Stuff

The thesis went out yesterday to the outside reader. He has two weeks to read and comment, then I've got a week to incorporate changes and give it to my advisor. She said a number of wonderful things as we wrapped it up, including "I've really become more and more convinced by your argument" and "It was a privilege to work with you on this project." Given the fact that she is well known to be over-the-top brilliant and measures the rest of the world to her ridiculously high standard, usually finding it wanting, it was very moving to hear this. Getting the thesis done in the midst of three hospitalizations and one surgery was rather insane. I'm grateful that it is (mostly) over and the thesis is (mostly) quite good.

I had an interview for a job in a lovely Southern small city near the place where Nick Nolte and Robert DeNiro had a scary movie conflict. This one is an associate job in a large multi-clergy parish. Focus on pastoral care and family ministry, which are both strengths. Sounds promising. We shall see.

I will be meeting with my bishop tomorrow afternoon to see if he will let me interview for vicar or rector jobs now, despite the fact that this isn't the norm in our diocese. I am cautiously optimistic (see below).

I had a great conversation with my field ed supervisor, who continues to insist that I am ready to be clergy-in-charge someplace, perhaps even at Saint Middle School. He was going to call the bishop this afternoon to say the bishop should let me do that. Since Field Ed Supervisor is held in very high regard by the bishop, that may help. And the fact that FES is willing to ask it of the bishop as a favor is quite wonderful. So say a prayer that the meeting with the Bishop goes well.

I'm trying to keep my game on for the last class I am taking at Big Old Seminary, but I've got a whiff of senioritis. When I stopped by the public library, I got an armload of books that wouldn't qualify as edifying by anyone's standards. On the other hand, the last time I was there, I found a book that gave me a great quote for the last chapter of the thesis:


“This dialogue with Others has never been and will never be easy…[the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity] says that thinking is formed on the basis of language, and as we speak different languages, each of us creates his own image of the world, unlike any other. These images are not compatible and are not replaceable. For this reason, dialogue, though not impossible, demands a serious effort, patience, and the will of its participants to understand and communicate. Being aware of the fact that in conversing with the Other I am communing with someone who at the same time sees the world differently from me and understands it another way is important in creating a positive atmosphere for dialogue.”
----Ryszard Kapuściński, “The Other”

...and that is why I really love going to the library.