Session Interview

I met with the Session of my church tonight about my application to become an Inquirer. After fielding a handful of questions from the Elders and Pastors I was asked to leave the room so that they could discuss my request and vote on whether or not to recommend me to the Presbytery's Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM).

When I was asked to rejoin the meeting I was greeted by a standing ovation and told that they had voted to support my application.

I have had this sense of call brewing inside of me for quite some time and it is a long process, so there are many steps still ahead of me, but I must say it is a wonderful feeling to have the community that I live and worship with say "yes, we think we sense that call for you too."

I have been invited to meet with the CPM next Tuesday night at the Presbytery Office in Baltimore. It will be a general interview to discuss my sense of call and the process that I intend to begin. If all goes well at that interview then I will enter into a covenant with the committee. They will work with me as I journey towards being ordained. Together we will set goals, monitor my progress spiritually, academically and otherwise to prepare me for a career in ministry.

Worker's Comp Update

With all the crazy MVA and police issues I forgot to post about a major event on my disability situation. The insurance company assigned a vocational counselor to my case. So even though Dr. Brumback hasn't officially declared me to be at Maximum Medical Improvement they have decided that I am close enough to start working towards get me back to work. He is employed by the same company that my Nurse Case Manager works for, so like her he is not directly employed by the insurance company. That way he can be objective and represent their interests and mine. We had a 90 minute interview last week, he took a resume and we discussed my future career plans. He doesn't make the ultimate decision, but helps facilitate my job search, arranges training if need be and reports to the insurance company. He gave me a 370 question "test" that I filled out this week to determine what type of career I might be suited for. It was a list of activities, jobs and academic subjects that I had to bubble in whether-

• I would really like the topic
• somewhat like the topic
• if I was indifferent/undecided
• somewhat dislike the topic or
• if I really dislike the topic.

It gets mailed off to some testing company and he'll set up another meeting when he has the results.

On a similar topic, I will be attending the session meeting at church next Tuesday night so that they can ask me questions about my Inquirer Application and vote on whether or not to support it and refer me to the Presbytery's Committee.

The end of the vehicle saga

I went to Princeton for traffic court yesterday and all is well. I got a very early start and arrived in plenty of time before it was supposed to start. It was long and boring and took several hours until I got to speak to the prosecutor. Once I talked to him and explained the circumstances, it was only about 10 - 15 more minutes before the judge called me. They reduced the charge and I plead guilty to "not being able to produce my registration card." I paid a $33 fine and I was on my way shortly before noon.

I had a really nice lunch with my friend Sara that I met at the Youth Ministry Forum. If you are ever in the Princeton area check out Chambers Walk Cafe. Great food and a nice staff that let me charge my phone battery for the ride home.

I was home by 4:45pm and fell asleep on the couch shortly after (sorry Doug, I sat down to ice my knee and that was all she wrote...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD!

Mom's is today and Dad's was Thursday, so a big Happy Birthday to both of them!!!!

The Ministry of Silly Walks

My new T-Shirt arrived today. That Monty Python clip I posted the other day got me thinking of this sketch which now has entirely new meaning for me. Credit must go to my USNA buddy Mike Siepert who first suggested that the problems with my leg and my occupation made me uniquely qualified for a government grant to develop my silly walk.

I can't wait to wear it to physical therapy. One of the exercises we do actually looks a lot like the picture on the shirt. Except I have to hold my arm straight out parallel to the ground and kick it while I'm walking.
(FB readers click through to my blog for video)

Torture

Everyone loves to bring up the scenario of the "ticking bomb" when discussing torture. Kevin Drum says what I have said for a long time--

OK, here's my view on ticking time bombs. It's not original:

Torture should always be illegal. But if you're really, truly convinced that a nuke is about to go off in downtown Atlanta and the human filth in your possession can tell you where it is, then do your worst. I'll cheer you on, the president will pardon you, and the nation will be grateful. OK?

I wish everyone could just agree on this. It's not as if it's ever going to happen, after all, and if it does, well, the guy who saved Atlanta really would get a presidential pardon, wouldn't he?

