Monday, January 21, 2008

The New Testament and Inconsiderate Dental Hygienists

So I finished my first seminary class this past Saturday. One down, 11 to go. Of course, I thought I had to take 13 classes altogether, so I guess it's not so bad. The class didn't get much more coherent after the last entry I wrote. By Thursday, though, I understood a good chunk of it, so I'm assuming that's what my paper will be on...But there were still conversations during class on things like "thisness" and "whatness," and by Friday night, I was just ready to come home, relax and treat myself to some "Triscuitness."

That's not to say that the entire class was a bore or that I regret taking it. Not so. I know it will be helpful for future classes and we had some quite interesting discussions. For example, we briefly brought up the point that God doesn't have arms. Let me explain...

We were talking about God's spirit and how he does not have a "body." Now, Aquinas goes into elaborate detail about this, and it's quite possible that he defines a body differently from how you or I would. But anyway, some people in the class had come to the conclusion that God doesn't have arms, for example, or any other part that would be considered of the body. I don't know. When I think of God, I have this vision in my head of a huge Bible my family used to keep on the coffee table when I was little that had a picture of God on it. I think He had a goatee. But there are also several passages in the Bible about how His light is so bright, we can't look upon Him. So then my mind goes to a vision of God as some ginormous Tinkerbell ball.

I told Pete about this discussion and he brought up the point that we were created in God's image. I knew that, but hadn't thought of it during class, so it bugged me til the next day when I asked a guy in class about it. No one was arguing that we aren't created in His image, but this is the way my classmate described it in a nutshell: God created us to have similar characteristics as Himself, and in doing so, we have bodies to express or embody those characteristics...Or something like that.

Of course, he explained it much better than I did...(He was one of those I mentioned earlier who's read every author under the sun). I'm still thinking on it, though. Obviously, when Jesus was born, it was God in human form, and the Bible also talks about us having perfect bodies when we are in Heaven, so I don't know whether I agree with some of my classmates...However, as a sidenote, I think it would be great if I could have a perfect body sans the present elbow scars from bike wrecks.

In the end, some of the information at least clipped my forehead as it passed over, so I suppose something stuck. I also found out from a guy in that class that I don't have to write a thesis! Niiiice.

Yesterday, I started my second class. This one is on the New Testament. There are two classes on the New Testament, but I'm taking the second one. It should still make sense, though, because I asked.

Now I just have to figure out how to pay for everything. Before class yesterday, I met with the Dean of Women and came to the conclusion that I would be stupid to try to take more than two classes per semester. That means it's going to take me two years to get my master's and I really just want to be done with school. I know that there's not much difference between a year and a half and two years, but I was a little down after she explained all the work involved and I sat there wondering how I'm going to balance class with work.

But then we went to chapel during class. Chapel is like a half-hour long devotional plus announcements. It's once a week and this week it happened to fall on Monday. Alex, the president of the school, was the speaker and I needed to hear what he had to say.

He said that a lot of us sitting there were new students and we may be thinking one of three things:

"Oh, I'm not smart enough to be here. Everyone else is so ahead of me..." or

"I'm not as spiritual as the rest of the people here. I don't belong." or

"What am I doing at SES? I have rent to pay and two jobs to juggle. This isn't worth it."

Which is funny because the last thing was exactly what was on my mind after meeting with the Dean of Women.

But Alex went on to say that we have to remember God WILL provide. We are at SES for a reason; God has called us to be there. And if we're doing God's will, there's nothing to stop us.

Which I knew, but it certainly doesn't hurt to be reminded.

In my class last week, the professor was talking about how he became a teacher at SES. Years ago, a girl shared her faith with a friend, who later became the professor's roommate. One day, the professor was looking for a book in his roommate's room and ran across a book on Christian philosophy. He eventually came to know Christ, became a professor at SES and has had many opportunities to share his faith. The roommate went on to hold a high position for a Christian organization. Just from the one girl sharing her faith, countless lives have been affected, and she has no idea.

