You are a newly appointed Campus Staff Minister just beginning ministry with grad students and faculty when COVID-19 hit and brought a pause to all normal campus activities. For Julie Meissner, this pause came as an invitation from God. This is her story of what happened when she said "yes" to that invitation. _______________________________________ Pause. Breathe deeply. Reflect with God. Daily, this invitation is extended to us, but do we receive it, or pass? What happens when we enter into God's invitation … [Read more...] about An Invitation to Pause
listening
A Sower Went Out to Sow. . . . Again
Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. . . . -- Matthew 13:18-19 (ESV) Today we return to the Parable of the Sower and the Soils, introduced by an earlier post as part of a developing series on Parables Jesus Told [1]. Note: The first post, Entrusted . . ., considered the Parable of the Three Servants, or, The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). … [Read more...] about A Sower Went Out to Sow. . . . Again
People of Color, Outward Appearances, and Academia: Lessons from 80s Pop Culture
In the late 1980s, there was a popular television show called 21 Jump Street. Johnny Depp and friends portrayed cops in their twenties. Because they were too young looking to be taken seriously, they went undercover in high schools to take down drug dealers, gangs, etc. By today's standards, the show was painfully bad—a guilty pleasure which few people will admit to having watched. (Personally I, um’ only heard about it from a friend.) Still, it raised some interesting questions about the importance we place on … [Read more...] about People of Color, Outward Appearances, and Academia: Lessons from 80s Pop Culture
Encountering God in the Liminality of Graduate School, Part 2
In the first part of a two-part reflection, Scott Santibanez shared some theological reflections on the liminal space of graduate school. In Part 2, he shares some of his own story. It was 1991, during the summer between my first and second years of medical school. I was in the basement of a Christian clinic in Times Square. The clinic provided free medical care for homeless people in New York City. I was filling up a tub with warm soapy water so one of our homeless clients could soak his feet. And I loved doing … [Read more...] about Encountering God in the Liminality of Graduate School, Part 2
Teaching Tips: Listening
Jayme M. Yeo shares some things she's learned about listening to students for our Teaching Tips series. See her other writing for the ESN blog here. … [Read more...] about Teaching Tips: Listening