7 VA Quick Takes

Hop over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

1. Last weekend The Southern Baron presented at a European Studies conference in DC, so I got to see my family AND get my academia fix. Win win!

2.The conference was at the Omni Shoreham, a 1930s brick hotel and historic night life spot that is on the National Register of Historic places. The Woodley Park neighborhood was adorable and the lobby was gorgeous - but there was not enough wi-fi or free coffee. C'mon, grad students cannot live on aesthetics alone! 

3. My favorite panel was one about Europe's new role as a mission field for Christian re-evangelization. Evangelicals from Africa and othe former European colonies are now ironically planting churches in the same nations that once worked to Christianize them. One speaker referenced a definition of this reverse evangelization trend as "meridionalism" - the romantic perception of the global South as a source of salvation for the tired West. 

Meridionalism does appear to be on the rise in Catholic consciousness, especially since the election of a Latin American pope. US dioceses short on priests now import clerics from Africa or South Asia. Are the believers of developing nations our only hope for redemption from "First World" progressive modernity? Or is the modern world enabling a more integrated global Church? 

4. Both sociologists on the panel offered evidence that this trend is far more complex than noble savages. One had done extensive field work interviewing different church groups, and found that missionaries had a complex web of international connections. In her experience, Catholic priests were more blasé about moving from place to place - foreign assignments are par for the course. 

The second presenter was researching the history of American missions in Europe. To his surprise, 1920s mission magazines weren't as concerned about converting Jews as they were about bringing the "true gospel" to the "superstitious" Catholics of Eastern Europe. 

5.  While we were in town, we got to celebrate Brother #3's Confirmation a few days early! St. John was the saint he chose, and he got to receive the Holy Spirit on the feast of his patron St. Joseph. Sweet! 

He's now 14, the same age I was when he was born. How did he grow up so fast?

6. This weekend we made a shorter trip back down so I could attend a friend's baby shower. I met Mary when we were both 14, and last summer we got married within a week of each other. How did we grow up so fast? It was so nice to catch up with her whole family and be back in the Manassas Catholic community. You know it's a Papist baby shower when the attendees include 5 infants, 3 pregnant women, and 2 parish staffers who worked First Communions that morning. 

7.  Because I started my job so suddenly, many of my NoVa acquaintances don't know the details of my NJ-NYC life. It's fun to hear reactions to museum patron antics. Lately my cross has been cranky complaints. Why do some donors act like demanding customers? "If you want to keep getting my $35 donations you better do what I want!" 

The other day someone sounded upbeat on the phone but spouted passive-aggressive insults. "Gee, I thought computers were only as smart as the people who used them!" Listen buddy, at least I'm smart enough to know that generosity and arrogance don't go together. 

So yeah, one my goals for Lent is to work on being patient instead of thinking up all the blistering comebacks I'd like to say. As the Southern Baron pointed out, this is a way to "offer him your coat as well." Respecting other people's dignity when they insult yours - that is the challenge of the Gospel. 

7 Quick Updates

It's been rather nice being on blog silence for a while, but I feel like I should at least check in here. I've still been keeping up with everyone else's posts, though. If you're looking for more fun stuff to read check out the other linkups to 7 Quick Takes Friday on Hallie Lord's fun blog.

1. I'm back home in northern Virginia for reals this time! Tonight I switched my address on my car insurance so you know it's official. Added bonus: my rates are cheaper here. 
2. "Living at home" (isn't that a weird redundant expression?) has never had a dull moment. Already I've been to a homeschool conference, made a sextuple batch of pasta salad for a graduation party,  watched baby birds learn to fly, and relearned the art of grocery shopping for a crowd. 
3. Yesterday I had an impromptu interview for a  part-time babysitting job. Please pray that this works out! It would be so encouraging to be employed, even a little bit. 
4. While it's frustrating not to have clear employment prospects, I'm grateful for this time to spend in my beloved DC area. Already I've gotten to reconnect with a lot of friends from high school and college.
5. For instance, today my longtime friend S. and I went on a museum romp around the national mall. If you have never been to the Hirshorn Gallery, I highly recommend it. There is lots of interesting, quirky modern art but nothing too entirely bizarre.
6. Meanwhile, the Beau has safely made it to London for several weeks of dissertation research. Figuring out Skype with a 5 hour time difference has been tricky, but I am so excited for him to have this opportunity. 
7. Finally, I hate to end on a sad story, but I feel like I should spread the word about a teacher at a local Catholic high school who has gone missing. Please pray that Tom Duesterhaus comes home safely!

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Posts are going to be a little sporadic here as I deal with the aftermath of getting my master's and gradually move back to my parents' house. I'll be packing up my apartment, visiting friends, and maybe even reading history books for fun.

