Texts in Context

Today's post will likely be short.  I have some seminary writing assignments that need my attention.  In fact, I've been working on those this morning.  For my Church History II class, I have a Text in Context paper due today.  I'm writing about Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle, situating it in its historical context.  I have reached that stage where I wonder if I achieved the goals of the assignment, so it is probably time to bring the paper to a close.  Yesterday I thought that I had, yesterday I had a paper that pleased me, and today I am doubting myself.  If I let myself tinker too much, I'll have a mess to turn in, not a paper.

I also had to write a creative writing response to this prompt:   "A Theologian, a pastor, a child, and an artist walk into a room…"  I created something that surprised me, but I don't want to say too much about it here--I don't want the plagiarism detecting software to find a blog post and accuse me of plagiarism.   I did have fun describing the room.

Later this morning, I need to start writing a rough draft of my Buddhism paper for my World History class.  That one is due on Sunday, so I have some time.  But tomorrow is a travel day.  I'm headed back to North Carolina tomorrow, where I'll spend reading week trying to make progress on bigger writing projects, along with catching up on my reading.

I had thought I would do some of this writing yesterday, but I spent a huge chunk of time trying to sort out various seminary requirements.  In some ways, I've made it difficult for myself by not going to a Lutheran seminary.  Unfortunately, no Lutheran seminary offers a track in Theology and the Arts as part of the MDiv program.  Happily, I have found someone at my affiliate seminary who could explain some elements to me, so I can figure out a way forward.  I will do my internship the way that Wesley, my current seminary, has us do it.  After I'm done with my MDiv here at Wesley, I'll have to do a year-long internship, working a 40-50 hour work week, to fulfill requirements of the ELCA.

That's a long way away, at least several years, before I've done what I'll need to do to even be eligible for the internship.  The church doesn't make any of this easy.  Many of these requirements are so clearly for a different time, a time when seminarians came straight out of undergraduate school, unencumbered with families and mortgages and life experience.

Let me turn my attention to the more pressing tasks at hand.  Time for another cup of tea and one last editing session.