Seminary Words

Okay, I added this fellow to my links list on the right sidebar over there, but I just had to include this particular link today. It made me laugh out loud several times. He writes about how Christians like to overuse their "one seminary word."

My favorite, although it's not a theological word, is "behoove." It's somehow added to everyone's theological lexicon as soon as they return from their first day of seminary. "I think it would behoove us to clean out the refrigerator tonight." There are some words you use that are ineffective, not because they don't mean exactly what you think they do, but because I'm so distracted that you actually just used that word.

My olde worship pastor at church started using this word when we first started studying Greek together. He used it 5 times in 5 minutes, and he didn't even notice. This was before he went to seminary, though - but he was thinking about the move at the time. I think the infection was that strong - even the inclination of seminary started shoving ridiculous words in his head.

Also have you noticed that very educated people often mispronounce words (esp. historical figures, places) just to be distinctive? They aren't ignorant, it's just that they think they've earned the right to tweak our pronunciation a bit. Athanasius. Galilee. You can't fool me, guys - I know Greek and Hebrew.

My personal downfall is outdated slang. But I suppose that's annoying on a different level.

Guerilla Gardening : How to Make Moss Graffiti

I want to do this. Soon.

Guerilla Gardening : How to Make Moss Graffiti

Gaither Moment 01

We got totally crashed (our way of saying swamped) at work today. One of my managers, Eric, likes to sing and make jokes so that we don't get too stressed out.

Eric: La chicaracha, la chicaracha...

Me: "la chicaracha"?

Eric: You know. Spanish.

Me: No. "La cucaracha."

Eric: Oh. sings La cucaracha, la cucaracha.

returns after singing for about five minutes

Eric: What does that mean?

Me: The cockroach.

a look of horror crosses Eric's face. He realizes he has been singing about cockroaches in the Latte Cafe.

I laughed. Eric didn't. As far as I can tell, what he was singing first translates to something like, "the girl gust."

Oh no...it is me.

xkcd.com

IBS...in Sunday School!

This coming Sunday our ABF/Sunday School class will begin our study of James. Steve Kester (our teacher/leader/what-you-will) sent us away a couple of weeks ago with an admonition I haven't heard for over 9 months now:

What I'd encourage you to do is to take get an electronic copy of James, take out all the chapter and verse divisions, and just read the whole thing.

I wonder if he could see my eyes widen in excited surprise.

We are doing inductive Bible study. I looked around the classroom, and I realized most of them had not the slightest hint of what we were getting into.

Inductive Bible Study (lovingly referred to as IBS) is a course required by every Religion major at IWU (as far as I know - it's at least required of the Biblical Literature majors). It's a class with an epic reputation. During this class, there is no family, there is no social life, there are no other classes. There is only IBS. The students are stationed semi-permanently in the library aisles lined with Bible study tools. They grab at your ankles as you pass by and plea pitiably for help. "What is the Strong's number? I can't find it." Sometimes they cry. Sometimes they have milk and cookie parties while they study from early in the morning until the library closes. Sometimes professors visit the aisles like they would an inner city mission, offering what assistance they can before they go to their next class and leaving the students even more despondent than they were before.

The students are learning exegesis, and for many of them, exegesis is the most awful, wonderful thing they will ever take away from their time at IWU. After you learn it in IBS, you inevitably have lather, rinse, and repeat for every Bible class you take during your time there.

I took a lot of Bible classes, as evidenced by my major. Like a lot of people, I grew to love the IBS process. I was one of the milk and cookies people - one that got A's on my papers, frequented the aisles to offer help, and did my Initial Observations on the Greek text. I miss it. I miss the camaraderie, the way you could feel your mind changing shape, and the piles of books all over the tables like a scene from Pagemaster. Most of all, I miss the "aha" moments. The moment you realize you had it all wrong. The moment God iconoclastically blasts away what you thought about Him, and puts the truth in its place.

I graduated December of 2008. School will be starting up again for some of my friends in less than a month. The freshmen will be innocently shuffling into their first IBS class. And I will be missing it.

I know I can do IBS on my own. I have done it a few times since I graduated - word studies, outlining, etc. Never a complete exegesis. I think it's because I have no accountability, no one to bounce my ideas off of, and that I'm a lazy bum.

So I have been a little down in the dumps about it...until Mr. Kester popped out of the blue with an IBS assignment. He told us to read through the book, outline it, and come up with some themes we saw emerging throughout the book. There were some furrowed eyebrows, because folks aren't used to studying the bible that way (except maybe my mom). I think it's going to stretch our class, not just in the amount of work it will require, but also in that it's going to challenge some assumptions they're going to have a hard time giving up. We started talking about authorship and canonical issues the very first day, and you could see people getting a little rankled. I think it'll be good for us, though.

