In Case You're Interested

I'm getting a bit of a late start, but these are the schools I'm applying to for the fall (in order of preference).

1. Lipscomb University - Nashville, TN
2. Abilene Christian University - Abilene, TX
3. Lubbock Christian University - Lubbock, TX
4. Truett Seminary, Baylor University - Waco, TX

I'll likely post something about why I chose these four schools this weekend. They are definitely not the ones I had in mind a couple of months ago.

Arch Enemy #1 – Nancy Grace

I’ve been needing to start an enemy list for quite a while. Because I have quite a few of them, and if they ever happen upon my blog, they will want to know it.

Not that I’m much of anybody to fear. A pacifist who can barely bench a hundred-fifty pounds (if that) from Menard, TX with a small space staked out on the edge of the blogosphere. I’m not a person to fear just a whole lot.

So there’s no really good reason to make an enemy list. But I’m starting one anyway.

By the way, the order of the enemy list really means nothing. It’s not as though enemy number one is the worst enemy. Enemy number one just means that on the day I started the list, this person was the enemy I was ticked off at.

So, for those of you who did not read the title of the blog or look at the picture below, the first person to be named by me an official enemy on my blog:

Nancy Grace

Nancy Grace hosts the show Justice Hour on CNN Headline News. CNN needed an ignorant blowhard a while back to compete with Bill O’Reilly for rating. So, they chose Nancy Grace. I picked up that she was a moron whose show I would not be watching immediately. Unfortunately, during the last week, I’ve had the misfortune to watch her show because she was covering a subject I was interested in.

My church.

Nancy Grace, whose show tends to exploit tragedies (usually murders) for all their worth, has been covering the murder of Matthew Winkler, a Church of Christ preacher from Selmer, TN. She was ignorant about what the Church of Christ was, so she brought on an “expert” on the Church of Christ, a fellow who was not a member of the Church of Christ and who evidently has a problem with us.

Here’s a part of the transcript from the Monday show:

TRANSCRIPT:
NANCY GRACE: A well-respected and much beloved minister in the Church of Christ, Selmer, Tennessee, gunned down in his own home. His wife, according to many reports, has confessed to police. They say whodunnit is not the issue, it`s why she did it. That is the question.
I want to go to pastor Tom Rukala, joining us tonight, a special guest, a Baptist minister. I`ve been researching the Church of Christ. I don`t know that much about it. What can you tell me?
PASTOR TOM RUKALA, BAPTIST PASTOR: Well, the Church of Christ is a relatively new church. It was started about 150 years ago by Alexander Campbell (ph). And it`s, unfortunately, a very legalistic sect, and they tend to use methods of intimidation and pressure tactics. They claim that they are the only ones going to heaven, and all other people are condemned to hell. So in case…
GRACE: Uh-oh, I`m in trouble. But I already knew that.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: Now, wait a minute. What more can you tell me?
RUKALA: Well, they claim that if you`re not baptized by one of their ministers, that you`re doomed to hell, even if you`re a believer in Jesus Christ, which, of course, breaks completely from the traditional Christian view that all those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved because we`re saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again. For the Church of Christ folks, that`s not enough. You have to be a member of their narrow sect. It`s a very exclusive group. And if you`re not a member of their sect, you`re condemned.
GRACE: You know, Pastor, you keep saying “sect.” “Sect.” You make it sound like a cult.
RUKALA: It kind of is a borderline cult, unfortunately. I don`t want to make it out to be some kind of Hare Krishna group, but it has cult-like characteristics and…
GRACE: In what sense?
RUKALA: Well, in the sense of the exclusivism, the attitude that they are the only ones who know the truth. The tactics that they use are sometimes just — not only un-biblical but unethical, and they can be very ungracious, unfortunately.

