September 24,2014 – Al Stacer aka Old Man and the Seminary

 

So I have been wandering in the desert of Moodle.  I see signposts that might direct me.  As I approach them, the images fade and I think it may have been a mirage because I’m left grasping in the air and not touching anything of substance.

 

Echoes of “Are You Running with Me, Jesus?” rattle around in my brain.  That is a reference to a book by a Catholic priest or maybe a former priest who had taken up running which was becoming a popular thing to do in the ‘60’s.  So that phrase was leftover from the sixties in my brain, which was expanded then in other deserts, some of them academia.  Hey, I’m just glad I still have a brain.


Jesus, jeezus!  Am I running with you?  That does seem the more appropriate question.  Kind of like Lincoln’s response when told “God is on our side”; Abe said “Let us hope we are on God’s side.”

 

And so we do… Hope, that is… that God is… on our side… or inside us.  

Dear Lord, I pray that I may be granted sufficient serenity to set aside my impulse to rage, to get over my wandering thoughts and to focus… to focus on the task at hand, even when there are multiple tasks and my hands don’t work so well any more.  That reminds Lord, why do entering students at Columbia have to take a writing assessment test and to hand write something regarding, I believe, an interpretation of scripture?  Did we not write pages on the application and for the first 1.2 courses taken or in process?    Forgive me, Lord God Almighty, for asking so many “why’s” when my burden is really light and when I look around and pay attention, most everything I need is here.  I pray for patience and for discernment.  Give me this day my daily bread - physical and spiritual nourishment.  I find that I only need them EVERY DAY.  For patience, I pray that I may be an instrument of Your peace, that passes my meager understanding…  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

 

September 10, 2014           Preface & Apology

Upon graduation from high school in 1966 I went on an 8-week journey around the United States of America with my friend Carl Colby.  I maintained a journal which I called “Travels with Carly”, a tribute to a popular book by John Steinbeck, Travels with Charlie and a way to indulge my penchant for bad puns (are there any other kinds).  At UNC in 1968 I kept a journal for Dr. Ruel Tyson’s religion class about self-revelation considering the works of St. Augustine, Montaigne, Kierkegaard, Sartre and others I’ve forgotten.  About a decade later I found that journal as my wife and I moved from one abode to another and I reread parts of it with some curiosity.  The stream-of-consciousness style and the poor handwriting prompted me at that time to reflect how patient Dr. Tyson was and how kind his comments were for the writing that seemed to me 10 years later to be rather random drivel.   

It’s with mixed feelings that I begin another journal.  The bad handwriting issue is now overcome with digital typing capability (Thank you Lord).  The random nature of my thoughts continues with some mitigation resulting from years of discipline required to earn a living by focusing on a variety of problems and actually being required to suggest and to implement solutions.

That said a daily journal will be a challenge for me.  I will attempt to harken to a couple of Dr. Tyson’s gently inscribed suggestions to “Take a stand” and to “Go a little deeper”.  Some 46 years later that advice seems to hold up well and appears still to be sound.  I will endeavor belatedly to follow my favorite professor’s directions.

In consideration of my chronologically gifted status among Columbia Seminary’s class of entering students and as a reminder that good writing need not be verbose, I will call this journal “The Old Man and the Seminary”.

 

Tuesday, September 2nd   What’s In a Name?


The Chapel Service in Campbell Hall was inspirational – scriptures, hymns and homily with Dr. Skip Johnson exhorting us to “Go”.  The scavenger hunt was a fun way to learn about our campus and to get to know our fellow students with the aid of nametags.  Mine said:   

                        C O L U M B I A  THEOLOGICAL S E M I N A R Y
                                      
                                                  Alpha Stacer

WELL 
DONE

                                                     MAPT                               HL2

TRUE CONFESSIONS: my full name is Alpha Omega Stacer III.  There are stories that go with my name but suffice it to say it is a family name (The III is a dead giveaway on being a family name.)  I have embraced Paul Simon’s simple imperative suggestion in one of his songs, “You can call me Al”.   The short appellation “Al” fits into today’s lexicon more easily and requires less explanation than “Alpha”, which for most people, well, it’s Greek to them.

The nametag reminded me where I was and who I am.  WELL DONE as it turned out was a positive affirmation used to identify our scavenger group.  That was a relief.  My first thought was it was a comment on my age as if I were a potato.  MAPT is Master of Arts in Practical Theology.  I really like the name of our program – Practical Theology.  If there is any other kind of theology, I mean, what is the point?  HL2 remained a mystery until we had been at Camp Calvin long enough to be directed to our sleeping quarters, which was HL for the men and room 2 for Ki and me. (HL stood for H-something Lodge.  “H” was the beginning of somebody’s name like Henderson or Hart, but it could have been “Hunk” Lodge or “Hubris” Lodge, probably not “Humility” Lodge, however “Helpful” Lodge would be an appropriate reflection of my brief time in the big cabin.)

On Tuesday morning after chapel, Well Done (WD) and the other scavenger groups gathered to see our clues to plan our scavenging to collect some rich chocolate candy at different spots on campus.  WD headed down the Campbell Hall stairwell, but we were called back by Bobby who figured out a clue that directed him to the arts and crafts room on the 2nd floor where he collected the first gold foil wrapped chocolate.   Then we headed down to the first floor of Campbell.  Entering the business office, a teammate Unji introduced herself to me inquiring about my name.

Unji:  You are Alpha?
Al:      Yes.
Unji:  And you are Omega?
Al:      Yes.
Unji:  So you are God?
Al:      NO

Unji’s lilting flow of language added charm to her questions.  Since “Omega” was not on my name card, she made the connection with that word from reading “Alpha”.  Her question “And you are Omega?” was delivered with the hint of smile, so I assumed she was making a joke, but I answered honestly, “Yes”.  Her follow up with “So you are God?’ revealed what a great sense of humor she has.  To be funny in a foreign language seems quite an accomplishment.  Intentionally or not she also put me on the spot.  Did I think because of my name that I am God?  Well, I’ve known the answer to that at least since the ‘60’s when I read Stranger in a Strange Land and considered Heinlein’s character repeating to his fellow creatures, “Thou art God”.

I have heard only a little bit of spoken Korean and a little more of Koreans speaking English.  There’s a lovely lyrical lilt to their speech.  In February I attended a class on polity lead by Dr. Joan Gray as part of Seminary Weekend.  Because of some tragic circumstances in the Columbia Korean community at that time, Dr. Gray asked a Korean student to end the class session with prayer.  I do not understand Korean, but the sound of her voice praying was melodic and moving.  Maybe God is directing Koreans to this country in order for Americans (with ears to hear) to refine our language and possibly add some beauty to our speech?  I wonder what Americans speaking Korean sound like to those fluent in that Asian tongue?  Is there any hint of music or does it ring discordant?

 I look forward to hearing more of the varied accents at Columbia.

 

 

 

You can call me Al.  This journal contains some reflections about being at Columbia Theological Seminary and some events that l perceive led me to be here.  Some of these remarks were written earlier and are now being transferred to this site.  If chronology is important to you, check the dates in the body of the journal.  They'll be near the top.