165 11_07_08

November 7, 2008

Kairos

A Publication of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Community

Issue #165

By Robert Thomas Quiring, MDiv Senior Week 8-2: A Maasai Kinda Weekend This past weekend I journeyed to Maasai land with Project Esther of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. The Maasai tribe is one of the most popular tribes in Africa today because they rejected Westernization when Africa was colonized. They still today avoid most Western influence. Project Esther provides feminine products to girls so that they don't have to miss school for days every month. They actually just bring a few products for each girl, teach them how they work, and hope that with the knowledge that such things exist, they will purchase more. They also counsel the girls and give them an open forum to discuss issues they would normally not be allowed to discuss because of their traditional Maasai culture. Now it's story time (begin writing in 3rd person): In order for Robert to fit in a bus, with his amazingly long legs, he likes to sit in the very back middle seat so his legs can stretch out into the walkway. In this instance, it was a very bad idea. Why, you ask? First, the road to where he was going had A LOT of holes (construction work) and therefore, his head hit the ceiling on occasion. The bus was tall enough for Robert to almost stand up straight in, and that's a long way up. Second, the back seat is also logically where you put all of the things you are bringing with you on a trip, in this case hundreds of feminine products. Thus, Robert's ride to Maasai land consisted of him flying through the air A LOT, immediately followed by feminine products raining down on his head like manna from heaven. On the ride home, he decided to sit in the front of the bus, sideways. His ride home went much more smoothly. (Cease writing in 3rd person). Later, I was sitting by my Mzungu (white person) self. Ten minutes or so pass and I began to hear whis-

pers and footsteps behind me. I turned around and there was a substantial crowd of girls (60-70) staring at the back of my neck. I decided to get up and go inside to work on my Swahili flash cards. The girls followed me. They peered through the window at first, but eventually they surrounded me and were helping me with my Swahili. They rubbed the hair on my arms and head to make sure it was attached, and rubbed my skin to make sure it wasn't just paint. I took a very short video of them rubbing my hair (www.rtqblog.com). We went to one more all-girls boarding school at night. It was amazing to be with that many people singing Jesus songs in minimal light. After we returned to the place where we were staying the night, we sat around and ate rice and spinach. It was one of those magical nights where everyone was laughing so hard that they were crying. I told my story of preaching my first Sunday and asked to use the bathroom instead of the toilet. I told them how I laughed for 10 minutes the first time I heard them pronounce Eden because they say ed-ann. Then I was given a Kikuyu name by the group—Muraya (pronounced Mariah) meaning "the tall one." So, now I have a Kikuyu name which I am called constantly. We returned home tired after a good weekend. I will be writing more about my second visit to Maasai land in the next few days. Have a great day, friends! RTQ Senior MDiv student Robert Thomas Quiring is taking a leave from seminary to participate in the PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program in Kenya, Africa. Read his blog at www.rtqblog.com. Adapted for Kairos with permission.

Inside This Issue Chapel Schedule and Announcements This Is A New Day

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What I Learned in Seminary Today Calendar of Events

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© 2008 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Issue 165

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Chapel Schedule November 10—November 14 Monday: Service of the Word and Board of Trustees Installation Rev. Michael Lindvall, preacher Tuesday: Service of the Word and Sacrament Dr. Whit Bodman, preacher Thursday: Service of the Word Jennifer Lee, Preacher Friday: Service of the Word Carol Schmidt, Preacher Senior MDiv students preach in chapel this week on Thursday and Friday

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Creation and Spirituality Join us Tuesday, November 11th, from 68pm in Stotts Hall for a potluck dinner and lecture from Professor Bill Greenway. Bill, Austin Seminary’s favorite philosopher and wilderness guru, will lead a talk on Creation and Spirituality. Each year for the past 10 years Bill has taught a course on Wilderness and Spirituality (which actually takes place in the wilderness). For many students this course is a life-changing experience. Bill’s infectious enthusiasm for creation and his ability to perceive the connectedness between the created world and our spiritual lives are gifts Bill brings to our community. Bring your family and a covered dish (salad or entrée) and enjoy this time of fellowship and spiritual edification. Dessert and drinks will be provided.

ATTENTION PC(USA) SENIORS The first SENIOR SEMINAR of the year will take place on Tuesday, November 18, 2008, in McMillan #210 beginning at 7:00 p.m. lasting until 8:00 p.m. Jack Barden, VP for Admissions will present “Preparing Personal Information Form (PIF) and Senior Placement Bio.”

Get Out!

Community Edge (Spouses Group) Community Events

November 11th – Parents’ Night Out, 6-8:00pm, Hicks House

Sign up with Laurel Dixon, space is limited!

