Various musings
I enjoy having random (and not so random) people comment on my entries - especially when it concerns seminary life, theology, Christian practice, because it forces me to articulate my thoughts in what I hope is a clear manner. Sometimes these sorts of encounters also make me take into account things I have not thought about before - a challenge perhaps, but a useful one.
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I am trying to get in all the required reading for my classes this semester and it is proving quite the difficult task in terms of sheer volume of the assigned readings. On the other hand, I like the assigned materials and they raise up questions that can make for interesting discussions in both the real and virtual worlds. Currently, I have about 30 pages left in "Liturgy and Tradition: Theological Reflections of Alexander Schmemann." Hmmm... I just took another look through the list of readings for Liturgics. Unit six (out of nine) includes "Robert Taft, "A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (5 volumes)." I have a feeling I won't be able to do all the readings after all...
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There is talk of taking the Church School students on a field trip to a Russian Orthodox Church for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but I am not sure how much you can accomplish if you try to have everybody back within an hour - the drive itself (going and coming back) is likely to take up half that time. We'll see what happens when we talk about it in more concrete terms this Sunday.
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Play-off time for both the league in which I play and the one in which I coach. Both teams backed into the play-offs rather badly. In the first league we lost our last three games by 3, 2, and 8. On the bright side both Niko and I played well in our last game and we were missing a couple of players. In the second league we again lost our last three games, in this case rather badly. On the hopeful side, perhaps our players will come to the games for the playoffs. Regardless of what happens, though, it's been fun playing basketball with a clock and a scoreboard again and I've certainly learned a lot out of the coaching experience.
*--------------------------------------*
I am trying to get in all the required reading for my classes this semester and it is proving quite the difficult task in terms of sheer volume of the assigned readings. On the other hand, I like the assigned materials and they raise up questions that can make for interesting discussions in both the real and virtual worlds. Currently, I have about 30 pages left in "Liturgy and Tradition: Theological Reflections of Alexander Schmemann." Hmmm... I just took another look through the list of readings for Liturgics. Unit six (out of nine) includes "Robert Taft, "A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (5 volumes)." I have a feeling I won't be able to do all the readings after all...
*--------------------------------------*
There is talk of taking the Church School students on a field trip to a Russian Orthodox Church for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but I am not sure how much you can accomplish if you try to have everybody back within an hour - the drive itself (going and coming back) is likely to take up half that time. We'll see what happens when we talk about it in more concrete terms this Sunday.
*--------------------------------------*
Play-off time for both the league in which I play and the one in which I coach. Both teams backed into the play-offs rather badly. In the first league we lost our last three games by 3, 2, and 8. On the bright side both Niko and I played well in our last game and we were missing a couple of players. In the second league we again lost our last three games, in this case rather badly. On the hopeful side, perhaps our players will come to the games for the playoffs. Regardless of what happens, though, it's been fun playing basketball with a clock and a scoreboard again and I've certainly learned a lot out of the coaching experience.
posted by Virgil Petrisor at 6:56 PM
2 Comments:
So, to read or not to read, that’s the question, eh? If in doubt – so a popular slogan goes - ask. Ask yourself if reading Taft’s oversized book is or is not part of “ye seeking first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness”. In this case the answer may not be too evident. But the question is worth asking as often as required. That is – whenever in doubt.
That is, indeed, the criterion which should guide decisions such as "to read or not to read." The way I see it is that right now I am in a pretty good position to accumulate knowledge for use at a latter time. I figure that in a world which places so much emphasis on data and cognitive knowledge, having as much of that as possible cannot hurt - if only to have a solid foundation in my interactions with it.
So, as long as it doesn't take away from the time I need for prayer, from my commitments to the parish, and from spending some quality time with my wife, I figure I can spend a lot of time reading. What that means specifically for Taft's work, remains to be seen.
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