I quickly wanted to jot down a thesis topic that I thought of in no other than...the shower. Let's face it, that is where most of the thinking happens for young professionals/part-time students like myself. Here it is:
"The Vagina Dialogues: the Evolution of a New Sexual Ethic for Catholic Females in the 20th Century"
This is a very rough-draft thought, but I thought that it was narrow enough for me to hone in on major theologians and encyclicals put out in the 20th century, but broad enough for me to right (eek!) 80-120 pages on without repeating myself.
Thoughts? :-)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Trinitarian Theology- In Practical Terms
Sorry for the large hiatus in my academic blogging, I have actually spent the last few weeks in Italy with my wonderful boyfriend seeing a lot of what I've studied in my classes up close and personal! I got back to the states this past Sunday, only to dive head first into classes again. This semester I am taking Ecclesiastical Latin II (independent study) and a class called God and the Human Experience, which I want to write a little about right now.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the class- I had heard that it was kind of like Christology (the study of Christ, his nature, etc.) but about God. "Isn't that what theology means though, the 'study of God'?" you might ask yourself. I thought this as well, but realized with my first class yesterday that is more about the study of God as he presents himself in the Trinity. To me, the trinity has always been a huge mystery (which of course it is), but so illusive that I never even wanted to try to explain it or delve into it. The way the professor started talking about it last night, though, really enlightened me and left me pondering. Here are a few morsels of wisdom I gleaned from the discussion....
Humans started off having a harmony with God, nature, each other and themselves (their inner beings) in the Garden of Eden. It wasn't until the fall that this harmony was severely disrupted. The professor talked about how in human relationships, when we fall out of harmony with each other (through a fight or a break-up), we need to go back to the table, dig into the wound, and inflict a little bit of suffering for the healing process to begin. This is all done out of love, and in efforts to restore the harmony. Since Adam and Eve hid, they were ignoring the wound that was caused by their "fight" with God-- how often do we, when we get in fights with loved ones, co-workers, friends, etc. go off into hiding, even making attempts at avoiding the person that we just fought with because it is "awkward" or "uncomfortable"? I know that I do that all of the time. But it is easier to go into hiding than acknowledge that healing takes some pain, and that denial isn't often the best remedy for wounded relationships.
Another thing that I learned about the trinity is that this communion of love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a model for how our communions are as humans- our interactions should be constant expressions of love that refuel and energize us with the different unique qualities that the other has to offer. The trinity model presents a rhythm of 3 distinct entities, yet they are one- as Christians, our lives should follow this rhythm and become a part of the rhythm. It reminds me of a kind of dance :-). It is also interesting to note that the three "persons" of the trinity have unique gifts, which is a blessing for us because each of us has different gifts, and if we are told to be like God then at least we are not sacrificing our uniqueness to model him- since he has different types of gifts in the three-part Trinity! Sorry if I'm not explaining this very clearly, I was scribbling furiously as my prof was explaining these concepts yesterday.
A final thought- I believe that faith should be paired with reason when it comes to studying, and thinking in general. My prof said something pretty profound about theologians: we study God because we love him and want to know more about him. Pretty basic, but it was nice to be reminded of my basic purpose as a theologian 0:-)
I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the class- I had heard that it was kind of like Christology (the study of Christ, his nature, etc.) but about God. "Isn't that what theology means though, the 'study of God'?" you might ask yourself. I thought this as well, but realized with my first class yesterday that is more about the study of God as he presents himself in the Trinity. To me, the trinity has always been a huge mystery (which of course it is), but so illusive that I never even wanted to try to explain it or delve into it. The way the professor started talking about it last night, though, really enlightened me and left me pondering. Here are a few morsels of wisdom I gleaned from the discussion....
Humans started off having a harmony with God, nature, each other and themselves (their inner beings) in the Garden of Eden. It wasn't until the fall that this harmony was severely disrupted. The professor talked about how in human relationships, when we fall out of harmony with each other (through a fight or a break-up), we need to go back to the table, dig into the wound, and inflict a little bit of suffering for the healing process to begin. This is all done out of love, and in efforts to restore the harmony. Since Adam and Eve hid, they were ignoring the wound that was caused by their "fight" with God-- how often do we, when we get in fights with loved ones, co-workers, friends, etc. go off into hiding, even making attempts at avoiding the person that we just fought with because it is "awkward" or "uncomfortable"? I know that I do that all of the time. But it is easier to go into hiding than acknowledge that healing takes some pain, and that denial isn't often the best remedy for wounded relationships.
