Another week of classes complete. I should buy myself a day planner soon, though, so as to ensure that I don't forget the numerous deadlines I expect will be haunting me quite soon. Before I go to sleep tonight, I need to scan a document and send it to a friend, and I'd also be well served to study my Greek a bit in hopes of getting back up to speed.
A great deal of my week has been consumed in reading. I'm pleased to say that Thursday saw the arrival of my first InterLibrary Loan book of the semester. I've been interested in reading the journals of various 19th- and early 20th-century Mormon leaders, and I've decided that there's no better way to start than with the most extensive set there is: the journals of Wilford Woodruff, who went on to become the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His journal begins from his conversion experience at the very end of 1833 and runs all the way up through the remainder of his life; he died in 1898. That is a lot of life, and a lot of recording of that life. In the 1980s, a complete typescript was made of those journals and published as a nine-volume set. There was also a one-volume collection of the highlights, and that's much more popular, since the unabridged set is rather expensive and hard to come by. (And by "expensive and hard to come by", I meant that the cheapest set on Amazon would cost $2500.) But, being an unabridged sort of guy, I've decided not to settle for any less than the full thing. On Thursday, I received volume one, covering 29 December 1833 through 31 December 1840 by reproducing the text of three manuscript journals (1833-1837; 1838-1839; 1840), an extensive set of genealogical data, and a manuscript baptismal record for 1840. As a loan, I have this volume until 2 March 2012 at the latest, so I've been intentional about plugging my way through it.
It's been a really fascinating experience so far. Moreso than I anticipated. I really feel like I'm walking through Woodruff's life with him, you know? I feel like I'm getting to know him. In a way, I feel like I'm making a new friend. That might sound strange, getting that feeling from reading his journals, but... I mean, I'm getting to know him so well, I'm getting glimpses into his mind, his innermost thoughts... Currently I've paused after completing the events of 1838, so that's slightly over four years worth of material. I've been with him through his conversion, through his baptism, through his ordination to various successive positions in the church (Teacher, Priest, Elder, Second Quorum of the Seventy, first Quorum of the Seventy, and now he's received notice that he's to become a member of the Quorumm of the Twelve Apostles).... I've walked with him through the Zion's Camp expedition, I've experienced Latter-day Saint life in Kirtland through his view, I've listened in on his prayers, I've watched him labor in several missions (one to Tennessee and Kentucky, and another focused on the Fox Islands in Maine), I've caught sight of various cities (New York, Boston, etc.) with his eyes, I've read about his marriage and his patriarchal blessing and the conversion of his family and the death of his little brother Asahel and the birth of his first child Sarah on the trek to Zion in Missouri.... It's a moving saga, a moving life, and it comes through, even in the little details. And along the way, I've caught glimpses of more familiar stories from the edges, listened in as he catches wind of this or that event (the Haun's Mill Massacre, for instance). It's not just history. I've taken so many notes so far (perhaps 70 pages or so of notes!), and there are many more to come.
Reading this, and talking tonight with a close friend who keeps a fairly detailed journal, has made me begin to contemplate starting one myself. I mean, this blog has somewhat of that function, but I'm talking a true daily handwritten record of everything I see fit to mention, personal reflections, etc. - even what I wouldn't feel quite comfortable putting online. Perhaps if I start that, I'll have material at the ready to digest down into a more robust weekly update!
Also pertaining to reading, I've had to shift some things around under the pressures of (1) the priority of Woodruff's journal (since it's an ILL book), and (2) classes. Thus, in practice I've temporarily set aside my reading of Spencer W. Kimball's The Miracle of Forgiveness and my listening to MRM's accompanying podcast episodes (save to catch up to my point in the reading, as I'd gotten slightly ahead of them). Consequently, I've not progressed yet beyond Chapter 13, but I'm okay with that for now. I made pretty good progress while I was focused on it. I still haven't gotten much back into Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity, unfortunately, though I think I did this week get around to taking notes on William Hasker's refutation of Dale Tuggy's "divine deception" argument. I've continued to make steady progress in some of my books for class. In Ken Collins' John Wesley: A Theological Journey, I'm now up through Chapter 3. In Dennis Hollinger's Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World, I've read the fourth and fifth chapters this past week (in addition to the first, second, third, and seventh that I'd read previously); I still need to read Chapter 6 and Chapter 8 before class on Wednesday morning. I have, alas, made no real advance in Wesley's sermons, to my discredit. I'm planning on just going to the website that hosts them all, copying and pasting them into a single Word document, and then reading it that way during class where necessary; that way, I can also fulfill the highlighting requirement without actually highlighting in my physical book, which I want to sell back later. I've also begun a couple other books. For my Christian Ethics course, I've started to read Rebekah Miles' The Pastor as Moral Guide; I think I've gotten through the first chapter, but I only need to have the first three read by Wednesday. And then for my Pastoral Care and Counseling course, I'm reading Stephen Seamands' Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service. I need to have it read in its entirety by Thursday, I think. I could be wrong, I don't know. (This is why I need a day planner.) Anyway, I've read the first three chapters so far, out of eight in total. I hope to read one more tonight before bed, two tomorrow, and then one Tuesday and the last on Wednesday. If I can do that, I ought to be able to stay up to speed.
