Time to separate the kids

So, I realized that I don't particularly like the lack of privacy on Blogger compared to my livejournal account, so this is now my family-friendly and more public blog site. Any complaints? Too bad. You'll just have to sign up with LJ and get on my friends list to post your complaint.

LOVING the post-storm weather. the wind is almost too brisk... fall is finally in the air. I'm so excited. I hated St. Louis in the summer time. I hope I can find a way out of this joint for my last summer in seminary. I don't think I could take a repeat.

Confessions of a closet sci-fi junkie

It's Here! The long-awaited Season 2 of Dead Like Me is on DVD!!!! For those of you who I did not force into watching season 1, this is a dark comedy on a young disaffected suburbanite woman who dies and is recruited to be a "grim reaper" for other dying souls. She, of course resists her call and there is plenty of mayhem ensuing... Yippee!!!

And, of course it has our very own song-and-dance man, Mandy Patinkin, as the supervisor/mentor of our wayward reaper. Jayhawks Rock! (Whatever. Like I've ever felt any devotion to my home town's pride and joy university.)But who doesn't know the "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." man?

I'm ordering it online as we speak, or I speak, or write, or whatever. Something to look forward to. SO many questions not answered. SIGH. Too bad Season 2 is the last one. All the good shows get cancelled, while reality shows clone, I mean drone on.

Speaking of good shows being cancelled, Joss Whedon's Serenity is coming up on the BIG SCREEN!!! Based on his one partial-season hit series Firefly... a combo of sci-fi and western. IRRESISTABLE. Stupid TV Producers don't know good stuff when they're sitting on it. Anyway, for a glimpse into the world of Joss Whedon's world, I recommend Hellmouth Central. It's all about the many worlds created by this man's brain. And to see the going's on of those extremely dedicated to Serenity, visit the Browncoats.

I know, what's a crazy theological nerd like myself doing wrapped up in the worlds of vampires and sci-fi cowboys... wait, what kind of question is that?

The Sufi in all of us

Last Wednesday I picked up a volume of Sufi poetry at the Subterranean Bookstore on the Loop. This book, called The Gift, is full of contemporary translations of Hafiz, a 14th century Persian poet and Sufi master. As I flipped through the pages and read the history of this amazing wordsmith, I felt an amazing sense of dejavu. Not the kind that repeats a detail from a crazy dream, but the kind that dregs up a memory of a similar experience in a similar place. I began thinking how my journey in choosing ministry as a vocation, my journey to seminary, may have started in an obscure bookstore reading my first volume of Rumi’s poetry.

I remembered reading a passage of Rumi in a world religions class, being blown away by its complex simplicity and sensual spirituality. I remembered highlighting and underlining verses like some do in their bibles, journaling and referencing Rumi every chance I got. Through a few simple verses in a humanities course in college, I became a convert to mysticism. Mysticism opened a window through which my badly scarred spirit could reenter Christianity again. From Teresa of Avila to Evelyn Underhill to Kathleen Norris, these visionary Christians welcomed me into a world where the parameters of the Church did not restrict their relationship to the Divine.
Happening upon this book of poems made me feel as if I’ve completed some type of circle. The title, The Gift, seemed, still seems, to be of great importance. Not only is the book and words in them a gift, but this glimpse back in the direction from whence I’ve come is a gift. At the time of my awakening, I could never have imagined I would progress this far. The Gift also reminds me of why I feel prepared for ministry. It is a reminder that I not only am aware of my own gifts, but I also have learned much in how to better use my gifts. My heart converted with an earnest fervor to the concept of a ministry vocation years ago, perhaps even upon reading that first verse of Rumi, but I’m not sure my head and hands knew how to respond right away.

Here's some Hafiz to contemplate on: (translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

The small man builds cages for everyone he knows.
While the sage, who has to
duck his head when the moon is low,
keeps dropping keys all night long
for the beautiful rowdy
prisoners.

Toe Jam of Corporate America

where does the time go when you're shoved into the darkest corner of the corporate storage closet known as the data entry world? 3 months have passed and the only thing i've accomplished, besides keeping the bill collectors at bay, is to turn even more pasty white (impossible, you say, with all the 120 degree weather... HA! not if you're a blob who gets up at the butt-crack of dawn to commute, stare at a computer screen all day, commute home, eat take out, and stare at a TV screen until bed) and gain 10 more pounds.
This is the antithesis of last summer's adventures. Almost like pennance or something, if I believed in such a thing, that is.