Why you need to know about Asmara

This week, Trinity had the honor of playing host to Archbishop Mouneer Anis from the Diocese of Egypt. He stopped by the school on his way to deliver an address to the House of Bishops in New Orleans.

His gracious address, by the way, is well worth reading. You can read it by going here: http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/6132/

After Archbishop Anis celebrated the Eucharist with us, he told us about the Christians in his Diocese. The thing that struck me most during his talk (and there were a lot of things that struck me) was this: in the area known as Asmara, Christians get arrested for going to church. There are about 1,500 believers in jail now. Often, they're arrested when they walk out of their parishes after worship.

Archbishop Anis asked us to pray for Asmara. I'd like to ask you to do the same.

3 Prayers:

* For our brothers and sisters in Asmara, that they would not lose heart
* For the Lord to raise up lay and ordained leaders in the Diocese of Egypt
* For an anointing on Archbishop Anis

3 Thanksgivings:

* For the faithful witness of past and present Christians in North Africa
* For a week of beautiful weather in Ambridge
* For developing friendships here

That Pesky Fourth Commandment

Do you ever walk into a situation while asking yourself in bewilderment, "How exactly did I get myself into this?" I kind of felt that way this weekend. At first.

On Friday night, I found myself in a retreat center in Youngstown, Ohio, preparing to spend 24 hours with a few dozen people who serve in prayer-related ministries at a Pittsburgh church I've never attended. I'd been invited to the 24-hour retreat on Thursday night by a friend of mine from Trinity. I'd already said no to a bunch of other get-togethers on Friday night, but against my better judgment (or at least, against the Homework Nazi yelling inside my head), I said yes to this one.

So, there I was. I sat down in a room with a bunch of pleasant-looking folks, wondering what the retreat theme was. Then the speaker stood, and I found out: It was about keeping the Sabbath.

That's when all the pieces fell into place, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I felt like God had just let me in on the joke.

For months, I've been sensing God pushing me toward incorporating more listening, silence, and rest into my life. Roughly a week ago, my spiritual director strongly suggested that I work to observe the Sabbath while I'm in school (and I agreed).

The retreat was both refreshing and helpful, being designed to help ministers understand Sabbath through studying it in scripture and through living it for 24 hours.

So that's how, without knowing it, I ended up exactly where I needed to be on Friday night. Thanks be to God.

3 Thanksgivings:

* For the birth this weekend of my fellow junior Fred's new daughter
* For Sarah's dramatic improvement in health since last week
* That we belong to the Lord of the Sabbath.

3 Prayers (selected this week from prayers for Ember Days in the Book of Common Prayer, pages 205-206):

* For those to be ordained
* For the choice of fit persons for the ministry
* For all Christians in their vocation

Despite "Syllabus Shock," Seminarians Survive First Week of Classes

Our Dean of Students cornered me yesterday after Morning Prayer and cheerfully asked how the week was going. Specifically, she asked if syllabus shock had set in yet.

I don't recall ever really hearing the term "syllabus shock" until a friend of mine enrolled in a different seminary mentioned it some weeks ago. I believe she said something like, "Just wait until syllabus shock sets in."

From what I can gather, syllabus shock results when a student reads about the semester's coming attractions and realizes:

1. How many pages she'll be reading
2. How many pages she'll be writing
3. How many days are in the semester

Anyway, I'd been imagining an unpleasant sensation kind of like an electrical jolt with all this "shock" talk, but the effect has been more like the beginnings of a Tule fog -- it rolls in, gets thick, and suddenly you say to yourself, "Uh oh."

None of this comes as a surprise. Seminary is hard work, and I think it's going to be work that I love.

3 Prayer Requests:

* For the families of seminarians who are trying to adjust to Ambridge -- especially children
* For healing for my housemate Sarah, who's been sick since she arrived
* For any seminarian who's freaking out this week because of "syllabus shock," including our brothers and sisters in The Schools of San Joaquin, Nashotah House and Asbury Theological Seminary.

3 Thanksgivings:

* For the birth of my classmate Jon's new child
* For common prayer -- the ability to gather as a family to praise and petition our Father
* For what Jesus did on the cross, which made such prayer possible