Another thing that I learned about the trinity is that this communion of love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a model for how our communions are as humans- our interactions should be constant expressions of love that refuel and energize us with the different unique qualities that the other has to offer. The trinity model presents a rhythm of 3 distinct entities, yet they are one- as Christians, our lives should follow this rhythm and become a part of the rhythm. It reminds me of a kind of dance :-). It is also interesting to note that the three "persons" of the trinity have unique gifts, which is a blessing for us because each of us has different gifts, and if we are told to be like God then at least we are not sacrificing our uniqueness to model him- since he has different types of gifts in the three-part Trinity! Sorry if I'm not explaining this very clearly, I was scribbling furiously as my prof was explaining these concepts yesterday.
A final thought- I believe that faith should be paired with reason when it comes to studying, and thinking in general. My prof said something pretty profound about theologians: we study God because we love him and want to know more about him. Pretty basic, but it was nice to be reminded of my basic purpose as a theologian 0:-)
Monday, June 8, 2009
"Sex Without Intimacy" Article
I recently read an interesting article on NPR's website entitled "Sex without Intimacy: No Dating, No Relationships" by Brenda Wilson and it really related to a lot of what was going on in the lives of many of my 20-something friends. Here is the link to the article:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105008712
The article describes the "hook-up", which can mean anything from sex, to heavy petting to simply making out. For most 20-somethings, the hook-up has replaced dating, and replaced courtship. I remember thinking during college that no one really asked anyone on a date anymore, and that most relationships I knew of revolved around some sort of inebriated rendez-vous, without first really getting to know the person. Contrary to the dating habits of the past, young adults are now focusing more on their careers and place less emphasis on finding a marriage partner until after they have pursued their other goals. As a woman, I am grateful that my worth as a young female is not based on whether or not I have "landed" a man anymore, and that I can pursue academic and career dreams without very much societal hindrance. As a theologian, however, I see the trend in physical union without intimacy as very disturbing and detrimental to the spirit.
I long to find the time to read John Paul II's Theology of the Body, but from what I have researched about sexual morality, I know that the central message of sexuality for Christians is that you cannot separate your body from your soul (Gnosticism believes that you can). What you do with your body affects you, and if you give of yourself to someone physically, although society can lead you to believe that is just fun and casual, sex can never be casual. For most of my female friends who are sexually active, whether they believe in God or not, they can agree that when you are involved with someone physically, emotional attachment inevitably follows. This is natural, and what is so unnatural to me is the ever-prevalent message that it's really no big deal, that you can indeed have sex without intimacy. Seems so much like an oxy-moron.
The paragraph of the article that stood out to me reads, "Today, Wilkerson says people hook up via the Internet and text messaging. 'What that means is that you have contact with many, many more people, but each of those relationships takes up a little bit less of your life. That fragmentation of the social world creates a lot of loneliness.'"
Writing love letters to someone, or even going to pick them up from their house and taking them on a date takes time. If meeting the opposite sex consists of having a lot of different text relationships or even dating online with many different potentials, are we really getting to know anyone in the process, or just fragmenting our lives so that we have a lot of options, but very little depth? I wonder sometimes if all of the different forms of communication have stunted our relationship capabilities.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105008712
The article describes the "hook-up", which can mean anything from sex, to heavy petting to simply making out. For most 20-somethings, the hook-up has replaced dating, and replaced courtship. I remember thinking during college that no one really asked anyone on a date anymore, and that most relationships I knew of revolved around some sort of inebriated rendez-vous, without first really getting to know the person. Contrary to the dating habits of the past, young adults are now focusing more on their careers and place less emphasis on finding a marriage partner until after they have pursued their other goals. As a woman, I am grateful that my worth as a young female is not based on whether or not I have "landed" a man anymore, and that I can pursue academic and career dreams without very much societal hindrance. As a theologian, however, I see the trend in physical union without intimacy as very disturbing and detrimental to the spirit.
I long to find the time to read John Paul II's Theology of the Body, but from what I have researched about sexual morality, I know that the central message of sexuality for Christians is that you cannot separate your body from your soul (Gnosticism believes that you can). What you do with your body affects you, and if you give of yourself to someone physically, although society can lead you to believe that is just fun and casual, sex can never be casual. For most of my female friends who are sexually active, whether they believe in God or not, they can agree that when you are involved with someone physically, emotional attachment inevitably follows. This is natural, and what is so unnatural to me is the ever-prevalent message that it's really no big deal, that you can indeed have sex without intimacy. Seems so much like an oxy-moron.