Then, she continued this line of questioning Wednesday night with Rubel Shelly (an extremely respected theologian from the Churches of Christ). I won’t subject you to all of that transcript since it was conveniently typed in a way that doesn’t demonstrate just how often in the forty-five seconds he was on that she interrupted him. The gist of the interview was this. She asked Dr. Shelly if the Church of Christ was a cult:

GRACE: “Is the Church of Christ a cult? Is it cult-like? Did that play into this murder in any way? With us, Dr. Ruble Shelly [sic], professor of philosophy and religion at Rochester College. He`s a Church of Christ minister. He knows the Winkler family. Let`s take a look. Single leader, cult-like qualities, trying to isolate members, members happy and enthusiastic -- I don`t think that`s a bad thing -- experimental rather than logical, hide what they teach, say they`re the only true group. Dr. Shelly, response?”

When he answered no, she seemed dissatisfied and hurriedly switched topics to role of women in the Church of Christ. Since the Churches of Christ run by local church autonomy, there is a variety of ways the Church handles that particular topic. When he tried to answer, she cut him off. Then, she asked if the Church of Christ thought Muslims and Jews will go to heaven? She wanted a yes or no answer, though it’s not a yes or no answer? Dr. Shelly refused the simple answer and said, “I believe that Jews and Muslims are to be shared the gospel of Christ. Now, that`s a much larger issue.” Grace said, “Gotcha, OK. All right. I get it.” They then knocked Dr. Shelley off the air, so that she could get the response to Dr. Shelley from Deepak Chopra: “I can`t help but think that religion has become divisive, quarrelsome, and sometimes even idiotic. I think it`s based on very tribal views that go back to an ancient past. And perhaps we should see a future where religion has no relevance anymore…” Shelly never got to respond to anything else. He was on the show, it seemed, for little over a minute. Later in the show, she asked another guest if the Church of Christ was a cult.


So anyway, I can’t really begin to express how many things were wrong with this. Nancy Grace wanted desperately to label the Church of Christ as a cult so as to make better tv. So, she belittled Dr. Shelly (and misspelled his name and called him a psychologist) and wouldn’t let him answer her questions. She then cut him off the air and turned to another guest so that they could attack Dr. Shelly. She then went on as though nothing had happened to the rest of her ridiculous show.

The lack of journalistic integrity was appalling to me.

More saddening is how much the Church of Christ has worked to change in the last thirty years so that they’re not exclusivist and legalistic. Then, comes along Nancy Grace to tell everybody that we’re a cult.

So, Nancy grace earned my first email to complain to a tv show.

And she’s the number one arch enemy.

ACU Pride

During the last couple of days, I’ve been extremely proud to be an alumnist of ACU.

The reason is this.

There is a group call Soulforce which represents the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities who is traveling by bus to about twenty universities in the US who have policies against homosexuality. The group is modeling their journey after the Civil Rights Freedom Rides of the 50s and 60s. They chose ACU as one of the schools to visit.

ACU was the seventh school visited. Of the first six, two of them had members of the Soulforce Equality Ride arrested for ‘trespassing’ on campus, two barred them from campus, and two allowed them on campus only to severely restrict their activity.

Then, Soulforce’s buses reached ACU, and they found, instead of fear and hatred, hospitality. ACU provided meals and places to stay. ACU invited Soulforce to participate in forums and to give presentations for the whole day. ACU invited them to one of the most packed (and best) chapels I’ve seen at ACU (because I was leaving town, this was the only event I got to see). Unlike the previous schools Soulforce had visited, ACU never tried to shelter the students from the group. They never saw any reason to do so.

I’m sure that not everything went perfectly during the visit. I’m sure a lot of the conversations were difficult for both groups. I’m sure that there was a lot of ignorance to work through on both sides. But I was proud that ACU was not hateful to Soulforce and that ACU was willing to enter into those much-needed discussions. I’m glad that they met the group with love rather than with fear. From everything I’ve read and heard, this visit was a blessing for both ACU and Soulforce.

Three's Company

It’s a long story, but a couple of weeks ago, my sister was informed that her roommate was moving out. That left Kalyn in a bit of a quandary. She had two weeks to either (1) start paying for her two person apartment and ruin her bank account before getting married, (2) find a new, affordable single-person place for only four months, or (3) find a roommate for the next four months. The first two of these would be impossible to accomplish. The third one would be possible if she happened to have a big brother living in the same town as she.

