Blur is a Blessing: The Days are a Whirlwind, Yet the Moments Spectacular

          Seminary life is absolutely crazy.  There is ALWAYS something to do whether it be more reading or the never ending amounts of writing, yet I find myself loving it.  Usually Mondays are a bit quieter because I only have one class, but that is also dependent upon how much work I've completed over the weekend.  Usually by Monday most everything is done, but occasionally there's that last thirty pages to read, it's just how it goes. 
          The last few days in particular have been a blur of craziness.  Wednesday I arrived to campus around 9am and went to the library for a few hours to work on a paper.  At 10:30 Seminary Singers gathered to do a brief warm-up and rehearsal, and worship started at 11:15.  At noon each Wednesday we have community lunch, and this week was the first that we were in our newly renovated green space in the basement of STH!  We've waited for this day, and we were excited to join together as we blessed our new space.  Class from 1:00 to 4:45 followed by a brief time to head to the library for a bit.  6:00 brought Hebrew Bible where we had F-18s from game one of the World Series fly overhead and shake our classroom right as someone mentioned something about God being angry on the scripture of topic.  We looked at the story of Rahab and the spies from a Sex and Gender lens, and I realized that I'd read the wrong materials for class (oops!!)  When class ended at 9:00, I went home, walking over the St. Mary's bridge I admired the lights from Fenway as I chatted with Dad on the phone.
          Thursday started with class at 9:30.  Class wrapped at 11:00, and I promptly went to the library to try and read for my Hebrew Bible class so that I might actively participate in discussion.  While at the library I wrote up an assignment about coded situations for another class and finished revising a paper due next week.  Discussion group started at 4:00, and my participation was slightly successful.  I wish I'd gotten through more of the reading, but the bonus is that I am well prepared for next week!  At 5:00 I went... yep, you guessed it, back to the library to work on my Exegesis paper for Hebrew Bible.  I have two resources that are absolutely phenomenal: an Accordance app on my iPad, and The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary on CD-Rom.  LIFE SAVERS!  I don't know Hebrew, and these two tools are useful in getting a bit closer to the original intention of the scripture I'm working with.  At 6:00 I went for Indian food for ThursGay.  Yes, you read that right, ThursGay; a group of LGBTQ people and allies from STH gather for supper.  I had to walk past Fenway to get to the restaurant, and I was approached three times by people asking if I was selling any tickets to Game 2.  Negative my friend,I couldn't afford a ticket to begin with.  At 7:00 I headed back up to the Tsai Performing Arts Center to listen to Bishop Gene Robinson as part of the Lowell Lecture Series through the School of Theology.  After the lecture, I went to the BU Pub to gather with some classmates, and then tried to beat the baseball rush home.
          Today I went to the library and did some school work, the bank and ordered checks, the post office and sent a package to Mamasan and Papasan (you should receive it on Thursday), the barbershop and got a haircut, the grocery store and bought more ice cream, and finally home to where I did school work, ate a salad for supper, and took a nap.
          Anyway, life is busy.  Sometimes I lose track of what I've done on one day because I do so many things.  But it is these moments in these days that I find absolutely spectacular.  To be a part of something when blessing the renovated space I will use for the foreseeable future was amazing.  I shared a moment with Odette, an Instructor in the Practice of Ministry and Director of Field Education at Pacific School of Religion, and she offered some phenomenal ministry advice.  Thursday allowed me to interact with new people in a wonderful way. 
          Bishop Gene Robinson is the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church (now retired), and he just returned from a meeting with the ArchBishop of Canterbury. He encouraged us to go out and be prophets to the world. He shared how God's church is big enough for everyone. He shared that we are all going to heaven, it's a done deal; so we only need to go into situations and do the best that we can. If we make matters better in a situation, we're going to heaven. If we happen to make matters worse in a situation, we're going to heaven.  He encouraged us to go into the church and blow things up (metaphorically of course).  Check out his lecture, http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4958196/events/2491928.  To be able to speak with such a gracious man for just a few minutes was an absolute wonder.  He has a way of making you feel he is your dearest friend with just a hand shake and a hug.  Hearing names like Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr. on a regular basis, coupled with meeting Rev. Gene Robinson has me feeling like I'm standing in the company of giants. 
