#10 Canterbury Road

Marian visitation at Protestant seminary

Hey folks. Now, not to give you the impression that all we do at Princeton Seminary is party. We also study. A lot. So we need to release some of that stress. In creative ways. My floor had its annual party, a twenty year running tradition usually involving a nerdy theme and dressing up. It's all for charity too, which may sound ironic, but why not give something back, right? I was the only one who stayed true to the costume part of the tradition this time around. I thought y'all might appreciate my philo-Catholic set-up and get-up.

You can see this fine pic of me and "Virge" (as she is lovingly called) , a fixture on the Seminary campus. Though, technically, it was a Protestant robe, it did have doctoral stripes, which makes it that much cooler. I had to sleep with someone who works in the chapel to get ahold of that gem, but it was worth it. All in a day's work. I did receive some confessions (seriously) and taught two people to say the Hail Mary. Not too many good pics of the room, but I had some of those cheesy grocery store candles, with Nuestra Senora de Guadelupe, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, JPII (aka the last pope) and some other winners. I served sangria (Nicole's and my own recipe, first concocted in London) and, of course, Bloody Marys. Believe me, it was going to be a lot more sacreligious than that, but I showed "restraint." Everyone who got a drink had to light a votive candle, I had incense burning, and I "may" have been smoking cigarettes to complete my reprobate priest ensemble. Smoke detector was
disabled. I definitely had the best room, and you'd be surprised how many people can fit in an eight by twelve foot space. Got some good mass settings, a little Gregorian chant, some Taize. It was one hell of a soundtrack. Dance, dance, Counter-Reformation. Call me Sadoleto, baby. That's Cardinal Sadoleto to you, beeatch (not that I expect anyone else to know who that was...). And the caption on the flask in the picture below reads "What wouldn't Jesus do?"

In other news, things in general are going alright. This is a quick semester for us, and we'll be taking finals in just four weeks. Summer plans: work with the chaplain at a hospital in Trenton while hopefully living in an "inexpensive" sublet in Princeton. I am really excited about this chaplaincy thing. Something about this particular site just felt right when I visited, sort of like the feeling I have seeing you all after a long separation -- if that makes sense. The chaplain has cerebral palsy and needs a Rascal to get around, so he has a very unique set of challenges he has had to overcome himself, and therefore an interesting story from which to approach being with people who are suffering and dying. The idea of being with people in such trying circumstances appeals to me. I'm not morbid, but I feel that our culture and the brand of Chrisitanity into which many of us were were indoctrinated (and I don't necessarily use the word negatively -- every institution, even God-forbid Oxford University, indoctrinates its members) tends to hide us from pain and suffering, to anesthetize us to what is perhaps the mostly profoundly human of experiences. I don't want to be sheltered. I want to be around suffering, which has become very important to my theology. That's why I love Jurgen Moltmann (a theologian, if any of you know who he is...)

During the next academic year I will do another "field education" at Religions for Peace, a non-profit in New York across the street from the UN, which runs various programs intended to create inter-relgious dialogue, understanding, and cooperation in dealing with societal issues and disasters (like Hurricane Katrina, which will be the focus of my project). Inter-religious dialogue is an important issue for me too, particularly given my interest in the Islamic world. I may apply to the Near East Studies program at Princeton University after I'm done at the Seminary.

On that note, assuming things don't go to hell between now and June (so far so good, Hamas hasn't done anything abnormally crazy since they came to power), I'll be making a trip to Israel and Palestine this summer, a "fact-finding mission" where my group will meet various interest groups on both sides of the issue (lower-level political leaders, mosques, synagogues, churches, families, NGOs, a kibbutz, etc.). I am very excited about this opportunity, as I have been interested in the Middle East, and particularly the Palestinian problem, for several years. I optimistically bought some books and tapes to teach myself a little Arabic before the trip, but it looks like that will have to wait until the busy semester is over (although I learned a phrase or two that, while not useful, are fun). Hopefully I can teach myself enough Arabic to order falafel, communicate with taxi drivers, and BS about the World Cup with Arab men in coffee shops. "England yiksab kas il 'aalam! Maashi, yimkin Brazil yikoon aHsan min humma, laakin ana yimkin iza humma yikoon maHzooz!" trans. (and this is really bad Arabic): "England will win the World Cup! Okay, maybe Brazil is better than they are, but maybe they will get lucky!"

Okay, enough random stuff for now. As I will be remaining on the East Coast all summer, I would, as always, love to meet up with some of you who are in the neighbourhood. You know where to find me.

posted by Zack @ 4/02/2006 04:45:00 AM