Movin On Up

You wouldn't think hauling our belongings from #13 to #12 would make us so tired. But it is three flights up from that cozy dungeon to this open loft. thanks to the help of friends and neighbors, everything is out from down there and in uncertainly placed piles in the new place. I enjoy the putting away more than the heavy lifting, but I'm dragging this morning. Matt got up at 8 and did some yoga and is now flitting around making breakfast and coffee and I barely remembered how to get to my blog to post. We're going to pick up our California King today - which should make us feel like very-tall royalty. Did you know that a Cali-King is longer and narrower than a standard king? I didn't - but my 6' husband is delighted to discover that he will have 7' of sleeping length now. I also bought a vacuum. I am extremely domestic. I know you're impressed.

had great dinner and conversation with seminary buddy last night about Japan, Shintoism, Christian vocabulary, what is political, and who is a prophet. It was sometimes intense but "at the end of the day," (as this friend would say) we were all hugging and thankful to have the perspective that each one brings. I think the level of vulnerability among our seminary colleagues really leads to meaningful relationships here. A few of us have had the experience that friends at other seminaries are shocked to hear that we tell each other here what we're struggling with and pray for each other. Apparently at other seminaries this is ill-advised because it exposes our weakness and colleagues would "eat you alive." Wow! This is our training for leadership in the Church? Scary! I'm hoping to foster genuine meaningful relationships of caring and speak out against the competitive spirit that others seem to perpetuate. We're here to support each other, so that we can support others.

We're Just Two Big Happy Families

My family has two branches. It's really easy to climb.

Boredom was the case that they gave me

I decided that the episcopal church could live without me for the summer, so after I unplugged my laptop in my Columbus, Ohio hotel room I took a sabbatical from the network of headlines, emails, and public rants circulating around the Communion. I knew that some explosions were in order, and the only shrapnel I was interested in was what what might result from lighting Black Cats on the 4th of July. (Luckily my sister took care of that for me and I got out clean-legged.)

So, today I realized I had gone through all the other emails from this summer, and all that were left were in the folder marked "hobd" (House of Bishops and Deputies) and the number of unread emails in that folder totalled over 1700. So *ahem* I opened it.

And boredom was the case that they gave me. A case of unbearable boredom.

Not surprisingly, the familiar voices from that list-serve were giving their familiar perspectives on events. I gleaned a few links to good articles and videos and other convention reflections. Mainly I was interested in reading anything the ABC (archbishop of canterbury) had said since the convention (precious little) and anything that the PB (presiding bishop) had said in response (precious little in return for precious little). I'm still not even halfway through this mess, and much of it I can skip over, but when a new conversation pops up, I open it and look for a couple all-star commenters to give me a different take, and then I move on.

My sabbatical gave me the needed fresh energy to catch up on my episco-drama, and put some of the desperate tones and threats in their rightful place...taking them seriously is moving somewhere down on my list of priorities after getting a new toothbrush and before checking the price of pet stingrays. One of my seasoned episco-experts has reflected that this convention may have been her last for a while, and whatwith my canonical status being a question-mark for the magic year of 2009, I just may give myself a time-out.

This summer, pardon the expression, frickin' ruled, and it ain't over yet. I get to turn 25 in Maui. And I reflect, as I quickly pack and unpack all the boxes in moving to my new apartment, that there is more to life than episco-drama. I've given it and many other less-than-worthy preoccupations too much weight and shelf-space these last few years. And August is always the perfect time to realign the schedule with the priorities.

So, goodbye Episco-Drama. Hello letters to my grandmothers. Hello weekly phone calls to sisters. Hello figuring out what to do with 3 jars of cayenne pepper. Hello knitting. Hello exploring every trail in Tilden Park. Hello more trips to the beach with friends. Hello gazing at the Golden Gate bridge from my dining room.