Summertime

Oh, my goodness. Here I said I would write every month, and it's now three months since I last wrote! I think I kept saying to myself "I'll write as soon as school's out" - well, yes, but that makes for an awful long time between posts.

So. I finished my first year at UNC successfully. And happily. Mostly. I hated my philosophy class mainly because I had no clue what was going on. We were given obscure readings every week and this brain simply could not wrap itself around whatever it was that it was supposed to wrap itself around. I would get to the end of each reading and think "And your point is ...?" I have a feeling that this was not so much the fault of the subject as of those presenting it, whose intentions were completely obscure to me (and, more or less, to the rest of the class) or, to use their terms, "opaque." Anyway, I passed the exam (mirabile dictu) and thus have jumped through one more hoop on my way through the jungle of academia, and am now judged competent to continue on my chosen path.

My other two classes this last semester were great. I spent a second semester with the delightful and incredibly knowledgeable James Crenshaw at Duke Div. School. The class was Ecclesiastes (also called Qoheleth in Hebrew) and I think it raised as many questions as it answered, but it was fun to think about. And I find my Hebrew has been improving by leaps and bounds. I am really beginning to feel quite at home with it.

That is probably also helped by my frequent attendance at synagogue with Paul. I love to hear the scriptures read in Hebrew, as well as all the prayers. And to discuss the finer points of understanding, which we are encouraged to do during the service. I go Mass on weekends when we don't go to synagogue, although Paul doesn't go much with me. I understand that it is much easier for me to go to synagogue than for him to go to Mass, since I am asked to accept nothing new or beyond what I already believe, whereas Jesus puts a whole different spin on things.

I had promised myself in January that I would write my papers this semester as if they were destined for publication. Not that I thought they would be published, but just that I should stop writing mere term papers (which I know I can do now quite comfortably) and raise the bar a bit by looking ahead to publication. It made a huge difference to the topics I chose and to the way I wrote. I think the main thing was that, instead of just doing an exegetical or expository discussion, I made an attempt to really find out what Liz thinks, and guess what - Liz had some good ideas!

One fun thing was that I was able to bounce ideas off of Paul, and to talk through trains of thought. In fact, it was while we were walking in the Botanical Gardens one afternoon that I had one of those aha moments - and followed it through to develop it into the thesis for my Qoheleth paper, proposing an idea that no one else has written! I must say it was with great trepidation that I then presented the paper in the seminar. And with great amazement I found that it was received well!

The other class/seminar I attended this semester was in Eco-theology, or the theology of land and justice in the Old Testament. Did that ever open my eyes! I have learned a whole new dimension of reading the Bible. There were some marvelous classroom discussions, and a ton of really interesting reading. I enjoyed reading the book of Joel from this perspective and writing a paper on that, noticing how the land suffers as well as the people, and how the two are inextricably connected. I'm thinking about pursuing publication for that one, though taking out the Hebrew to make it accessible to a wider audience.

And now I have 16 weeks of summer. I'm working part time for two lovely women plumbers, in their office and doing some gardening. I am very relaxed and laid back and enjoying the break. Much as I love the study, it does get stressful. I always regret that I don't have more time in which to write. I've also undertaken to learn enough German over the summer so that I can take the required exam in November. I don't think it should be too hard (this being my, what, tenth or eleventh language) and am so far reveling in the challenge.

One of my brothers, Peter, arrived for a visit in January and decided to stay!! So he's in my apartment with me, has got a job at the local supermarket to pay the bills while he works on finishing a book that he wants to publish, and is good company. We have not lived in the same town as each other since 87 and it's fun. It's always fun to have family around, and this is no exception.

Our brother Chris was married to his girlfriend of the last year in Texas earlier this month, and five of the six of us siblings were there to celebrate. She is lovely and they seem right together. It was a small, informal wedding at her parents' home, with mostly family, including all their grandchildren! It still seems funny to have a brother who is a grandfather. Surely we are not that old! I took the opportunity of a Texas visit to spend several days in Houston with my darling sister and her family - always a great pleasure. My nieces love having their Aunt Lizzie come to stay.

Paul is wonderful. Simply wonderful. And we consider this a blessed relationship.

Now I will sign off. And hopefully will not leave it so long before I write again. Though the only thing to report on over the summer will probably be on all the novels I will have read - so far, three or four a week! I've read three by a writer of Young Adult novels that are absolutely charming. Gary Schmidt. The first one I read was "Lizzie Bright" or at least it had those words in the title. Recommended by my cousin. It turns out that he teaches at Calvin College. Also read Da Vinci Code - figured it was time to find out what all the hoo hah was about. It's OK. Well-paced thriller. Not frightfully well written I don't think. And I find his line between "fact" and fiction very muddy, and in some cases quite disturbing. Yes, some things are fact (e.g. there is a gospel of Mary Magdalene) but some things are not (e.g. nowhere does Jesus figure in the Dead Sea Scrolls). Hmmm.

We watched the 1953 (I think) Grapes of Wrath last night - and I am inspired to read some Steinbeck again. I read them all in my 20s. I have rarely read a novel twice, since there always seem to be so many more out there to read, but I really do think it would be nice to read Steinbeck again, since it's not just his stories and characters that are so wonderful - and they most certainly are - but his style and his language are glorious.

That really is it now. Blessings to all my friends.