I had a bunch of different things I was going to write about today. For instance, I was going to tell the story of the super strange dream I had last night, but I was going to tell it like some surreal story so that you didn't have to be annoyed that I was actually telling you a dream. Or I was going to write a poem about myself as a child and how my viewpoints have changed, not necessarily for the better. But I had a pretty decent evening and I think I will just do a brief journal entry about my evening. Nothing special, probably a bit boring, but there it is.
Taking a step back I realize just how varied my day can be as a seminarian. This morning started out with Ethics where we talked about the nature of Christianity in relation to Just War. This was interesting not necessarily because of the subject matter (which was interesting, but kind of beside the point) but because I got to examine what happens when a realist and a post-modern thinker try to have a conversation. The realist is just that, empiricism is everything, and there is no room for ambiguities or paradoxes. While facts are important for the post-modernist, the way in which those facts are talked about is much looser, leaving room for hyperbole, absurdity, and humor. Paradoxes and ambiguities are not only allowed but expected. There is no need to go into detail about the conversation but let me just say that this was my major contribution to the argument: http://trextrying.tumblr.com/post/21277804071/t-rex-trying-to-flip-a-pancake-trextrying
After that Chapel,
After that Lunch,
After that reading on a bench.
For no particular reason, at least none that I care to go into, my day got a bit rocky, which contributed to a major moment of vulnerability where I told a classmate about some pretty deep insecurities that I have not ever really shared with anyone. I am still processing how I feel about this.
Anyway, I went on from there to my next class which consists of me, two other students, and my professor. We are reading through Catherine Pickstock's book After Writing. Not the easiest book in the world to read, by the way. I had this weird moment where I started commenting about something I actually know nothing about, and the professor responded by reading a passage of the book, which actually sounded like gobbledygook to me, she then turned to me and said "is that what you mean?"
To which I start babbling, and everyone is staring, so I keep talking hoping to God someone will interrupt me, but no they don't. Eventually I stop, the class ends, and we leave.
I am told that I actually gave the impression of being knowledgeable. I wonder if Dr. Sonderegger bought it.
Fast forward to the evening where I went to watch a one woman show about Eunice Kennedy Shriver that was written and performed by a high school parishioner from my field ed. site (the church I attend while in seminary). She did a fantastic job, and I was impressed by how much these high school kids in Arlington, VA are overachievers.
I then spent the evening hanging out with other seminarians and having very deep, very theologically relevant conversations about which student/faculty member would be which Star Wars character. I somehow ended up with Darth Maul. Sure the guy gets cut in half in the middle of what is arguably the worst of the Star Wars movies, but he did have some Kung-fu badassness going on...
maybe I can trade up and be Grand Moff Tarkin instead.
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