21st – Parents’ Night Out, 6-8:00pm, Hicks House

Join the student group

Still Small Voice for an adventure in

Wilderness Spirituality led by Bill Greenway

Saturday, November 22 Leaving from the Seminary at 8:30 am Returning at about 2:30 pm. More information coming soon.

Sign up with Laurel Dixon, space is limited!

27th – Community Thanksgiving Meal

Pot Luck in Stotts Fellowship Hall for those who are in town. Lisa Straus coordinating

December 5th – Lessons and Carols, APTS Community Service, Shelton Chapel

Bring a dessert to Stotts Fellowship Hall following worship - Student Senate will provide drinks.

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By Ken White, MDiv Middler Regardless of what my joys and concerns may be about an Obama administration, and regardless of the politics involved, last night the American people proved that we would not vote for a man just because of the color of his skin, or against a man just because of the color of his skin, but for a man regardless of the color of his skin. At its best, America has been a beacon, redefining what is possible and leading, however imperfectly, the world in which we live more fully into the ideals of freedom and equality. Like the humans we are, we have always talked a better game than we played, but when facing the mirror of our own shortcomings, sometimes – more often than not – we prove that we can change. I have concerns about this administration: concerns about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, about the bailout, about war, about accountability, and about fair treatment for our veterans. It is our collective responsibility to hold Obama accountable to the promises he has made and for the trust that we have given him. We have a lot of hard work ahead. But for right now, I can’t help thinking about a passage from one of the greatest documents ever written on American soil; a document written on smuggled newspaper from the floor of a dirty jail cell in the heartland of injustice. In “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”, the Rev. Martin Luther King tried to express to comfortable white American pastors the reality of the black experience – the experience that made him testify to the “fierce urgency of now”. Here is a portion: “I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your 20 million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, can see tears welling up

in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger” and your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodyness”; then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. That was America only 45 years ago. But in America this morning, on this day, friends of mine who were alive when King wrote that were able to wake up their sons and tell them that children with brown skin just like them were going to live in the White House this January, and that another of the unspoken limits on progress in America had just dissolved. We have not fully arrived. We have not formed a more perfect union where a little girl can credibly believe that she has just as much of a chance of being what she wants to be as her brother, or to be paid an equal amount for that. We have not put the legacy of over 350 years of systemic racial oppression behind us in areas as diverse as education and the legal system. We have a long way yet to go. We have not arrived, but we have come closer. It is a new day.

Do you have something to say to Kairos? Something to add… Something to refute? If so, we’d like to hear. We are committed to dialogue. Letters to the editor will be published. See page 4 of this issue for our editorial guidelines.

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Student Senate Minutes November 5, 2008 Present: Melissa Koerner, Matthew Thompson, Sarah Hegar, Amy Wiles, Lindsay Hatch, Jose Lopez, Chris Kreisher, Ann Fields Absent: None Visitors: Jim Many, Brad Watson, Kurt Gabbard 1-Stotts Recycling Bins • Jim Many, Director of the Physical Plant, proposed to Senate to implement paper and plastic recycling in Stotts Dining Hall. Jim is prepared to put this into action. APTS is running into difficulties with recycling because we are a business outside of the central business district. APTS is looking into using Ecology Action because they provide service to businesses. Jim hopes to be able to add more recycling (glass and aluminum) capability in the future • Brad Watson, Junior MDiv, shared with senate his recycling experiences in the Leper Colony. He is very happy using Ecology Action because they accept almost everything. • The Maintenance Team is planning to expand the APTS recycling program and possibly including student workers in the future. • Bins will be in place in Stotts today! 2-Reformation Fest • Praise for Everyone! • We came in WAY under budget and all was a success! 3-Polity Bowl • Jose will meet with T-shirt company today. • The sign-up sheet is in placed and has been announced 4-Manna Nov. 12 • Dinner Club/Wednesday Update/Food Update • Possibly Mary Elizabeth to present on being a

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The Student Senate meets each Wednesday after Manna from 12-1 pm. All meetings are open to the community

Young Adult Volunteer Nov. 19 • Polity Bowl Pep Rally • Cheerleaders to do a routine • Pep Band to perform • ESPN College Game Day for Polity Bowl Nov. 26 • Hanging of the Greens • Christmas Cookie decorating contest & Hot Chocolate • Possible white elephant gift exchange • Make ornaments for Christmas Tree • Manna Announcements – reminder to student body that announcements must be submitted beforehand. If not, they will be allowed to make announcements at the end if there is time. 5-Student Lounge • Senate agrees there should be a stapler in student lounge • Senate will purchase a stapler for the lounge • Senate would also like for there to be a microwave available in the lounge 6-Flags for Football • Senate would like purchase new flag belts for Polity Bowl. Sarah Hegar will look into this a research prices, quality, etc. 7-Seminary Retreat • Lindsay Hatch presented the idea of having a seminary retreat in the Spring. Senate will further discuss this idea along with the Still Small Voice student group.

