tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352434112024-03-06T22:40:53.552-06:00The Seminarian's SojournA blog from the Office of Vocation, Admissions & Financial Aid at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, written by LSTC Seminarians.LTSC Webmasterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13628032322282630966noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-37457423040238452442010-01-03T17:30:00.000-06:002010-01-03T17:31:39.197-06:00Reflections on a cell phoneMy cell phone is turned off. This is probably not the most normal introduction for a first ever blog post, so I will go ahead and tell you also that my name in Kjersten Priddy, I am an MDiv Middler, and I am currently in Iceland for J-Term. And my cell phone is turned off.Seriously turned off. Not like on vibrate or silent in my bag or off for a flight to be turned on as soon as the flight Kjerstenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08988485929883845545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-2276141554494176332009-10-04T20:53:00.010-05:002009-10-04T23:10:29.105-05:00God's Dirty Work. Our Dirty Hands.The clearing rests in song and shadeIt is a creature madeBy old light held in soil and leaf,By human joy and grief,By human work,Fidelity of sight and stroke,By rain, by water onThe parent stone.We join our work to Heaven's gift,Our hope to what is left,That field and woods at last agreeIn an economy of widest worth.High Heaven's Kingdom come on earth.Imagine Paradise.O dust, arise!-Wendell BerryMatt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-71327385192322781052009-09-22T10:45:00.003-05:002009-09-22T10:57:16.392-05:00Everything I needed to know for Seminary…Kwame Pitts is one of our newest bloggers--look for her photo and introduction, coming soon! But for now...here is a first word from Kwame Pitts, Assistant to the Director of Advanced Studies & Registrar“The Beauty of LOMC” Picture by R. Pitts copyright 2009 @ all rights reservedSurrounded by darknessIlluminated by your LightMy soul touched by your VoiceAs the stars fallLoneliness I feltBut Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-44680328478527806892009-09-05T14:08:00.005-05:002009-09-05T17:57:24.532-05:00Beginning a Year of Earth Bloggin'As Pastor Joy mentioned previously, “Earth Year” has begun here at LSTC. “Earth Year” is a year in which the LSTC community will focus on greater theological engagement with ecological concerns. Throughout the year there will be many opportunities in our communal life to consider how we are being called to care for God’s creation and how the life of the seminary can further that mission. On the Zach Parrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691927198641711576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-13319858354723085702009-09-03T14:19:00.003-05:002009-09-03T14:22:51.086-05:00Earth Year at LSTCStudents are back! We're almost through Orientation week and have welcomed many people back to campus. Yesterday, we heard an inspired Inaugural lecture from Dr. David Rhoads and celebrated Eucharist with thanksgiving for God present in Word and Sacrament and the whole web of creation.Thanks be to God!Pastor JoyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-41621933727873237742009-07-31T15:00:00.002-05:002009-08-17T15:18:09.066-05:00rainbow trailRainbow TrailJuly 19th-25thBrahm Semmler-SmithThe final camp we visited this summer was Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp, situated on the side of a mountain in aptly named Hillside, Colorado. Sarah and I both worked at Rainbow Trail five years ago, and this was our first time back since we left that summer. We were excited to be back in the mountains at camp, visiting a place that had made such a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-34331584251327082312009-07-31T14:50:00.000-05:002009-08-17T15:25:07.842-05:00mountain ministryUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-68040866966927491992009-07-24T07:58:00.001-05:002009-07-24T08:01:33.346-05:00green lake bible campJuly 1, 2009Green Lake Bible Camp, Spicer MNCamp, Day 4Sarah Semmler SmithWe’ve arrived at the ‘flow point’ of camp today. The kids know the songs, the Biblical theme verse, and are genuinely excited to be here. Friendships are forming. Flirtations and mini-dramas are unfolding between teenage campers. The counselors have hit their stride with each other and with the kids, having learned what Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-54614705025896145282009-07-24T07:52:00.005-05:002009-08-17T15:33:53.405-05:00at the shores of st andrewsSeminarians are again at Camp this summer!--here are words from Brahm Semmler Smith:I spent my week at Shores of St. Andrews, one of the sites of Green Lake Lutheran Ministries. Shores primarily hosts elementary aged kids, and this particular week there were 150 campers, although half were only at camp for a few days. We spent a lot of time playing, praying, worshiping, and eating; all the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-16258636604467681132009-07-17T15:00:00.003-05:002009-08-17T15:23:29.762-05:00camp ewaluThis week Sarah and I spent our time at Camp Ewalu, in Northeast Iowa near the town of Strawberry Point. This was our first time at Ewalu, but we found ourselves able to plug into their program fairly easily. Ewalu is set up differently than any camp Sarah and I had worked at during our years on summer camp staffs. Firstly, Ewalu is situated on a 550 acre site, which means it spreads out – a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-16597494395283096832009-07-06T17:23:00.004-05:002009-07-06T17:38:31.191-05:00Thinking about vocation through historyWalter Brueggemann once wrote that "we are heirs to revolutionary imaginations and songs." But sometimes we are heirs to actual revolutionaries, too, faith forebears whose contexts forced them to give their lives for their faith.Last week, taking advantage of some summertime free time, I had the opportunity to visit two historical sites, one the home of a priest in the nineteenth century and theMatt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-80097069284056861552009-06-15T13:53:00.002-05:002009-06-15T13:56:05.428-05:00A Visit with Christ the KingWriter's note: In the fall I was part of the first-ever Mexico Semester, a study abroad program that any LSTC student is invited to take part in. While I've completed that program, during the spring my wife and I have continued exploring Mexico while she researches for her dissertation on religious devotion and I prepare for internship. The following is one of our many adventures.On Sunday we