Seeking Authentic Voice

Summer is one of my favorite seasons. One of them because I like all four. Here in southeast Michigan we do have four seasons, and spring can be lovely. Spring in this region can bring blooming fruit trees and yards full of spring flowers with comfortable temperatures that last three weeks or more. (Hey, that is not bad considering other nearby regions have a dreary spring that feels more like winter and then suddenly it's hot and summer). Still, despite the lovely spring climate here, summer is one of my favorite seasons. I don't really mind being hot although I am not fond of high humidity. Being drenched all the time is just not my thing. Aside from the stickiness of humidity I like the ease of slipping on a pair of sandals, shorts and a T-shirt and heading out the door. No need for layers of attire, summertime walks are easy. Walking, for me, is a means for maintaining good health and a social justice statement. Instead of driving I walk every where I can anytime I am able....

My seminary advisor and New Testament professor spent time "counseling" me in academics. He was the sort of man who could never look a person in the eye, always had his gaze to ceiling, as if in deep thought. This made conversing with him a little disconcerting. It was especially odd when he preached, his gaze ever heavenward.  I have a clear memory of him instructing the student body on the correct manner of receiving communion. "Never touch the bowl of the chalice. If you must touch it, guide it from the base of the stem...." Apparently we were touching the bowl and mucking it up with our finger prints... I remember him gazing to the ceiling while he told us off. In his office, cramped and small, sitting across the desk from him,  planning my academic career was no less bizarre. His eyes perpetually gazing some where beyond my head, as he made pronouncements about what classes I should take and why. He was a very well thought of and intelligent professor. He jus...

kathrynzj, over at RevGals is lamenting the days when we all did a lot of writing and meme playing and reading of blogs...and wonders about the following: 1) Have your blogging (writing/reading) habits shifted since the days of yore? I still make a daily effort to scroll through my blog roll and read the updated blogs. But every day I lament the number of blogs that haven't been updated in months. Recently I even deleted a couple of them. My blog, never one that received a lot of comments, now can go days without a single comment. I write on this blog about three times a week, not daily. I post something on Monday, play the Friday Five, and usually post my sermon for Sunday. Starting a new call keeps me busy and unable to write daily... 2) Do you have some favorites that you miss? In the early days I read a number of blogs: RevSS and BarbB were regulars, but almost never post on their blogs. I do talk to RevSS on Facebook, but Barb???? sigh. She always had witty blog posts ab...

(photo from the files of mompriest of BE 2.0, that's my foot at the 5:00 position) In celebration of the RevGalBlogPals fifth anniversary of blogringing, I offer this reflection. The summer of 2006 was primarily consumed by a job search, one I found myself in quite unexpectedly. It was for a position a bit above what I was doing at small church but with a strong social justice component, which appealed to me. If I got that job it would have required a move across country. In the end I did not get that job, a fact that really saddened me. A number of areas were a concern for me that summer, but if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have worried about any of it. Hindsight being what it is.... The best part of that summer four years ago was an article I read in Christian Century about a blog ring for women clergy and their "pals". I didn't even know what a blog was, not really. I was busy trying to have a decent web page for small church and take care...