It's funny how graduating will get certain songs stuck in my head, No, I'm not talking about that Vitamin C 90's hit, although I am a shameless fan of Semisonic's one hit wonder, Closing Time. When I left college I got all weepy to the ballad "For Good" from Wicked, but this time around the mental soundtrack has been a little more random. Here are some songs helping me make the transition to the "real world."

"Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas

Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulder.
Don't you know the hardest part is over?...
Our lives are made in these small hours,
These little wonders,
These twists and turns of fate."

I think I cried for some reason every day last week, and one of those times was when this song came on Pandora when I was sorting photos for a professor's graduation slideshow. Let me tell you, with each note and click of the mouse, I was  this much closer to bawling. It's the everyday conversations, book recommendations, car trips, and goofy smiles that built my relationships in grad school. Knowing my classmates by their mannerisms and the color of their tote bags is one thing I'll miss the most. Luckily, we've taken hundreds of photos that each capture a moment of the 24 months that have changed our lives forever.

The lyrics are reassuring too, especially when you have no idea where your life is headed next. Good old Divine Providence got me into this M.A. program, so I shouldn't think God is gonna quit on me now.

"The Last Time" - Blind Boys of Alabama

This may be the last time, I don't know.

As I leave my museum alma mater, there are so many uncertainties - is this the last time I will see some of these people? Is this the last time I'll pas a professor in the hallway? Will I ever roam around the halls of the collections again? I intend to delay my last drive around the grounds as long as possible.

"You Got the Love" - Florence and the Machine  

(previously recorded by Candi Staton, The Source, and Joss Stone)

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air

I know I can count on you

Sometimes I feel like saying Lord, I just don't care

But you've got the love I need to see me through

If anything can make you want to throw up your hands and yell, "Jesus take the wheel," it's grad school.

 The entire process can seem designed to make you doubt yourself and question your purpose in life. My degree is as much a testament to my support system as it is to my book learnin'. From my professors who always kept their doors open, to the classmates happy to vent in the library at 11pm, to the family and friends who have humored two years of geeking out over furniture, to The Beau who has stayed up past his bedtime helping me edit presentations, there's been an army of people I could count on. Sometimes it's been hard to keep caring, but in the end, I'm humbled and grateful to be surrounded by such love.

"I want to shine on, in the hearts of men." - The Killers, All These Things That I've Done

(I meant to post this last week, but Osama bin Laden and two academic presentations conspired to distract me.) 

Watching a replay of last weekend's beatification brought back so many memories of how Pope John Paul II influenced my growing up. Even as a small child, I knew he was important and holy. I read was determined to see such an historically significant man in person. (Yep, I was a nerd even then.) So nine years ago I set out with my BFF Stella on a Youth Apostles-led trip to World Youth Day in Toronto.

Looking back, my Dad recently commented "I can't believe we let you go off to a foreign country like that when you were 17." At the time, I couldn't believe it either. It was the longest and furthest I had ever been away from home. It was my first time using a passport, hiking for miles, camping outside, and conversing with nuns or people who didn't know English as a first language. That trip was life-changing on so many levels, particularly the way God decided it was time for me to address the depression and scrupulosity that had plagued my adolescence. On the way to see JPII, I finally confessed my problems to some people I trusted and got some wise, loving advice in return.

Of course I got to achieve my goal of seeing JPII "live and in person." I was perched on some college guy's shoulders watching the Popemobile drive past, taking pictures with the four cameras people had handed to me. After the Holy Father was gone and the crowd started to move towards his speech, the excitement of what happened hit me like a ton of bricks. The other girls and I just started bawling, joyful tears from deep in my gut like I'd never cried before.

Part of my post-WYD photo collage.

So yeah, it was a fantastic adventure. But that was the thing with Pope John Paul - to him following Jesus was always a grand adventure. He appealed to our youthful desire to be part of something exciting and important. Here's part of what he said when he arrived at WYD:

Dear friends, the aged Pope, full of years but still young at heart, answers your youthful desire for happiness with words that are not his own. They are words that rang out two thousand years ago. Words that we have heard again tonight: "Blessed are they ..." The key word in Jesus’ teaching is a proclamation of joy: "Blessed are they ..."

Young people listening to me, answer the Lord with strong and generous hearts! He is counting on you. Never forget: Christ needs you to carry out his plan of salvation! Christ needs your youth and your generous enthusiasm to make his proclamation of joy resound in the new millennium. Answer his call by placing your lives at his service in your brothers and sisters! Trust Christ, because he trusts you.

So much has changed in the nine years since I heard JPII say those words. Back in 2002 the Balkans still made headlines. The wounds of 9/11 were still fresh and the Church's sex-abuse scandals were just coming into the public eye. JPII"s words at WYD addressed both. Today Americans are still facing the threat of terrorism and the tragedy of priests' sins, and Cold-War related violence is a distant memory..

