Vacation. Comps. Pastorless.

As is the case every year at Labor Day, Bec and I are up here in Wisconsin spending some time with her parents before we go to Door County to camp with Andy, Tim, Claire, and Whitney. This year I think everyone is ready to get away from the madness of the world and spend a little time out in nature, even if it means sleeping out in a tent in the middle of the darkest woods imaginable, using a pit toilet that may or may not be a half-mile from the campsite, and riding our bicycles twenty-plus miles each day. Getting away is a good thing, especially when it involves not bathing in a real shower for a couple of days. We are only camping for two nights, but I wish it could be for weeks. I think I could live out in the woods with no problem. Of course, I would miss my friends, but they could come visit!

Last night for dinner, we had some amazing Sloppy Joes. Georgie had printed off a recipe for “Summer Squash Sloppy Joes,” but it called for a pound of hamburger. I went to the store and got a pound and a half of mushrooms—portabellos and shitakes—and we chopped them up instead of the meat. The resulting sandwiches, complete with broiled buns with cheddar cheese, were tasty. We also had tomatoes, beans, and onions from Jack’s garden. It was a fine repast.

I also ate good food for lunch yesterday. I met a former classmate, Jill, in Green Bay at Z Harvest Cafe. I would love to provide a link, but I don’t think they have a website, and if they do, I can’t find it. I had minestrone soup, the most amazing black bean burger ever, and delicious bread sticks. When I got home, I ate Jill’s homemade banana cream pie for dessert. Not exactly a low-calorie lunch, but it was delicious and that is what food is for, pleasing the palate. What a weird expression, “pleasing the palate,” since the palate is the roof of your mouth and has no taste buds. My lunch titillated my taste buds. They are still tingling. Ah, good alliteration: titillated tase buds tingle. Mmm.

For some reason (a reason like Bec’s snoring) I woke up at 4AM and now I am just waiting until it gets a little lighter outside, so I can go out and run. I would go now, but the front door is right next to Jack and Georgie’s bedroom door, and I don’t want them to wonder why someone is coming in or going out at 5:25. They should be waking up soon, so I will just go once they do. I toyed with not running at all today because we will be biking all day and hiking at least 4.4 miles to take our camping stuff into the campsite. However, hiking with a pack is not the same as running, so I will just do both. I have been walking at least 5 miles, and sometimes as much as 9 miles, each day anyway, so I should be okay with all of it.

EDIT: I just ran 5.86 miles!

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I passed my comps. I really have nothing else to say about it. Now onto the oral exams; then off to writing my dissertation proposal.

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Tomorrow is the first day that Agape will be without David, and I am glad we will not be there. I am not sure I want to go back, but I am sure we will. Bec likes to play on the praise team. I want to honor that, and I have to imagine that God will work this together for good for those who love [Them], but I am absolutely scared shitless about the pastor we will get. I said at dinner last night, that if I can attend three services in a row without getting so angry that I want to get up and leave, I will stay. However, if I go three times and get so angry I want to get up and leave, I will be finding a new church.

I know this makes me sound petty and like the least merciful or gracious person around, but I can’t deal with conservative bullshit rhetoric. I am afraid of it. I am not afraid to have my opinion challenged or my beliefs shaken, but I am afraid of being beaten down by people who proof-text Scripture to make minute points about things that don’t matter in the long-run. I hope that this will not be the case, but I fear that it will be.

Essentially, my life is hopeful in every direction except the Spiritual one. Not that this means that my personal faith has been shaken like it has been before in my life, but I question/fear the corporate decisions of my church family. Still, despite my angst, I remain hopeful.