I plan on keeping an update here of my study progress. Give me your feedback, and I'll take it back to class with me! Maybe that way I can blame shift, as well. "Well, one of my friends suggested..." "Yeah, it was a stupid idea, huh?"

I know I won't have the library, but I will have my Sunday School class. And maybe I can bring them some cookies and commentaries for old times' sake.

Beginning Aromatherapy

I have been trying my hand at aromatherapy for about 2 months now. I've learned a lot in a short amount of time! I've always been interested in homeopathic medicines and natural cosmetics, but it really had only been curiosity for the most part. A more intentional exploration/experimentation with aromatherapy started when I went with my sister Meg to a workshop in Massanutten, VA led by a crazy lady who thought that essential oils were divine and ought to be respected (worshiped?) accordingly.

We were both a bit incredulous, but a couple of things she said piqued our interested, and we liked how everything smelled. We also liked the idea of not lathering poison or preservatives all over our skin since it quickly becomes systemic, not just topical. My grandma always said, "Don't put anything on your skin that you wouldn't put in your mouth." While I know this rule can't be applied everywhere (how on earth would you garden? or clean up particularly messy...messes?), it makes you consider the ingredients in your lotions, shampoos, makeup, etc. a little more cautiously.

I thought, well, I will do some of my own research, maybe make my own essential oils. I went to the library as soon as we got home and got a book that implied we ought to pray to the herbs before we harvest them, and classified them into lunar, solar, and sacred categories. Hello, Vedic mantra!

I like aromatherapy. I will define it as, "the therapeutic, cleansing, or medicinal use of essential oils, raw plant materials, and plant extracts for ingestion, hygienic use, or massage." That is my original definition! You can source me.

I think that considering aromatherapy a spiritual art is dangerous ground, either in respecting essential oils as divine, or in using them ritualistically. The first of these is certainly pantheistic and, in my mind, idiotic. The second reminds me of Nadab and Abihu.

Anyway, I've learned a lot and had some fun in refining all the information I've accumulated about aromatherapy - keeping the gold and throwing away the dross. I've come to decide that aromatherapy certainly has a direct effect on people emotionally. A lot of research has been done to demonstrate that our olfactory senses are most directly related to our memory. For a nice summary, go here. The results of aromatherapy in this case are subjective. Peppermint might remind me of Christmas, and it makes me excited. Peppermint might remind you of that time you ate an entire pack of gum and got sick, and make you feel nauseous. I dunno!

Aromatherapy also has an obvious physical effect. Some essential oils are antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, stimulating, calming, cancer-fighting, etc. Essential oils are 100x more powerful than their raw plant form (don't quote me on that one, I don't remember my source), so taking them internally or topically can be really effective. Spearmint, I learned, is a powerful drug, and should not be taken indiscriminately. Watch out! Same with patchouli.

I had ringworm (ew, but it was from gardening, I swear), and it cleared up with two applications of tea tree essential oil a day. Score!

For me, the whole process is just...lovely. I have a routine now in applying all my products, and it makes me feel nourished, not stripped or sterilized. Here's part of my bathroom setup:

1. a bowl. I don't know what I'm going to put here. Some kind of cleanser - my bar is currently residing on the side of the tub.

2. refined white sugar. It's a super good exfoliator, but I little rough on my skin, so I only use it every couple days.

3. french green facial clay.

4. my mixing bowl.

5. my mixing spatula. Got it for $1.50 at GFR, my workplace.

6. my awesome golden jojoba oil. Just look it up yourself. This stuff is WICKED SWEET!

7. I put some lemon balm in the vase to make the bathroom smell good, and I put the zinnias in there because they make me happy. Aw. Pretty zinnias.

8. Mixed some tea tree and rose oil with water and lit a candle under it for some more good smells. I painted this myself - found it at a yard sale! I actually lit this because I had recently rubbed down the counter with citronella to ward away ants. I hate how that stuff smells.

9. my perfume! Found the bottle on Ebay, the scent is passion fruit in carrier oil (jojoba and sesame seed, I think). That's my deoderant next to it from LUSH.

10. raw cane sugar, because it's a much more mild exfoliator.

I got the colorful bowls, plate, and oil jar at a freaky store in Massanutten for $16. They were meant for dipping bread in seasoned oil, Meg says. My grandma gave me the tea cup tower for my birthday.

Anyway, that is where I am on my aromatherapy journey. I'm going to see if Meg will help me make some essential oils from our practically unlimited herb supply at Victory Acres. Maybe!

So I am a crazy smelly hippie, I know. But if you knew how great it was, you would be too. ^_^