Everyone talks about the TV show 24, but while using that type of scenario to justify that torture actually works folks forget the fact that when Jack Bauer uses those techniques HE KNOWS HE IS BREAKING THE LAW and chooses to do it anyway. That's the true test of your convictions -- If you are willing to be punished and face the consequences if you are wrong.

The Bush administration wanted to have legal opinions clearing them of wrong doing before they handed down guidelines on "enhanced interrogation techniques." So bring this to the light of day and justify the crap that was done in our name for the last eight years.

The Republicans think that by throwing some of the muck onto Nancy Pelosi Democrats will back off. It sounds to me like she and the Dems are calling their bluff. All the more reason to hold investigations and put this horrible chapter of our history behind us once and for all.

I am bothered by the knowledge that if this investigation really gets going it will turn into a three ring circus and momentum will be taken away from all of the highly important things this new administration is trying to do to fix all of the problems we face right now. But if we demonstrate to the world that we actually believe the things that we say, and as a society can admit our mistakes and punish those that do wrong regardless of their position then we truly are a great country.

If we don't do the right thing because it is too hard or may cause problems then what kind of message are we sending?

The Ongoing Vehicle Saga

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had the paperwork to clear up the insurance violation on Danielle's car, but they wouldn't take it from me so I needed to get the police to fax the papers directly to the MVA. Sounded easy enough.

I spoke to the officer that handled D's totaled car on Tuesday. He didn't think faxing the papers to the MVA was a good idea (despite the MVA telling me that's what I should have done). He injected a few additional complications that I won't bore you with, but which led to me having to involve Danielle in the process.

On Wednesday she spoke to him and got an earful about ignoring his letters and not properly following through to avoid all of this in the first place. He told her that he was doing this merely to help me. They overcame the complications that he had brought up on Tuesday and he decided that he would write a letter on police letterhead with a live signature for us to hand carry to the MVA. Danielle agreed to get the letter. She called me Wednesday night to say that he had left a message for her that it was ready, but that she had been out and didn't get his message. So she would get it Thursday morning and bring it to me so I could deal with the MVA since she had to work at 12:30.

While expecting a call from Danielle to say that she was on her way with the letter I got a call from the police officer. "Why haven't you picked this letter up that I did for you yesterday?" He was ticked off. Had I known it was there, I could have gotten it myself Wednesday. So I told him that I would be right over to get it. It was sealed in an envelope so I didn't know exactly what was in it, but headed straight to the MVA to take care of this once and for all, or so I thought.

The lady in the MVA takes the letter, opens it and starts working away on her PC to change dates, get over ride codes and tells me I owe $1100! I asked to see the letter that he had written and no where did he put the date of the accident when the car was off the road, only the date the car was scrapped. So I show her the other papers, the ones he wouldn't fax and she says, "Oh, just have him fax those and I'll fix it" AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!

(Side note - I'm sure this is exactly how all those borrowers felt during the loan process on the files that I underwrote, processed or originated back in my mortgage days. I'm so glad I'm no longer in an occupation that inflicts this kind of torture on people. I understand its purpose, but getting things from person A to satisfy person C when you are person B is a royal pain when A and C have their own ideas about what the other should do and why.)

So he and I played phone tag for the rest of the day and by late afternoon he had faxed something, to somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure what he had sent or to which number. He was obviously annoyed that this was dragging on and so was I, so I decided to follow up with the MVA this morning before I bothered him any further.

It took several phone calls, but I am happy to report that the automated system now lists this case as closed and with NO fines. YIPPEE!

I left a grateful message on the officer's voice mail and hope to not have to deal with the MVA or the local police for a long long time.

Although I do have to be in court in New Jersey at 9:15 on Monday morning to face the music up there. I had an idea that I'm hoping will pan out though. I've called and emailed the officer that pulled me over who said that I wouldn't have to return and am hoping that he may be able to pull some strings to avoid the trip. I'm ready to go though and will get to have lunch with Sara (who I met at the Youth Forum) if I do end up going, so there is a silver lining.

Help Help I'm Being Repressed!

The saga with the car registration and my traffic stops keeps getting weirder. I called the court in New Jersey to explain my situation just like the police officer told me to and they've got quite a different story for me. The cop said that I wouldn't have to appear since I live out of state and once I called and explained that arrangements could be made to avoid returning. When I called today the woman on the phone said that it was a mandatory appearance and I would have to come back to Princeton for court on Monday morning.

