Advent 1

Gettysburg had 4 inches of snow today. It was snowing very lightly when I left to worship at Christ Chapel - Gettysburg College. By the time worship ended, the snow was falling rapidly so I shoveled. I wonder if this is a foretaste of the winter.

Most of my time in the past few weeks has been planning for teaching a Doctor of Ministry Seminar at Philadelphia Seminary in January. I am enjoying reading more of the literature and hope that students will enjoy the readings as well.

I have continued to participate in professional meetings. From November 8-10 I attended the annual meeting of the Religious Education Association in Boston, Massachusetts. The quality of the sessions was quite good. I am always amazed at the various areas of research by junior and senior scholars in the field. I attended the American Academy of Religion for one day, Saturday 23. Again there were good sessions. At both meetings I heard research on religious education in prisons. As always, I marveled at the book display. I was also able to meet and have conversations with Dr. Richard Stewart and Dr. Beverly Wallace. Professional meeting are great for catching up with friends and colleagues.

 On Remembrance Day, 19 November, I delivered the Benediction. Each year thousands come to Gettysburg to remember the Gettysburg Address. This was especially significant this year as the 150 Year of the Address as well as the Battle at Gettysburg during  the Civil War. Along with Governor Corbett, Chief Justice Scalia was there to swear-in 16 new citizens. I found this to be a moving symbol of focus of the day. This was my second swearing-in of new citizens. I attended the swearing-in of my friend and colleague, Dr. Kirsi Stjerna in Philadelphia.

Musings at Christmas

In November I attended and presented a paper, "Black Soldiers, education, and the U.S. Civil War: the Fight for Liberation" at the annual meeting of the Religious Education Association in Atlanta, Georgia. It was good to see old friends and new colleagues in the field. It was my last meeting as a full-time faculty member of the association.

Last week I held my last seminary Fall semester class. I certainly enjoyed the years of interacting with the students and my colleagues. Gettysburg Seminary has been a significant part of my life.

Epiphany Lutheran Church in Brooklyn has also been an important part of my life. Recently, I heard from an old Epiphany friend, Lorrain Nelson. I had not seen her in 50 years. We talked about our nurture in the parish, the good liturgical practices, and our time in Luther League. One month prior, I officiated at the funeral of Fred DeLeon, another Epiphany friend. He and my sister were in the same confirmation class. It was good to see old friends. We gathered in celebration of life that was shared and lived on the promises of God in Jesus. Epiphany helped to nurture us in faith.

I was walking through the Capitol City Mall near Camp Hill, PA on Saturday afternoon. There were the usual crowds and a lot of conversations. In the midst of hustle and bustle of shopping, there was a trio of voices singing Christmas carols. It made me think, the singers helped to remind shoppers the reality of the season. I saw one shop manager stop to listen as the singers were in front of his store...taking moment to reflect.