As for me, I'm not 17 anymore. I've been away from my parents' home further and longer still, settling elsewhere for months at a time. I'm still searching to belong to something bigger - there has to be more to life than just building my resume and paying the bills for the next forty years of my life. The Holy Father's call for joyful dedication to the gospel rings truer today than it ever did.

Blessed Pope John Paul II, please keep praying for us.

Accomplishment

After all my award acceptance speech pondering this weekend some very good things happened to me. Things that made me feel about as happy as if I had one of those gold statuettes in my hand.

First, thanks to Blogger's very addictive stats counter charts, I discovered that I set a new record for page views in February - over 700 hits! This is all thanks to you, readers, and I'm about as excited as if I won the lottery. Your comments and visits really brighten this weary grad student's day. Maybe one day we'll even break 1000...

Second, I completed a marathon late night thesis writing session fueled by hummus, pita chips, and some stale Valentine marshmallow peeps. When I came up for air at 3am, I discovered that I had churned out 12 whole pages. I'm really starting to feel like a writer now. Only one more section to go, and then I'll have a decent draft to work with. Just one step closer to my graduation/thesis presentation/awards speech.

The last thing was a complete surprise, and one that testifies to the power of grace more than my own abilities. On Sunday I got a Facebook message from an college friend who had worked with me at history camp one summer. We'd exchanged a few emails since then about what we were doing after graduation, but otherwise weren't really in touch. Anyway, this lovely girl, now a wife and new mother, was writing to say that she had been received into the Catholic Church, making her Confirmation and First Communion this past weekend. She was thanking all the people who had helped her along her journey and shared their faith with her.
I can't remember the last time I was so touched by an email. I'm so happy for my friend, and happy that for at least once in my life I helped bring someone closer to God. So often I wonder if I am witnessing to my faith as well as I could, if my dual existence in Catholicism and academia is even possible. That note was a reminder that it's all in God's hands, even the results of a few conversations in a humid undergrad dorm one Williamsburg summer.

Oh, speaking of Williamsburg, I'm going there tomorrow! My class is going to visit the trade shops and attempt to imitate the accomplishments of pre-industrial craftsmen like these guys. From what I have seen of my carpentry skills, the results will not be so award-winning.

2010:The Year of Travel

8 airports, 16 states, and one foreign country make the grand total. I've been to London, Pittsburgh, Boston, Tampa, Alexandria, Washington DC, New Orleans, St. Louis, Charleston, Hartford, Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and Williamsburg. I've spent hours in planes, trains, and cars. I've logged thousands of miles. I hadn't realized grad school would turn me into such a globe trotter.

So it is most fitting that I spent the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 as a nomad, bouncing from one location to another. Part of it was planned - a fantastic 5 days with The Beau and his family that culminated in watching New Year's Eve fireworks from the bell tower of the New Orleans cathedral. Then things got unexpected as I discovered how incompetent AirTran airlines can be. A canceled connecting flight from Atlanta meant that I did not make it home in time for the annual New Year's day ham supper. Instead, I got rerouted to Tampa, and am now on my way from there to Baltimore, from where I will take a shuttle of some sort. At this point, I would not be surprised if there were a stagecoach involved.

BUT as a surprise burst of Divine Providence, my Tamp layover meant I got to spend the day with my dear friends K&J and their three kiddos. We kept joking that I was playing Mary Poppins - I flew into town in the dead of night, and when the kids awoke I was there ready to play. I ended up helping keep track of everyone at a birthday party. I even assembled a kite - no joke. I almost expected to find Dick van Dyke dancing with some penguins. Then the winds changed and I was off in the air again.

The school-funded trips will end, but 2011 will see the nomading continue as I graduate (yikes!) and figure out where I will have a job. I hope the road continues to stumble on such fun surprises.

Better go and get your armor

Do you ever have one of those days that are just no good? (I know one other blogger who did.) You get up on the wrong side of the bed and it's downhill from there. Today I had one of those. The overcast sky, stress about holiday travel planning, and some parking lot issues just put me in a grumpy, no good mood.

Luckily, some wonderful friends and classmates were there to bring me out of it. A couple people even responded to my crabby G-chat status to say that they, too, were having rainy grumpy days. Just admitting it to each other made it not so bad.

It also helped that I just made some hot chocolate.


It also helped that one of my favorite songs came on the radio as I was driving home. Now, it might seem silly to suggest that God has anything to do with the playlists of Top 40 stations, but I like to think that Divine Mercy can manifest itself in many ways. Even much needed power ballads for a cranky grad student.



Please note that there is nothing in my love life that makes me want to wear a fancy dress and killer cocktail ring while singing in front of a burning car. But some days my tempestuous relationship with grad school can do that. Thanks for being my armor, friends.