Like and Love, Ramblings of a Theologian in Progress

I should have paid more attention in my Reformation Theology course. Let me rephrase that, I should have realized how subtle the wording among the various denominations of the Reformation are(specifically the Magisterial and Radical varieties) because those differences are beginning to become very apparent. Looking for a new church home is exhausting (partially because walking to most churches is 45 minute ordeal both ways). Being a fairly liturgical, progressive Baptist in Northeast Scotland is down right impossible. If you find yourself in this position, you might ask yourself, "Does the said church I'm visiting have/do the following?" The initial list: - do we sing with a hymnal or with a projector? - is there a worship band? choir? organ? - will I have to greet people at some point? - how long is the service? - is the sermon going to be something other than a dry exegesis? The nitty-grittier stuff: - What are your views on women in ministry? - A...

Now that we have internet (YAY!) it's become apparent that the Scottish Referendum taking place at this very moment has become more of an international news story than I previously thought. It's one thing for NPR to be writing about it- that's part of the reason I like reading NPR. However- 1. The Daily Show had one or more segments on the vote 2. Stephen Colbert dressed in full kilt garb for a segment 3. Simpson's character Groundskeeper Willie has a short video on why Scotland should become independent To say that it's the main topic of conversation on Scottish news is an understatement. There are windows proudly waving Scottish flags with "yes" on them. The billboard of the way to the grocer's has a "yes" advertisement on one side and a "no" advertisement on the other. We've received numerous pamphlets through the mail slot. This past weekend a campaigner even came to our door to ask Jack how he was g...

I’m so close to having a consistent internet connection. So very close. We’re at a week without a consistent connection, which wouldn’t seem that terrible except it’s the longest I’ve gone without one and it’s one of the few points in my life where it really is advantageous to communicate using the web. But while Jack is on campus for orientation, I have a reason to also be on campus. I struggled with the wi-fi on Tuesday and after 40 minutes I was finally able to connect. Sadly, my iphone took all of 40 seconds. Too bad I can’t do all of my research and writing from a phone. I’ve been promising our families pictures of our flat since we got here last week. Hopefully this will get passed around so that everyone can see. Outside Aberdeen is the gray city. It earns this reputation because everything is carved out of the same gray granite stone. Unfortunately the sky is gray and cloudy 75% of the time. I, however, like overcast weather and the cool temperature is suiting ...

I blame Tom Petty for finally feeling overwhelmingly homesick. In reality I should blame my subconscious, but I live with that constantly and the likelihood that I’ll ever meet Tom Petty is low. The last three days have been a whirl of frenetic energy. We arrived after almost 15 hours of travel (Luftansa is amazing by the way) and Chris, Sarah, and Kelli greeted us, helped us get our things inside, and then wisely put us on a bus to go get lunch and bed linens. I don’t remember much from our first day here. I’m surprised that I can recall how to get to the grocery store because of how little sleep I had gotten in the last 24 hours. But we stayed up until 9 pm and I fell into a fitful first night’s sleep. The next day was clearer. I discovered that I had bought too large of bread for our toaster, but had toast nonetheless. Sarah led us downtown so that we could open up a Scottish Bank account (true story- the bank computing system doesn’t do suffixes so adding the III after Jac...

We are down to the 30 minute mark before the car that will take us to the airport picks us up. My life has been condensed into two 60 lb. bags and two carry-ons. I know I should feel anxious right now, but I really just feel exhausted. The last two weeks have been a flurry of movement. We moved out of our first home to move to another country. We've moved from one good-bye to another. I moved from an iPhone to a phone that would make a 2007 Blackberry look high tech. And so far I haven't cried (except when dropping off the cats). I've held it together because I know as soon as I realize the enormity which is about to happen I'm going to lose it in a very profound way. I'm relieved that by the point this hits me, we'll be on a plane and I'll hopefully have taken something to help me sleep on the way to Frankfurt. I wanted to write something profound as a "here we go" post, but I've been putting this off and suddenly I've run out of time ...