Moving Right Along

No rest for the weary.

Things have been moving pretty quickly this semester, and it feels a little crazy trying to keep everything straight sometimes. It is weird to think that at 2:00 this afternoon, I will already be 20% with Fall Semester. Time is already running out to finish some of my major projects, and I've hardly even started! But that's the nature of grad school, and I need to keep plugging along.

I added an independent study to my course load this semester, which was always in the plan. It will be a good study, but it's going to be pretty intense. 2000 pages minimum of reading with a 30-40 page research paper as the product. It will be the larger project I will have completed in my educational career so far, so it's a bit intimidating. But I have a great advisor, one of the leading theologians in his field in the world. And after submitting my paper proposal and course line, he called it "first class," which is always reassuring. Of course, now I have even more stress because I made the "mistake" of impressing him upfront and now I actually have to deliver on my first class introduction. I work better under pressure.

For those who are curious, my indepedent study is focused around Lesslie Newbigin. He was a missionary in India for 40 years, and after returning to England, his main agenda was challenging the church to re-engage modern western culture. He felt that the church had neglected the West and had too readily accepted modern principles without question. He died in 1998, and unfortunately, from my perspective, it seems that a lot of work has been blown to the wayside. He's quite a fascinating figure and a great writer, so it won't be hard to plug through 2000 pages of his work. My aim in my paper is to examine his position theologically and biblically. What biblical foundation is he working from? How does his approach to mission affect his overall theological vision? Is it problematic? And since he's specifically thinking of the western church, I find this an extremely practical paper for the church in my local contexts.

I seem to be settled in now. I'm more comfortable being back now, though I still wish I was at home. But, as I said before, I am determined to make the best of my last year and take advantage of as much as I can before my time is done. Having good friends out here certainly helps to keep my mind off things, and they've really been there for me in that respect. Certainly makes the adjustment easier.

That's all for now. It's about lunch time, and my stomach is reminding me of that fact. More to come soon.