Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Shiny new things
7:28
I'm not ready for this day. First day of classes. First day of new job. And that incessant beeping. I really should get up and turn off the alarm. It's supposed to be playing Jeff Buckley's Grace and not beeping at me.

7:47
I stumble into the workout room and find an empty bike. Because the iPod is temporarily out of order, I've got Hallie's Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed. It's 300 pages long and I just learned I've got a paper on it due next Tuesday. Better get started.

7:58
Holy crap, this is heavy reading for working out.

9:46
Sitting in intermediate Hebrew class. This is going to be awesome. Nothing but translating narrative. This is the class I'd love to teach one day. I had three semesters of Hebrew in undergrad, but that was 7, 8 years ago. An exegesis class last semester knocked some rust of, but I'm still likely to be emotionally traumatized here at the outset. But I need that as far as my Hebrew is concerned. First assignment: The binding of Isaac, Genesis 22:1-10 by Thursday.

11:32
I was told half an hour ago the cafeteria opens at 11:30. Now they say 11:45. I have to be at The Corporate Coffeeshop in Lexington at noon. I grab a to-go box and slap a tuna sandwich together.

11:53
I'm yelling at the truck driving 35 mph down Harrodsburg Rd (55 is posted) through the mishmash of half-chewed tuna on wheat. The yelling may have been inappropriate cursing. I'll never tell.

12:22
I've clocked in for the first time and going through corporate paperwork. Is there a less intuitive form in the United States than the W-4? I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of hospitality and community language in the mission statement and guiding principles. You'd think the dude went to seminary or something.

3:30
I finish an online tutorial on keeping the shop clean. I think it's taken 14 hours to finish, though I know my shift is only 4 hours.

4:31
After work, I rush to the store of a certain wireless telephone company. I switched providers yesterday and the guy at the mall kiosk yesterday was apparently vastly confused as to how I activate my new phone. If you called me between 5 pm yesterday and 5 pm today, this is the reason I didn't answer. Lesson learned: Mall kiosks are independently contracted and know next to nothing.

4:59
Arrive back on campus, meet my girl and head to a campus-wide picnic.

6:15
My one night class of the semester is Hospitality. It's an ethics class on recovering the classical practice of hospitality in communities of faith, a.k.a. How to Throw Parties 101. When I say the prof wrote the textbook on the subject, I mean that literally. This is going to be a great class. It's about living hospitality as a moral practice. And why is hospitality just so morally you might ask? Well, because if we take Matthew 25 seriously, then we may not just be unexpectedly entertaining angels but entertaining God himself.

7:30
This is going to be a great class. There is a half-hour break and lots of snacks!

9:20
Class is done and now I'm leading the family meeting for our house. I'm the Head RA over a house of 40-50 guys on campus. We have to go over the all the policies and such of living together. Shouldn't be that hard, should it? We spend the first ten mintues praying for all the restlessness, controversy and confusion that the school has already been thrown into this first week. I remind them, as I remind myself, that we are here in seminary, whether we realize it or not, to be transformed into the image of Jesus. Sometimes I really don't know where I come up with this stuff. It just falls out of my mouth.

10:03
We finish with communion.

11:02
I collapse on my bed after getting keys and rental agreements to five residents who just showed up today. I can finally close my door on the noisy, scary world out there and have some peace and quiet.

12:17
Finish this post and try to get and 40 pages of Hallie read before my brain dissolves in sleep.

posted by Peter at 11:45 PM
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