So I guess I'm going back to New Jersey to avoid making the situation worse and risk having a "failure to appear" warrant for my arrest in that state.

As the title of this suggests I'm feeling a bit like the peasant in Monty Python's The Holy Grail

(if you are reading this on Facebook in my notes you've got to click the link at the bottom to "View original post" to go to my blog and see the embedded video. They don't import into FB)

Dreadlocks + VW + Political Bumper Stickers =Police Magnet

I called the MVA last week to find out what the story was with my registration after getting pulled over in New Jersey. Turns out there was a problem with my registration.

When Danielle wrecked her car back in October and it was totaled the tags did not get returned to the MVA, so as far as they know the car is out there on the road with no insurance. That policy was cancelled and we each got new ones when she moved out. That car was in both of our names though, so they have flagged both of us for an insurance violation. I got some paperwork from Danielle about the accident so I could go clear it up at the MVA last week. I was going to go Friday, but wasn't feeling great due to all this pollen and needed a rest day after the last couple of weeks, so I decided to wait until today.

Wouldn't you know I got pulled over on the way to church yesterday morning. Same deal as in NJ, no moving violation, the officer just decided to run my plates and bingo I've got registration problems. I saw him pull out of a parking lot and get behind me and as soon as I noticed the radio to his mouth I knew I was in trouble. He pulled me over and told me I've got a suspended registration. I started to explain to him about Danielle's wrecked car and how I'm taking care of that and he say, "no that's not the issue." It turns out that there were two things wrong. I also missed my emissions test while I was out of commission last year. He was very nice, let me go with a warning (after running my license to see if I had any outstanding warrants).

So this morning I went to VEIP and got my emissions testing done and then went to the MVA to straighten out the other issue. They told me everything would be cleared up, but they wouldn't take the papers from me. I have to get the police to fax them directly to the MVA for them to accept them and then its all straight.

I am now very curious how many times my plates have been run when I didn't have registration issues. Apparently this has been allowed by numerous state courts. Officers call it "BINGO HUNTING" (funny, I didn't know this term when wrote that paragraph above). So maybe they didn't profile me, but I'd love to see some evidence as to the cars and drivers who are most often targeted by this tactic. My guess is that a soccer mom in a minivan is much less likely to have her plates run than me.

It may have been upheld by several courts, but to me it doesn't seem constitutional. Fourth Amendment and all that... The argument is that the tags are out there in public view and you are on a public street, so they can check them without cause. That may be, but it seems that there should be some probable cause component for them to search the computer records. Otherwise, how do we know whether the police are using this tool appropriately or not?

Confirmation Weekend

In January a class of eight ninth and tenth graders embarked upon a spiritual journey together led by Rev. Heather Shortlidge, Rev. Bill Hathaway, Jay & Jane Hudiburg and myself. Together on Sunday mornings they explored what it means to be a Christian, a Presbyterian, and a member of our congregation. They learned about the sacraments, the Bible, prayer, mission, and church governance. The class also went on a weekend retreat to DC which I have written about in an earlier post. At the end of the class each of them took on the task of putting down on paper a Statement of Faith. As it was explained to them in January, when they were babies their parents made the decision to have them baptized and brought up in the faith; at the end of this class they would be given the opportunity to affirm that choice for themselves. That opportunity occurred last weekend.

Last Saturday morning, seven of the eight, along with their parents and covenant partners met for brunch with the Session. Each of them stood and read their Faith Statement to the entire room. We then broke into small groups with at least one Session member for each student in order to have discussions about the statements and the class in general. The seven were then asked the three questions for membership required by PCUSA -

• Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?
• Who is your Lord and Savior?
• Will you be Christ's faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?

After the confirmands answered the questions the Session then voted unanimously to accept them as adult members of our congregation.

On Sunday all eight of them were recognized in worship and I think that this is so important. We tell them at the beginning of the class that the choice is theirs and that they do not have to be confirmed as members at the end of the class. Of course we want them to, but what is most important is that they actively participate in the class, understand that this is a lifelong journey and that they feel that they have a safe, welcoming place to explore their faith. That message I hope came through loud and clear when the young man that decided not to join was asked to stand with his classmates up front, was acknowledged for his commitment and prayed for individually just like those that chose to join.

