Red Letters: You Can't Be My Disciple If You Go To Your Dad's Funeral

We all have our picture of Christ. The culture loves Jesus a lot more than the “church.” If this passage gets widely read, then everyone’s picture of Jesus may be in jeopardy.

Matthew 8:19-22 (NIV)
19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

When do you have the most routine? Is it in the mornings? Bedtime? Meals? My biggest routine is going from sleep to fully dressed and ready for the day.
But then we have things that mess up our routines. For instance, a couple weeks ago my dad was rushed to the ER – had that happened before or during my normal routine – I would have thrown on whatever clothes I could quickly find and get to the hospital – the emergency takes precedence over normal life.

In the same idea, the Jewish culture, even today, has a very strict and important prayer and life routine. Daily prayers and rituals were commanded – along with the Ten Commandments. But when a relative dies, all routines were exempt. Listen to this from the Talmud – a Jewish rule book:
“He who is confronted by a dead relative is freed from reciting the Shema, from the Eighteen Benedictions, and from all the commandments stated in the Torah.”

The exception: it’s clear – this culture took the death of a relative very seriously. You could even touch a dead relative. Death was a serious process:
1. Prepare and cleanse the body
2. Place in a tomb for one year
3. Put bones in an ossuary
4. Bury w/ceremony
One full year for mourning.

This is very serious – very emotional – very intense.

There are a lot of theories on what this guy meant in verse 21.
21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
- My dad is near death – I have to take care of him.
- My dad just died and we have to bury him.
- My dad’s bones aren’t ready for the ceremony.

And Jesus, being so compassionate and empathetic, says – you can’t do that if you follow me.
What a jerk. Jesus – he wants to follow you, can’t you just let him grieve? I mean, even the strict Pharisees gives an exception for that. Jesus, you really seem to be asking to much here. It’s almost like you are saying that following you is more important than the love for his family. Jesus, why not be understanding here? Honor your father and mother – remember that?

What Jesus said rang very loud to everyone there verse 22 .
22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
- The Scribes and Pharisees heard Jesus say that he was more important then the exception to the rule – superior to the Talmud
- The people heard that following Jesus was a commitment so serious that their relationships and family took 2nd place.
- And we hear a lack of compassion.

Ya know, following Christ is a commitment that is serious. And we, too many times, put this commitment on the same playing field with work, school, vacation and XBOX.
Think about it. This story can happen, is happening all around us. Jesus, I’ll follow you, but -
- I need this bf/gf right now.
- I can’t commit to giving money right now to your Kingdom – the poor, the needy.
- I can’t forgive you because of the pain I am going through.
- I have to bury my past first
- I have to break this addiction first.
- I have to finish college first.

Jesus communicated the immediate importance of following him – the Kingdom and your spirituality is now. Whatever else you may be thinking, the spiritual life comes first – or it dies like that guy’s father.

This calls for wise thinking. The call for moral code and honor is godly – living a life and putting to death our sinful nature is of God. But the supremacy of Christ may just demand your loyalty over a relationship or desire that is (in itself) not a bad/sin thing.
This is a call of balancing responsibility here on earth (school, work, family) with God. Jesus consistently makes a point that no commitment should be superior to our commitment to him.

Matthew 10:37-39 (NIV)
37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Luke 14:25-26 (NIV)
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

How is the balance going in your life? What seems to challenge your commitment to Him?

i love this woman...and it really has been 2 months since i blogged (well, almost)

...since i have blogged. so much has happened: memorial day, london, kenya, larry (the parasite), july 4, work...so much.

i wish i could have had internet access in kenya, but my macbook went kaput. that is another blog in itself that i will probably never get to...it is almost as entertaining as my starbucks experience with the religious conservative whackos...but not quite.

kenya was an experience shauna and i will never forget...her picture says it best...she exudes the type of energy and excitement for Kingdom stuff that i wish i could communicate...look at that face...pure bliss

anywho, i am off to florida this week to see the police and visit some friends and college ministries. my friend, allen, is going with and i think we'll have a lot of fun.

