Brilliantly DISorganized

Walking into school this morning, I passed Professor Turner in the hallway. He's admittedly a favorite at YDS, teacher of my medieval theology course a few semesters ago. (We admiringly termed the class, "The Denys Turner Show.") As he flew past me in a hurry, he turned around and in his British accent, asked, "Are you organized?" I responded, "Yes." With a sense of longing in his voice, he replied, "What's it like?" and then scurried out the door with a smile on his face. 

It's always nice to have a laugh over simple joys early in the morning. 

Med Students Face Life and Death

"The Soul of a Doctor" is one that I've had on my list of must-reads since I did a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education 2 summers ago. One of my biggest struggles of the summer was with the Doctors, who in some cases seemed to have a sense of detachment from the patients that I couldn't begin to comprehend (admittedly, being the overly-empathetic individual that I often am.) As I progressed through the essays, I got a genuine sense for the process of transformation that all doctors go through at some point during their careers. I think this is a fantastic read for anyone, not just someone training to be a priest or hospital chaplain. We all encounter doctors and medical staff, and having a window into their spiritual and emotional challenges can only broaden our understanding of this demanding profession. This collection of essays and reflections was deeply insightful, and about two years overdue for me. 

The authors of the pieces are Harvard medical students during their third year residencies. The book is part of a larger project to fully examine the American system of medical education, in hopes of creating a more holistic model of care than that which we currently have. It's also an effort to hold ourselves to higher standards in response to the Institute of Medicine's report, To Err Is Human. Point being, we can provide better care than that which we currently offer. 

surPriSinG spiRITual enCouNtEr

So, I have to admit that I was totally skeptical when this book was recommended to me. A friend recommended it as long ago as last summer, but it wasn't until I heard about churches using the book for their Lenten Bible Study that I decided I had to see what all the fuss was about. I was totally sucked in. 

The majority of the plot details the struggles of the main character, Mack, in the face of tragedy, the loss of his daughter to a child abductor. Yet, instead of legal pursuits, Mack has lengthy encounters with God, in each person of the Trinity. Go ahead, laugh out loud - I did to at first. But, Young's narrative is a fantastic gripping point for Christians dealing with, well...real life. Ultimately, everyone encounters unimaginable difficulties at one point in their life or another. "The Shack" recounts the most difficult days of Mack's life, and how he begins to wrestle through the presenting issues with God. While I'm not willing to go to bat for the theological credibility of the novel, I certainly believe that this is a great starting point for anyone and everyone striving to be a Christian. Young details what encounters with the Creator in the form of God (an African American woman with notable culinary talents), the Holy Spirit (in the form of a graceful Asian woman), and Jesus Christ (a middle-eastern carpenter). The encounters are filtered through Mack's ultimate disbelief and sensory experiences. Mack wrestles with forgiveness, reconciliation, and love in its rawest forms. Whatever your struggle or joy, Young's suggestion of a tangible encounter with God will fuel the imagination, if not the spirit. Ultimately, we are all children of God. Thus, Mack's struggle to re-discover his identity as a child of God is relevant and touching. 

"No matter what God's power may be, the first aspect of God is never that of the absolute Master, the Almighty. It is that of the God who puts himself on our human level and limits himself." -Jacque Ellul, Anarch and Christianity 

The Space Between

Today I finished reading "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," which was recommended by a friend. It was a quick and intriguing read. The book was written by a native of Pakistan, who graduated from Princeton University. His world was turned upside down in the wake of September 11th. The narrative is an exploration into the political and personal upheavals that this particular immigrant experienced. Written as a conversation with an American tourist in Lahore, Changez reflects on life before he returned home to Pakistan. I would recommend this read for a glimpse into a world away. 

Here is an excerpt from a chapter towards the end of the book: "It is odd how the character of a public space changes when it is empty; the abandoned amusement park, the shuttered opera house, the vacant hotel: in films these often feature as backdrops for events intended to frighten. So it is with this market: now that our fellow visitors have dwindled in number to a sporadic and scattered few, it has taken on a rather more ominous edge. Perhaps it has to do with the cloudy sky above, through which one occasionally glimpses a gash of moon, or perhaps it is the darkening shadows in the warren of alleyways slipping away from here in all directions, but I would suggest that it is instead our solitude that most disturbs us, the fact that we are all but alone despite being in the heart of a city. Ah!"

Spriiiing Break!!

So...they tell me I didn't actually look like this, but it sure felt like it. It was a balmy 24 degrees this morning, before factoring in the 20 mph winds here in Derby, CT. I was fortunate enough to get to partake in a double dose of practice as well, riding around in the launch for no less than 4 hours. I coach because I love rowing. No, really, I do ;) It's the extend-o winters that I have trouble getting on board with. If experiences like this are character building, then I should be quite the character by the end of Spring Break! 

Spring Break Book Review

With the start of Spring Break has come time to finish a few books that I've been reading for a while now. 

First I finished up "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." This book gets the highest accolades for the most thought-provoking, and fun-to-say title. Whenever I opened the book, I found myself wondering, what is supposed to be heartbreaking in this chapter? How long did it take him to pour his soul into  this narrative, so much so that he was willing to call it a "work of genius?" It becomes clear early on the tragedy that Eggers suffered and continues to struggle with throughout his life. It is remarkable how many details he managed to capture in one narrative. Eggers also shared the process of grieving that an individual can encounter in the face of tragedy. I think I was most intrigued with this book because it was so unique in style. It certainly is not your typical novel. Though somewhat boring at times, like the over-detailed interview for "The Real World," the work as a whole was worth reading. 

"Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama was one I picked up just after the inauguration last winter. I very much enjoyed reading Obama's story of "race and inheritance," as it seems quite unique, though perhaps more common than I realize. The narrative was commissioned when Obama was elected as the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, over a decade ago. Certainly it has only become more pertinent as he has taken office as the President of the United States. Yet, I did find myself wondering how his political advisors feel about some of the stories in there being published. there's nothing in there that the rest of us haven't done. But then again, he is the President. I do feel it's refreshing to know a bit about his past as a person, and not just a politician. Undeniably, his efforts to trace his father's footsteps are a life long quest that traverses several continents. We are all shaped by the narrative s of our ancestors - who they were and who they weren't. I would love to ask  Obama what pieces he feels he carries around with him on a daily basis. (Also, on a completely unrelated note, it's really exciting to have a President who writes coherently and eloquently!) 

"For we are strangers before them, and sojourners, as were all our fathers." 1 Chronicles 29:15