Baby strokes

I learned to swim at a pretty early age. My parents got me into one of those toddler swimming classes...and I discovered that I loved the water, even if was I only splashing around in a wading pool. Still, I didn't jump immediately into the deep end of the pool. It took awhile to learn all the strokes, all the ways to tread water, all the ways to help me breathe even as I played in and moved through the water.

Taking this course, Living the Text in a Postmodern Context, feels a little like learning to swim. It's not like I'm drowning in unfamiliar waters. I waded into the postmodern pool long before this course. But, I never really dived in. I am an analytical thinker, and I like to order the information that comes to me in a sequential, logical fashion. We've spoken in class about the fragmentation of postmodern society and the ways it allows people to pick and mix their identities and lifestyles. Pick and mix? Fragmentation? Flashes of multiple images, texts, voices all at once often don't help me process and think, but overwhelm my senses. Yet, this is the world in which we live. So, rather than refusing to get in the water, I am learning to swim, learning to live the Text that informs my life in new ways within this postmodern context.

As for the basic facts on me, I am a Master of Divinity student at Fuller Seminary. I'm almost done (after this class, I will have 16 units left). I'm seeking to be ordained as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). I love to preach and teach and hope for church positions that will allow me to hone those gifts. One hope I have for this class is that it will give me some new ideas to apply to my preaching and teaching. No matter how old we are, whether we call ourselves "modern" or "postmodern," we want to hear God's story in a fresh way that connects to our own story. We want to be refreshed by the life we find in Scripture.