one last thing before i end this: some people spend their whole lives wondering what God has called them to do...the rest do something with their lives and look back with a tear of shock and relief. i dont know why, but i am getting sick of hearing talk. participation seems to be much more KINGDOM. just my thought...my random, totally in the moment thought...

busyness

I believe every person in our society is busy – myself included. Final exams and the end of the semester is here for you college students. For those of us that work – it is nonstop – and then, there are those working full time and in school – people are getting married, vacation and summer time is around the corner… Then you have daily grind stuff to worry about – waking up early, paying bills (car, insurance, car insurance, gas, new tires and these are only for your used car! Then you have to spend time in your relationships – romance (dates, notes, “talk” time), friends (dates, notes, “talk” times) and in the hustle and hustle of all this, you now have people at Underground and churches telling you to pray and go camping and feed the homeless and go on a missions trip to work harder… and God is thrown into all of this somehow.

I think we all understand this journey well – it’s full of busy schedules and time commitments and we want to do it all but we can’t. So what usually suffers? First, for me, is sleep. That doesn’t exactly help except that I get the immediate things done – but my plate stays full, right? The second thing to suffer is usually any personal time – with God, for me, “chill” time – Sabbath time. Why is it that when rest and God and personal time is needed most we sacrifice it – not a good sacrifice – like a 300 style killing – we murder these things. My friend, Doug, has this scale he uses to define worry. I’ve taken it and changed it a bit:

Outside circle effects us now

More short term – not the most important
Inner (closet) circle effects us long term close to us




What do you allow closet to your “center”? – the things we spend the most time on will effect us the most.
There is a book written by John called Revelation. He basically journals a hallucination – he had a metaphysical experience with God. In the first few chapters, he writes letters to different churches and warns them – well, all but one church gets a warning. In Revelation 3, he writes to a church in Sardis:

Revelation 3:1-4 (MSG)

1 Write this to Sardis, to the Angel of the church. The One holding the Seven Spirits of God in one hand, a firm grip on the Seven Stars with the other, speaks: "I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you're dead, stone-dead.
2-3"Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there's life in you yet. But I wouldn't know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God's work has been completed. Your condition is desperate. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God.
"If you pull the covers back over your head and sleep on, oblivious to God, I'll return when you least expect it, break into your life like a thief in the night.
4"You still have a few followers of Jesus in Sardis who haven't ruined themselves wallowing in the muck of the world's ways. They'll walk with me on parade! They've proved their worth!
The city of Sardis was a massive and important economic city those times:
- busy people – workers, CEO’s and students
- largest recovered gymnasium – big on sports
- huge textile city (wool)
- largest recovered religious buildings (Pagan, Christian & Jewish)
Sardis was pretty much a world economic, entertainment, spiritual and social dominant culture – it is where you went to learn, sell, buy, go to church, watch a game, get fit, etc. – Sounds like the US a bit – but look at the verse again – “you look alive but you are dead” ???
Two key words here:
God: “I see your deeds, ergon (passive tense) in Greek language - tasks, work, deeds, activities
God: “wake up” – gregoreo in Greek language – keep watch – be on guard
Problem #1: The deeds masked death
- they looked alive – but were dying
- they had more monuments to the past then hope and expectancy for the future – they buried more people in their church then they baptized
- their busyness masked – covered up – their problem – no real transforming power or life in Christ
Problem #2: They were asleep – unaware
- they thought everything was ok
- they keep busy – therefore, they developed a need to validate their problem by never seeing what was actually there – stayed so busy that they never got quiet
It’s so hard to get quiet isn’t it? One minute of silence – uncomfortable – we have to face our demons if we slow down. So this church in Sardis – what is their hope? What is the remedy here? What can they do? What can we do?
I believe there are many of us who get too busy that we become like this church – oh sure, we have lives and school and work – but where do we put our faith in all of this? When do we compromise that?
I believe the hope is found in the church – not a building (explain church)
Acts 2:42 (TNIV)
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Teaching – submit to learning and teaching
Eating – being with each other – hanging out – meals – time
Fellowship – koinonia – share, serve, contribute, participate
Prayer – personal and with others – talking and hearing from God
I believe we (as a church culture) struggle to live out true fellowship – then prayer – then teaching – then eating.
Has busyness choked the spiritual life out of you?
What areas are you good at?
What areas are a challenge?
Busyness is used by the enemy to distract our life with Christ – which is lived out in community – prayer

