Chain Mail

When I was in elementary school a friend invited me into this chain mail...let's call it enterprise. It was a well developed system where you are invited in and subsequently have to send postcards to five or so different people. If you know me, you know I have a hard time remembering my childhood, so most of these facts could be wrong. Anyway, you send five postcards and end up getting like 25 back from all over the country. I agreed to do it and lazily sent out the cards. I didn't write much on them and didn't bother to get cool postcards to send. This backfired on me when I began receiving postcards from all over, cool postcards with little stories about who the people were and what they did. I guess I didn't quite understand the excitement and openness with which one should pursue such an endeavor. Since then I've denied access into an underwear chain mail and some sort of bread in a bag chain (sorry Katie). But today I may redeem myself just a little.

Brandon Barker was kind enough to tag me in something called 123, Meme. Here's the rules:

123 Meme Rules: (1) Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating! (2) Turn to page 123. (3) Find the first 5 sentences. (4) Post the next 3 sentences. (5) Tag 5 people.

Here's what I found:

Once a work has been cited in full, subsequent references to it should be shortened in form. These forms are fully discussed and illustrated in 8.84-96.
BOOKS
First, Full Reference
8.23 With some exceptions, such references to legal, classical, and biblical works and to certain classes of public documents (see chapter 12), information in notes citing a published work for the first time is given in the sequence indicated in 8.24-5.

8.24 For a book, the first, full reference should include the following information in the order shown:
Name of author(s)
Title and (if any) subtitle
Name of Editor, compiler, or translator, if any
Number or name of edition, if other than first
Name of series in which book appears, if any, with volume or number in the series
Facts of publication, consisting of
Place of publication
Name of publishing agency
Date of publication
Page number(s) of the specific citation

Wow. That was horribly boring and taken from A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian. You kind of wish you hadn't tagged me, huh, Brandon? Or that my computer wasn't in the dining room, while most books are kept in the living room. Interesting books, too. It does go to show that I'm still a graduate student, even though I'm barely working on my papers. A couple interesting facts about this book and its relationship to my studies: For one class this was the only assigned reading, and we were assigned portions of it to read. Come on profession, you're not kidding anyone. Also, in the seminary a couple professors have the bad habit to calling the author, Katie. Her name is Kate and more so Kate L. Turabian. Just another subtle hint of the chauvinism that is prevalent in my school. To our own fault, Jon and I have called the same author Turbabeian.

As for tagging 5 people. I'll go with: Sarah Albertson, the Tramels (that's four people really, but I would be interested in what Ivy is reading), Tim Ryder, Allison Jackson, and Andrea Schmidt (because she has all but abandoned her blog but is always reading).

Lenten Posting

Where to begin.* It's just about halfway through Lent. My intention was to post quite frequently as I fasted and added different things to my life during lent, Lenten Life. For the third year, Jon and I are giving up sweets. After pancake day I gave our friend Danny our half used bottle of Nutella. Jon gives up sweets because I do. He also gave up video games and anything video game related and added reading through the Bible. I was meant to add reflecting in the form of journaling and letter writing and possibly blogging. Instead I have added 30 Rock Season 1 and fasted from research for my class. Bah. Not the Lent I had planned. One thing we're trying is the breaking of the fast on Sundays. Until now I have felt like this is cheating. I don't think good Catholics do it. But our pastor seemed to be promoting it, so we've been taking full advantage. I made devil's food cupcakes with ganache two weeks ago and a key lime pie this past Sunday. As well as giving me a chance to expand my baking knowledge, the Sunday break is also a tangible celebration of the Resurrection and a superficial piece of hope during the week. "This week's been hard, but Sunday's coming."

