Catch Phrase

It comes every year on the last day of October. It's the day before All Saint's Day. You dress up and get lots and lots of candy.

Yep, it's Halloween!!

If you guessed correctly, which I'm assuming you did, then you might consider playing a game of catch phrase with me. It would make me extremely happy.

Halloween as a child

I am dressed as a lamb and Amara is Lot's Wife - a pillar of salt. You know your Dad is a Bible professor when ... Well, I suppose he was a preacher at that point. 

Wow, I sure miss these guys. A year ago yesterday we all dressed up as each other for Halloween. It was so much fun. I even died my hair red for the occasion. Unfortunately, I didn't dress up yesterday. There were no parties to dress up for. We did, however, go to G&D's where I had a scoop of "Nightmare on Clarendon". It was vanilla ice cream with sweets, specifically for the spooky holiday. We came home, had more sugar, drank some coffee and played catch phrase for hours. Thank goodness for JoAnna, who loves that game as much as I do. It's amazing how many times Jesus can come up in a word game.

The weather here feels very much like fall. It's cold and wet dismal. Yellow and orange leaves flutter and fall to the ground as trees bend and sway in the wind. I cannot believe that today is November 1st. We have just over a month left here, and I'm not yet ready to leave. I'll just enjoy it while I can.

Hate is a Strong Word

I woke up bright and early this morning and got ready to go to church. I wasn’t the only one, either. We were all bundled up, umbrellas in hand to shield us from the rain. I pulled open the front door and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a sign posted on the outside. “Saturday: set clocks back one hour.” With a heavy sigh we all trudged back upstairs, lamenting the last hour that could have been spent sleeping. None of realized that it was already time to “fall back”. So here I am with an hour to wait until it’s once again time to set out. On this dreary Sunday morning I am sitting here impatiently. I suppose that makes this a good time for reflection.

We had a worship time in Girona while our group was in Spain. We talked about being a better community and loving each other more fully. Our main scripture was 1 Corinthians 13. At the end of the service we split into groups and confessed something that we don’t do a good job with. As I’m reflecting on this a bit I realize:

I am not patient, I am not kind. I do envy, I do boast, I am proud. I am rude, I am self-seeking, I am easily angered, I do keep record of wrongs. Sometimes I don’t rejoice with the truth. I don’t always protect, always hope, always persevere. Often, I fail.

Another verse that has been running through my head is John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” People will know we are Christians by our love. Ultimately, Christ’s presence within me will be evidenced by my love. In Corinthians, Paul defines love for us. I’ve examined myself and been found wanting. It’s apparent that I need to work on loving others. For if I don’t love, not much else matters. I realize that I am not a terrible person. Even so, I fall short of the glory of God. Love is redeeming, and I’m not really all that loving of a person. There's a song that I sing sometimes, "Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like you." I find the lyrics amusing, but it's true, isn't it? I don't hate but sometimes I really dislike, which means I'm not loving.

Though I need to work on so much in regards to loving others, I have recently recognized one area in which I am particularly weak. I am not a very patient person. I don’t like to wait on people and I get excessively anxious. I like to be doing something and I therefore get nervous when I’m just standing around. And so my prayer this morning, in this time of waiting, is a plea for greater patience and a fuller love.

I want to love more fully

Power of the Music of the Night

Yesterday took me once again to London. We went with our class and toured the Houses of Parliament and went to the British Library. Just as I had earlier this summer, I headed straight over to the Lindisfarne Gospels. I was immensely happy to find it on display this time. During the summer I was able to flip through a hard copy of the book and yesterday I saw the actual book. It is so beautiful and such and amazing work. I also spent a large portion of my time pouring over the Codex Sinaiticus, trying to make out the Greek words. I was once again struck by these amazing expressions of faith.

My Bible is sitting right here on my desk. I have another Bible tucked away inside of a drawer back at home. I do not treat my copies with the same sort of reverence afforded by those of past days. My Bible is not ornately illuminated as the Lindisfarne Gospels or the Gutenberg Bible are. Nor is it painstakingly hand-copied like the Codex Sinaiticus. This appreciation for sacred literature is evident when viewing the works of other religions as well. Sultan Baybars’ Qur’an and the Golden Haggadah represent painstaking efforts to record the works of a religion.