Kairos Editorial Guidelines

Kairos is the voice of students at Austin Seminary. Kairos generally carries no advertisement for sales of goods or services by individuals. An exception is the sale of a student’s library or other study aids. It is not possible to make all program announcements which are submitted by individual churches. Kairos is more likely to be able to run announcements which apply to ecumenical or interfaith groups or groups of churches. No letters which attack individuals or groups will be run in Kairos. This is to be distinguished from letters which might criticize the actions of individuals or groups. Kairos will publish letters to the editor that contribute to Christian conversation on the APTS campus. All letters must be signed.

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A Weekly Column Offering Musings, Insights, and Reflections on the Seminary Life

Change By Paul Dubois, MDiv Senior I have heard a lot of talk about change lately, and let me tell you, change is in the air. It’s Wednesday morning as I write this. The quadrennial apportionment of red and blue has painted the states. They say a zebra cannot change its stripes, but states, from time to time, change theirs. Holding the notion of change in thought, I see that change is indeed in the air. Literally. The morning is unseasonably warm and humid. A steady southerly wind brings the Gulf of Mexico to us. It’s cloudy–thick, low, and broken. Lots of mottled shades of bluish gray, speckled with white. These clouds will bring a welcome rain for someone, somewhere, someday. There are scattered gaps in the clouds through which the sunshine erupts. The sun breaks through here and there, illuminating one tree while shading another. One can see the sunlit patches progressing northward, in concert with the clouds. This tree in the sunlight in one moment, that tree in another. The clouds stream north; there are always clouds, but never the same clouds. One is left with a sure sense that something is changing, yet remaining the same. But it’s not just today. The weather forecast indicates that a change is on the way. A cold front will arrive tomorrow. There may be some rain; the hope is fleeting. But while the northward march of humid air continues unabated, a wall of cold, dense air descends from Canada. Something will have to give. But it’s not just this week, either. The cold fronts are coming more frequently. The days are getting shorter. Like last year, the leaves are turning color, albeit not dramatically. Their passage from green to brown tentatively touches on an all-too-brief moment of yellow or orange. Then, the leaves, too, take to the air as a sign of change. Autumn is upon us. Again. We’ve seen autumn before. Never this same autumn, but never one wholly foreign to it, either. Autumn leads to winter. The time of the year when we are closest to the sun is also the time when we are the coldest. We in the northern hemisphere are coldest in winter because of how the Earth is inclined on its axis. That is, because of its leaning. That is, because of its posture. Confronted with the heat of the sun, our posture gives us cooler air. Go figure. There’s no telling what the next change will bring. So I see some patterns in the sky. Change is in the air. Change that has been lived before, but never in the exact same way, with the exact same understanding, or with the exact same opportunity. Some lessons remembered, others forgotten. Is the remembering and forgetting affected by posture? This time next year I will surely see the same cycle in the sky, but I’ll be an intern; and my children, a year older. It won’t be the same

change. Four years from now, the states will be repainted again. If you listen closely, you can already hear calls for change in the wind. I’m wondering about this week’s lectionary Gospel reading, the Parable of the Talents, and whether the winds of these times–the winds of all times–are somehow a gift from God, a gift that may be invested or buried. What shall I do? What is my posture? Will I lean into it, or away? Change is a neutral term, although there usually seems to be the lurking hope that the change will be for the better. Change proclaims that things will not be as they were; yet whether better or worse, who knows? There are certainly times when certain changes are needed. There is a need for the weather to change to nourish the land and its inhabitants, a pendulum swing that proclaims the dynamic nature of equilibrium in creation. And we need change, too. We stand in need of justification and sanctification. We need to be changed. Similarly, our culture is broken and in need of healing change. Church and culture both ebb and flow to the tide of change, but who leads, and who follows? Which Great Awakening are we in now? The third? Fourth? Fifth? How come we don’t stay awake? The pendulum swings back. For me, here in the semester’s waning weeks, change is indeed in the air. At the time when I typically buckle down for term papers and finals, I am shifting my posture away from being a student and towards that other, earlier, calling of mine–being a father. My wife left this morning for an out-of-town job. She will be gone for six weeks. While not what either of us would prefer, we nonetheless consider ourselves blessed to have this opportunity. This is yet another stepping stone in a long line of stones God has placed before us. I adjust my feet, strengthen my posture. Schoolwork is less important today than yesterday. Once we decided to abandon a particular security affirmed by the culture, but one that we found suffocating–spiritually, physically, morally–we have found ourselves struggling to trust that the next stone would be in place when it is most needed. So far, so good. This struggle, like others, is fleeting. This six weeks will pass, there may be a time of rest, if we are lucky, and then surely the next struggle will be upon us, the next change, and, hopefully, the next stone. So I ask what God may hold for me in this change. Is it preparation? Is it a sneak preview into an itinerant ministry appointment to a situation where my family and I may have to live apart for some time? Or maybe there is no meaning in the moment. Maybe it is just the ebb and flow of change. I find rest in knowing that my hope is not in these changes, but in God who accompanies me through them.