The most disturbing site for me in quite a while…

The most disturbed I have been in a while is when I was in Manchester. Now don’t get me wrong, the city itself is not disturbing; it is a quite beautiful city. Elegant historical architecture and diverse people add to the beauty of this city. The people are, in general, very kind and accommodating to travelers and folks not familiar with the city’s liturgy. Getting around in the city is quite easy, with the trams and everything in walking distance (you can walk around the city’s outskirts in about an hour). The shops and restaurants leave nothing to be desired; in fact, I actually enjoyed going to all the shops I could manage (surprising because I am not a shopper most of the time). In the Arndale section, there was a fashion show, and throughout the entire city, the celebration of King George’s Day offered parades, children’s games, and cultural festivities. Truthfully, Manchester, in and of itself, is a delight.

Let me construct the foundation to my first statement. On Saturday, I went to “The Printworks”: a grand structure in “Center City” that houses bars, nightclubs, cinema, restaurants, and shops. “The Printworks” looks like a huge subway (or tube) tunnel with a weathered brick look throughout. There is no door, simply a massive entrance to the tunnel and all the interior entertainment offered throughout. It is here that I went to see 300 at IMAX. It was a wonderful experience and the movie was done very well. An eight story screen in Hi-Definition and superior sound to boot, it was quite the show. After I exited, I walked out of “The Printworks” and into the city block overlooking the Manchester Cathedral district. I noticed a Starbucks and went to get a familiar latte. On a side note, the Starbucks stores in the UK charge extra if you “dine in” rather than “take away” your beverage. I decided to take my beverage with me (not because I am necessarily cheap; it was only a few pence extra, but because I wanted to walk to the cathedral and check it out).

As I left Starbucks, I started to visually define the cathedral district better as I walked toward it. It opened with a massive green lawn with fountains and elegant landscaping and cobblestone walking paths. This led the way to a massive gothic style cathedral complete with huge gargoyles on the ground around and atop the structure. It was a classic cross layout cathedral (for you church history buffs). There was a cemetery and crypts that guarded the cathedral’s immediate grounds. I would estimate 400+ crypts and 300+ gravestones. There was also an iron fence around the perimeter of the structure. It didn’t have gates; it was merely for décor and boundary definition. It, like the city, was an impressive and beautiful structure.

The cathedral is a part of the Church of England, of which the queen, herself, is the head. It symbolizes not only the distinct importance of church and state collaboration, but also that faith is central (in location and philosophy) to the local, regional, and national political environment. This should be quite encouraging, especially to the Christian; but also to other faiths, because of the freedom the UK experiences in its diversity. Just because the government is centralized in a Protestant (debatable) mindset, that doesn’t mean that the people of the UK are forced into the same mindset. It is simply the definition of a set of religious values and tradition.

The scene outside the cathedral was my issue. Over the massive lawn, on the structure herself, and throughout the cemetery there were thousands of teenagers (12-15 years old) gathered. These teenagers were dressed in black with body art and piercing. They were making a definite affectionate fashion statement for the “gothic” or “hardcore” lifestyle. The teens were not just gathered there for any reason; every single one of them were engaging in sexual activity (mostly clothed) with one another in some form. Couples straddled each other and were groping and kissing, groups of three and four were lying on the grass and engaging in group pleasures, and homosexual activity was the majority.