These amazing pieces illustrate the ways in which one person affects many and the roles that religion can play in creating and disrupting community. Many of these manuscripts were painstakingly hand-copied and illustrated. I can imagine a monk or some other scribe copying every word of the entire Christian Bible, praying not to make a mistake, and then lavishly decorating every page. The process is simply mind-boggling. However, it is in part because of these dedicated people that Christianity spread across the globe. One individual may have dedicated his life to the production of one book. One book which in turn benefited a community, indeed Christendom as a whole. How amazing!
After attempting to absorb the richness of the treasures in the Library we all met up at the Houses of Parliament to tour the Westminster Palace. The interior is beautiful and we were given a wonderful insight into the inner-workings of the British government. Security was strict and we even had to wear little badges with pictures of ourselves that were hastily taken by security.

Several of us walked through St. James' Park and by Buckingham Palace before heading to dinner. We continued the ACU tradition of going to the Texas Cantina. This is housed in the old Texas Embassy and their slogan is "Texas to Mexico via London". I was so happy to eat delicious Mexican food and sign my name on the map of Texas. There's even an ACU flag hanging up in the restaurant alongside the flags of other Texas Universities.

The evening ended wonderfully with The Phantom of the Opera. It was an amazing show, though the story really is fairly creepy. The set was amazing and the singing was beautiful. We had a wonderful time and I even sat close enough to the stage that I could make out the actor's expressions. The songs were overwhelming and truly filled the entire room, sweeping through the audience and rendering all speechless. Several of the people I was with were brought to tears (Lion King is still the only one that's impacted me like that). Nevertheless, there is something about the music of the night that draws one inescapably in. This scary story takes flight, in my opinion, simply because of the floating notes of each song. Thank you Mom and Dad for an awesome birthday present!

All in all, we had a wonderful day and today I am back to slaving over my homework. Not fun, but the wonderful experiences that I'm having are worth the sometimes intense workload.

A Quick Prayer

Christian worship is probably my favourite class that I am taking right now. One of our assignments for this class is to spend forty-five minutes in prayer every week. We read a chapter from Richard Foster's "Prayer". This week I prayed the prayer of adoration and part of my prayer journal came out as a poem of sorts.

Drizzling rain streaks across the windows
Cutting a silent path down the foggy panes
My heavy eyes mirror this action
And dark settles all around me
It’s hard to praise, hard to thank
The world is drear and dismal
So I close my eyes
And ask God why
Why must the sun leave the sky?

Each night the world is plunged
Into darkness as shadows rule the land
Even so I am called into thankfulness
For the night purifies and cleanses
Refreshing me for coming days
And as I send my praises upward
I am lulled to sleep by a soft drumbeat
The quiet patter of rain

Morning breaks and with the new day
Comes light and bright and beauty
I lift my head and softly tread the stairs
Pulling open the front door
And stepping into a bright, chilled world
Leaves crunch underfoot
Filling the air with the sounds of fall
Red, orange, yellow and pink drift crisply to the ground
Covering the glistening sidewalk with a fiery carpet

My thoughts and gaze are drawn heavenward
The hues of God’s glory demand my thanks
This morning I lift my hands upwards
Reaching for God and feeling Him here
In the leaves, in the dew, in the mist that swirls before me

I must cannot help but praise the living LORD
Because He creates
Because He loves
Because He is

The Cross is everywhere

G&D's Anyone?

The Lewis Brothers' Common Room

So I am apparently not great at this whole blogging thing. I just get so caught up in everything else that I have to do and put this off. I know I said more on Spain was coming up, and it still is. Just not yet.

Today we had a sort of roommate night, which was a lot of fun. I had never met JoAnna or Erin before coming to Oxford, and we really have a ton of fun together. We just walked around the town, enjoying the brisk air. Our wanderings took us to G&D's, a delightful ice cream shop here in town. I had a brownie sundae that was absolutely delicious. Imagine a huge brownie with chocolate chunks topped with a scoop of ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles and hot fudge sauce. Ah, so yummy.