Regardless of how tough things may be now, if this is where I am supposed to be, I can't argue. It would just be nice if things were simpler sometimes. I need one of those Easy buttons. Take me back to the days when the only things to worry about were whether I would have time to ride my bike when I got home or whether the lady at the entrance to Wal-Mart would remember to give me a smiley face sticker.

In other news, I was looking for a birthday card for my brother a couple days ago and got annoyed. Ninety percent of birthday cards are about all the "terrible" things that come with age, or say, "it's ok to be old; we love you anyway." Why are birthdays such a horrible thing? I hope no one ever gets me a card like that. Birthdays should be fun. Of course, I did just buy Dad one that said something like, "Age is only in your mind...The trick is to keep it from creeping down the rest of your body." But I thought it was funny.

Ok, I'm finally up to date now. Today, I had a dentist appointment, and I remember them being a lot more fun when I was little. Back then, I got to use bubble gum fluoride and pick something out of the "treasure chest." Today, the hygienist poked and prodded at my gums and then told me behind her paper mask, "Ohp, that one's bleeding!" Ya think? Stop poking me! She was nice enough, but then told me that I don't floss well enough.

My least favorite part was the X-rays. Why in the world do they insist on sticking hard, plastic squares in your mouth that have the roughest edges ever, then ask you to smile while they take a picture? It doesn't help that the dentist office I go to has windows in all the rooms so anyone can walk by and see you in a reclining chair with plastic in your jaw, smiling at the wall.

When the actual dentist came in, the hygienist told her that I said I floss everyday, but I don't seem to be doing it well enough. Tattletale.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I Got This

Maybe I'm too practical. I had my first class today and I forgot that it has a lot to do with philosophy...which I used to think I was interested in. It was definitely a little deeper than your average "if a tree falls and no one is around to hear it" question.

When I first got to SES (Southern Evangelical Seminary), I had to stop by the business office to pay for the class. This is the only one that's due up front since it's only a week long. $765 gone just like that. Ouch.

Then I made my way to a small classroom upstairs. I was the only girl until another one came in, followed by two female staff members that are also taking the class. A few people looked close to my age, but within five minutes three people sitting near me found out it was my first class and made comments about diving right into the deep end. Whoops.

When I got the syllabus, the only thing that stuck out to me was "20-25." The number of pages that one of my research papers has to be. There's another 4-5 page paper due, but that's not a big deal. I think the longest paper I've written to date was 15 pages or so, and I'm pretty sure that included a reference page. But what's five more pages, right?

The class itself was pretty interesting, but I think it should be against the law to make a brain think that much after dinner time. We talked about Aristotle and Plato so that we could form a foundation for talking about Aquinas, who, I found out, was a genius at a very early age, wrote a ton of books in a four-year span because the pope told him to and was overweight...which I didn't picture in my head. So basically it was evident that God was on his side or he never could have done half the things he did in such a short time. One guy in the class said he probably wouldn't have gotten any of it done if he had been married. Then another one asked how he was overweight because he chose to live in poverty and walked everywhere. Those are my kind of questions.

Then we talked about things like: "Can reason unite being with change and multiplicity?" "Either being or non-being is the reason for change, or being or non-being is the reason for many." On the other hand, maybe "non-being is an impossible principle of change or difference."

By the end of it, my vision was getting blurry and I hated the word "being." I just sat there and tried really hard to figure out how this is going to relate later on.

One exciting thing is that I actually heard terms that I learned in my rhetorical theory class a couple of years ago, which shocked me. I didn't think I'd ever use that class for anything. I also met Nora, the Dean of Women and she seems really nice. She said one of the professors is planning a trip to Israel this summer. I want to go!

Although the question "What was I thinking?" crossed my mind more than once during the class, in the end, I know this class will be helpful. When the professor was talking about everything Aquinas did, thought and wrote, I got excited and I'm anxious to see where it goes. I just hope I don't feel like I'm way behind everyone else. One guy who sat in front of me said it's been a long time since he's read Aristotle and the guy next to him said he's in the process of reading Plato again. I don't even have time to read my travel magazines.

