All moved in

I made the move this weekend from my Luther Seminary apartment to my new place in Dennison, Minnesota.

I could not have asked for a moving day to go more smoothly, and I owe huge thanks to the dozen or so people who helped load and/or unload the moving truck. My parents, especially, are such troopers. They've helped me move eight times in the last 10 years and they still keep showing up every time!

Sunday was a tough day, saying goodbye to friends and to the lovely people of my teaching congregation. That's never pleasant, no matter how excited I am about what comes next. But of course we'll still be in touch. In fact, I spent much of Monday talking on the phone, video calling on Skype, e-mailing, exchanging Facebook messages, and chatting online with various friends. I really diversified my communication, and I'm grateful for these many options, as well as for the friends using them!

As predicted, Sami spent most of the moving day cowering in terror behind the toilet. Such a sad sight. But she seems to be settling right in to her new home, don't you think?





She's in seventh heaven with these nice, wide windowsills and southern sun. And, yes, that is a sweet old-school Winnebago in the background.

Meanwhile, when I arrived I found a very thoughtful welcome basket from my landlord and his girlfriend. It contained very helpful things like hand soap, hand lotion, tissues, new towels, and their phone numbers in case I needed anything. Plus a Dennison Days t-shirt just for fun.





I'm not as unpacked as I might like to be, but I did manage to find the necessary tools to make brinner (breakfast for dinner) tonight, so I'm making progress. Tomorrow is my first day of internship, and my supervisor's low-key plan begins at the gloriously late hour of 10 a.m., so we're off to a good start already!

Seeking beauty: Alvine

Here's a slightly different take on beautiful things that have caught my eye of late. After I've settled into my new place and started getting paychecks, something from Ikea's Alvine collection is going to have to come live with me. (I'm not sure why it doesn't all show up on that page. When I search "Alvine" I get more items.) I'm thinking either the Flora or Spetsig pillows, definitely the Parla lampshade. Or maybe some bedding. Ikea is so great.

Seeking beauty: Icons

A few weeks ago, I went with a couple friends to St. George Greek Orthodox Church in St. Paul. I had never attended an Orthodox worship service before, and it was a fascinating experience. The sanctuary was stunningly beautiful. In addition to what you can see in this picture, there were icons around the entire space, grouped about two feet tall at eye-level, and it reminded me how much I love icons and how meaningful they can be for reflection.

So I bought a couple at St. George's bookstore, but I much prefer to display things like this in odd-numbered groups. Happily, I managed to fill in my trio when I found a great deal on eBay that met my very specific criteria for size and subject matter.

On the left are Abraham and Sarah with their three visitors (Genesis 18). In the middle we have Gabriel and Mary at the annunciation (Luke 1). And on the right is Christ, depicted here as the light-giver.





Then, as it turns out, I happened to find some very inexpensive paper icons in the gift shop of the Cathedral of Saint Paul during my visit. They're probably more like paintings than icons, but I thought they might be nice in my new office, so the wood-mounted ones can stay at home.

The large one is the resurrection (Mark 16), and the smaller are (clockwise from top left) the nativity, the presentation at the temple (both Luke 2), the meal at Emmaus (Luke 24), and the raising of Lazarus (John 11).





I am by no means an expert on the Orthodox conception and veneration of icons, but I know they are understood to be much more than mere artwork. The ecumenical community of Taizé has a brief and helpful explanation of icons on their website. It addresses their close connection with incarnation, comparing them to "windows open on the realities of the Kingdom of God." This understanding makes icons perfect for the visio divina practices I mentioned earlier.

Seeking beauty: Visio divina

Perhaps you've heard of lectio divina, a spiritual practice in which one studies a sacred text in a very intentional way, open to what God might say specifically to them through that text. We can take a similar approach to art through visio divina. We can study art in conjunction with scripture and see what God might say to us through that artwork.

I did some of this during my retreat at the ARC Retreat Center. This is not a regular practice for me but, as I've said before, I've been yearning for art and beauty lately. I don't often feel a strong sense of God leading me to a specific practice like this, but this was one of the rare cases where I did feel God's guidance. So I trekked from my hermitage to the main lodge (braving the mosquitoes) in search of art.