The scene itself was very uncomfortable for to walk up on. Remember, I was going to see history and admire the cathedral, and I walked into a “twilight zone” of child lust. I was a bit intimidated and felt unsafe. I stood there in front of the cathedral and came back to reality in my mind, for I am sure I stood there motionless for a few seconds in shock. The teens were acting out something there on the church grounds. This was an unmistakable statement coupled with a cry for connection that broke my heart. I don’t know the reason for their choice, but my speculations tell me that there is an obvious desire for human connection and intimacy. Like Rob Bell says, “this” (meaning what I am seeing take place here) is obviously about “that” (some deeper need).

But that wasn’t the most disturbing site for me. It seems that it should be, but it wasn’t. The most disturbing site for me was the thousands of people (adults, other teens, children, elderly, businessmen, mothers, fathers, pastors, Christians, Muslims, Taoists, caretakers, babysitters, wage employees, upper class, cab drivers, etc.) walking past these teenagers and paying no attention. It was like just another mundane site in the local eye. This broke my heart.

I decided that this had to be a unique experience for the city. These teens cannot be allowed to do this daily. After all, this is “Center City”, a Times Square atmosphere and these teens cannot possibly live close to here. I decided to come back the next day and see the cathedral again, for this site (the teens) was obviously unique to Saturday or some other instance.

I came back on Sunday. There were more. More child lust existed. More homosexual group activity existed. My heart broke again. People walked by again. The sky over Manchester Cathedral cried. I decided to ask a barista at the corner Starbucks if this happened every weekend. She giggled a bit and said “no.” I was momentarily relieved. She continued: “these kids go there before they have to be at school everyday and they return after school everyday. In fact, a group of them seem to never leave.” My relief was buried with her words.

So here’s what I see: I see this experience taking place at the footsteps of religion, government, and society; and no one pays attention anymore. It is as if society has developed scales over her eyes. The statements being made by these teenagers are being made on the physical doorsteps of the physical church, and the doors remain closed, and the community remains aloof.

Then I turn and think about my city in the US. What is obvious? Who is crying for help, even to the point of sitting and making out at the church footsteps? It happens all the time. The church is defined as a living entity, as a body of believers. When Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus, he wasn’t praying for a building but a people. When Jesus talked about Peter being the foundation of the church, he was speaking socially and ecclesial, not physical foundation for a structure or system. We, the church, have people at our doorsteps everyday and our hearts are aloof. We walk by them, we ignore them, and they intimidate us. My prayer and hope is that we become more aware of our doorsteps, that we become more sensitive to our entrance, and that we pay attention to those crying for help all around us. We are the church, we are the community of Christ; we are the agents of life change God has chosen to deploy. Awareness cannot be a reality if we have scales over our eyes. Oh God, remove the scales and break our hearts, I pray. May we love with our love, and respond to people who cry out, even if it is done in their disdain for you, for us, and for society at large. For the things we see are not what lies beneath the surface.

travelling diary: day six (i spent money)

Last posting was way long so I’ll keep this short. Today I went to King’s Church in Manchester. It is a cool church and very racially diverse. They baptized two people today, also. After church, I went to Pizza Hut and had a pie. It was good. I then went shopping and spent the next 4-5 hours walking the streets and buying stuff. It was pretty fun.

I caught the train back to the hotel and took a nap after calling Shauna. I went to the Brasserie around 8pm and got some dinner, a good Indian dish. I am now back after watching football (soccer) on the big screen and am packing. My flight for Philadelphia leaves at 11am tomorrow (6am US time).

