I traveled 200 miles to and from school in a combination of car, train, subway and bus.
The doors opened on the bus as we drove through downtown LA and this was all I heard: “Yeah, he went there to save those who would be saved. There were a lot of people in Hades who weren’t supposed to be there.” Then the doors closed and we moved on.
My classes this term look like they are going to be a lot easier than last term. I suppose that’s a good thing as I’ve got more going on outside school this quarter.
I’m in the middle of reading Hughes Oliphant Old’s “The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century.” I’m not gonna lie to you, I’m liking it a whole lot. I’m not deciding one way or the other yet, but his understanding of baptism as a natural outcome of the soteriology of the reformers makes sense.
Despite sleeping on the train, I’m beat. Waking up at 4am is just not something I’m used to. It’s only two days a week though, so I think I’ll manage.
An atheist, convinced that a healthy dose of Christianity is what Africa needs.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece#
Christmas was great. Made a prime rib for Christmas Eve that was pretty freaking good. We’ve still got the other half to cook in the fridge and there’s only three of us in the house now (mom and sister went to CO) so we’ll be eating really well. My Mom also decided now was a good time to defrost the Turkey, so we also have to eat that soon. We have a large portion of ham left over as well, so I’m thinking screw the other food groups, meat will pull us through.
I officially opened a Madden xbox game on Christmas Eve that I had already opened, removed the disc, and rewrapped about 4 weeks ago and have been playing ever since. The joy of being an adult is that it’s just funny, whereas if I had done that as a child, there would have been some form of punishment involved. Here’s to not being a kid!
I got two A’s and an A+ for my first quarter of phd work. I thought A+’s were something the academic world does away with after grade 6, but lo and behold, there it is, shining it all its glory on my transcript.
Despite doing well, I don’t know if I’m happy at UCLA. The program I’m in has problems, and I’m not sure fighting with those problems is something I want to be focusing on. At this stage though, I would have to wait until the end of next year to apply to new schools, then not be admitted until fall 2010. Either way, I’m going to ride this year out, work with some of the other students in the program to address some of the issues, and if nothing substantial looks like it’s going to change, see what my options are for other places. Regardless, these two years won’t be a waste as I’ll be able to continue on in my Arabic, begin Persian or Hebrew, and broaden my understanding of Islamic History.
I’ve been reading ‘Baptism in the early Church’, in which it is argued that the early church, for the most part, did not baptize infants. Is that good enough though? I wouldn’t exactly call the early church a model of what the church should be now. In many ways they were confused, divided, and hadn’t worked out their theology all that well. I also don’t think the book is very well written, but it’s the only one I had on my shelf and with no money right now to purchase new books, it’ll have to do until I can access a more substantial library. I’ve read Calvin’s section on Paedobaptism, but it’s only a very small portion that doesn’t get into as much history as I would like. Still, the symbolism he mentions is pretty darn attractive and I like the idea of infant baptism, but I still haven’t worked out what it actually does. Maybe this is just my reactionary response to growing up in a church with a low view of the sacraments, but who knows? I’m not becoming a member any time soon, so I’ve got plenty of time to read up on all this.
That’s all I’ve got.
I received feedback on my papers from all my professors this quarter and good things were said. Given that the classes were outside my direct field (religion, translation criticism, and modern inter-faith dialogue), it was nice to hear my professors appreciated my work.
I spent all day yesterday at an advent progressive dinner. Over five stops at different people’s houses in the church, we traced the history of ‘Israel’ looking toward the coming of Christ and ate foods associated with different periods of exile.
I’ve been attending an Orthodox Presbyterian Church for the past two weeks and have appreciated the liturgy, the kindness of the people, and the way in which conversations with the pastor and others at the church have piqued my interest in reading theology again. That said, I’m looking into the idea of paedo-baptism as one of the only reservations I have with presbyterian theology. Growing up baptistic, this will be the biggest hold-up, but if it was good enough for Calvin, it will probably end up being good enough for me.
I don’t think I could go to a non-liturgical church for any period of time again. I’m hooked.
If you ever move to Santa Clarita or its environs, go to Christ Church. It’s swell.
I’d say more but I’ve got a final to study for. Look for a future post.
Of the quarter, that is.
I’ve got one paper to start/finish, an exam on Monday, and then I’m off until the beginning of January. I’d like to get some work done on reworking my thesis into article form over the break, but who knows how that will go. Maybe i’ll just read books that have no academic relevance, visit friends, and get settled back into living at home.
In other news, I’ve got a job back in my hometown teaching as a technology specialist at a charter school. This means i’ll be teaching middle schoolers how to use microsoft office, take pictures, make a yearbook, and maybe blog or do something else. While not something I’m trained to be teaching, I think it will be good practice at teaching in general and I figure if I can teach 26 junior highers, I can teach anybody.
Also, this is interesting.
…eating solid foods again, albeit in small, experimental doses.
…sticking a quarter in an unknown car’s expired meter as it’s about to be ticketed, just to screw campus safety.
…turning in a paper.
…being outside after a couple sick days without bringing/using a ‘throw-up bowl’.
…knowing Thanksgiving is in a couple of days.
After a great dinner and fun with friends last night, I ended up going back to Biola to crash for the night so I could visit with some friends who are supposed to be around later today for the LaCrosse alumni game. Unfortunately it was a last minute decision, which meant that I failed to pack an overnight bag. Clothes could make it an extra day, but a lack of deodorant was something that needed to be remedied. So, after showering at Biola and drying off with paper towels (not ideal), I definitely used some random deodorant that was in the bathroom. Which is sort of like rubbing armpits with a stranger, only not as awkward, I would imagine.
In other news, some possibilities opened up yesterday and though i’m pessimistic by nature, i’m excited about the future. Here’s to Hopenchange!
I have suffered a long bout with itchy back syndrome, for which my previous 
housemates, Ed and Kristin, mocked me mercilessly with epithets of “Old Man!” and “Grandpa!” and “Dirty Foreigner!”. This condition causes me to frequently lean against a jutting wall corner and rub my back against it, somewhat akin to a bear.
Until tonight.
Tonight, after having the cashier at Target tell me that was the weirdest question she had ever heard, I was pointed towards the CostPlus World Market wherein I had two choices of backscratchers. One, made of bamboo had hot japanese women painted on them, while the other had big strong fingernail looking things that looked as though they could do some serious damage. I went with the latter, and after testing out the purchase, I can’t say I made a bad choice.
I passed the CBEST.
On a similar note, I took an Arabic evaluation test (2 hours of modern vocab I didn’t know), and for some reason, the computers failed to record our answers and we all have to retake the exam. Lame.
I’m working on a paper for class on “A Common Word” (which is a letter written to Christians by Muslims that emphasizes common ground of loving God and loving your neighbor in Christianity and Islam) and in my perusal of the intrawebs, I came across some pretty enjoyable reading. I don’t want to post the entirety of this message board, but here are some of the most creative spelling attempts I’ve ever seen.
- Violins = Violence
- Sun of Man = Son of Man
- Whole He war = Holy war
- Gene oh siding = Causing genocide
- Cure an = Qur’an
- Cheeses the Lord = Jesus the Lord
- More on = moron
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=179184
