Yesterday, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that the tile crew would return. I knew that I had plenty of tasks to do at my desk, and my spouse has a wide variety of home repair tasks to choose from each day. I sat at my desk and got to work.
I got grading done and e-mails done and a bit of writing revision, the tinkering just before a paper gets turned in kind of revision. I went for a walk in the chilly Spring air--chilly, but in a crisp way, not in a kill the plants way. The sky was so blue, and the landscape is filling in; soon we won't be able to see much beyond the roadside but green, green, green.
As I came to the end of the road by the lake, I had a vision for how to write my final paper for Systematic Theology. I've had lots of ideas for what I want to say, but no idea for how to organize it. I came home knowing what to do, and I sat down to do it. I organized it by doctrines of the Church that have worked together in a less good way than they could have: Soteriology (salvation), Ecclesiology (the Church), Eschatology (end times), and Creation. To sum up: our focus on salvation for individual sin coupled with our belief that we're just here as a holding place before heaven has left societal "sin" running rampant, putting all of creation at risk.
I have a complete rough draft! I just need to go back to add some quotes, and do some polishing. I didn't think it would come together that easily. I expected to have a skeleton at the end of the day, 4 pages that could be expanded later. But I have nine full pages, so getting to the 15-20 page requirement will not be a problem.
It's a relief. In some ways, this should be an easy paper to write; we have a lot more latitude since it's our final paper for the two semester Systematic Theology paper. But that latitude made me cautious. I also have a paper to write for my Environmental History of Christianity (EHC) class, so I don't want to use similar ideas and get flagged for plagiarism--that, too, made me cautious.
The paper I just wrote is not likely to overlap with the paper I will be writing for my EHC class, which is due May 11. I'll be using different outside sources for each.
It feels good to have a rough draft. I still have much work to do; with all the classes that I'm teaching and taking, I have at least 5 deadlines to keep in mind, with smaller deadlines along the way. But in some ways, that's easier than if they all came crashing to an end during the same week. Steady, steady, and it will get done.
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