The Devil Made Me Do It (?)

I'm taking an exchange course at a very conservative seminary where everything seems to be about sin, satan, spiritual warfare, etc. This concepts are not primary in my theology; I'm more concerned about love, faith, hope, justice, etc.

Last week we went to a local park to experience God in nature. Easy assignment there. When we got to class, the prof asked people how they experience God or if they had to fight satan. I'm thinking: "Huh?" "Doh!"

I started my story about the park by saying I didn't have any problem with satan. The guy behind me, with whom I am having an indirect running dialog, he of the countercultist apologetic satan-focused school, started his story with satan. I'm thinking: "Whatever, dude."

Fast-forward from last Thurs. to last Mon. I'm at work and all of a sudden I start having this seizure-like activities. Only they weren't "true" seizures because I remained awake and alert (and cracking jokes, as usual) through them. I went to the ER via ambulance and after 3 days of tests, I have no neulogical damage, anad "they" don't know what happened. (As an aside, I am grateful to have NOT been diagnosed 'for sure" with seizures else I'd loose my license for 6 months. Sure, God would provide, but dontcha know it's all about the wheels, lol.)

So, I ask, do I leave room in my theology that it may have been satan, rejecting my rejection of said satan?

Stretching, or Asking for Trouble?

One of my seminary's requirements is to take at least one class in the arts. This may be music, writing, drama, singing, dance, etc. I am not the world's most artsy person. In fact, I still carry around that young child's voice of "you stink at art." It seemed everyone else could draw and paint and sculpt, but I could not. What I could always do is write.

So, I finally got up the nerve to sign up for an art & spirituality class. I was so thankful after reading the syllabus because one of the choices for a final project was to write a paper. Hooray; that I could do. The other two choices were to create a prayer book or develop one standalone piece of art. Those scared me to no end.

I started thinking about it and realized that writing a paper was really the chicken way out. Wasn't seminary, or any type of learning endeavor for that matter, supposed to help me stretch. How would writing yet another paper help me stretch. At that moment, I decided I would do a prayer book, and it is an item I value highly. It turned out I could combine writing poetry with modifying my digital images to turn out some very nice pages.

Fast forward. Another seminary requirement is to take a class at a different seminary. This poses several challenges, not the least of which that many of them are not geographically nearby. A few others are in the DC area but not in prime "go to school at night" locations. After factoring in the conservative nature of most of them, I was not left with many choices.

A course in personal spiritual development at a seminary I pass on my way home from work caught my eye. It sounds like an exceptional opportunity. I did not initially give it serious consideration because the seminary is probably the most conversative one in the consortium. I'm talking, not only do they believe women should not preach, they won't even let women take a preaching class! How could I possibly take a class there?

After a great deal of thought, I decided, how could I possibly NOT take a class there? If I want to be able to minister to people with a wide range of beliefs, including many that I may not personally agree with, what better place?

It should be QUITE the adventure!

Dallas Meets The Beastie Boys

We took a little weekend vacation into the city to see the sights and eat at nice restaurants. It happened The Beastie Boys stayed last night where we stayed. We were talking to their manager when he asked if we could hang in the lobby for a few until the guys came down b/c he knew at least one of the guys would love to meet Dallas. So, before going out for a bite, the Boys stopped by the visit with Dallas. It was pretty cool.

Spray Raid - Armchair Health Professionals

I recently got tsk-tsked by a TV personality and his fans on his myspace blog for daring to imply that people who are clinically depressed may not need to be counseled by myspacers but may just want people to LISTEN.

Mainly, people need someone to listen. They don't necessarily need suggestions, unless they ask for suggestions, or unless you have an existing relationship with them.

Much like a mother who miscarries does not need to hear "It's God's will" or "You already have 2 kids," someone who is depressed does not need to hear:

• Someone I know killed him/herself and I know if they had hung in there, things would have gotten better. You just don't know that things WOULD have gotten better.


• You need to just thank God every day that you have another day. Where is God when I am feeling this lonely?


• I know exactly how you feel. No, you really DON'T.


• When you are depressed, you should find a page on myspace that is really funny and then you will be okay. This is just about the WORST advice I've ever heard!

If someone wants advice, or posts specifically on a board that has the purpose of providing advice, that's one thing.

But to someone on the brink of suicide, innane comments like those above just may be what causes the person to pull the trigger.

Diagnosing and treating someone on myspace is much like diagnosing and fixing a car problem on myspace; you sort of have to BE THERE to do it correctly.

Inside AKA "Too Close To" The Beltway

My heart aches for those in Minnesota affected by the bridge collapse. It sickens me, being here in DC, that both of the major political parties immediately turned this tragedy into yet another exercise in finger pointing. Liberal commentators blamed Bush. Bush blamed Congress. Bush sent DOT sec Mary Peters to MN, like that's going to help anything. Better he should end the war and put the money toward this country's aging and dangerous infrastructure.

It is so nice to get away from here every now & then because being here can really wear you down.

Attend "Deep Shift" in the DC Area