The past week and a half has been an interesting time. It has been a time of stress, senses of failure, accomplishment, relaxation, peace, joy, hope, and so much more. It has been a trying time, a challenging time, and in truth a very tiring time as well. Yet, now as I sit here at a bend of the Mississippi River and write this, I feel refreshed and renewed and ready for that which is to come.
Last week was finals week, though none of the classes I had taken during the Spring had any finals, rather just papers to write. It is there where the stress and sense of failure comes in. I struggled over the past few weeks with these papers, and perhaps that has been indicated in some of he past posts describing how much I had to write and so little time. I eventually completed all the papers, however none to my satisfaction, and perhaps using the term completed is incorrect, as with one paper I noticed the time, brought it to a quick close and finished up the citation and drove 1.5 miles to drop it off 1 minute before it was due. I had no chance to review it,and it was no where near complete (at least in my oppinion), and yet it was my single grade for the course. It is also the only paper I know how I did on, and to tell the truth, I was surprised the grade he gave me, knowing the state the paper was in when I turned it in. This paper however, I will be returning to and I hope to eventually expand the paper into a much greater exploration of the Book of Mormon and what it has to offer to a Peace and Justice tradition such as Community of Christ.
Other papers were written or finished during the course of the week and sent by the end of the week, lucky all able to be e-mailed as I was in Oregon by then. Some of these were not so great as I lost some of the work I had done on them and had to redone, with limited resources and time. The only paper I felt confident was the one paper I had done with time to spare that was due at the start of Finals week, that was my theology of preaching paper. The others, lets just say they are in and I hope I pass.
The weekend was a great way to end the stressful finals weeks as I found myself back in the Pacific Northwest with family and friends. Thursday evening upon arriving to one of my homes I spent time with my parents, and breathed along with doing some school work. Friday morning was a rush of finishing up papers and sending them off to Ohio, followed by heading down to my sister’s to spend time with her and her three children, and to meet Jack, my eldest niece’s horse before returning to my parents home. Saturday my parents and I traveled to the Oregon Coast. It was a beautiful day, a bit of a breeze but no to much, cloudy skies, 59 degrees. The tide was coming in while we were there. I walked and ran with my parent’s dog, my mom sat on the beach with the dog when I was not walking her, while my dad stood up on the sidewalk, watching the ocean, taking pictures and more. After a while I walked barefooted down to the ocean, and felt the waves splash across my feet and lower legs. The cool water of the green-grey water was refreshing and renewing. Standing there watching the mighty ocean, I felt in touch with that creation which I am part of, I found myself being renewed, restored, and realized as I just embraced the amazing sites, smells, sounds… of the amazing creation of the Creating One. As I stood in the near high tide and the waves crashed around my legs, I felt the sand slipping away from beneath my feet, relaxing me even further. On the drive there and back, it was amazing to watch the many shades of green that make up the temperate rainforest that covers the Costal Range. It was truly an amazing day.
Sunday was a day of sacraments. In Ohio in one of the congregations I have been a part of there was an ordination taking place, and I prayed and reflected about it as it took place so far from where I was in my early morning, and then with my parents I traveled to TCC where two Baptisms of Water and two Baptisms of Spirit (Confirmation) were celebrated. Thus bringing the count of different sacraments I experienced this week to four in person, and two at a difference out of the eight sacraments of the church, the only two that I did not experience are the two that typically are not done during a worship experience.
Monday I flew out of PDX at 1:30 and arrived in Columbus at 11:30. By the time I had my luggage, got to the car, and drove home it was about 1am. I would spend some time checking e-mail, packing before retiring about 3:30am to arise by 6am and finish packing, loading up the car and doing a few last minute errands. Then it was a nice 8-9 hour drive to Nauvoo, IL where I will be spending the rest of the Summer. Though gas prices were the highest I have yet to pay, at least I did get the best gas mileage I ever had on the way over. The evening was spent meeting others who will be here throughout the summer and also unloading, but not unpacking that is to come.
Today is a glorious day, and I am awake and refreshed, awaiting the new. I spent part of the morning along with part of my flight time, reviewing materials from my last time here, trying to jog my memory of all that I once knew, but now seems so distant.
— Lyle II