But the 4 1/2 hours went by pretty fast, so that's always a plus.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Retail Therapy

This morning, I went to church for the first time in about a month since I've been out of town so much lately. It was actually kind of lonely because I went by myself...which I usually do, but sometimes I get tired of going alone. Recently, my friend, Xi has been going with me. (I'm pretty sure that's pronounced "Chi," but I've never been 100% sure). She couldn't go today, though, so hopefully next week.

I love my church, but a lot of the college students get to hang out outside of church and I'm almost always working...so I feel out of the loop sometimes. And it's not like my family is here to go with since they're a state away, but oh well. It was good to be back anyway.

Afterwards, I went to American Apparel with Sara. I really don't understand their clothes. There are a few cute things, but you know when you see someone in public and think, "WHERE did they get THAT?" Well, possibly American Apparel. But I give Sara points for finding something cute. She called it retail therapy and I decided it helped me, too, to get out of the house. It's been somewhat lonely this week because a lot of my friends have been at work, out of town or sick or live far away.

Then we headed to Northlake Mall and stopped by Sephora to use our gift cards (thanks, Sarah!) It was overwhelming. I've never seen so many cosmetics in one place. I picked out some foundation primer stuff that's supposed to minimize pores and do some other things and asked Sara why I can't just have perfect skin to begin with. "Because then something else would be wrong with you." I like that answer. When I told Sarah what I bought with the gift card she gave me, she told me that my pores aren't visible. That's a true friend...even if I disagree when up close.

I finally treated myself to a caramel apple with M&M's. That's what I usually get at the Renaissance Festival, but since I didn't go last year, I figured it was time. It took me the whole trip home to eat it (even after handing Sara two slices) while I wondered if the sugar in the caramel and M&M's canceled out the healthy bits in the apple. Probably.

But I was proud of myself for only spending $13 the whole day.

As a perfect cap to the day, Sara and I made a trip to the grocery store to buy ingredients for a fancy pasta dish. One of the recipes we were going to decide between called for capers and we had no idea what we were looking for. But for future reference, they come in a can and look like miniature hermit crabs. We bought a basil plant, too.

The outcome was linguini with red clam sauce. It was good! Why does a meal always take half as long to eat as it does to make? And twice as long to clean up?



THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Friday, January 11, 2008

Last Week of Laziness

I usually feel like a complete bum when I'm not being productive, but I admit it's been wonderful to be lazy this week. I've gotten to watch a complete show instead of the first 10 minutes and even put together a full lunch. Unfortunately, today is my last day to enjoy it.

My first seminary class starts Monday: Great Thinkers -- Thomas Aquinas. (That's pronounced "A-qwine-us" by the way). I stopped by the school's bookstore today to get the book for the course...1093 pages and the font is NOT large. It's a compilation of his writings and to be honest, all I know about the guy is what I read on Wikipedia. I remember talking about him briefly in a high school history class, but I guess I didn't retain the information. Hopefully by Monday, I'll know enough not to feel stupid in class. This is my only class that will meet every day next week. They call it a "module." Monday through Friday it will meet from 6:00-10:30 in the evening and Saturday it will meet 8:00-4:30. Then I'll have the rest of the semester to do the coursework. The other two classes will start January 21 -- one on Monday nights and one on Thursday nights. I'm hoping to get my degree in a year and a half. It all depends on when classes are offered, but keep your fingers crossed.

...A couple of days ago, I picked Sara up from campus, and it was weird to see all the students walking around and not be one of them. I know I still have class coming up, but it's different. And I don't think you're supposed to skim the textbooks in grad school.

In the middle of this, I'm in the process of getting a new job. I had an interview yesterday, but that's all I'll say about that until I find out whether I got the job or not. Don't you just love suspense? ;)

I do know that I'm getting bored with my current job. I'm working in a call center at The Charlotte Observer newspaper and I figured out yesterday that I've been there for about 2 years. I love the people I work with; they make it fun and bearable. And I even love my supervisors, the flexibility, hours and pay. But frankly, it's boring. It gets harder every week to sit still for four hours and call ungrateful customers. A lady I work with told me I need to get a yoga ball to sit on so I can bounce up and down and get my energy out. And it may sound stupid, but I swear there's something in the air that makes me tired. I can be wide awake when I get to work and as soon as I sit down at my desk, I yawn. I'll probably be at a doctor's appointment 20 years from now and they'll tell me that I have some crazy disease that was caused by some fungus in the air at the Observer.