So, as always, it’s me to the rescue.

But there was one other problem. I couldn’t leave my apartment. You see, I’m renting this little, dumpy, ugly apartment from a really nice little old lady who I’ve seen quite hurt when tenants have broken their lease. I refused to break my lease from the old lady (Kalyn was on a per-month lease, so she wasn’t breaking one at all). Plus, I’m a little attached to the place.

So, we just finished moving the last piece of Kalyn’s stuff into place in my apartment. We were a little shocked when we got the boxes and bags of things moved in and it covered the floor of the whole apartment. But after two days of organizing and enduring the heavy strain of stuffing way too much stuff in the single closet and then trying to close the door, and after giving several pounds of clothes away and filling up a small storage unit, and after making a few small sacrifices (such as the ability to shut doors because otherwise an extra bed wouldn’t fit into the apartment), everything’s in, and we can walk around sort of.

So now, the only thing left to do is to get used to it. Me, my sister, and her evil cat Tony together for four months. It should be great fun.

A Book Recommendation

I just finished reading a really, really excellent book, and I thought I'd pass the title on to you. It's called Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World and is by Lee Camp. He's a Church of Christ professor, though he's sort of writing from an anabaptist perspective (which is more what the Church of Christ was 170 years ago). The basic idea is that Christians have largely compartmentalized our religion. We're very comfortable with the Gospel affecting our inner spirituality, our attitudes. We're not always overly comfortable with the Gospel influencing our lives. The Gospel, particularly the things that Jesus says, just seems a little too radical and a little too impractical to us. It's wrong, of course, to think that way though. If we're going to live under the governance of Christ, we have to take seriously what he says.

So anyway, this book's out to change things. It calls for more radical discipleship, and it examines what our society and Christianity within our society might look like if we were to take some of the more radical things Christ does a little more seriously.

This is one of those books that isn't overly comfortable to read. It challenged me continually. And it's not a book that anyone will agree with entirely. Being challenged isn't a bad thing though.

Free Books Anyone?

I may have pointed out this website a long time ago, but I can’t remember. Anyway, the folks who run the Plough Publishing House (the Bruderhof Communities) aren’t in the publishing business for the money. They just want the ideas to be available. So, on their website, they make a number of excellent books available for free downloading.

I’d recommend these titles:

1. Provocations – Soren Kierkegaard
2. Salt and Light – Eberhard Arnold
3. The Violence of Love – Oscar Romero
4. Walk in the Light – Leo Tolstoy

Well, I’m back, and I think I am recovering. I woke up Saturday morning at 6:00 am to leave, and I went to bed yesterday (Sunday) at 6:00 am. The time in between was spent on the road in a fifteen-person van, and I drove more than half of that trip. I now have a cold. I’ve slept, though--a lot—and am doing pretty well now.

I’m comforted by the memories of the week. It was a good week.

These are the things I most remember.

7. Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago for five hours. We get one free day during the week. When I was in Chicago three years ago, I got to see most of the major sites, and my favorite was their magnificent art museum. This year, with my art major sister along, we decided to spend our time here. It’s absolutely amazing to be able to stand two feet away from some of those paintings that you’ve seen in books your whole life (like Picasso’s The Old Guitarist and Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte). My personal favorites were the paintings by El Greco, Wassily Kandinsky (as always), and Durer’s engravings.

6. Playing Tea-Party at St. Vincent de Paul’s – St. Vincent de Paul’s is a school/daycare that’s free for the children of men and women who are working their way out of poverty. We were signed up to volunteer for about six hours during the week, each person to a room. When you signed up, you only knew that you were signing up for the number of a room; you didn’t actually know what age group would be in the room you chose. I signed up for room 122—-the two-and-a-half-year-old girls classroom it turns out. I’m pretty good with kids that are around four and up, but I’ve never been around kids younger, so this assignment scared me a whole lot. It shouldn’t have though. We had a great time cutting up pictures and making collages, dressing up (they were happy to have a male to wear the fireman’s uniform and hat), and playing tea-party (they through me a birthday party—a plastic hot dog bun was the cake). We volunteered for two days, and on the second day when I walked back in the room, about five of them yelled my name and ran up and hugged me. I found out later that only one of the little girls has a father in her life, so it’s not difficult to see why they liked me.