First I found art supplies, consisting mainly of crayons and coloring books, so I had a little fun coloring in a couple of Pooh and Piglet pictures (it was the only option!) before searching the library for art books. What I found was this book by Sister Wendy, and this is the image that jumped out at me, "Countess Golovine" by Elizabeth Vigée-Lebrun:





I'm normally more drawn to landscapes or nature scenes or buildings than to portraits, so this was unusual. But something in the look on her face really caught my eye. She looked like a woman who was comfortable with her identity, who understood her own authority, who wasn't afraid to access her own power, and who still didn't take herself too seriously.

She looked to me like a woman who could live into the baptismal gift of the Holy Spirit: "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in [God's] presence" (from the ELW order for holy baptism, among other sources; and originally from Isaiah 11). She got me thinking about my own identity and authority in light of these baptismal promises, and it was really beneficial for me to reflect on this image.

You just never know what medium God might use to reach us...I was grateful that this image provided a perfect chance for me to hear God speak.

Seeking beauty: Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens' album Seven Swans is several years old now (2004). But I just downloaded it recently, so it's new to me, and I am enjoying it immensely. You can listen to samples at Amazon, and here's a video of one of my favorite songs, "The Transfiguration." You'll find lyrics here. Enjoy!

Refuge from chaos

I'm interrupting your regularly scheduled "seeking beauty" series to bring you up to date on Operation: Move This Stuff. Packing began in earnest yesterday and I've made great progress. It's starting to look like a real-life game of Tetris in here as I stack boxes.

But my cat, Sami, had a little trouble with the chaos. Luckily, she found a safe haven between the panes of glass (or plastic, as the case may be) in the bedroom window.





She'll hang in there for the next few days, but moving day won't be pretty. Sami generally thinks moving day = apocalypse, and she hides under or behind various pieces of large furniture as they disappear one by one. Then she usually ends up cowering behind the toilet because it's the only thing left. Poor kitty.

Seeking beauty: The Saint John's Bible

I had forgotten about the loveliness of this amazing project until the other day, when I received a gift of these note cards, which portray images from the Saint John's Bible. The image on the left is from John 1 and the one on the right is from the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1 (photo from the Saint John's Bible site).





You can scroll through every page of the Saint John's Bible here, using the links on the left (Pentateuch, etc.). It's an amazing project...a hand-written, hand-illuminated Bible commissioned by Saint John's Abbey and University in 1998. It is scheduled to be completed either this year or next.

When I visited the Science Museum of Minnesota to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, it included a section on the Saint John's Bible, so I got to see several pages and learn more about the process, which is incredible.

One of my favorite aspects of the project is the way they incorporate modern imagery into the illumination. For example, Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37) is illuminated using haunting imagery reminiscent of World War II concentration camps, like piles of eyeglasses amidst the bones. Check it out here. It's a powerful way to open up scripture and emphasize that God's story is for all people in all times.

Seeking beauty: Macha Chmakoff

I love, love, love this artist's work. I discovered Macha Chmakoff during my spring 2009 Luke class, when one of our assignments was to bring in a piece of artwork that represented something from Luke's gospel. I found this painting and thought it was breathtaking. The copy I printed is still on my fridge (or was, until I packed it).


"Magnificat"




Her site includes several paintings relating to Mary: scenes of the annunciation, visitation, magnificat, and nativity. I love them all. Here are a couple more of my favorites:


"Annonciation Orange"




"Visitation"




The rest of her biblically-themed work depicts a wide range of Old and New Testament stories and motifs in color palettes ranging from the bold examples above to shades of gray.


"Les visiteurs d'Abraham" (Abraham's visitors)




"L'Ascension"




Unfortunately, the site is in French, and the titles of the paintings are sometimes crucial to the meaning. If you're so inclined, you can use a translator tool like Google for help. To get you started, here are some of the main links:

Evangiles (Gospels): paintings inspired by stories in the four gospels
Thèmes bibliques (Biblical themes): contains links to The 7 Days of Creation, The 7 Last Words, Scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and more.

