This has been a busy week. Tomorrow night I will be at an assessment and interview with the University of Phoenix. I am preparing a 5-7 minute presentation, so they can have an idea of what my teaching style would be. If all goes well, I will be an adjunct professor in the humanities department in the downtown Chicago campus. I’m very excited.

I also received my first check for my writing! Dr. Dennis Bratcher is posting many of the articles from Career Women of the Bible on his site The Voice. You can see what up at Women and Theology.

Tonight is Ash Wednesday, so I will be heading to church for the service. I arranged a readers’ theater of the Gospel lesson, Matthew 6:1-1, 16-21. I am also one of the readers. Those of who are taking part in the service are meeting at 5:30 for dinner then to go over the service and rehearse. Which means I will be leaving here very soon.

Then tomorrow night one of my writers’ groups is meeting. It’s called FaithWriters and is at the 1st UMC church. So I have a full schedule this week.

Next week I should be back to regularly posting. If you have any ideas for post or would like to write a guest post, just let me know. You can leave a comment or email me.

If you noticed that all of the links I had up for my blogrolls and websites are no longer there, we’re hoping it will be back up soon. My Hubby (who is my webmaster–the advantages to being married to a computer geek) upgraded me to WordPress 2.something, and he has not been able to get the links I’ve added to come up. Hopefully he will have it figured out soon. If you upgraded WordPress and had the same problem, please let us know. My email can be found in the Contact info.

Matthew, I intend to answer your last comment, but I have not had the time to give a proper response, and I refuse to be glib. I just wanted to let you know I had not forgotten about you. 🙂

reverendmother here… It seems like this topic has been done before, but I can’t find it in the archives, so……

I am downtown on retreat this week. Most of the retreatants are from out of town, so I get to experience this place through the eyes of visitors. So in the spirit of tourism:

1. What is one place you make sure to take out-of-town guests when they visit?

I don’t know. I just moved to Chicago last year. I think the three top places I would take someone to, depending on what they liked would be: 1) The Art Institute, 2) Shedds Aquarium, 3) Garfield Park Conservatory. Then depending on the time of the year, there is always heading to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game.

2. When visiting another city or town, do you try to cram as much in as possible, or take it slow and easy?

Normally I cram in as much as possible. I always want to see everything.

3. When traveling, where are we most likely to find you: strolling through a museum, checking out the local shopping, or _________________?

Strolling through a museum or looking for a great mom and pop place to eat the local food.

4. Do you like organized tours and/or carefully planned itineraries, or would you rather strike out and just see what happens?

I like to strike out and see what happens.

5. After an extended trip, what do you find yourself craving most about home?

My bed.

Yes, it’s true. I’ve been watching Season Six of American Idol with my daughter, our first time dipping into this particular well of pop culture. In the spirit of believing you can do anything, as the auditioners so clearly do, please fill in the following five blanks.

1) If I could sing like anyone, it would be Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine.

2) I would love to sing the song “Only the Good Die Young”.

3) It would be really cool to sing anywhere!

4) If I could sing a dream duet it would be with Billy Joel.

5) If I could sing on a TV or radio show, it would be The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Change is a given in life, yet it’s not easy for any of us. So strap on your seat belts and let’s talk about it:

1. Share, if you wish, the biggest change you experienced this past year.

I got married! (See picture.)

2. Talk about a time you changed your mind about something, important or not.

I decided to go decaf this year after years of saying I never would.

3. Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote a controversial book called “Why Christianity Must Change or Die.” Setting aside his ideas–what kind of changes would you like to see in the Church?

Real equality for women and more working for social justice, especially in the unfair social structures in this country that keep so many people “in their place.” For my denomination I would like to see pastors taken care of, and the General Budget guidelines redone, so small churches are not paying in 20% of their income to the General Church.

4. Have you changed your hairstyle/hair color in the last five years? If so, how many times?

My hairstyle gets changed a couple of times a year, and my hair color is always changing because I am easily bored.

5. What WERE they thinking with that New Coke thing?

I don’t like pop, so I wonder what they were thinking with that whole pop thing. 🙂

In my office the other day, two church members asked about the boat on my table. I told them it was a gift from a seminary classmate, a reminder of the work and teaching of our professor, Kirk Jones, author of Rest in the Storm: Self-Care Strategies for Clergy and other Caregivers. He always reminded us that Jesus went to the back of the boat and took a nap.

Not surprisingly, I could not find an image of Jesus resting. Preaching from the boat, yes. Calming the storm, yes. Walking on water? Oh, my, yes! But no one seems to want to picture Jesus taking his rest.

In this week that looks unlikely to hold a complete day off, I am pondering renewal. List four ways you like to relax or give yourself a break. Then name a fifth, something you’ve never been able to do, a self-care dream.

1. Take a long, hot bath with bath salts.

2. Read a novel.

3. A retreat at a Benedictine monastary. Benedictine nuns are so cool!

4. Cook or crochet.

5. Go to a spa and be pampered the entire day.

Scsours had this incredible list of the next 50 bestsellers up on her blog, and I had to copy it and post it here. It is so good and so funny!

If you’ve always wanted to write a bestseller for the Christian Inspiration market, but don’t know where to start, maybe these titles will inspire you.