There was one really sad moment. Right when I arrived, three of the girls were sitting on a window sill looking out at people standing at a bus stop. I asked the girls what they were doing, and they said that they were playing bus stop. I asked them where they were going. The first answered, “To work.” The second answered, “To the trial.” The third girl said, “To the pen.”

5. Volunteering at the New Moms’ Shelter – The New Moms’ Shelter is a place for homeless young mothers. The place gives them and their children a place to live and tries to help them to develop parenting skills. We worked in the day care room. This was really the most difficult project of the week. All of the children were under two, and this was easily the most difficult thing for me to handle. I really struggled. Even more difficult, though, was witnessing how many of the mothers handled the children. I really hate to say it, but most of them didn’t want to have anything to do with their children. We saw mothers yelling at infants for dirtying their diapers or for not eating their food (when they were still too young to feed themselves). We saw infants whose diapers had not been changed since they were at the day care center the day before (the social workers could tell this by the type of diapers and by the way they were fastened). It was all very difficult to see. These babies were so vulnerable, and we knew they would never get the love and attention they needed. These mother's just couldn't offer it. How do you know how to love someone if nobody has ever loved you? It was a cycle that we knew would keep going. We hated leaving the infants. Several people cried.

4. Dancing at Misericordia – Misericordia was a very large center for the mentally disabled. It was really an extraordinary experience for everyone. We “worked” there over several days. I was in the laundry which was great because we were just folding clothes which allowed for plenty of time to talk and to make friends with all of the people there. It was really great. Everyone we met was really excited just to see new faces there. They just flocked to us to get to know us, and everyone I met was especially excited to know I was from Texas. I met a couple, Ronda and Patrick, who had met in a high school class for people with downs syndrome and who had been together for eighteen years since. We talked for several hours. They have a band that has performed for the governor of Illinois. I talked for a long time with Chris, who was autistic and loved mechanics, and who wanted to know every detail about the van we drove and about the ride up and about the washing machine in my apartment. And I spent a lot of time with Mila who couldn’t talk but who likes holding hands and giving hugs (and who got quite jealous when I was talking with Ronda). They greatest thing about the laundry is that between loads, the music is turned up (it’s always on) and everyone dances like crazy. It was a lot of fun.

3. Emmaus Ministries – Emmaus Ministries works to help homeless male prostitutes off of the streets and off of drugs. I didn’t get to work with them much this year (as I had in the past), but most of the other campaigners did. It was seeing their experiences with Emmaus that made an impression on me this year.

When the group was going through orientation, the Emmaus worker made the following statement: “Christians have so many political opinions about homosexuality, but if you ask most Christians, they will tell you that they don’t even know a person who is homosexual. How can Christians have such strong and negative opinions about homosexuals if they don’t even know any?” This isn’t the sort of statement you normally hear in the conservative Christian south, but after talking with some of the campaigners, I think this statement really hit home to a lot of the campaigners. That was what amazed me. While working with Emmaus during the week, several of the campaigners actually had the opportunity to meet and to have conversations with gay men. And it wasn’t for any sort of evangelical purpose at all (something which Emmaus does not try to do), and it wasn’t so that the campaigners could judge the men (that’s what impressed me with the campaigners, they didn’t act judgmental at all). As the campaigners were working with the men around the Emmaus neighborhood, they just got to know some of the men, and in doing so, they actually got to see some gay men as humans, not as a concept that disgusted them. That’s an enormous breakthrough, I think, when you come from the place that many of the campaigners came from. It was extraordinary for me to hear how some of the campaigners viewpoints (and hearts) changed so drastically from one experience.

2. Singing at the Chicago Food Depository – The group this year could sing. That’s one of my favorite things about the Church of Christ tradition. The acapella music teaches many to sing quite well, and this group could. So, as we were bagging (literally) four tons of noodles at the depository, we sang praise songs together, and this was probably the moment where we really started to come together as a group. It was a lot of fun.