The images I've included here are all taken from the artist's website and found in either Evangiles or Scènes de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament. Her landscapes, people, and still life pieces are also lovely. If you're navigating, "Accueil" takes you to the homepage.

The only information I can find about Macha Chmakoff is on the back of her book, which says she is a psychologist and psychoanalyst, as well as a painter. She studied theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris.

Seeking beauty: Cathedral of Saint Paul

One of my favorite sites in the Twin Cities is the Cathedral of Saint Paul. It's so inspiring to be surrounded by so much beauty all in one place, so I like to go take in the art and architecture. But it's also a quiet, meditative place to pray and contemplate, away from the distractions and competing demands of my own space.

Sadly, when I went the other day, the praying and contemplating didn't work out as well as usual because there was a wedding rehearsal taking place. Oh well, at least I still have my prayer candle to inspire and focus me at home. And I did get to take a few pictures, though you can see much better ones on the cathedral's website, or take a virtual tour.

A tiny slice of one side of the cathedral. The front facade is way too big to photograph from close up.




The cathedral sits on the highest point in downtown St. Paul, offering amazing views of the city.




State capitol. I've heard that the dudes in charge of building the cathedral--chances are they were all dudes, right?--designed it specifically to be just a little taller than the capitol. Gotta make sure we all know God trumps government!




The central front doors, from inside.




The central dome. This is my favorite part, I think. I like to lie down on a pew and just gaze up into the dome for a while. It's light and airy and heavy at the same time. And I love that there are lots of spots of peeling paint or chipping plaster. A few flaws enhance the character.




Main altar. There are also smaller chapels at the four corners of the sanctuary, as well as several shrines in a semi-circle behind the chancel (on the other side of those bronze grilles).

Seeking beauty

Lately I've found myself increasingly drawn to art and beauty in various forms. I wonder if it's because, with all the reading and writing I do for my classes, I spend much of my time thinking about God rather than feeling or experiencing God. Music and art and pretty things like candles allow me to engage a different part of myself...more heart and less head, perhaps. Not that the distinction is ever that simple or complete, of course.

I also think beautiful things are a reflection of the splendor and goodness of creation, and there has to be some kind of connection to incarnation here, too, but I have yet to wrap my mind around exactly what it might be. Incarnation is inherently connected to humble, broken people, places, and things, of course. We're sure to find God in "the least of these" (Matthew 25:45) and in those places where we might not want to look for God (Isaiah 53).

But I think maybe the fact that the Word became flesh also reflects (and effects) the holiness and loveliness of the created world, so that beautiful things can tell us something about God just as seemingly undesirable and lowly things can. Psalm 96 praises the beauty of God's dwelling, and in Psalm 27 the writer asks to "behold the beauty of the Lord."

Anyway, for one reason or another, I'm yearning for beauty, even as I have to put away my own pretty things in preparation for the move. But there are much more beautiful things in the world than the decorations and pictures I packed. Over the next several days I'd like to share some of the beautiful things that have caught my attention recently, and I hope you'll chime in with some of your favorites too.

New pastor

Yesterday at my teaching congregation, Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Roseville, we celebrated our first Sunday with our new pastor. The last called pastor of this congregation, with whom I worked during my first year of seminary, was here for 25 years, so it's a big change to switch pastors at that point. Our interim pastor served well for the last year, and really helped facilitate the self-study and call process. And now we welcome Pastor Tim Bernard, who returns to Minnesota from Michigan, along with his wife and four children.

The call process is a funny thing. You really have to trust the committee designated to handle it, because the rest of the congregation has no input until the final stages, where they vote on the recommended candidate. The congregation has to trust that the committee, through multiple interviews, a visit to the candidate's church, and prayerful discernment, has made the best choice for the congregation.

In this case, I think we're in good shape. This congregation did some thoughtful work on their self-study. They recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and they're open to new ideas (at least most of them are). I think Pastor Tim recognizes their strengths and weaknesses as well, and is eager to help them cultivate the new ideas they need.