One thought I can't dislodge regarding Lent came to me while reading about the Passion week in the Gospels. I imagine Gethsemane was a private and familiar place of prayer for Jesus and his followers. This is where they gathered on his last night. It was here where Judas planted a kiss, a signal, on Jesus' cheek. From this place the ordeal began as they led Jesus away. I imagine a disciple coming back to that place after everything had gone down. Even after the resurrection, I imagine him walking in that place without being able to shake the violation it had undergone. Their private place of prayer was intruded and their leader seized. Gethsemane violated. I can't shake that sense of violated space. I don't think the resurrection could quite erase it for them. It's not about the safety of the place, but more the sense of relationship tied to the grove. When the crowd came to seize Jesus they took away the disciples' control over how they experienced that place. And I think for me it is less about application or relating it to my life, but more about sitting with the disciples and Jesus in that place and in those emotions. That a place is wrapped up in so much more than geographic location or function. But it carries with it experiences and emotions and relationships.

A couple weeks ago I finished a paper on the theme of rest in Psalm 95. It was by far more interesting that I had intended. The promised land is wrapped up in more than a deed to the land of Canaan. It carried with it the expectation and promise of the presence of God, the security from enemies, the end of slavery and captivity. And the land is synonymous with rest. For God to give the Israelites land meant a whole full life in the presence of God. And it got me thinking about working on a theology for refugees, those who must flee their land for matters beyond their control. Knowing the promises for rest and how closely they are tied to God giving the people their own land, what should the Christian community think about refugees. How should we interact with them and act on their behalf.

It got me thinking, which is what I need during this Lenten season. I'm moving quickly toward graduation and freedom from academia. I'll eventually need to figure out how I'm going to use these degrees. In the meantime you are invited over on Sundays for dessert.

*The photo is not meant to be overly emo. I had just returned from my first Ash Wednesday service where the inexperienced ash dabber made more of a unibrow than a cross on my forehead. In any case, you're not supposed to smile while wearing black and ashes and so I didn't.

Happy Pancake Day

Our 5th Annual Pancake Day celebration was a great success thanks to the Costco sized bag of pancake mix and the 30 guests who graced us with their presence. It was so great to have loads of people over from different parts of our lives. It was even better to be flipping pancakes and see friends from Church mingle with friends from school and have two different parts of our lives meet. This year we added doughnuts to the tradition from the best donut place in town--Annie's. If you couldn't make it there is always Cinco de Mayo to look forward to and in lest than a year there will be the 6th annual Pancake Day Party. Thanks again to our guests for making it such a great night.

Now that everything is cleaned up and I've had a good 9 1/2 hours of sleep, it's time for Lent to begin. This is the third year Jon and I are giving up sweets. This year I'm also adding journaling and writing letters as positive fasting (?). I'm looking forward to this time of reflection and sacrifice as I prepare for Good Friday and Easter. Have a Blessed Lent.

Fridays that Feel like Tuesdays that Feel like Sundays

Jon has a great joke about people who go on "cleanses." You know lemon juice and cayenne pepper and what not. They always seem to say, "Oh I feel so much better after my cleanse." Jon replies (fictionally because it's a joke and not an actual conversation), "Of course you feel good, you're eating again." I've read that a good dose of fiber and exercise will do the trick without the sting of lemon. As such, Jon and I have been on a bit of a health kick lately. We've been eating loads of salad and looking at the nutritional information on everything we eat. Before Jon came down with a cold this week we were walking regularly. Look at us, models of a healthy lifestyle. It could only go so far until I got the domestic urge to bake some cookies. So now we've got salad and cookies. A healthy balance in my opinion. You're welcome to stop by and claim your share of chocolate chip cookies. I know Jon owes our friend Andy cookie backpay for the rest of his life, due to his almost complete consumption of the cookies Andy's grandma express mailed him in college. That's a Sanchez story worth hearing. When you do make it over, it would be helpful if you had some motivational words for me. I've been severely slacking in my studies. I've got a rough draft of my first paper due Monday and nothing but theories floating around in my head. "What is the Hebrew word for rest?" It will be hard to convince my professor that I was researching the concept of rest in Psalm 95 by watching both series 1 and 2 of The Office (British Version). Maybe if I had taken a trip to Israel to survey the Holy Land, one possible definition for rest. Though it seems, no one is enjoying much rest these days over in Israel if that's what the Psalmist meant. And if I could muster up enough discipline I'd be convinced that I'd only truly rest once the paper was written. At least, I'd rest for a bit. As for now I'm letting things stew in my head in the hopes that something brilliant to pop out when I start putting words on the page. Wish me luck.