This moment also eventually provided the funniest moment of the trip. After working and singing for a long time, another group of volunteers joined us in the room (though they didn’t join in the singing). Eventually, one of our campaigners jokingly asked one of that group if the singing ACUers were “freaking them out.” The college girl who he had asked replied somewhat angrily, “You’re not freaking me out, but you’re being irreverent, singing those songs while working.” The guy who had asked was also the guy who was leading the singing, so upon hearing this, he immediately switched from praise songs to singing Beatles songs. Later, he explained to everyone his decision to change to Beatles songs: “When she said that singing here was being irreverent, I thought, ‘Ah, weaker faith, I’ll let her have this one.’”

Maybe you had to have been there.

1. There was one other experience that would be number one. I'm now sure, however, that I'm at liberty to write about it. If I am allowed to, it will be its own post. Otherwise, just ask me about it sometime.

Well, I'm headed off tomorrow for a spring break campaign to Chicago, so ALAS, I will not be blogging for a week. It's just Chicago, but I'll tell what happened there once I get back. It should be pretty cool. I've been on this campaign before, and there are really some good things that happen on it. And I think I like all of the people so far. If you get a chance, please pray for the campaign.

In light of my latest rant...

I thought I'd repost this Wendell Berry poem. I think I've put this on the ol' blog three times now. It's worth it though. I read this each day as part of my morning prayers.




From Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias….
Listen to carrion—put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts….
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is highest in your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Venting

Aarggh.

The energy bill for this little one bedroom apartment was over $200 last month. Now, that's pretty ridiculous, especially considering that I kept the heater off, washed very few clothes, keep the lights out, and wasn't here for a week out of the month. Plus, I was living in a house before this with a roommate, had two airconditioners running constantly, had a washing machine & a dryer there too, and there was somebody in the house all the time, and even the, the bill was half of what it was here. So, something was fishy. Thus, I called up WTU to ask for a reread. LP&L, the company I was with in Lubbock, was crooked, but they would do rereads on your bill. WTU will also, if you pay them $15. They overcharged me, and in order to get them to see if they overcharged me, I have to pay them more money. I, of course, don't trust their ability to read the meter either, so I cancelled the reread order. This is a bit of a problem.

The bigger problem is that this is so constant. I can't actually think of the last time I dealt with an ethical business. I'm regularly cheated by the energy companies. The tv, internet, and gasoline guys have gotten me, too. I buy my groceries at Wal-Mart, and the Lord knows they're not angels. I think I may start to buy my groceries elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure that United and H-E-B aren't much better. I would buy from a local grocer, but none exists that I can find. I buy gasoline, and you can't possibly direct your money toward an ethical gasoline provider. I buy insurance. Enough said there. And the government...

Worse, I can't even pretend that the paycheck I get every month isn't corrupt either. The ICON system up at TTU that I teach in is unethical. It's helping to create another generation of little automatons. I try to work against its evils however I can, but I can't overcome them, so despite my efforts, I contribute to the system, and reap personal rewards.

No matter how much I'd rather not have, I've contributed plenty to unfathomable systemic evils.

I try to comfort myself with the old "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." Still...

I'm think that this is also a part of the reason that I've tended toward seminary and even more the reason I've become interested in some of the more counter-cultural Christian groups like the Bruderhof communities. Moreover, that's why I love Wendell Berry. It's seems like if I'm at least heading in that direction, I'm at least attempting to break free.

Richard of Chesterfield’s Prayer

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults
Which Thou has borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly,
Day by day. Amen.

And the Oscar Goes To...

Crash!!!!!

I was really happy about this. What a great movie Crash was! I really can't imagine any of the other best picture nominees being more superbly done or more timely. Particularly in the year of Katrina, I thought that the film that deals with racism so poignantly ought to win.

Granted, I haven't yet seen Brokeback Mountain. I likely will eventually, but I just don't see how it can compare with Crash. Judging from the many clips I've seen of Brokeback, it seems too Hollywoodized. I grew up around plenty of real cowboys, and they don't sound or look anything like the cowboys in Brokeback. I may change my opinion when I see all of the other nominees, but I doubt I will. At the very least, Crash was outstanding--and much better than some of the recent best picture winners (Chicago, Gladiator, and Titanic leap to mind). If you've not seen it, go and do so.