1. Your Best Life Now Book of Martyrs
2. I’m Totally Depraved, You’re Totally Depraved
3. 40 or so Days more-or-less of Purpose
4. Bowel Thou Art Loosed – A Christian Guide to Regularity
5. Good Morning Holy Mackerel – Spirit Filled Sport Fishing With Benny Hinn
6. Baldness, True Humility – The Saga of C.J. Mahaney’s Failed Hair Transplant
7. Prayer of Jabez Guide to Bankruptcy
8. The Ergun Caner Coffee Table Book of Ergun Caner
9. The Power of a Praying Mantis
10. Steal This Book- Then Repent, Bring it Back, and Confess
11. Desiring Gold – Meditations on Things I Would Buy if I were Rich
12. Pretty Good People in the Hands of an Ambivalent God
13. Y3K – Countdown to Armageddon
14. The Tax Code – Secret Messages from God Hidden in Your 1040 Long Form
15. Wicked at Heart – Discovering the Not-So-Secret Secret of Everyone’s Soul
16. Raptured By Mistake – Book I of the I Should Have Been Left Behind series
17. James White’s Guide to Weasel Hunting on the Campus of Liberty University
18. The Maker’s Diet II- What God Ate and How It Kept Him Healthy and Feeling Good Forever.
19. Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Holy Cow – Harry Carey’s Secret Membership in Opus Dei
20. The Canadian Prophecies : Ancient Scriptures Reveal Our Neighbor to the North’s Future
21. 90 Minutes in Hell – A True Story of Death and How Hell was Really Scary and How I Wanted to Get Out of There
22. Purple Like Barney – Non-Religious Thoughts on Obnoxious PBS Children’s Programming
23. 12 Extraordinary Little Women – An Inspirational Look at 12 Godly Midgets’ Lives
24. Velour Pelagius – Repainting the Emerging Faith
25. The Sixth Love Language – When Heartfelt Commitment Isn’t Enough, Christian Techniques to Get You Out of the Dog House
26. Boise Countdown – How The Capitol of Idaho Will Play A Pivotal Roll in the Unfolding of the Millennium
27. Battlefield of the Lower Intestine – Claim Victory Over Satan and His Relentless Attacks on Your Digestive System
28. Discernment and How to Know A Good Book on it When You See One – Tim Challies
29. Veggie Tales Systematic Theology
30. For Men and Women Only – A Straightforward Guide to Stuff You Already Know
31. I Kissed Bundling Goodbye
32. The Message: Shaken-not-Stirred
33. Total Truth II: Electric Boogaloo
34. Found Again – The Baxter family reunites to extract more dollars from the Christian book-buying public
35. Noing God: Tales from the Bible on How to Refuse God and Live to Tell About it
36. Outhouse – Vacationing couples are pursued by a maniac killer who lures them to a vacant outhouse which won’t let them leave. The outhouse mirrors their own heart and souls and they must defeat the evil within
37. What’s So Amazing About Grace Kelly?
38. If You Want to Walk on Water Then You Have to Be Jesus? or maybe that David Blaine guy
39. What on Earth Am I Here For and Why On Earth Do I Keep Asking Myself These Questions?
40. Having a Mary Heart in a Paul Body
41. It’s Not About Me Too – Further Self-Reflections Not About Me.
42. More Secret Power Within: Chuck Norri’s Guide To Kickin’ the Crap out of Badguys for Christ
43. Misquoting Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed Misquoting Jesus and Why
44. The Openness of God: How 5 Theologians Go to Heaven only to find it “Closed for the Season”
45. Reimagining Jesus Until I Like What I See
46. A Generous Orthodontics – Why I Think My Fillings Will Be in Heaven
47. Even Newer Strong’s Exhausting Concordance – Heavier than Ever
48. Where Would Jesus Eat and How Much Did He Tip?
49. The Way Down Diet – Lose Weight and Your Salvation
50. Capitulating: Unveiling the Mystery of Keeping Your Wife from Getting Mad at You When You Want to Run Around and Do Wild at Heart Kind of Guy Stuff

Here’s my addition: The Celebration of Laziness: How to do as little as possible and still call yourself a Christian.

What are your additions?

Last night my TV Boyfriend Keith Olbermann made some comments I really appreciated, and it got me thinking about what makes one person admire another. In the spirit of Keith’s show on MSNBC, welcome to the Friday Five Countdown Edition.

Please count down five living people you admire and tell us a little something about why they make your list. These could be famous people or people you know personally.

5…4…3…2…1

5. Jon Stewart, who is my TV boyfriend. He always makes me smile no matter how ridiculous the news is. My day is not complete until I’ve had my moment of zen.

4. I like Keith Olbermann as well. He’s the only reporter to call the Bush administration on their incompetence, and he was doing it before anyone else was. I also love his “Worst Person in the World.”

3. Marva Dawn for her ability to translate theology into everyday life.

2. My former boss who is intelligent, full of grace, and a joy to work for.

1. My husband who continues show me what unconditional love is and always makes me feel like the most special person on the face of the planet.

John Hay Jr., the senior pastor at West Morris Street Free Methodist Church in Indianapolis, has been sharing excerpts for the book he is reading for Advent, Advent 2006—A Great Joy for All People. Here are three of excerpts that he has shared.

How Jesus Comes to Us

Advent Is About Seeing the Signs

Advent Curmudgeon

John Wright also has his reflections on this week’s Sunday lectionary readings: Second Sunday of Advent.