Lesser Feasts

Sunset on St Andrew's Day (yesterday), as seen from my office I think I've used that line as a title for a post before, but I don't care. It's a great song. Some beginnings are coming to an end this week. Yesterday was my last full day in DC until the spring semester begins. I devoted most of it to grading and teaching prep. Whoever decided that for my last full week of classes I would schedule two articles I'd never taught before clearly did not have my best interests at heart. The evening was given over to Solemn Evensong and Benediction at St Paul's, K Street, a splendid celebration of the 50th ordination anniversary of the Revd Canon Dr Tony Lewis, Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary, whom I've know since my own K Street days. (He was also the preacher at the consecration of my new bishop back in September.) It was a nice smoky service requiring three masters of ceremonies, a dozen acolytes, and enough bishops to start a ...

17 October 2022, being the Eve of St Luke the Evangelist Mid-afternoon flight back to DC (verging on late-afternoon flight thanks to a half-hour delay for a tire change). Tucked inside the notebook in which I drafted this post—much as Thomas Aquinas drafted his blogposts longhand, except that my handwriting is legible—is a schedule for the week to come. There are probably five people in the world who can read this, and I feel quite certain that none of them will see this post. It's a week between writing assignments in Intro, and prep should be minimal, since I'm teaching Anselm's On the Fall of the Devil . (If my students can trip me up on On the Fall of the Devil , I need to find another line of work.) So I've made up a chart to help me make the best use of my time. One column is marked "Appointments," the other "Tasks." Anything with a definite time goes under "Appointments." This includes class, office hours, and the usual routine stuff...

  Orientation begins on Wednesday at 8 am, so I have no excuse not to be at Morning Prayer at 7:30. The rector officiates. He is Scottish. I worry that when we have lunch in a couple of weeks, I will alarm him by my enthusiasm for all things Scottish. For now, though, I'm just delighted to have been invited to celebrate at the occasional midweek Eucharist and participate in their very robust adult formation program. ***** The first speaker at orientation is the Vice President for Mission and Ministry, a Jesuit. He talks about Jesuit values, about Ignatian spirituality, and it's all very lovely. It will become clear to me over these two days that the university really does take its Jesuit identity seriously. ***** That's my first we're-not-in-Kansas-anymore moment. My second is when the provost speaks to us. My former provost was noteworthy for his ability to speak at indefinite length while conveying no information of any kind. My new provost is the opposite: clear, str...

My flight was on time, my bag came quickly, and I was at my apartment by 3:00. Perfect. I had forgotten how much light the place gets: Rather than unpacking, I decide to walk to the office and start settling in there. It's a pleasant forty-minute walk. I pass Christ Church, Georgetown, on the way to the entrance to the University and ultimately my new building. I'm eager to see how my nine framed Scotland photos turned out. According to an email, they arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, they are nowhere to be found. The departmental administrator suggests that I go to the mailroom and gives me very clear directions about how to get there, which I proceed to fumble mightily. After some random wandering, stairs leading nowhere, and a brief detour through the Esplanade of Confusion, I do manage to find it. The folks at the mailroom are super-helpful, but they can't find my packages. I send an email to customer service and hope for the best. At least I have time to unpack the thr...