I'm always suprised at how much I care about the Oscars. It's not generally something you would think I would care about. Since me and Kalyn were little (and didn't know better, I guess), though, we have loved them, and that's stuck. Anyway, this year's Oscars were pretty entertaining for me. John Stewart was funny, and I wasn't disappointed by many of the awards.

I did think that Dolly Parton's song should have won. She put on the performance of the night. I was also rooting for Amy Adams from Junebug (a really good movie) for supporting actress, and she lost (though Weisz was pretty decent in The Constant Gardener (which is, however, a much better book)).

Still, it was overall alright. I did beat Kalyn, after all, on predicting the most winners. I beat her soundly, and Crash won the top award. That made a good night.

Things That Have Recently Baffled Me

Today, it was over ninety degrees outside, and I kept my air-conditioner on the whole day. Winter ends in three weeks.

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The sports commentators are going crazy over the basketball player Andre Karilinkov’s wife. She evidently told the press that she allows her husband to cheat on her one time per year with one woman. I’ve so far seen nine sports commentators praise her as the greatest wife ever, “a woman whose face should be carved onto the Mount Rushmore of Wives.” The story broke last Wednesday, and the first such commentator I saw lauding this model of generosity had ashes on his forehead.

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Jimmy Carter recently said, “I worship the Prince of Peace, not the prince of pre-emptive war.” In response, Fox News ran a fifteen-minute segment on how Carter’s faith is fraudulent because such statements show that he is working against American values.

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About a month ago, a blind, overweight, and ill seventy-five-year-old man who was to be executed in California requested that authorities not revive him if he were to have another heart attack before his execution date so that he would die naturally and not have to go through the execution. The authorities denied his request saying, “At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life. We would resuscitate him.” They executed him on January 18th.

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Evidently, according to one of the men in our church, Christ and his apostles and all of the first-century Christians, were not actually drinking wine all of those times it’s mentioned in the Bible. It was really grape juice. Grape juice wasn’t really invented in the nineteenth century after all.

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I heard this story at church the other night.

‘Ol’ sister Pollard used to read the Bible just a little each day. One day she said to me, “I just finished the Bible for the fourth time this year.” She just kept at it. When she got old, she went into the nursing home, and one day, she came to church—it was right before she died—and she looked horrible. I could see that she wasn’t feeling well, and I asked, “Sister Pollard, why did you come to church if you’re feeling so bad?” And she replied, “Honestly, I was afraid not to come?”’

The story was told as though it were a good one.

There’s been a pretty interesting discussion going on over at Greg Kendall-Ball’s blog on the topic of Christian pacifism. It’s worth checking out for those of you interested in that subject (as I have been over the last year or so).

Lent

Well, Lent begins today. Last year, I gave up drinking cokes. That was pretty difficult since coke, my favorite source of caffeine, was the primary staple of my diet in grad school. This year, though, I’m not so stuck on coke.

Instead, I’m going to follow an idea I got from a Randy Harris lecture on prayer that I found online. I’m going to give up some time. I have heard the phrase “wasting time with God” a good bit lately since I’ve been doing a casual study of prayer for about a month. I’m not good at wasting time. I’ve been trying to get better at it during this little semester-long sabbatical. I’m not good at it, though. My days, so far, are quite filled. Even when I’m doing nothing (this semester), I keep myself busy with my own pursuits.

So for Lent, I’m going to devote one hour per day to prayer. No cheating either. Morning, mealtime, and bedtime prayers don’t count toward the hour. This is an extra hour’s worth on its own. That said, a variety of prayer styles will be allowed. For instance, I’m reading through the psalms and am going to do a little lectio divina (passage unchosen as of yet). Those things count.

I’m not sure that I’ll have the choice of keeping this up during the week in Chicago, but that will be ok, too (the work will make up for it).

Anyway, that’s it. Just to define this for myself.