Yesterday our class went out to the Kilns and C.S. Lewis' grave. It was a lot of fun and a great experience. His grave was very interesting and in its way so different from Tolkien's grave. While Tolkien's grave had been adorned with flowers, action figures, poems and t-shirts, the grave of Lewis was simple and unassuming. The Kilns is the house in which Lewis lived for three decades and later died. Behind the house is a lovely woodland walk complete with a pond and horses. It's a sort of mini-Narnia. One of the great things about Oxford is this chance that we are given to experience that which great people of our world have experienced. I see first-hand the places that inspired these literary giants and find myself inspired.

Outside the Kilns

I, once again, have a lot on my plate right now. I'm not sure that things are ever going to actually lighten up. On Friday the entire group will head to London. I have a colloquium paper to finish by Monday. Those are the two big things on my agenda right now.

C.S. Lewis' Gravestone

Top Ten of Spain

Alhambra

Winding down the narrow cobble-stone streets of Girona. Relaxing in the sunny blue of the Barcelona beaches. Gazing up towards the forbidding stone Alhambra. Driving through miles and miles of olive groves. Attending mass in the cathedral of Avila.

Spain has been a wonderful and fascinating experience. Nevertheless I'm so happy to be back in Oxford. It feels like home once again and two weeks is a long time to live out of a suitcase. We had some awesome experiences along with some slightly unpleasant ones. And so, as a taster of Spain, I present the top ten best and worst experiences of Spain.

1) Fireworks on Avila's old city walls

2) The "melting" towers of the Sagrada Familia

3) Gelato (the best was in Girona)

4) Our "hotel" in Avila (the residencia of a Dominican monastery)

5) Lookout point in Granada's moorish district that provided a postcard view of the Alhambra)

6) Sunset over the Pyrenees

7) Free meals in Avila (delicious beef and potatoes)

8) Paintings from history books in the Prado and Reine Sofia (Guernica and the 3rd of May)

9) Relaxing in the shade in the old fort of Girona's city walls

10) Finding Joel's Christmas present and getting it back to Oxford

1) Pickpockets in Barcelona (don't worry, I still have all of my stuff)

2) Clouds of cigarette smoke, which envelope entire cities

3) Creepy Spanish guys next door to our hotel room

4) Trying to speak Spanish (I didn't underestimate my Spanish proficiency - truly non-existent)

5) Horrible allergic reaction in Granada (my eyes swelled shut)

6) €4.70 coke bottles across from the Sagrada Familia

7) Watching six bulls die (fascinating experience, but I think I'm done with bullfights)

8) The key situation (one key to five people can be tough)

9) A turbulent plane ride with a terrifying landing

10) The entirely too long bus-ride lecture on our way to Avila

I'll have more on Spain soon, but right now I'm exhausted. It's time for me to slip under my covers and drift off to sleep.

Barcelona beach

Captain's Log, Stardate 10208.4

"Here comes the sun"
(photo by JoAnna)

"Mission: to boldly go where no man has gone before". Actually, I'm just going where no Childers has gone before - Spain! But I'm still really excited about it.

We leave the houses in about two hours. Then it's on to Barcelona, Toledo, Madrid and Avila. I'm probably most looking forward to Avila. We'll be there on St. Teresa of Avila's feast day. It will a wonderfully unique experience and I believe this trip will be both educationally and spiritually formative.

Unfortunately, I have to do a presentation to the group for the honours colloquium. My group had to make a brochure about Barcelona and we are basically the tour guides for that city. As it turns out, I'm not a huge fan of talking in front of people, and I'll be using a microphone on a coach. Ahh!

Speaking of "ahh!", I got another parking ticket yesterday. My first two parking tickets and I'm not even in the same country as my car. Curious as to how that might happen? I shall point you to my father. In addition, my bank is really giving me a hard time. I know that everything they do is to protect my money, but it is certainly getting to be a hassle.

But on to sweeter things. Yesterday we baked some more of the apples. Once again, they were delicious. It's truly feeling a lot like fall over here. I love it, though I feel like I kind of missed out on the summer. Oxford in the fall is beautiful. The weather has been very crisp, cool but not rainy.

Delicious baked apples