We want pre-nups!

Empty shelves.

Empty rooms.

Memories of laughing, crying, singing and eating crepes fill the space.

My roommate and I got a divorce yesterday.

I guess I should clarify that my roommate moved out because our pets don't get along.  She has a funny cat named Oscar and I have a large, fluffy dog named Steve.  Steve really just wants to love Oscar...and Oscar just runs away from Steve.  We kept hoping that they would make it work, but there was just too much anxiety for both of them.  Thankfully, Laura was able to get a new apartment in the same courtyard, so I could probably throw rocks onto her porch from my porch, if I really wanted to.

Even though I'm mourning the loss of my roommate and trying to figure out how to fill the gazillion shelves that these LSTC apartments seem to have, I was really inspired by our friends.  A bunch of our classmates showed up yesterday morning to help Laura move her stuff.  We all have lots of papers to be writing and assignments to be submitting, but they came to help her move twenty-five feet out the door.  For some of these friends, it's the second time that they've dropped what they were doing for our apartment.  Some of them helped move my furniture in several weeks ago when my brother delivered it via truck.

So, thanks, LSTCers.  You move me...and Laura.  :)

Things That Go Bump In the Night

I've spent the last week doing devotionals, and writing sermons for All Saints Day. Naturally, I'm reflecting on the lives of those that have gone before me. Somewhat in line with reflecting on the dead is reflecting on the spirits that reside in our world still.

In the Lutheran world, we talk only of the Holy Spirit and even then, very little. We could take a few pointers from our pentecostal brothers and sisters on how to let the spirit move us.

But what I've been wondering on are the dark forces that reside with the light one. Good and evil. To be honest, it has creeped me out. Now, whatever you believe personally, I have to tell you that I cannot ignore it. I've had a sense that evil was working in the world but it never bothered me much. It was there. So was the good. Now I'm working on placing this deeper realization into my theology. What comes to mind so far?

1.) God made all things. All spirits are a part of God's creation.
2.) Jesus was merciful to the legion of demons.
3.) We are called to care for all creation.
4.) The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.

So if your thoughts are straying to spiritual warfare like mine, know that you are not alone. Not just in your thoughts or quest to make sense of it all, but as one who shines in the darkness. Together we are the body of Christ, standing as one, and conquering all things in His name.

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
(-traditional Scottish prayer)

Revelations and Promises

Time reveals as the Mother turns her cloak of shimmering golden

Into home spun ribbons of gray

As if hands draw up to tired eyes, wishing to explore new horizons

Impatiently waiting for the cascading colors to fall, spilling over

Seeping and not restrained in a withered, cracked ceramic shell

Cupped and contained, carried and cradled

Lifted and reaching upwards

Bursting and flowing

Endless, eternal

Light that has merged

Into song.

November has begun its campaign down these rainy streets as it always has, drawing notes on a somber trombone, and even as we think of those angels that have faded into memory I am reminded that along the rushing river of Life, the soft petals that fall from towering redwoods and weeping willows, absent from our sight, continue traveling on the sweetness of the winds. We are left to stumble into the harshness of the winter which pushes at the fabric of our weary souls, driving us within the sanctity of our homes.

Cocooned, and peering out into the showers of snow that now Mother Nature proudly dons as a pristine gown of white sometimes brings us to sadness, or finding us questioning our faith. Yet the Creator speaks to us in song, in the rare beauty of crystals that form and the Light that is always pulsating and present each new dawn. Like every trial or struggle in our lives, there is the promise of the radiance of simple serenity walking through a prairie, trickle of a river reborn in the warmth of Creation that ebbs and flows.

God's Peace.

At long last, LUTHER BOWL!

One of the main reasons for this “Lutheran year” is for me to experience the community of a Lutheran seminary, and form connections that will last into my pastoral vocation. So, no matter how many books I was supposed to read or papers I have to write, I figured I was justified in my participation in the 45^th annual Luther Bowl. Sure, driving the 12+ hours to Gettysburg for a good day of football may seem excessive to some, but not to the most dedicated Luther Bowl team on the planet. 25 of us, including the loudest cheering section by far, made the trip last weekend. We had practiced all fall, the defense gaining the upper hand in our (mostly) friendly scrimmages until the offense finally blew them away at the final practice. We were poised for gameday with a balanced attack, two solid quarterbacks, and strong leadership on D.