I am extremely proud of Ashleigh, Brianna, Cameron, Danny, Haines, Jessica, Louise, and Zach and I'm honored to have participated in this journey with them. They inspired me and after each of them took the very brave act of reading their statement aloud to a room full of parents and church officers I have decided to publish my personal statement here on my blog.

I believe in the triune God.

I believe that God is everything tangible and intangible that is, was and will ever be. There is nothing that it outside of God. Everything is part of the One and that One goes on forever.

I believe Jesus the Christ has been the living, tangible part of God from the beginning of time and continues to be. He lives, dies and is reborn over and over and over again. He made himself known to the world through the person Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth was fully human and died, but the Christ was, is and always will be one with God. Since we are one with God, we are one with Christ.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is the unseen thread that binds us to all of creation in all places and times. It is the name we give to the intangible aspects of God. It is consciousness, motivation, emotion, desire, wisdom, action, reaction and most of all that internal longing and knowledge that we are connected.

I believe that sin is acting or thinking in a way that neglects or ignores the fact that we are one with God. We don’t have to do anything special to be one with God. Whether we realize it or not, ask for it or not, we are one with God. We do need to be open to that concept in order to actually be forgiven though. Being forgiven is to let go of whatever is making you emotionally distant from God. The only barriers to being with God are ones we place there by our actions or thoughts. Forgiveness is a free gift that is waiting to be received.

To me, salvation means that graceful state when our perceptions cease to be barriers between us and God. It is a state of Zen when we are fully in the moment. Salvation is not a once and for all experience. It is being saved from your own trappings so that you can be fully with God. Musicians, athletes and artists often describe this as being “in the zone.”

I believe that we were put on Earth to share the experience that is life with those around us. When we recognize our connections, we see each others suffering and success as our own. That inspires us to do our best to ease each others suffering and we are available and supportive when suffering is unavoidable (which it often is). One way that we do this is to teach others what we’ve learned through our experiences. Just as we share each others burdens we can also celebrate each others joy and success.

I think that God expects us to love as fully and as uninhibited as we are capable of. We are to do our best to love ourselves and others equally. We are to strive for that perfect balance between being completely selfish and completely selfless. God wants us to see Christ in others and in ourselves.

I believe that we are partners in creation with God and that all of creation is a gift that is in our care. We must not just care for ourselves and other humans, but for the whole of creation. The inanimate objects, the elements and the animal kingdom are also one with God and therefore one with us as well. We must love creation as we love ourselves and others.

I believe the church is a community, that it is much bigger than any building or institution. The purpose of the church is to be a community in which to worship and practice theology so that its members can live it from day to day while dealing with the ups and downs of life. I believe the church’s job is also to teach, to be available and supportive and to share in life’s journey with all members of the community.

I believe that the Bible was inspired by God and is the story of mankind’s relationship to God. Its history, wisdom, prophecy and theology can be interpreted to assist in discerning our way forward. It is also an invaluable tool to pass down our traditions and rituals from one generation to the next.

I believe that the sacrament of communion is the most important ritual in the Christian faith because it reminds us of our roots, while also making us mindful of our mortality and our interconnectedness with all of creation.

We may feel distant or doubt God’s presence in our lives sometimes, but that is only a false perception. I do not believe that faith is the absence of doubts or questions. No matter what is happening, or what doubts we may have from time to time, there is nothing that will ever separate us from God. Faith means knowing that with all my heart and mind even without the ability to empirically prove it.

Being part of the church, worshiping with others, partaking in the sacraments are all ways to reinforce and strengthen that faith. They are the practices that prepare us for living life. Just like practicing a musical instrument, a sport, lines in a play, or mathematics problems – repetition trains the mind and muscles, makes the moves second nature and prepares us to handle whatever comes up with grace and skill.