The paragraph of the article that stood out to me reads, "Today, Wilkerson says people hook up via the Internet and text messaging. 'What that means is that you have contact with many, many more people, but each of those relationships takes up a little bit less of your life. That fragmentation of the social world creates a lot of loneliness.'"
Writing love letters to someone, or even going to pick them up from their house and taking them on a date takes time. If meeting the opposite sex consists of having a lot of different text relationships or even dating online with many different potentials, are we really getting to know anyone in the process, or just fragmenting our lives so that we have a lot of options, but very little depth? I wonder sometimes if all of the different forms of communication have stunted our relationship capabilities.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saint Reflection from a Marianist :-)
Recently, a miracle occurred in St. Louis that was announced to perhaps be the final miracle needed for Blessed William Joseph Chaminade to become a canonized saint within the Catholic Church. For those of you who do not know, Fr. Chaminade is one of the founders of the Marianist order, the order that founded UD, where I now work and study. One of my Marianist friends Andy expressed some concern as to why a person needs to pray to a saint for a medical/physical miracle. "Why shouldn't we just pray to God?", he pondered. Prayer to saints is probably one of the most misunderstood and controversial topic within the Catholic faith, and I am still not sure if I fully understand it, but I seek to try. Here is a very well-written response to Andy's concern by Brother Tom Peiper, a Marianist brother here at UD:
Andy, thanks for sharing the information on Rachel's miracle and her life story. I certainly had heard of her, the cancer and her praying to Chaminade. People have been praying for miracles for centuries. As you said Andy, in your email, that God can do what God wants and therefore God can work miracles. God does not need any saints to do miracles; but God created all of us and calls all of us to love and share the gifts we have with one another. I believe in the communion of saints both in heaven and on earth and that we pray, talk to those who have died and gone to heaven. I pray and talk everyday to both of my parents who have died. I sense their spirit with me at times. Because of God's love for us all, both in heaven and on earth, God invites saints in heave, and all of us on earth to continue to love each other and help each other. God works through saints in heave and through us on earth to make miracles happen in each others' lives. God has used you Andy, and God has used me a number of times to bring about new life to others! And others have helped me find new life too. Sometimes these intercessions like with Rachel and Chaminade, bring about a killing of cancer and new life for a person, in this case Rachel.
I do have a dislike, for how the Church states that for a person to be called a "real Saint" he or she must have three miracles from people who prayed to that person before that person can be called a Saint, like Chaminade and other more famous saints. If a person trieds to lead a good life on earth and prays, loves and really shows their love of God here on earth, then when that person dies they should be called a saint without having to have any miracles.
And last, I believe their are thousands of miracles that happen every day, most of us are just too "blind" "too busy" to see any of them. Blessings and Love, BT
Something to ponder!!
Andy, thanks for sharing the information on Rachel's miracle and her life story. I certainly had heard of her, the cancer and her praying to Chaminade. People have been praying for miracles for centuries. As you said Andy, in your email, that God can do what God wants and therefore God can work miracles. God does not need any saints to do miracles; but God created all of us and calls all of us to love and share the gifts we have with one another. I believe in the communion of saints both in heaven and on earth and that we pray, talk to those who have died and gone to heaven. I pray and talk everyday to both of my parents who have died. I sense their spirit with me at times. Because of God's love for us all, both in heaven and on earth, God invites saints in heave, and all of us on earth to continue to love each other and help each other. God works through saints in heave and through us on earth to make miracles happen in each others' lives. God has used you Andy, and God has used me a number of times to bring about new life to others! And others have helped me find new life too. Sometimes these intercessions like with Rachel and Chaminade, bring about a killing of cancer and new life for a person, in this case Rachel.
I do have a dislike, for how the Church states that for a person to be called a "real Saint" he or she must have three miracles from people who prayed to that person before that person can be called a Saint, like Chaminade and other more famous saints. If a person trieds to lead a good life on earth and prays, loves and really shows their love of God here on earth, then when that person dies they should be called a saint without having to have any miracles.
