Weekly post

Feb. 26, 2007

Dear friends,

I have spent the entire weekend wrestling with a paper on Jesus' mission and death and the author's methodology in Latin American liberation theology. It's ghastly, but it's done. Friday afternoon, Friday night, Saturday, Sunday. Husband even took the boy to evening church activities so I could keep slogging away. But, ghastly or not, it's completed, and now I must set my face toward the take-home Christology exam due a week from now.

One bright note: I completed ahead of schedule an exegesis on Luke 15:11-32 for a sermon I am scheduled to preach in class a week from Wednesday. This will allow me to focus on the actual sermon.

Oh, boy, is it Monday .... I JUST this second realized that my trusty reading glasses are at home. I'm usually so faithful about making sure I have a pair in my book bag, but they visited my purse late last week and haven't returned. Well, worse has happened.

Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

February 19, 2007

Dear friends,

As most of you know, I had a course exemption from the first semester of Theology because of the systematic theology courses I've taken through Fisher's Net, but was still required to take the second semester. I'm enrolled in that now. The professor is a well-known and well-respected theologian and author, and under his instruction theology is really interesting, but also very densely packed for the amount of time we have.

Because I hadn't had the first semester of the class, I have been rather nervous about how I would do in the course. Two weeks ago, we turned in the first paper of the semester on a Wednesday and had the exam that Friday (the day I locked my keys in the car!).

Well, I got an 86 on the text, and I was pleased enough with that. Then we got the exams back Friday afternoon. I got an A. The professor noted that it was an "excellent essay." As the professor was putting the exams in our boxes, he was chatting with those of us hanging out in the student lounge (waiting for the exams). He said that he had had some doubts about having me in the second semester of the class without having been in the first, but now he knew that he had nothing to worry about. Nice!

I preached the sermon on Sunday at Emmanuel. It went okay, but I don't feel as though it was a home run. I've had better. It was, as noted, okay.

Coming up: a take-home exam on Christology and a paper responding to a book by a Latin American liberation theologian. Whew! Christology is fascinating -- I wish we had more time to unpack it.

Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

Feb. 12, 2007

Dear friends,

Religions of Africa class is over. It has been fascinating but also time-consuming, and I hope that I'll be able to feel the difference now that it's ended. I still have a paper to write on religious conflict in Sudan, but it's not due until the end of March.

I have some interesting news on the language-requirements front. Southern, where I will go for my Lutheran year, has a new dean (well, he's been at Southern about a year now, I guess) who is wonderfully approachable and very helpful. He's also, it seems, made some curricular changes. The Bible Knowledge Exam that I sweated over a couple of years ago is no more, and Lutheran Year students are not required to have or take both a year of Greek and a year of Hebrew. As recently as this summer, I know, both Southern M.Div. students and Lutheran Year students had to have or take a year of each.

In other words, once I satisfy Wake Forest's requirement of a year of a Biblical language, I will be done. I am still entertaining the idea of taking a semester of Hebrew, but it's nice to know that's an option and not a requirement.

Today should be interesting. I will be on the agenda at the Northern Piedmont Conference of the N.C. Synod, meeting in Burlington at noon. The agenda item is "Summer Work for Seminarian." When I wrote to the synod asking how one went about finding related summer work, the synod, lo and behold, sent me to Brady Faggart, who is the pastor emeritus of First Lutheran Church. So off I go in a few hours to Burlington, and we shall see.

Other classes seem to be going OK. I suspect that my grades at the end of the semester will NOT be all A's this time. Greek and Theology are proving particularly challenging. I keep telling myself that once I get through this semester, it's all smooth sailing, but getting through this semester is tough. Keep me in your thoughts and know that you are in mine. Prayers too.

Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

Feb. 5, 2007

Dear friends,

Rushing to yet another Greek quiz. This marks four in two weeks, with an hour exam on Friday. Last week for Religions of Africa; final exam Friday night.

I will write more next week, I promise.

Grace and peace,
Beth