Barring anything hilarious or weird, this may be my last post on my travels. It has been a fun journey and a more different one than I thought. I really really really really cant wait to see Shauna, my wife. I love her so much.

travelling diary: day five (i love US food)

I woke up at 6am. Like fully woke up. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t sleep anymore. I went to bed around 1am (or 1:00). My taxi wasn’t supposed to pick me up until 1130am (or 11:30) so now I have like 5 hours to kill. The campus is a ghost town (Saturday) and I have a closet space for a room and five hours. OH MY GOD. So I put in The Office (BBC version) and tried to doze a bit to kill time. I was originally planning on waking up around 10am, but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. So I watched the dvd and read some and dozed some and then it was 9am (or 9:00) and I went to the kitchen to have my “Frosties” (the other day I wrote about “Tasties” and compared them Frosted Flakes…I was incorrect on the name, they are “Frosties”, but regardless, they are quite tasty). I made a cup of tea (which I have become pretty decent at doing and really enjoy is as well) and read the morning paper over my breakfast. I then took and shower and packed and it was 10:15 after all of that. I still had an hour and some change to kill. So I read. And really enjoyed it. I am reading a Dallas Willard book called Hearing God. It is more practical than The Divine Conspiracy or Spirit of the Disicplines (those two are quite philosophical).

At 11:30 I rolled my bags down to the driveway and waited. And waited. And waited. And it was 11:50. Now, it is a good 20 minute commute to the train station in Retford, and my train (the only train going through Retford until 2pm, or 14:00) arrive at 12:03. So I am worried. I had the receptionist call and book my taxi; I heard her do it. So I am frustrated and about to walk to the pub around the corner and see if Steve (the pub owner and nice guy I have had several conversations with over the past three days) could give me a ride to the station for about 20quid (or 20 pounds, which translates to $40; of course, I will start at 10 quid, or $20). All of the sudden I see a white taxi speed around the corner and pull into the school…brief relief. We still have to get to the station by noon for me to catch the train.

The taxi driver’s name is Kearney. She is in her mid forties and has been in the sun a lot during life. I let her know she is late and that I have to catch the train at noon. She gives me a look and were off. She got to 150kmh. Google that and see how fast she was truckin’ on the English countryside road. We made it in time, and with little to no small talk. I hurried through the station and down the ramp to Platform 3 (which is like a .10 mile walk down 5 ramps) and barely got on my train in time. The taxi cost me 10quid.

For the next two hours, I rode the train back to Manchester. I dozed off and read some. The only time it was crowded was right before the train change in Sheffield. Google Sheffield and Manchester; they are cool towns. We finally arrived in Manchester (airport terminal) and I went up the ramp to find my hotel. I didn’t know it at the time, but the hotel provides a free shuttle and a courtesy phone. I asked a taxi driver how far away it was, and he pointed left and said, “2-minute walk, tops.” That wasn’t so bad, so I decided to walk it with my luggage. 23 minutes into the walk, I realize I have been “wound up” (British term for I got lied to and it was a practical joke, probably). I decided to turn around and go back to the train station, when I saw a wonderful but disheartening site. The Bewleys Hotel (bewleyshotels.com) was in the skyline in the opposite direction of where I was walking. I was relieved because I could see it, but was a bit ticked because it was a two minute walk opposite of the way I was told (from the origination point, in the skyline I could also see the airport, other hotels, and the train station). Once I got back to the airport (keep in mind I am a heavy individual who sweats when exerting more energy than desired), I walked the two minute walk to the hotel. Ow all that separated me from the hotel was a tall wooden fence (about twice my height). I decided to walk around and find the entrance. Lots of walking and finally there is a car entrance with a sign that says: no pedestrian traffic. Great. Well, I ignored the sign and “trafficked” myself past the check ins and ignored security. I was ready to out talk anyone at this point because I just wanted some lunch (it was 3pm, or 15:00, after all) and chill before I tried to get into the Man U match (little known fact: the Brits call games matches). There was one security offices that decided to follow me through the parking lot and into the hotel. It is a nice hotel and I am very relieved. She (security guard lady) stood beside me in line; not behind me, but BESIDE me. Weird.

I looked at her and decided to “wind her up” (or play one of my own jokes). “Hola, me llamo Nataan, e tu?” (that is probably horrible Spanish bit she didn’t seem to mind). She gave me a long look and paused and started to say something and then stopped. She then turned around and walked out the front door. Brilliant…Guinness all around!