I believe these things with all that I am. I strive to live my life in a way that honors and demonstrates these beliefs. I know that I often fall short, so I want to surround myself with people that inspire me, encourage me and hold me accountable to these tenets. By being an active member of the church I am surrounded by such people. Recognizing certain gifts that I have for teaching and believing also that by teaching others my own understanding will be challenged, refined and strengthened I have made the decision to pursue additional schooling at seminary and am considering an occupation as a minister.

Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry

I got home yesterday from a great week at Princeton Theological Seminary. As I explained in my last post, I have been attempting to attend this Forum on Youth Ministry for several years and was finally successful. It was everything that I hoped and more.

First there is the treat of being surrounded by people who share the same passion for ministry and youth. Anyone who has ever been to a conference of any kind knows what I'm talking about - be it for work, a hobby, or any common interest. There something special about being with your "people." I met lots of great folks from all over, but spent the most time with the folks in the picture . Jen is the Associate Pastor at Second Presbyterian Church in Baltimore (right by the hospital that I spent so much time in back in the Fall), Brandon is the Youth Director at Woods Presbyterian in Severna Park (20 minutes from me) and Sara is a Youth Leader in Lawrenceville, NJ (so Princeton was her stomping grounds). We had so much fun together and laughed until our faces hurt. Jen has a memory like a steel trap. I was constantly amazed by her ability to recall where people were from (not just towns, but names of churches) who they worked with and sometimes who their predecessors were. Brandon is one of the funniest people I've met and he and Jen can not do anything without a cell phone in hand and sending constant text messages, Twitter updates and/or Facebooking. Sara is an amazing spirit. She has the voice of a soulful angel and despite having to deal with some very serious medical issues (which ended two lifelong dreams) she has a wonderful outlook on life.

Second, the workshops, lectures and extended seminars were full of insight, thought provoking questions and inspiration. I took -

• Freed to Lead: How to Relate, Delegate, Create - on Schedule! Kendy Easley
• Student Leadership: Panacea or Predicament? Mark DeVries
• Should I Stay or Should I Go Now: The Spiritual Discernment of Following Your Call Amanda Drury
• Lifecasting: Teens Fishing for Intimacy in a Sea of Technology Andrew Zirschky
• “The Mystery of the Gospel”: Discerning the Signs of the Times Douglas John Hall

And for my extended seminar I took A Preaching Life in the Spirit which was taught by Luke Powery. You can read descriptions of each class on the Institute for Youth Ministry's web site.

Everyone attended lectures by Obrey Hendricks and Andrew Root and we all worshiped together each day. Honestly the whole trip was worth it just to hear Emily Anderson's sermons. I can't wait to get downloads of them so I can re listen to what she had to say. The worship services were really great on the whole, but her sermons were fantastic.

While this was not a formal perspective student visit, I did get a chance to be on the PTS campus, see Princeton University, the town and surrounding area. This is definitely a school which I will be considering.

Lastly, it was just a great chance to get out of my normal routine, be in different surroundings and do a little relaxing. They had a nice big block of time built into the schedule on Wednesday with nothing happening so we could have some sabbath time. I spent mine getting some new shoes and then relaxing in my hotel room. I watched some bad movies on cable and restrung my prayer beads, which broke the day before I left.

I also managed to get pulled over by the NJ police although I committed no moving violation. The officer said he pulled me over because he ran my plates and that my registration is suspended in Maryland. This is news to me, since all my paperwork is in order and I have received no notices from the MVA telling me about any problems (I'll find out for sure when I call on Monday). I can't imagine why he would have randomly run my plates and kind of doubt that he actually did. My guess is that dreadlocks in a VW with political bumper stickers and out of state plates got me profiled. Perhaps he wanted to see if any funny smells came out of my car when I rolled down the window or if I may have been otherwise intoxicated. He seemed a bit surprised when he found out that he had pulled over a car full of youth ministers who were in town for a week of classes at the seminary (Jen, Brandon and Sara were in my car at the time). He was very nice and didn't give me a hard time (except for pulling me over in the first place). He gave me a summons, but told me that after I had straightened things out with Maryland, I just had to call a number on the back and tell them that I was out of state and I wouldn't have to come to court in NJ. So, we'll find out on Monday what the real deal is. If nothing else it provided one more thing for the four of us to laugh about and every siren that we heard for the rest of the week was followed with -- "Chris, they're coming to get you!"