I would miss the people I work with if (or when) I quit. We have some interesting conversations while we dial. Although a lady in the telemarketing department just had a baby, so the ladies in my department started talking about child birth a few days ago. Mom, Dad, if you're reading this, you may want to rely on your other two kids for grandchildren.

Speaking of, Sara and I watched Super Nanny the other night. If I had EVER acted like the kids on there, I would have been grounded for life. I didn't need a nanny; I just needed to be called by my first AND middle name..."Tiffany Cherie!" Oh no, what have I done?

Well, I'm going to be smart and get to bed soon. I have to work tomorrow morning :( Who's idea was it to work on Saturdays anyway?

Sunday, January 6, 2008

This Whole Adult Thing

Right now, I'm sitting on the couch, watching Pride and Prejudice with Sara and munching on a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios (I bought one, got one free). I'm quite full and grateful that the pilates commercial isn't on like earlier when I treated myself to a cookie while the perfectly-sculpted and air-brushed pilate women did a 360 rotation on the screen in spandex. Why don't commercials for exercise equipment come on when I'm eating an apple?

I've been meaning to start this blog for awhile now, so I can finally cross it off my list of things to do. There's a point when I get so many things on my to-do list that I end up throwing it away because I get overwhelmed, which may defeat the purpose of having a list in the first place...this isn't one of those times, but I was reminded of that.

...Ooooh, pretty scene in the movie. I want to stand on the top of a cliff in the sunshine. This is the newer Pride and Prejudice and I've never seen this version before. I watched Bridgette Jones last night. The second one. I wanted to watch the first one, but of course Sara doesn't own that one. Gosh. Although Sara is so much like Bridgette Jones they could be twins. There's a funny skiing scene, too, and having just recently attempted skiing myself, I had to laugh out loud. (Sometimes I feel stupid for laughing out loud when I'm home alone, but not this time).

So yesterday I was on my way to Target and heard this commercial on the radio about starting the New Year. I don't know what product it was advertising, but it started out with, "Is this going to be another year of feeling depressed, bloated, sleep-deprived and spiritually numb?" Wow, how depressing. I hope not. It was probably for another weight-loss program since that's what 96% of commercials are about now anyway. Why can't we all just take multi-vitamins and be good to go? Of course, I forget to take mine a lot, so maybe that's why.

Since I'm on a commercial kick, I might as well mention another one I've seen recently: flavored Brita water. What? How does that work? You just attach a Brita thing on your faucet and push a button to get strawberry-flavored water? That's too sketchy for me...and not at all natural.

Hm, perhaps I shouldn't have started watching this movie. I'm really tired, but of course there's no way I can go to bed until the end. It's like one of those darn Lifetime movies...It's been a long day. I got back from New Year's in Minnesota yesterday, but my luggage didn't, so the airport people had to deliver my bag this morning, which means I spent the whole morning/afternoon doing laundry from this past week. Then Deborah and I went to see a play that had a good story but was incredibly boring. And I have now decided that even musicals can have too many songs. After that, Deborah went with me to Home Depot and Bed Bath and Beyond (to buy pretty bath towels). Then off to the grocery store I went to find a short supply of 1% milk and spend way too much time in the card aisle.

Finally, back home, but not before being stopped at one of those annoying "no turn on red"s. Sometimes I sit at those, wondering why in the world I abide by the rule when absolutely no one is around. I suppose there are a lot of things I do for the sake of following the rules that are at times extremely inconvenient. The only thing that keeps me from turning on red is the fear that there's a cop lurking around just waiting for me to try to be sneaky.

Well I hope this first entry has been at least 2% entertaining. I figured since I never wrote a wrap-up entry on my Australia blog, I might as well just start a whole new one. Why not, right?