All Apologies

I wish I could say this is why I have not written in quite some time. Last week marked my return to class and this time will be the last time. This is my last semester and last class to be exact. I'll be graduating in May, Lord willing. Over the break I was sure I would get to all those things I couldn't find time for during the semester. Instead I read, a lot, and played some guitar hero, and visited family. Now it's work and school and ministry and calling friends on the weekends, "do you want to hang out?" Some exciting things are in the works for the Sanchez family. We will be graduating and moving out of married student housing come this summer. We have a niece and nephew popping up into the world around April and May. We're excited to meet them. We are starting to plan a trip to Japan. (Of course, right. Of course Jon is going to Japan. I'm stoked, too.) We're into our third year of marriage, having celebrated our 2nd anniversary and laid to rest our newlywed phase. We're goofing around, having fun, yucking it up. For now Jon is student teaching and showing 8th and 9th grade English all he's got. He's good at it, too. I've just set out my academic course for the semester. I'll be writing three and reworking one research paper(s). The following are my topics:
Psalm 95: The reinstatement of Rest
Ephesians 3:10: The Cosmic Agency of the Church
The Cosmology of Paul: Understanding the heavenlies of Ephesians
Veneration of Saints and Martyrs in the Early Church: A look at the theological development of sainthood and its implications for modern Christian community

I'm pretty excited about these as some are topics I've been wanting to chase down for awhile. I start officially researching for Psalm 95 tomorrow. And I've missed you. It's good to be talking again.

Moving at the Speed of Unproductivity

I turned in my last paper on Wednesday after turning in my last two "take-home" finals that morning. I took the rest of the night off, then the next day I went to work. The next day after that I went to work. And tonight I'm going to work. I did get a glimmer of hope and relief knowing that I had finished the semester, but the rest of my life seems to be moving right along at the same pace. Ah, well. I can't complain, because if given an actual day off with no obligation at work or church or home, I'm not sure what I would do. Now that I can't default to schoolwork with my freetime I'm opting for cleaning the bathrooms. Lame. Recently, though, I've been thinking about they rhythm of the seasons. During these winter months when you get about 2.5 hours of sunlight/graylight it's easy to get gloomy and depressed right along with that cloudy sky. The other viable option would be to let the low light lull you to sleep. What if God planned for this time during the year as a means of rest when you lay low, go to bed early and sleep late? I've been getting more sleep these past few months, and I think, as a result have yet to catch a cold. Coworkers, family, fellow students, friends have all managed one or two colds by now, while team Sanchez remains strong and healthy. I think it's the sleep. Because if God wanted us to slow down during winter, when the cold/sickness threat is at its highest, and his means of doing so was turning down the lights, but we ignored such an opportunity and kept running at the same pace we're messing with the created order. We're going to end up sick and depressed. But, if we go with the rhythm of winter and read and nap and sleep in and come close to hibernation, well we could be on to something here.

I'm trying to think through what my life would be if it was perfectly unproductive. On one side I want to accomplish great things. I want a biography written or at least a small memorial article that would feature the handful of things I did. On the other side I'm tired and want some of that Sabbath-rest, especially after writing a paper on Sabbath-rest in Hebrews 4. So somewhere between going to work, cleaning our soap-forsaken house, writing christmas cards and scrambling to get some christmas gifts together, i'd like to sit back and do nothing. here goes.

final countdown

it is my goal to not post until i finish finals. wait a minute. i wonder if this qualifies. shoot. talk to you later.