first day. And, world can't wait.

Today's my first day of seminary, so keep me in your prayers. I just had my first course, which is called "The Parables in Preaching and Teaching", and it looks like it's going to be really good. We're talking about parable as a subversive genre, so that the stories are not just subversive in their content, but also their form. We're going to be doing some classroom presentations that are limited to five minutes in order to get a handle on the power-in-brevity that the parables offer. There's only about ten folks in the class, and I'm the only first-year, first-degree program.

It's also, of course, really igniting the storyteller side of me. Naturally. I'm really glad to be here.

And:

On Sunday afternoon I stopped by the big, main branch of the Chicago public library, named after Harold Washington, on my way to church. A woman stopped me on the street, and I thought she was going to ask me for change (as do 90% of the people who stop me on the street) but instead she gave me a flyer for October's 'World Can't Wait: Drive Out the Bush Regime' march and day of actions.

Now, I think that driving out the Bush regime is a worthy goal, but looking at that flyer made me just feel exhausted. After spending hours and hours to organize Obies to DC last September, the last thing I want to do this September is help to organize another big march or rally. I'm getting frustrated looking for actions that will actually help end the war in Iraq. But, on the other hand, if everybody thinks like me, and no one shows up to the Anti-War march, then everyone will assume there is no anti-war movement.

Plus, I'm pretty sure that the World Can't Wait campaign is spear-headed by the Revolutionary Communist Party, and I've never had much fun with those guys. I want a revolution in my methods, I guess.

Thoughts?

David