He mentioned at the beginning of his sermon that people had asked him if he was nervous. He said yes, but not as nervous as the call committee probably was, since they'd have to take the heat if he failed somehow! But, no worries. Pastor Tim preached a good sermon, he has a warm and relaxed presence, and he seems to have energy around integrating children into worship, all of which is good for this congregation.

I'm only hanging around here a couple more weeks, but I'm looking forward to returning in a year and seeing what exciting new things are developing!

The pretty stuff is the first to go...and other thoughts on moving

I'm working on packing all the pretty things in my apartment, and I'm already missing them. I don't generally display a ton of knick-knacks, but I had a few out, plus some art on the walls and a big collection of family photos. Here's a sample:

Willow Tree angels...on the little shelf my dad made in his seventh-grade industrial tech class!




Cross made from folded and rolled strips of newspapers and magazines. From the Global Mission Institute fair trade fair.




Naturally, the decorative things are the first to be packed since I can easily live without them. But I miss the prettiness. With the apartment looking more bare and less homey, it really drives home the reality of moving away from this place where I'm comfortable.

I have lots of friends and a good support system here; I have a job (and take classes) where I usually know what's expected of me and what I can expect; I have a church community I really like; and I know where to shop, go to the doctor, get my hair cut, get my car serviced, and all those other basic conveniences.

Of course, I have been through this before. This is exactly how I felt moving to St. Paul, and I love my life here. And I know I'll love my life in Dennison, where the people I work with will undoubtedly minister to me as much as (or more than) I minister to them.

I know this is how it generally works, but it's still a little scary to shove out into the world and leave my comfort zone behind (again), no matter how many times it's worked out well. So here's a prayer from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (among other sources) that's especially appropriate at times like this:

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



P.S. I'm keeping out my favorite prayer candle. It's from one of my spring classes, taught by two awesome profs. Mary Hess always lights a candle as a reminder that the Holy Spirit is the primary teacher in the room. Diane Jacobson contributed this candle that says, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it" (Genesis 28:16) in both Hebrew and English. It smells like yummy soap and I was delighted to take home what was left of it when the class ended.

Brand-new digs

No, really, my internship apartment is brand-new! Not only is it a new residence for me, but it’s only recently been constructed. The owner of the house where I’ll be living built the house himself, and over just the past several months finished his basement into a very nice apartment. He seems to have done a wonderful job, and I get to be the first occupant!

It has a huge living room and a spacious bedroom. The lack of dishwasher is a pretty bitter disappointment, I must say (dishes are my biggest housekeeping downfall), but that is mostly offset by my own washer and dryer. Also, I’m super-excited to have a garage after three years without one!

Check out how pretty it is. (Photos once again by Rachel Roushey. She rocks!)


Kitchen and dining area, open to the living room




The house




The side street (the street in front of the house opens into a field)

Let the packing begin!

Okay, it’s officially time to get real. As much as I’m looking forward to my internship adventure, I’ve been in a bit of denial all summer. It’s not easy to leave the close community I’ve developed here at Luther, nor is it a pleasant undertaking to pack up all my worldly belongings, transport them, and unpack them.

But I’m moving in two and a half weeks now, and as of yesterday morning I had yet to begin any substantial preparations for that endeavor. So yesterday afternoon I started the monumental undertaking by collecting some boxes from the Luther bookstore. They sat in my car for a couple hours in the 93-degree heat, so when I got into my car later, it was so humid that my glasses fogged up, and it smelled like soggy cardboard. Gross.





I followed up that experience by hauling all the boxes I kept from my last move (and the several moves before that, in many cases) from my storage space to my apartment. As I mentioned, it was 93 degrees, so my timing was impeccable as always.

Check out the process...from my storage bin:





To my trunk:





And my car:





To my living room:





The beastly black contraption in the corner is my loveseat, turned on end. It's served me well for two years (with a slipcover, bien sur!) but now it's being sent into the world to bless someone else with a compact yet serviceable place to sit.