           On the way home I met a father who took his son to Game 2. They left early when the young lad was falling asleep in his seat. The father was concerned when our train stopped and made us get off six stops short of our destination, he worried his son wouldn't have a seat on the next train that picked us up.  I helped them find the way to our waiting point for the next train, and simply explained to the man that sometimes the train you're on has its final destination change en route.  It's frustrating, but doesn't seem to occur too often. 
          Then there was the man I spoke to while waiting for the next train to come along and take us the rest of the way. He is originally from Boston, but had spent the last several years in Texas. He served as a lay leader in a UU church there, while also living in a vow of poverty. Here he works at an adult learning center during the day, at night he lays electrical line with a crew of workers. Eventually he hopes to go back to Texas, but for right now is calling Boston home. We started to talk when he noticed the UCC sticker on my water bottle and asked if I was a seminary student, and the conversation moved freely from there.  A twenty minute wait for the next train caused him to be late for work, but he expressed appreciation in having had some time to speak with me.
          For the walk from the T stop to home I chatted with a young woman who moved here from South Korea nine months ago. She's studying English at the Kaplan school while the rest of her family is back in South Korea. Our conversation covered topics such as snowfall and winter in Boston (it's the first for both of us!), the way the weather is changing, baseball (logically of course), and Halloween.  She exclaimed her excitement about Halloween, particularly that she is attending a party in New York City next week.
          Today I noted that it was time to bust out my winter hats.  With having shorter hair, I definitely feel the wind more, so my winter hats will be good for keeping my noggin warm.  I stopped at one time today to enjoy the sunshine on my face as I crossed the St. Mary's bridge to school.  For a moment, the world stood still.  The traffic around me and below on 95 ceased.  The noise stopped.  I simply was.  When I opened my eyes again, I looked up to see Marsh Plaza.  It's so perfectly framed between the buildings of Commonwealth Avenue and the trees, I can't help but smile when I see it.  It reminded me that this time in my life will be over before I know it.  I want to savor it.  I want to make it a part of my journey that I will look back upon with joy and fondness.  I want it to last for as long as I need it to.  Joni Mitchell sings in the Circle Game, "We're captive on the carousel of time" as well as, "Take your time. It won't be long now.
'Til your drag your feet to slow the circles down."  Such true statements.  I wish I could drag my feet and make these experiences take just a bit longer in my life.  I cannot fathom that I'm already eight weeks into the fifteen weeks of the semester.  It doesn't seem possible.
          I sometimes feel guilty that I haven't done more of the exploring of the city that I had hoped to do.  But I'm also realizing that in doing what I did this week and engaging in conversation with new people is 'living life' for me.  The museums are great, but they'll be there when I'm on winter break and over the summer.  These moments when I encounter new people are more in line with what I'm here to do.  When I pour over my books in the library and unearth the meaning of a word or consider something in new light, that brings such a sense of accomplishment (and joy) to my life.  When I enter my home and hear laughter from the kitchen and stop to say hello, that's a blessing.  When I go to get my hair cut and the woman remembers what she did last time (this is only my second hair cut in Boston), I begin to feel more at home. 
Life is a blur.  But I'm recognizing that it's about finding the little moments in life where time stands still and you feel a difference.  Blur can be a blessing. 

This weekend Oma and Momma B come to visit.  It will a spectacular weekend where I'll actually make it to an art gallery/museum and enjoy some seafood.  I'm very excited for them to be here!  REALLY! 

BONUS track: Things I saw on the T this week...
1) A woman standing and knitting on a VERY crowded T.  It may be a slight safety hazard.
2) The man passed out with three empty beer cans under his seat.
3) The man performing yoga stretches in his seat.  It was quite impressive.