OK, after putting my feet up for a good week, the crunch has hit. I now must write two - count them, two! - 1200 word papers! Remind me again why I am doing this? It is hair pulling to wrestle with these materials. Balance social justice issues with theological trends. Pull bits and pieces from various authors all with their own agendas, make some kind of sense of it, and, oh yes, don't forget to actually answer the question!
I hunker down in my office. No sense trying to figure this out at home. Too many distractions, too easy to slide into a nap, too many people ready to interrupt you. In my office, I have only a work chair (don't look at the comfy one in the corner with the Psalm 23 throw quilt inviting you to rest just under the delightful wall hanging of the Madonna and child with book next to the Tiffany stained glass floor lamp) and lots of desk space to spread the dozen resources out, marking pages, checking references.
Get the general outline, flesh in the arguments, locate appropriate quotes for introduction and/or conclusion. Keep pounding after it. Ignore time flying by. You are stuck here until you get at least one of these papers done and a darn good start on the other! Your reward will be going home before dark. Think. Wrestle. Write. Review. Revise. Reread. Think. Wrestle. Write . . .
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Catching Up
The cycle of the seminary class I am taking right now is such that after every 5 weeks of class, we get a week's reprieve. What a difference it makes not to have to keep pushing or holding your nose to the grindstone. It gives you a chance to breathe, do all those things you haven't done because you were so involved with classwork, and check in with people you love. I know some of my classmates use the time to catch up with papers they haven't been able to complete and readings they never got to.
I have been fortunate in not falling behind. The 300+pages of reading and assimilation of materials takes a good bit of time, even for someone like myself who reads fast. I took a great speed reading course when I was in 6th grade, and apparently the training stuck. Really, it was a machine that projected the text on the wall a word or a line at a time. The light would move slowly at first, revealing the next word or line. Over time, the speed at which the light progressed was increased, training your eyes to move in the desired patterns at faster rates while the comprehension tests traced your progress of understanding. That doesn't even begin to address the other projects like the Ministry File or the Scripture Journal we are required to keep.
Of course, some readings are easier to manage than others. The writings of Dr Martin Luther King Jr are fascinating and encourage you to keep going. Other authors are more thick in their prosody, forcing you to re-read every single passage to try and ascertain what in the world they are getting at. Obtuse at best.
Given this full extra week, I had hoped to read ahead, write papers for at least two weeks forward, and be smug about the progress. I did no such thing. Instead, I caught up with the kids, put the house in better shape, took time to be outside and enjoy the world before winter sets in, and lay around doing nothing, sitting in the recliner with Sugar tucked by my side.
Sigh. So much for being progressive!
I have been fortunate in not falling behind. The 300+pages of reading and assimilation of materials takes a good bit of time, even for someone like myself who reads fast. I took a great speed reading course when I was in 6th grade, and apparently the training stuck. Really, it was a machine that projected the text on the wall a word or a line at a time. The light would move slowly at first, revealing the next word or line. Over time, the speed at which the light progressed was increased, training your eyes to move in the desired patterns at faster rates while the comprehension tests traced your progress of understanding. That doesn't even begin to address the other projects like the Ministry File or the Scripture Journal we are required to keep.
Of course, some readings are easier to manage than others. The writings of Dr Martin Luther King Jr are fascinating and encourage you to keep going. Other authors are more thick in their prosody, forcing you to re-read every single passage to try and ascertain what in the world they are getting at. Obtuse at best.
Given this full extra week, I had hoped to read ahead, write papers for at least two weeks forward, and be smug about the progress. I did no such thing. Instead, I caught up with the kids, put the house in better shape, took time to be outside and enjoy the world before winter sets in, and lay around doing nothing, sitting in the recliner with Sugar tucked by my side.
Sigh. So much for being progressive!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Drew
Drew didn't go to school this morning. He has to be really not feeling well to miss calculus. I know he has had a stuffy nose and cough, but he is taking over the counter stuff and upped his vitamin C. I am concerned. I have to be at the desk at 9, but right afterwards, I head home to make sure he is alright.
He is still in bed, eyes glassy, nose red and swollen, cough deep and wracking. He has had some honey tea, but poor baby is miserable. This is not something I can fix, and he is already doing the things that need to be done except for drinking more fluids. I ask what he would like to drink, and he waves me off. He would rather just be left alone.
I ache to hug him and comfort him as I used to do when he was little. But he is a man now. Caring takes a new method of delivery. More along the lines of checking in, making sure he has Kleenex and cough drops, when he is less zonked, having movies at the ready. And watching to make sure things don't suddenly take a turn for the worse.
I am much less fastidious about keeping everything sanitary and germ free these days because my immune system is not under direct attack. Still, the cautions remain. I have been using a separate towel which hangs apart from anyone else's. Before touching faucets, I use the sanitizing wipes. I don't eat or drink after anyone, even just a bite. I make sure when I run the dishwasher that there is plenty of hot water. At work I wipe down everything in the public areas, especially phones, where I am scheduled to be after someone else has touched things.
And I take my own preventive Vitamin C and keep the walking exercise going. Stay healthy. Otherwise you are not able to take care of Drew when he is not feeling up to par. Healthy is good.
He is still in bed, eyes glassy, nose red and swollen, cough deep and wracking. He has had some honey tea, but poor baby is miserable. This is not something I can fix, and he is already doing the things that need to be done except for drinking more fluids. I ask what he would like to drink, and he waves me off. He would rather just be left alone.
I ache to hug him and comfort him as I used to do when he was little. But he is a man now. Caring takes a new method of delivery. More along the lines of checking in, making sure he has Kleenex and cough drops, when he is less zonked, having movies at the ready. And watching to make sure things don't suddenly take a turn for the worse.
I am much less fastidious about keeping everything sanitary and germ free these days because my immune system is not under direct attack. Still, the cautions remain. I have been using a separate towel which hangs apart from anyone else's. Before touching faucets, I use the sanitizing wipes. I don't eat or drink after anyone, even just a bite. I make sure when I run the dishwasher that there is plenty of hot water. At work I wipe down everything in the public areas, especially phones, where I am scheduled to be after someone else has touched things.
And I take my own preventive Vitamin C and keep the walking exercise going. Stay healthy. Otherwise you are not able to take care of Drew when he is not feeling up to par. Healthy is good.
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