I got to the front desk, checked in and made my way to the room. Ah, the room. Down comforters and much more space…wonderful. And television! Oh how I have missed flipping through channels. Sure, there are only 14 channels, and two of the are black screen with bad music, but it’s real television. I got a bit situated and relaxed for about a half hour and made my way back tot the train station to purchase my metro card (going to downtown, and Eurpoe is all about some public transportation). It only cost me about 3quid for a round trip to downtown and I was off.

Now, downtown Manchester is quite eclectic. And the football games are quite impressive on the outside, for that is the only experience I got to have. 70K+ people were at this game versus Middlebrough. The fans sang in unison about every two seconds and everyone was pretty toasted drunk and the game hadn’t started yet. I did run into a man named Steve popular British name) who let me know there was no hope in getting near the stadium. There is no parking and people park along all the streets around the stadium (kind of like Bank of America stadium but MUCH worse. The police weren’t letting anyone without a ticket down the same street as the stadium. So I counted my losses and figured I could at least take a tour tomorrow. I decided on another evening plan.

I made my way to Paperwork Centre (beautiful indoor city area with dozens of pubs, restaurants, and clubs, oh, and an IMAX theatre). Manchester is a large English town, almost comparable to London and hundreds of clubs. Everyone was either at the game or dressed in some costume hitting the clubs. I decided to get lunch, finally. I was really craving some comfort food (US food) so I went to this place called Old Orleans in Paperwork. I ordered a diet pepsi and some hot wings. Louise (my server, who wrote her name on the table in crayon) informed me they were out of wings. So I ordered the spicy quesadilla appetizer. Louise informed me that is was pronounced: qwu-si-dilia. I informed her she was wrong and pronounced it correctly. She goes: “you aren’t from the UK, are ye?” I answered: “neither is the quesadilla.” She laughed, thank God. Then she informed me that the chicken and tortillas used for that are 86’ed (or out of stock). So I ordered the potato skins for an appetizer…they did have those. After about five minutes, they arrived…all three of them…three halves with mozzarella cheese and sour cream and a salad (field greens with yellow peppers and mayonnaise on the side. This is not a good side dish to put with potato skins so I ignored them). I then order a Bacon BBQ Cheese Burger and fries, and was so excited. The burger arrived smothered in mayonnaise and some weird pickles that I raked off with my spoon.

After dinner, I went to the IMAX theatre and purchased a ticket for the 300 showing at 7pm (or 19:00). I then went to Starbucks across the street and got a short cappuccino (they are actually the best drinks). I walked outside and looked across the part of the city I was in. I saw the Manchester Church and walked over to see it up close before the show. What I found was odd and quite sad. All along the graveyards and courtyards, “hardcore” or “gothic style” teenagers were gathered. There was probably like 2000 of them. They were sitting together in packs and skateboarding and smoking and being teens, ya know? Then, as I got closer, I noticed what was really happening. Boys were straddling boys and kissing, girls were fondling other girls and kissing, and some hetero couples were HEAVILY making out…all of this on the city church’s grounds and right there in public. People walked by and gave them no attention. It was sad and uncomfortable. These are kids. My heart was really saddened. So I decided to abandon them and go watch my movie (the best thing any pastor from the States should do).

The IMAX 300 experience was amazing. It was a GREAT movie, and even better seeing it on an eight-story screen. After the film, I took the Metro back to Piccadilly and the train back to the airport, and the shuttle back to the hotel, where I am now. I called Shauna and talked for a bit and then it was suddenly midnight.

I plan on going to two churches tomorrow. One is called King’s Church (www.kingschurch-manchester.org) in the morning, and Sanctus1 (www.sanctus1.co.uk) at 8pm (or 20:00). I am sure the blog tomorrow will be especially interesting concerning these churches. I also plan on doing some shopping. And then Monday, I come home; hopefully, with a much better plane ride.
Day five, you were pretty good to me.

travelling diary: day four (grateful for hugh laurie)

Today started very well. Last night, I downloaded a cool app for my Mac book called Aurora. Basically, it is an alarm clock that wakes up my computer and starts itunes and wakes me up at whatever time I designate. Mac world is grand.

