Perspiring in Class

Yesterday's class with my African professor was extremely anxiety producing. He was lecturing on the effects of Communism and the Cold War on Evangelicalism, and linked the response with how certain Fundamentalists are interpreting the politics of Israel today. We have a Messianic Jew in the class, and so Dr. Hanciles gave her an opportunity to share her perspective on the American Church and the Jews in Israel. The next 20 minutes evolved into an ever increasing state of discomfort for everyone in the class. She is a very passionate person, and her speech and body motions became more and more volatile as she vehemently argued that the Church should be supporting Israel. Finally, Dr. Hanciles tried to interrupt her, but she would just increase her volume slightly. It was at this point that I started to sweat and look down at my desk. My appreciation for her passion turned to agony as Dr. Hanciles kept trying to say something, followed by another increase in volume. I contemplated running out of the room or screaming "Stop!" but neither seemed doable...in a word...I was frozen. It finally ended when she cried, "When they talk about annihilating Israel, they are talking about not just the Jews in Israel, but all of us! They are talking about me! They are after me!" I have no idea what this women's story is, but it certainly seems that she has had an intense life. As for the rest of us, several of us had to debrief the whole situation today. Whew!

Chicks Dig It!!!!

I have some very exciting news to announce...news that I have been waiting many long weeks to share. The Chicks won their very first flag football game today! In other words, history was made(well, in our memories, anyway!). It was an extremely exciting and intense game..tensions were rising high on both sides. There were a couple of controversial calls that did not help matters, but my team played hard and well, and I believe we fairly deserved to win. In the last 20 seconds of the game, we were up by four, and the other team had the ball close to their end zone. Somehow, I caught an interception and started running towards the other end of the field. I think I was in profound shock that I actually caught it, because I had been having trouble catching long passes the last few weeks. Unfortunately, one of the Chicks with a hot temper tackled the guy who had been vying for the ball with me and got carried off the field by our coach, so we lost all the yardage, not to mention it showed poor sportsmanship. Regardless, our first win feels really pretty swell. We only have one game left(we did not make play-offs, obviously). I will be very sad to end the season, just as we are gelling as a team.

Ummmm.....

My friend told me about a very strange, disturbing, and kind of funny site. Check out www.datetosave.com at your own discretion. It is probably a PG to PG13 site. I can't figure out if it's a joke or not. My favorite part is the women's description of what it means to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

I miss...

I miss the wilderness
I miss long days on the trail
I miss being around people who know what it's like to be cold at night and suffer under a heavy pack during the day
I miss people who understand why we do these things
I miss women who don't think it's strange
if I don't shave every day
I miss the cultural norms that I understand so well.
I miss the peculiar smell of Sierra granite in the summer
I miss the feeling of freedom
I miss the joy of instructing with a group
I miss the sense of community
around a specific mission
I miss the sound of the mountain chickadee
I even miss the Sierra late-August dust
I miss the feeling of near panic
when you are on a climb that feels slightly too challenging
I miss the feeling of being myself
and being understood.
I miss being high up in the alpine
with the snowy glory of the Sierra surrounding me.
I miss the sense of God's majesty
that I only understand when I'm out there.
But I think most of all,
I miss the community.