In the first game, against host Gettysburg, the Orange and Blue got off to a rough start. But after the defense kept us in the game, LSTC made Luther Bowl history. Down 14-0 with 10 minutes to play, we came back with two scores and a successful two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. After both teams scored again in the first overtime, the defense stopped Gettysburg on their second turn. It was time for destiny. LSTC quarterback Carl-Eric Gentes took the snap from All-Luther Bowl center Meredith Harbor, rolled to his left, finding “the receiver whom Jesus loved” open in the endzone. Touchdown! LSTC wins! Orange elation ensued.

Unfortunately we lost two more hard-fought battles, one to eventual champion Princeton, and the cherished Book of Concord and Luther bobblehead will spend another year doing evangelism. Though I most likely won’t get to play next year when I’m away on internship, I’m confident this young team has a bright future.

Neighbors

Last weekend, one of our old neighbors came back to Hyde Park for a visit. We hadn't seen him in awhile, but we gave him a warm welcome home all the same.

I had my first brush with Barack Obama four years ago, during my first months of seminary. He was beginning a book tour in his neighborhood bookstore, 57th Street Books. At the time, he was, if not quite unknown, not too far removed from “local author” status, either. As I stood in line, I met others who lived in the neighborhood and were braving a rainy morning to meet the former law professor. Maybe inevitably, given our reasons for being there, we talked about our hopes and dreams for our neighborhood, and for our country.

The world changes so quickly.

On Saturday, the "skinny kid with a funny name" returned to Hyde Park, this time not for a book signing as a local author but as a President headlining a get-out-the-vote rally of thirty-five thousand people. My wife and I stood in line for an hour or so before joining the throngs on the Midway. Undergrads studying Latin textbooks stood behind us, while several older women gathered in front of us, campaign buttons pinned proudly to their overcoats. A family I knew from the U of C Laboratory Schools walked by, and we waved to each other.

A few days later, I awoke before dawn and walked across the street to vote as a resident of Chicago’s 4th Ward for the third and probably last time. I don’t know where I’ll be for the next election, but I’m sure I’ll miss the neighbors.

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(Election week bonus link! LSTC alum Paul Bailie ('08) posted an article this month in the Journal of Lutheran Ethics about political issues and preaching. Click here to read what he had to say.)

Equal Under the Scantron Machine

My internship site is a polling place. As I sit in my office and work on a sermon for All Saints Day, a steady stream of people have been walking past my window all day, off to do their civic duty. I am easily distracted while sermon writing, so I admit I have spent most of my day staring out the window, amazed at the broad swath of people coming to vote. Business people in sharp suits, single mothers with small children, older people, younger people, people pushing walkers and pushing strollers. What has captured my attention is the equality of all of these people in the action of voting. Everyone gets one vote, no more and no less. Our government is no paradigm of perfect representation, and we can talk about barriers to voting, hanging chads, gerrymandered districts and the like, but in its purest form there is something amazing about an election. In a nation so divided by race and class and access to power, we are all equal in the eyes of the great scantron machine that counts the ballots.

This week we are celebrating All Saints Day. This is a day for remembering, creatively enough, all of the saints. Not just the ones with great wisdom or knowledge or ability to perform miracles, but the ordinary, everyday saints as well. Saints like you and me. So on this election day in the middle of All Saints week, I remember that in God’s eyes we are all saints, all equal in the loving embrace of God.

Spy Games

I went undercover this week as an admissions person. Thinking I may be hanging out with lobbyists for Lutheranism, this was not my experience at all. I had the honor of visiting two schools in the Northwest with admissions people from Luther Seminary (Minneapolis), Pacific Lutheran (California), Wartburg Seminary (Iowa), and Gettysburg (Pennsylvania). There are eight ELCA seminaries working together to recruit all over the country; I was able to represent LSTC on this occasion. Not knowing what to expect, we were visiting schools, but also some houses for Lutheran Volunteer Core (one year opportunity to live in community and serve in social service settings), learning about what they do, their experiences, and asking what their next step could be after a year of unique service. The whole trip has been about vocation, “What are you called to do?” Talking with people interested in seminary, others interested in service, and some who just wanted a free pen. It was so interesting to hear the stories of people; how they came to school, what they believe and all the different interests they hold in and out of school. Admissions people have one of the bests jobs in the world, they hear people work through that crucial time of next steps, but I also realize how much they care. They are not working for the seminaries, but they really are working to make sure that you know what you need to know, and care so much about you going to the right place, even if it means saying, “you should talk to them,” or “they can do that better.” How cool to see people putting God and others before themselves, a true example of Christ.