As usual, I’ve accumulated more of everything since I moved here two years ago…more clothes, more dishes, more books and DVDs, more furniture. Time to do some sorting and donating! Of course, in my perpetual clumsiness, I already dropped my bin of Christmas decorations, so when December rolls around, I might discover that the Christmas stuff I already pared down got pared down a bit more against my will.

Anyway, I’ll be buried in piles of boxes for the next few weeks, and hopefully I'll become a regular at the Goodwill drop-off door. Wish me luck!

Annual trip to the fair

Almost every single year of my life, my family has gone to the Olmsted County Fair in Rochester, MN. It's certainly no state fair (that craziness begins in a few weeks just a mile or so from my current apartment), and it has diminished in size and excitement over the last several years, but it's still a fun way to spend a summer Saturday. Here are a few images to capture the spirit of the day


The fish pond...always the first stop when we arrive. Sadly, this year we watched one fish go belly-up.





View of the midway. It had been raining earlier in the day, but it cleared off nicely for the afternoon, and the midway wasn't too much of a muddy mess (nothing like the year the mud was practically knee-deep!).





The all-important food vendors. This year I enjoyed two glasses of chocolate milk from the $1 all-you-can-drink dairy cart, and I had a couple of my dad's Tom Thumb mini-donuts (a perennial favorite). A new tradition for me this year were the delicious sweet potato fries from Tilly's. I had some at Rochesterfest when I went with some friends in June to see Klaus run in the Dachshund Dash so I knew how good they were.





A couple of the animals we saw. Of course there were the usual livestock, horses, and petting zoo animals as well, but these little guys had a lot of personality.








And, finally, I can't pass up jewelry, especially at $2 for each piece. So, behold, $6 of quality merchandise.




All in all, a very successful trip to the 150th annual Olmsted County Fair!

Retreat

I recently spent two days on a solitary retreat at the ARC Retreat Center near Stanchfield, Minnesota. It was such a gift to be able to get away from my everyday routine for two days of reading, prayer, reflection, and rest.

I stayed in the hermitage, which is a single-room dwelling in the middle of the woods.








It had electricity, including lights, microwave, and fridge. It was very comfortably furnished, had an awesome screen porch, and was generally very cozy.








The lack of running water (and accompanying outhouse) wasn’t ideal, but it was manageable for a couple days, even for me, and I’m particularly wimpy about “roughing it.”





The only real bummer was the rabid killer mosquitoes. I stayed inside as much as possible and still ended up with 51 bites! Maybe in early spring or late fall they wouldn’t be as bad, so it would be easier to go for walks and be outside. Meanwhile, I made good use of that screen porch!

Small-town news networks

I’ve visited my internship area a few times now, and it’s reminding me of the joys of small-town living. Everywhere I go, I run into people who are somehow connected with one of the churches I’ll serve.

When I asked my supervisor for my future address so I could do address changes, she told me I should call for a PO box since that’s how residents of Dennison get their mail. I figured they’d ask me what my street address would be (and I didn’t know) but I called anyway, thinking maybe they could help me out with that too.

Sure enough, the friendly man at the post office got me all straightened out.

When I said I’d be working with some churches in the area, he knew about the internship program. When I said I’d be living in someone’s basement apartment, he figured out who I was talking about just from the guy’s first name. And he gave me the street address of my future residence. Then he said he’d just save me PO box number [X] until I could get there to fill out the paperwork.

So, thanks to him, I can do my address changes. There are definite benefits to the word-of-mouth networks of small towns.

Big changes

My internship is in a rural area of Minnesota, so I get to move from the heart of the Twin Cities metro area (population over 3 million) to Dennison, Minnesota (population 160). It’s only about 45 minutes away, but it will be a whole different world!

I grew up in an Iowa town of 5,000 so I’m no stranger to small-town life, but 5,000 is quite different from 160. And it’s been over 10 years since I lived in a metro area smaller than 100,000.

I’m excited about the change in scenery, though…check out the beautiful surroundings I’ll get to enjoy!

(First three photos are by Rachel Roushey, taken through the window of a moving car!)

Vang Lutheran Church

Vang Lutheran Church, rural Dennison, MN