Get Thee to a Study Hall

[qos]

I have just set a personal record for the most posts in a day since they turned off my LJ access at work. I am now going to shut down the computer and go read Evolutionary Faith: Rediscovering God in Our Great Story, by Diarmuid O'Murchu, which is one of my required texts for this weekend.

[BTW: does anyone know the correct pronunciation of Diarmuid? It looks beautiful, but I have no idea how to say it.]

O'Murchu and I are in basic agreement on some important concepts, but he gets there on an entirely different path than I do, and is spilling a great deal of ink to convey concepts that I have no trouble accepting but he seems to feel must be argued strenuously. I keep wanting to tell him "just relax!"

He also keeps bringing our spiritually-advanced ancient/primitive ancestors into the picture as the spiritual ideal, with a kind of reverent naivete I previously had associated solely with Neo-Pagan romantics.

There is actually quite a bit of Pagan-ish material in this book, especially in his discussion of the nature of energy, which could be straight out of a discourse on magic.

It's fascinating and annoying at once. I'm going to write my three-pager on it, because it's far more interesting than the bland The Active Life, by Parker Palmer. I can work up some enthusiasm for bringing my Pagan sensibilities into the paper -- always a fun undertaking at seminary.

So far no one has so much as lighted a match in my presence, so I feel pretty safe.

Comments

[queenofhalves]

So far no one has so much as lighted a match in my presence, so I feel pretty safe.

*guffaw*

"only pumpkin pies are burning"?

[qos.livejournal.com]

Yep!

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Being students, they'll have to do the research and conduct a test, first. I'd say you don't have to worry until they put you on a scale and see if you weigh the same as a duck.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Being students, they'll have to do the research and conduct a test

I think you need to re-examine your assumptions.
I'm fairly certain that the students where I go to school have very different protocols for investigating hypotheses than the students where you went to school.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Divinity students do research: that's what all those books are for. I mean, they don't pull *everything* out of thin air - that's for philosohy students to do!

And you're at a Jesuit-run school: if there isn't at least one experimentalist (or, at the very least, Unitarian!) I'll be very much surprised!

Which reminds me - you do know the one about the Jesuit priest, the rabbi, and the Methodist minister, yes?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd pronounce it Dermot.

[saskia139.livejournal.com]

Yes, "Diarmuid" can be pronounced "Dermot"--that's the Anglicized version. The proper Gaelic pronunciation is closer to "jermwidge". My character Dermot chose that as his professional name because Dermot was one of the Fianna, the roving warriors headed by Fionn mac Cumhall--which is the professional name of Dermot's partner.

[archyena.livejournal.com]

You're at a seminary?

[qos.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I'm in my second year at Seattle University, which is run by Jesuits, but is supported and has the official participation of 10 (or so) Protestant denominations as well. It's a fascinating and stimulating environment.

As the first and only Swedenborgian at the school (it's a very small Christian denomination), and as someone who is ordained as a Priestess of the Grail (in the Christo-Pagan Ordo Arcanorum Gradalis), I bring a unique perspective to my classes. So far, people have been very respectful and even appreciative of my background and sensibilities.

I started last year in the Masters of Divinity program, believing I was being called to be a minister in the Swedenborgian church. Much angst ensued in the Winter, as I struggled with a whole range of issues involving doctrine, whether or not I could really identify myself with only one spiritual path, and whether or not I could really expect to make a living in my region given the very small size of my denomination. (Details are all in LJ if you want to scroll back to February and March.)

Eventually I came to the conclusion that becoming a spiritual director was a better fit with my personal spirituality, my gifts, my personality, and the needs of my daily life. And the angst all vanished almost immediately.

Feel free to ask any questions that occur to you.

[archyena.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Religion, I admit, fascinates me. I, unfortunately, lack the necessary passion to really believe in it, though. Mostly it becomes post-modern to me: a repository of symbols I can trot out when needed to make a point or embellish an argument. The greater components of religion that everyone else talks about seems totally lost on me. Ironic being that I was raised in a religious environment with a grandmother who held a degree in theology.