Other miscellany.... Well, I'm annoyed at my laptop. The "m" key has suddenly become extremely sensitive, meaning I have to do more editing than usual of what I type. I get these random strings of "mmmm", or a random 'm' following an 'n'. Irritating. Church was good today, though I was running late. Great sermon on stewardship from Andrew. Today was laundry day also for me. Glad that's done. Costs $4.50 in quarters to wash and dry two loads. Also, I suppose I've been feeling a bit of a general melancholy and weariness, which might have come through a bit in my last post. I've been attempting to ignore my sense of ennui. On another note entirely, this week I've listened to a few podcast episodes. I listened to "I'm Ok, You're Not" (2 January 2012) from William Lane Craig's Reasonable Faith podcast. That's always good. I also listened to the 69th episode of the Mormon Matters podcast, "Patriarchal Blessings", but although the episode had the great strength of including Richard L. Bushman, it was marred by the ramblings of a panelist who's a student of Bart Ehrman and apparently thinks that anything that dares dissent from his master's pet views is an abject fideistic denial of True Scholarship(TM). So that was irritating enough that I was glad when the episode ended. Also, I listened to a recent (5 February 2012) episode of the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast in which they interviewed New Testament scholar Craig Keener - who now teaches here, and I am so happy about that. On yet another note, I find myself routinely annoyed at some of my old friends of a more left-wing bent who routinely post on Facebook about their extraordinarily unreasonable opinions about certain items in the current media. Were it not late, I'd get into them presently; I may do that soon, so watch for me to expand on this. Needless to say, it's been bugging me more and more to watch them invert good sense. In other miscellaneous news, I really must remember to get gas soon. I'm almost empty. I think I'll be holding off on taking my car in to get looked at. Malfunction though it may, I just don't think we can afford it right now. Another miscellaneous thing: this online article made me laugh a lot. Wow, those were horrible attempts at humor. Finally, at least this past week I got slightly more caught up in correspondence - but I'm still hopelessly behind in general.
A great deal of my week has been consumed in reading. I'm pleased to say that Thursday saw the arrival of my first InterLibrary Loan book of the semester. I've been interested in reading the journals of various 19th- and early 20th-century Mormon leaders, and I've decided that there's no better way to start than with the most extensive set there is: the journals of Wilford Woodruff, who went on to become the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His journal begins from his conversion experience at the very end of 1833 and runs all the way up through the remainder of his life; he died in 1898. That is a lot of life, and a lot of recording of that life. In the 1980s, a complete typescript was made of those journals and published as a nine-volume set. There was also a one-volume collection of the highlights, and that's much more popular, since the unabridged set is rather expensive and hard to come by. (And by "expensive and hard to come by", I meant that the cheapest set on Amazon would cost $2500.) But, being an unabridged sort of guy, I've decided not to settle for any less than the full thing. On Thursday, I received volume one, covering 29 December 1833 through 31 December 1840 by reproducing the text of three manuscript journals (1833-1837; 1838-1839; 1840), an extensive set of genealogical data, and a manuscript baptismal record for 1840. As a loan, I have this volume until 2 March 2012 at the latest, so I've been intentional about plugging my way through it.
It's been a really fascinating experience so far. Moreso than I anticipated. I really feel like I'm walking through Woodruff's life with him, you know? I feel like I'm getting to know him. In a way, I feel like I'm making a new friend. That might sound strange, getting that feeling from reading his journals, but... I mean, I'm getting to know him so well, I'm getting glimpses into his mind, his innermost thoughts... Currently I've paused after completing the events of 1838, so that's slightly over four years worth of material. I've been with him through his conversion, through his baptism, through his ordination to various successive positions in the church (Teacher, Priest, Elder, Second Quorum of the Seventy, first Quorum of the Seventy, and now he's received notice that he's to become a member of the Quorumm of the Twelve Apostles).... I've walked with him through the Zion's Camp expedition, I've experienced Latter-day Saint life in Kirtland through his view, I've listened in on his prayers, I've watched him labor in several missions (one to Tennessee and Kentucky, and another focused on the Fox Islands in Maine), I've caught sight of various cities (New York, Boston, etc.) with his eyes, I've read about his marriage and his patriarchal blessing and the conversion of his family and the death of his little brother Asahel and the birth of his first child Sarah on the trek to Zion in Missouri.... It's a moving saga, a moving life, and it comes through, even in the little details. And along the way, I've caught glimpses of more familiar stories from the edges, listened in as he catches wind of this or that event (the Haun's Mill Massacre, for instance). It's not just history. I've taken so many notes so far (perhaps 70 pages or so of notes!), and there are many more to come.
