Reconciliation as Mission

Last week was the first of two summer courses for me. It was called Reconciliation as Mission and it was taught by John Barton, who was actually one of my professors in undergrad at Rochester College. The entire class was wonderful! The classroom dynamic was comfortable, genuine, and hilarious (sometimes all at once).

I think the one-week, 8-5 classes are both wonderful and overwhelming. They're wonderful because that amount of concentrated time together forms a great class bond and you're able to fully invest into one class at a time instead of taking more than one class at once. They're overwhelming because, obviously, it's a lot of class in one week but also because it can be so rapid fire that you don't have time to adequately reflect and integrate everything that you're learning.

Since I'm in another one-week class right now, I probably won't have time to reflect too much on that class until next week, but here are a few of the highlights:
--Christian reconciliation is not just lack of conflict; it is peace - communion between former enemies.
--Peace is the rule, violence is the exception. Although the widespread and deep conflict in this world may lead one to believe otherwise, peace was the beginning of the story (creation) and will be the end of the story.
--God is the creator of reconciliation; we are the midwives. We cannot create it, but we can make ourselves aware of situations that are ready to be reconciled and position ourselves to bring that reconciliation to its fullness. In other words, we are not creating peace, we are reestablishing it.
--The extent to which you are able to work out reconciliation issues in your own life will affect your ability to be a minister of reconciliation.
--Reconciliation on this side of heaven will be partial.

Psalm 133
How very good and pleasant it is
when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity!
²It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
³It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
life for evermore.

New Layout

Maybe this new layout will represent a renewed interest in blogging. At this point, I can't promise anything. I'm still trying to find my voice, and more importantly, find free time. At any rate, new look!

A little Apocrypha never hurt anyone

Judith 8:12-18:
Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs? You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you will never learn anything! You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No, my brothers, do not anger the Lord our God. For...he has power to protect us within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the presence of our enemies. Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God; for God is not like a human being, to be threatened, or like a mere mortal, to be won over by pleadings. Therefore while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him."

Volleyball

Last night, at the ACU "Community Night" (a.k.a. "Game Night") a bunch of us played volleyball for 2 hours. Proof (this doesn't actually prove anything except that I was about to serve the ball...or pretend to?):

It was wonderful! I don't realize how much I miss sporting until I get a chance to do it; then I'm pretty nearly giddy. So, today, I rounded up a few of the girls (with little effort, we're all excited!) to play intramural volleyball. Hooray!! GST Women Intramural Vball Team. We're taking suggestions for names.

This reminder of the joy of athleticism, in conjunction with the fact that I've been meaning to get back into shape, in conjunction with the fact that we'll be playing volleyball regularly soon enough, in conjunction with my already sore legs from volleyball last night, led me to go running today. Woohoo!

It was actually sort of miserable, thinking about how in shape I used to be and comparing that to how tired I was running today. It's depressing. And running makes my nose run...some sort of pun intended.

I guess it's true, but I don't appreciate the name-calling.