And last, I believe their are thousands of miracles that happen every day, most of us are just too "blind" "too busy" to see any of them. Blessings and Love, BT
Something to ponder!!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
To Love as God Loves
A pretty amazing person advised me to document all of the passages, thoughts or theories that intrigue me as I am plugging through my Master's degree in Theological Studies- this blog is my attempt at doing so. This will help me not only to reflect on what I am learning in my theology classes, but also to hopefully inspire others to take a little time and think about how our lives are interwoven with the Divine. I am an aspiring (Catholic) theologian who hopes to integrate Women's Studies and Sociological issues about sexuality and gender with theological studies. Right now I am fairly certain that I will end up in the Morality and Ethics segment of Theology, having dabbled in a few other fields during undergrad and found them to be not where my passion truly lies.
Currently I am in an online class called Foundations in Church history and Historical Theology, and we are required to read about two books a week. The book that I am reading this week is entitled To Love as God Loves: Conversations with the Early Church by Roberta C. Bondi, and I must say that I have fallen in love with her take on theology. Here is the passage that really stuck out to me as I was reading:
" How can we make a place for legitimate claims of love in a culture that defines being human in terms of the expression of individuality and independence over against love?" (26)
In our individualistic, "I don't need any help I'll help myself" culture, growing closer to God is very often not associated with loving other people. In her chapter on love, Bondi states that a movement towards God necessarily moves us closer to other people, and vice versa. When we grow closer in love with other human beings, we grow closer to God by recognizing the divine in them.
Many modern Christians live under the false supposition that they could be "real" Christians if not for the other people in the world. In most people's minds, being "spiritual" means growing closer to God in an individualistic way, without bothering with the real, flesh and blood needs of the people around them. "I can't live a spiritual life when I have to deal with this person or this messy situation," I sometimes whine. Bondi states that "Often [Christians] can hardly tolerate other people's real problems or even their personalities. Real People tug them away from the pure, spiritual love of God" (26).
What is SO wrong about this assumption is that the Incarnation teaches us that God IS present in the nitty-gritty, impoverished, mentally unstable complexities present in this thing we call daily life. We can grow closer to God by growing closer in love with the world and all of its problems.
Some thoughts that I took away from the beginning of this book are that the church does have a duty to involve itself with secular, social issues, namely because the kingdom can and should be realized in the flesh-and-blood reality here and now, not in a distant, utopian realm. Secondly, closing your heart to love and vulnerability is never going to lead you to personal fulfillment as a beautiful creature of God. Loving and opening oneself up to another is natural; it is actually unnatural to close off your heart and guard yourself in the entrapment of your individuality. Thirdly, as Bondi noted, "Love of God and love other people are so closely related that it is impossible to love God and have contempt for the sins and weaknesses of other people at the same time." Pious judging has no room for love in it.
Currently I am in an online class called Foundations in Church history and Historical Theology, and we are required to read about two books a week. The book that I am reading this week is entitled To Love as God Loves: Conversations with the Early Church by Roberta C. Bondi, and I must say that I have fallen in love with her take on theology. Here is the passage that really stuck out to me as I was reading:
" How can we make a place for legitimate claims of love in a culture that defines being human in terms of the expression of individuality and independence over against love?" (26)
In our individualistic, "I don't need any help I'll help myself" culture, growing closer to God is very often not associated with loving other people. In her chapter on love, Bondi states that a movement towards God necessarily moves us closer to other people, and vice versa. When we grow closer in love with other human beings, we grow closer to God by recognizing the divine in them.
Many modern Christians live under the false supposition that they could be "real" Christians if not for the other people in the world. In most people's minds, being "spiritual" means growing closer to God in an individualistic way, without bothering with the real, flesh and blood needs of the people around them. "I can't live a spiritual life when I have to deal with this person or this messy situation," I sometimes whine. Bondi states that "Often [Christians] can hardly tolerate other people's real problems or even their personalities. Real People tug them away from the pure, spiritual love of God" (26).
What is SO wrong about this assumption is that the Incarnation teaches us that God IS present in the nitty-gritty, impoverished, mentally unstable complexities present in this thing we call daily life. We can grow closer to God by growing closer in love with the world and all of its problems.
Some thoughts that I took away from the beginning of this book are that the church does have a duty to involve itself with secular, social issues, namely because the kingdom can and should be realized in the flesh-and-blood reality here and now, not in a distant, utopian realm. Secondly, closing your heart to love and vulnerability is never going to lead you to personal fulfillment as a beautiful creature of God. Loving and opening oneself up to another is natural; it is actually unnatural to close off your heart and guard yourself in the entrapment of your individuality. Thirdly, as Bondi noted, "Love of God and love other people are so closely related that it is impossible to love God and have contempt for the sins and weaknesses of other people at the same time." Pious judging has no room for love in it.
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