Reading this, and talking tonight with a close friend who keeps a fairly detailed journal, has made me begin to contemplate starting one myself. I mean, this blog has somewhat of that function, but I'm talking a true daily handwritten record of everything I see fit to mention, personal reflections, etc. - even what I wouldn't feel quite comfortable putting online. Perhaps if I start that, I'll have material at the ready to digest down into a more robust weekly update!
Also pertaining to reading, I've had to shift some things around under the pressures of (1) the priority of Woodruff's journal (since it's an ILL book), and (2) classes. Thus, in practice I've temporarily set aside my reading of Spencer W. Kimball's The Miracle of Forgiveness and my listening to MRM's accompanying podcast episodes (save to catch up to my point in the reading, as I'd gotten slightly ahead of them). Consequently, I've not progressed yet beyond Chapter 13, but I'm okay with that for now. I made pretty good progress while I was focused on it. I still haven't gotten much back into Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity, unfortunately, though I think I did this week get around to taking notes on William Hasker's refutation of Dale Tuggy's "divine deception" argument. I've continued to make steady progress in some of my books for class. In Ken Collins' John Wesley: A Theological Journey, I'm now up through Chapter 3. In Dennis Hollinger's Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World, I've read the fourth and fifth chapters this past week (in addition to the first, second, third, and seventh that I'd read previously); I still need to read Chapter 6 and Chapter 8 before class on Wednesday morning. I have, alas, made no real advance in Wesley's sermons, to my discredit. I'm planning on just going to the website that hosts them all, copying and pasting them into a single Word document, and then reading it that way during class where necessary; that way, I can also fulfill the highlighting requirement without actually highlighting in my physical book, which I want to sell back later. I've also begun a couple other books. For my Christian Ethics course, I've started to read Rebekah Miles' The Pastor as Moral Guide; I think I've gotten through the first chapter, but I only need to have the first three read by Wednesday. And then for my Pastoral Care and Counseling course, I'm reading Stephen Seamands' Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service. I need to have it read in its entirety by Thursday, I think. I could be wrong, I don't know. (This is why I need a day planner.) Anyway, I've read the first three chapters so far, out of eight in total. I hope to read one more tonight before bed, two tomorrow, and then one Tuesday and the last on Wednesday. If I can do that, I ought to be able to stay up to speed.
Other miscellany.... Well, I'm annoyed at my laptop. The "m" key has suddenly become extremely sensitive, meaning I have to do more editing than usual of what I type. I get these random strings of "mmmm", or a random 'm' following an 'n'. Irritating. Church was good today, though I was running late. Great sermon on stewardship from Andrew. Today was laundry day also for me. Glad that's done. Costs $4.50 in quarters to wash and dry two loads. Also, I suppose I've been feeling a bit of a general melancholy and weariness, which might have come through a bit in my last post. I've been attempting to ignore my sense of ennui. On another note entirely, this week I've listened to a few podcast episodes. I listened to "I'm Ok, You're Not" (2 January 2012) from William Lane Craig's Reasonable Faith podcast. That's always good. I also listened to the 69th episode of the Mormon Matters podcast, "Patriarchal Blessings", but although the episode had the great strength of including Richard L. Bushman, it was marred by the ramblings of a panelist who's a student of Bart Ehrman and apparently thinks that anything that dares dissent from his master's pet views is an abject fideistic denial of True Scholarship(TM). So that was irritating enough that I was glad when the episode ended. Also, I listened to a recent (5 February 2012) episode of the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast in which they interviewed New Testament scholar Craig Keener - who now teaches here, and I am so happy about that. On yet another note, I find myself routinely annoyed at some of my old friends of a more left-wing bent who routinely post on Facebook about their extraordinarily unreasonable opinions about certain items in the current media. Were it not late, I'd get into them presently; I may do that soon, so watch for me to expand on this. Needless to say, it's been bugging me more and more to watch them invert good sense. In other miscellaneous news, I really must remember to get gas soon. I'm almost empty. I think I'll be holding off on taking my car in to get looked at. Malfunction though it may, I just don't think we can afford it right now. Another miscellaneous thing: this online article made me laugh a lot. Wow, those were horrible attempts at humor. Finally, at least this past week I got slightly more caught up in correspondence - but I'm still hopelessly behind in general.
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