LC pulls off socks to assist in her calculations]
Now I'm drawing a picture of trains and a little bee and arrows...
Well, you said anything....
;-)
"The answer is 42.";-)
Where is Outer Podunk really, and where's your church and what's it called.
But Tom...if I told you, I'd tear my cloak of invisibility.;-)
Here's a riddle; you can't post the answer here.
We are not a Colossus by any means, but we fight the good fight against despair on the sunrise side of our state -- even though we're told we're in the "north-west."
You already know I'm in Michigan...knock yourself out, Pastor.;-)
And if you find that, you'll have a clue as to where I live as well, because there are two governmental entities of the same name in the area. Hint: French and Indian War.
Have you read "Girl meets God", and if so, what did you think of it?
Have you read "Blue like Jazz", and if so, what did you think of it?
Recommend 5 religious/theological/spiritual/devotional books for a Christian who is just starting to get serious about his or her faith?
Girl Meets God -- I have read excerpts of it but not the whole thing, so I can't make an informed comment about it other than other people I know liked it. (And I think my opinion of Winner's theology of late may color my opinion.) I've not read Blue Like Jazz.
Five books...oy. Well, this will be more than five:
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis...maybe God in the Dock as well
Dakota and Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith by Nora Gallagher
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
No Experience Necessary by Kelly Fryer
Return of the Prodigal Son and Bread For the Journey by Henri Nouwen -- well, pretty much anything by Henri Nouwen
The Book of God by Walt Wangerin -- not a substitute for reading the Bible, but a good adjunct, just to get you wanting to read it
a good study Bible like a Harper Collins one or the New Interpreter's Bible
If you are in or were in a liturgical tradition, or are interested in being in one, I'd recommend a breviary -- a prayer book with fixed prayers and Scripture readings. The Online Daily Office is an online version. Oremus is a website with a daily prayer/lessons. If you use the Online Daily Office you might want to start out small with the Compline or Midday Prayer, just to dip a toe into it. Just from my experience, the more faithful you are in following that -- even the discipline of one 10- or 15-minute prayer a day -- the more you'll find your prayer life blossoming in general. Another great website for this is Sacred Space .
Also, if you're coming back to, or entering into, a church with liturgical worship, Gathered and Sent (Augsburg Fortress) is a good very basic -- VERY basic -- book on the "whys" of liturgy.
Hope that helps. I'm really tired tonight:-/ so I've probably forgotten more good titles.
Thanks very much LC! I have already read, I think, every book C.S. Lewis ever published. Anne Lamott was already on my "to read" list. The others are new to me -- so I really appreciate the ideas!
I have tried doing Morning Prayer out of the BCP but I can never stick with it for very long unfortunately. Even though I also have a book that is supposed to help one use the BCP (Discovering the Book of Common Prayer by Sue Careless). However, one of my goals (not resolutions) for this year is to establish some sort of daily devotional routine, so I must give it another shot.
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