Sarah Takes on Seminary

A big weekend!

2009-09-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

Josh had his first Sunday at St. Stephen's yesterday. It was wonderful. What a fantastic group of people! There was so much energy and promise. We are beyond excited. As a southerner, I consider caramel cake to be a sign of the Holy Spirit and I can say that there was a lovely one present.
We were both pretty anxious leading up to the service. What will the space really be like? What kind of liturgics are they used to? How will the sermon go? Everything came together. It reminded me of our wedding. Things may not go as you want in a church service but no matter what, Jesus shows up. Our flawed humanity is pretty irrelevant.
I can't believe Josh gets to do this all again next Sunday! And that I get to be there as his wife. Very cool.

One week down

2009-09-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

My first week of seminary is over. At this point I am locked into my classes, sections, and spiritual direction group. So far I have enjoyed and been completely weirded out by the ecumenical worship services. I'm told this is natural. I have enjoyed being in classes with all the different flavors of Christianity that exist out there. That said, getting to know my Episcopal/Anglican brothers and sisters has been most rewarding.
Josh began his first week of work this week as well! St. Stephen's Armonk is a beautiful place with lovely people. And I must say I am grateful for the duality of life right now. Being a priest's wife and a seminarian allows me to not get too lost in one world. Sure I get to sit in class all day and think about martyrdom, JEPD, and the beauty of good liturgy, which is all super fun. But there is something good about being pulled out of it and into home from the moment I walk in the rectory. Parishioners bringing by tomatoes, asking Josh about Sunday school, and telling us where to buy our groceries also has its own warm feeling. My prayer is that I can balance both and learn how connected they really are.

Diving in

2009-08-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Its a beautiful church, right?

Today is Josh's (the husband) last Sunday of vacation at St. Luke's Eastchester. We had a great day of it. I've been wanting to go to Astrid Storm's church, St. Nicholas. The long drive up was scenic, the little church gorgeous, and Astrid's sermon was spot on. The gospel was the one about Jesus telling his disciples about eating his flesh and drinking his blood and their responses to it. Most seemed freaked. Some left. And then Jesus asks Simon Peter if he too wished to leave. Simon Peter says, "Lord, to whom can we go?" Astrid preached about the times in our lives when we have a choice to make. We can head for the hills or we can stick it out. Relationships, commitments, communities, we all have places in our lives when we can choose whether or not to stick it out. I like this. I particularly like that she went on to say that sometimes we stick it out because we know everything will work out and sometimes we stick it out and have no idea what will happen.

This was the perfect sermon to hear the day before I start seminary orientation.

As hard as I've worked to get to this point. All the interviews, exams (physical and psychological), and, God willing, spiritual work still leave me thinking, "Is this really where I'm headed?" And yet, this is the moment when the dive happens. The commitment really starts. And it happens with little knowledge of what the outcome will be.

What's your story, Morning Glory?

2009-07-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am working on some "about me" essays for school that I have to turn out before the semester starts. When I began this process to the priesthood I remember being told that I was going to have to offer my story over and over and over again. Well, its true. I've wandered through it enough times now that I could practically do an interpretive dance version. Too bad I'm a terrible dancer.
Here's what I'm finding with this incessant story telling: I really enjoy telling it. I'll be honest, if I go into the glazed over homey sugar syrup version its totally uninteresting. But, if I do my damnest to stay present to the writing or the saying, I realize the miraculousness of the story all over again. And marvel that my story is a small part of something greater.
When I was in the Southern Studies department at Ole Miss, one of my favorite courses was documentary fieldwork. I loved it because I got to learn peoples stories. And discover that they were fundamental to a shared picture of humanity. As I was grateful to God then for allowing me to be a part of those individual's lives, I am grateful now to be rehashing my own.
It makes me honest about the difference my faith as made in my life. Makes me realize how blessed I am. And it makes me want to explore what the responsibility of those blessings is all about.

Four years, three churches, and God truly is good

2009-07-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time coming.
This fall I'll be starting seminary at Yale Divinity School. Did you ever have those occasions in life when you wanted something to happen quickly and then were pretty relieved it took a while? Me too. I cannot believe the journey has taken this long and would not have wanted it to be any shorter. I'm a lucky (blessed some might say) duck. I thought it was high time to do a blog, even if its just for me.