C.S. Lewis Sundays #18: on age

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
— C.S. Lewis

(If anyone could help me track down the source of this particular Lewis quote, I’d be grateful.)

to thine own self be true

My friend over at Moot Thoughts and Musings recently blogged about her 30th birthday, including the things she was thankful for having experienced and accomplished in her twenties. With my own 30th birthday approaching swiftly, I thought it might be nice to do the same. So I have begun to reflect and perhaps you will see a similar post closer to doomsday my birthday. For now though, I thought this might be a good time to share the beginnings of a lifetime wish list of sorts which I started some time ago. Mindy (ever the list-maker!) told me that she keeps a list of things she wants to do before she dies, and has a scrapbook for marking when she crosses off one of those items. I think this is such a lovely idea, and a nice antidote to lamenting my lost youth.  I must confess that 30 has seemed an intimidating birthday ahead. There are many milestones I thought I would have already accomplished by now. But regret is certainly not a productive activity; it ranks right alongside worry and fear.

I would much rather look forward to the future, but even a future-focus is frought with some difficulties, as the admonishment of James warns, for tomorrow is not a promised commodity. “Teach us to number our days,” says the Psalmist, “that we may present a heart of wisdom.” My favorite morning prayer begins: “O Lord, you have brought me in safety to this new day…” Each day is a gift, and I hope that reflections of these sort would enable me to be more fully present in the here and now, however much of that here and now God is pleased to give.

One additional thing I should like to point out is that this is a “To DO list” and as such is action-oriented. It might be profitable and wise to create a “To BE” list with a more spiritual, ontological flavor to it. (Be more prayerful, more meditative, etc.) For now these are items I want to actually do in years to come. Some of them are similar, some are silly, some are serious. All are me, unashamedly me.  It will no doubt change as I grow and change, but here are some of my heart’s desires, in no particular order …

1. Drink tea in a cottage in England
2. Visit Oxford
3. Gaze at sheep in a green field in Scotland
4. Share a pint with Mike in a pub in Ireland
5. Wander the Louvre
6. Stand on the shores of Prince Edward Island
7. Write a book
8. Finish my Reading List (ha!)
9. Learn (at least some) French, Italian, and German
10. Make a Quilt
11. Learn to Knit
12. Sew my own clothing
13. Get my professional counseling license
14. Give back to the educational institutions that shaped me
15. Mentor a young person (or two, or twenty…)
16. Record my family history
17. Plant a tree
18. Grow a vegetable garden
19. Grow a flower garden
20. Climb more mountains
21. Go sailing on the ocean
22. Become a Mother

……………………………………………………..

So, what would your list say?

Final Score

Got the last letter in the mail the other day, an acceptance from Marquette. Also, I mailed off the letters announcing my decision to the departments today.  So even though we’ve already mentioned our decision on here, it seems appropriate to post the final score, especially since we wondered for so long what it would be:

Rejections: 4 (Princeton, Chicago, Yale, & Toronto)
Acceptances: 6 (SLU, Calvin, Villanova, CUA, Fordham, & Marquette)
Final Decision: Villanova University

And so, after years of hard work, we can finally settle into…more years of more hard work (hey, wait a second…)

Thanks to all who prayed and encouraged along the way. We are thankful or excited.

C.S. Lewis Sundays #17: Pride

The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people.  But pride always means enmity– it is enmity.

two poems

April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, I’m posting two of my own poems composed in the last year. Each of these poems takes notice of a particular sighting in nature, in the first, a particularly striking sunrise in the trees, and in the second, a barely there evening moon.

One Saturday in Springtime

Today has been a day of near perfect leisure, just what a Saturday ought to be. I woke around eight o’clock to sunshine and a sense that it was a chilly day outside. Mike was still sleeping soundly so I took advantage of the quiet solitude to pray, and then picked up a project that I had put aside last evening. I did the dishes and started a nice breakfast of turkey sausage links, cheese eggs, and drop biscuits. My plan was to wake Mike with the smell of coffee, but Philo woke him first by leaping upon the bed and beginning his “Kitty 500″ routine (leap, scramble, run in circles, repeat).

After breakfast Mike wanted to work on the computer while I continued stitching, so I finished the current netflix movie, The Mill on the Floss based on the novel by George Eliot.

C.S. Lewis Sundays #16: Resurrection

The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits’, the ‘pioneer of life’. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.

–from Miracles, C. S. Lewis
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things are made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

–source: Eastertide, Prayers for Lent through Easter from The Divine Hours, Phyllis Tickle

Another Grad School Update

Lots has happened since my last blog post, so it’s time for another update. At this point, we have heard back from eight schools, five of which have offered us admission.

1) The five acceptances are: Fordham, Villanova, Catholic University of America, St. Louis, and Calvin Theological Seminary. The first three of those are philosophy programs, and the last two are theology programs.

2) The three rejections are: Princeton, Yale, and Chicago Div School

3) We are still waiting to hear from: Marquette and University of Toronto

First Rejection

Got a “no” from Princeton. Not a terrible surprise, really - they did not have many people doing what I am interested in. My statement of purpose did try to connect my research interests with those of the department, but the connection was slight, and I applied somewhat on a whim. Too, a good friend of mine applied there unsuccessfully last year and was told off the record that politics were the determining factor. My friend and I are very similar politically and our CVs would show it, so the same issues may have affected me.

It would have been nice to remain close to this area, but that chance still exists with Villanova. Meanwhile, no word back from the other places, no word on funding details, and no special leanings among the acceptances. I’ll keep you posted.

Summertime/Wintertime

With three to five inches of beautiful white snow on the ground, we’ve finally gotten that nice winter precip I’ve been waiting for.  So today is a welcome work-from-home in my pj’s day.

Meanwhile, in the Lone Star State where the sun shines bright, Porgy and Bess opens tonight and John Victor Allen will make his Dallas Opera debut.  In the role of The Detective, he won’t be singing “Summertime,” but he will be making his big sis more than proud.

You can read a great story about Victor’s acting career that our hometown newspaper recently ran here.

Break a leg tonight, Vic!