So I woke up at 8am and got my shower and went to breakfast. And what a hearty breakfast it was! Toast and dry cereal with no milk…for everyone! Oh, the jolly Brits and their bland food. Sigh.

After breakfast, we had our first session of the day by Isaac An. He is working on his PhD as well and is a very proficient linguist. He knows 11 languages fluently and can communicate in over 20 languages. His lecture was about the creation narrative in Genesis one and two. I wont bore you with the genius detail, but I will say this: the lecture centered around God painting creation as an artist and bringing completion (or shalom) in numerous means, none of which has to do with the semantics of the work of actual creating. It was a very good lecture.

After Isaac, Dr. William Kay (brilliant man) gave a very good talk on historical construction. He talked about how history is usually gathered from our hindsight instead of from the original occasion of faith and the unknown. Again, one hour with William Kay is like taking a 3 hour class over a whole semester in undergrad…he is genius.

We then had a coffee break and William went into detail in dissertation construction. That was quite helpful. After that, he and Andrew talked about professional societies and conferences that would aid our research. At 1pm (or 13:00) the day was done and we went to lunch.

Lunch was a bit odd but quite good. We were given sausages and peas and mashed potatoes…and it was all smothered in a dark brown gravy…mmmm. We also had chocolate cake, which was a pleasant surprise because there hasn’t been any dessert so far. I loved the cake. After lunch I took my camera and took pictures of the campus. I forgot my cable to the computer so I will load them when I return home. I then went to my room and took a 40 minute nap, which was wonderful I had the window open and there was a cool breeze coming through the closet…I mean the room.

At 3pm (or 15:00), I had an appointment with my PhD supervisory committee. I had originally thought my abstract was accepted and that I could start chapter one anytime I so desired. I was so mistaken. So badly mistaken, and while I was prepared to defend parts of my abstract, I wasn’t prepared for the genius conversation I was about to have with William and Andrew. We met for about 2 hours and I was blown away by what they said. They provided me with sources and ideas that really got me excited about my thesis. Long story short, I have some work to do on this abstract to develop it into the application formal for University of Wales and I have to turn it in by June 1. This way, the whole process can be completed and I will start paying the University of Wales as soon as they issue me an ID card. This ID card grants me access to hundreds of thousands of research journals and libraries resources. It’s like an all access pass to nerd-ville, and I am so excited about it. I will have access to the research library in London: that is almost impossible for even a British national to obtain.

Anywho, I killed about an hour and then went to White Swan with Paul, the principal (or president) of Mattersey Hall (where, technically, the theology department for the University of Wales Bangor is located). Paul and I worked briefly together in Concord before I was fired as an intern (long funny story in itself; strangely I am now on staff). We had “the carvery” at White Swan, which is a selection of peppered meats and potatoes and carrots and Northshire pudding (which is basically an elborate title for deep fried batter). It was the best meal I have had since I arrived. Afterwards, Paul and I went back to his house where he made some good tea and watched the Cricket World Cup. Paul and talked about the PhD process and how my next four years would be hard work but incredible results both professionally and personally He is a great encouragement. He also explained cricket to me, and it is quite interesting to watch. Australia killed New Zealand tonight by like 225 runs.

Paul’s wife called (she is in the States at the moment), and I excused myself and walked back to campus. All in all, my time here hasn’t been bad, and I have learned a great deal that will help me with my dissertation. I do indeed feel well equipped.

That being said, I will never travel here to the English countryside without Shauna again. Furthermore, I will never stay on campus more than needed ever again. Also, I am sooooo glad I brought House Season Two with me. With no phone, no television, and limited internet in my room, the dvd player has been well utilized to unwind and chill out. Thanks, Hugh Laurie.
And day four comes to a close. I leave for Manchester tomorrow. And as the people around me all day long have been saying, cheers!