Matt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-34211192101714573882009-06-12T12:54:00.002-05:002009-06-12T12:59:03.492-05:00The Omnivore's Reading Choices“…and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself…” Mark 4:27I finally finished Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, after about a month of listening to it on audiotape. Chris and I are both reading (listening to) it, as we’d heard so much about its contents from various sources, but this surely marks the first time that I have finished a book Matt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-18010275251012674982009-05-29T15:18:00.001-05:002009-05-29T15:39:07.569-05:00Progressive PentecostAll of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:4A rush of wind and suddenly you’re fluent? If only learning a new language were always this easy.I’ve spent the last three years trying to learn Spanish. Back in 2006, when I first realized we would spend a year in Latin America, I started listening to audiotapes like a Matt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-81921266867841301722009-05-20T15:02:00.002-05:002009-05-20T15:05:08.325-05:00Cielos NubladosWhen he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. Acts 1:9Clouds. There are more of them here in north-central Mexico now, more of them then there were before. Vienen las lluvias – the rains are coming, announce the hardware stores. Showers of actual rain are still rare, but the cielos nublados, cloudy skies, with their nubes gordos, fat Matt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-62892758671491493822009-03-31T09:53:00.005-05:002009-03-31T10:21:54.765-05:00Internship is Walking Through a Large ColonAs internship assignment time approaches for Middlers, I thought a brief reflection on internship might be appropriate. And based on my experience, internship is like walking through a large, inflatable colon.And I don't mean that metaphorically. On internship, I walked through a large, inflatable colon. When I arrived at church this morning, a large, pink, inflatable, walk through colon greeted Zach Parrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691927198641711576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-24936147368335890842009-03-18T16:22:00.002-05:002009-03-18T16:27:33.653-05:00Lenten Meditation: 3rd Sunday in LentJohn 2:13-2213 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-65180995368882766322009-03-18T16:16:00.001-05:002009-03-18T16:21:48.431-05:00Senior Class GiftFor All the Saints: Fair Trade Paraments Celebrate InternationalCommunityKirsten Fryer, MDiv Senior When you walk into LSTC’s Augustana Chapel, you may notice that the window above the entrance is etched with a map of the world. At the bottom of the window, you see the words “For All the Saints.” This is a reminder that LSTC is indeed an international community. Our graduates serve as Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-32224723967354849092009-03-04T23:41:00.005-06:002009-03-05T14:37:38.889-06:00International Students' Cultural NightLast Friday international students at LSTC had a night of celebrating cultures, arts, dances and poetry from around the world. The night consisted of African-American Singing, a Turkish Movie, Hungarian Music, an Indian Song, Japanese Kabuki, a Chinese Poem, an Indian Dance, a Burmese Cultural Dance, various dress styles from Jerusalem, Ramallah and a display of various internatioanl greetings. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-34955691294471213502009-03-04T00:34:00.003-06:002009-03-04T00:47:52.427-06:00Open Mic NightLast Thursday we had an Open Mic Night where members of the seminary community showcased their talent (or lack there of). We had songs, dance, poetry, etc (see pictures). Each performer had a coin jar with their name on it, and we gave prizes to the top three performers with the most money in their jars.We are raising money for our Senior Class Gift. Every year the senior class at LSTC leaves theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-2079707209575729142009-03-02T23:00:00.003-06:002009-03-03T00:14:11.704-06:00Lenten MeditationsDuring the season of Lent, LSTC students, faculty and staff will be writing Lenten Meditations on the weekly lectionary texts. You can read these meditations here: http://www.lstc.edu/chapel/lent/ Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-39331550552144806102009-03-02T12:15:00.006-06:002009-03-02T12:41:12.295-06:00'The Transfiguration of Our Lord' or' Casimir Pulaski Day'So, about a week ago I preached on the Transfiguration at my internship sites in Knoxville, Tennessee. I ended up preaching on the Elisha/Elijah text. This text describes the journey of Elisha alongside of Elijah, during Elijah's last days on earth, before he is swept up into the heavens by a whirlwind.As I prepared to preach, I was drawn to Sufjan Steven's song, 'Casimir Pulaski Day.' The songs Zach Parrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17691927198641711576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-49661380854090234772009-02-22T21:30:00.002-06:002009-02-22T22:04:28.137-06:00Regional assignmentsThis is my senior year at LSTC. I was positively "Approved" for ordained ministry in December. Approval is the last step in the candidacy process. Now our senior class is going through the ELCA Assignment process to receive a first call in a congregation. Last week (Wednesday) we received our Regional Assignments. Our senior class gathered together in a worship service as we received the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-16391370296161662832009-02-07T11:30:00.003-06:002009-02-07T11:35:25.666-06:00Review of "Working on a Dream"Just for fun, I wrote up a sort of "theological review" of Working on a Dream, the 2009 album by one of my favorite musicians, Bruce Springsteen. Having good conversation about rock music, spirituality, and, well, Bruce Springsteen (thanks Rick!) is one of the things I've appreciated so much at LSTC.Bruce Springsteen’s new album, Working on a Dream, begins in a nightmare.It hits the ground Matt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35243411.post-36589787270634827742009-01-19T18:57:00.002-06:002009-01-19T19:06:52.260-06:00My Brush With HistoryAbove: One of the many independently-created t-shirts being sold in the parks and on the street corners of Chicago last summer.Some kind of disclaimer is in order, I suppose, for any post that begins with a big ol' photo of Obama at the top. While social change and the political machinery that effects it are critically important to my life as a Christian and as a future pastor, I usually I try Matt Keadlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849424815143933930noreply@blogger.com0