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Monday, November 10th 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Board of Trustees – Nancy Reese Campus Wide Spiritual Dialogue Group – Whit Bodman McCord 203 Service of Word and Installation of new members and Chair of the Board of Trustees Shelton Chapel Rev. Michael Lindvall, preacher Spiritual Direction Group—Scott Quinn McCord 202

Tuesday, November 11th

WEEKLY CALENDAR OF EVENTS NOVEMBER 10-NOVEMBER 16, 2008

8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 4:15 – 5:15 p.m. 5:15 – 8:15 p.m

Board of Trustees – Nancy Reese Worship Service: Service of the Word and Sacrament Rev. Dr. Whit Bodman, Preacher Chapel Team: Lisa Juica and Brian Plescher English Grammar Review for Biblical Hebrew – Light German Reading, Writing, and Study Skills – Light German

Wednesday, November 12th 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. 12:45 – 2:30 p.m. 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Foedus Pietas – Alison Riemersma Spiritual Direction – Joe Barry Midweek Manna – Student Senate Syllabus Preparation Workshop – Alison Riemersma Call 2 – Gail Dalrymple 12-Step Program – Doug Fritzsche Corpus Christi – Scott Spence Student Senate – Melissa Koerner Spiritual Direction – Jean Springer Korean Bible Study – In Hye Park Spiritual Direction – Barbara Schutz Admissions Commission – Bill Greenway Student Life/Student Standing Committee—Ellen Babinsky APTS Choir Rehearsal – Kevin McClure Worship Committee—Jennifer Lord Program of Study Committee—Ismael Garcia Balcones Community Orchestra – Outside Group

Thursday, November 13th 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. 8:30 – 11:00 p.m.

Spiritual Direction—Barbara Schutz Worship: Service of the Word: Jennifer Lee, preacher Wabash Task Force—David White President’s Student Luncheon—Nancy Reese World Religion Class Lunch – Whit Bodman Intentional Community Potluck Dinner –Melanie Lange Interfaith Comm. For Palestinian Rights – Jack Prince Coffee House – Jose Lopez

Friday, November 14th 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. 2:15 – 4:00 p.m. 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Mission Presbytery CPM – Sharon Pawlik Worship: Service of the Word: Carol Schmidt, preacher Still Small Voice – Margaret Talbot Worship Class – Jennifer Lord Wedding Rehearsal

Saturday, November 15th 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 2:00 – 7:30 p.m. 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Mission Presbytery CPM – Sharon Pawlik Wedding Community Chili Cook-Off – Alyssa Kirwan

Sunday, November 16th 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Austin Girl’s Choir – Sara McClure

Campus Wide Shelton Chapel Knox Dining Hall Knox Dining Hall

Trull Boardroom McCord 202 Stotts Dining Hall Trull Boardroom McCord 203 McMillan 209 McCord 201 McMillan 206 McCord 202 McMillan 204 McMillan 105 McMillan 209 McCord 201 Shelton Chapel McCord 201 Trull Boardroom McMillan 211

McCord 202 Shelton Chapel McCord 201 Knox Dining Room McCord 204 Hicks House McCord 204 Stotts Dining Hall

McCord 203 Shelton Chapel Knox Dining Hall Shelton Chapel Shelton Chapel

McCord 203 Shelton Chapel Stotts Dining Hall

Shelton Chapel

Submissions to Kairos: Email submissions to the editor, Paul Dubois, at [email protected]. Calendar events and room reservation requests should be sent to Jackie McCully at [email protected] or made in person at the McCord desk. Editorial decisions are based on urgency, availability of space, and editorial guidelines. Deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. Submissions made after deadline must be accompanied by a dunkel.