Well, they're right...

Very sorry I'm not being more entertaining here...I'm pretty busy right now, but none of it is so interesting that you'd want to read about it. I've written the Christmas pageant for St. Cuthbert's, met with fellow student heads from around the TST, filled out my form for graduation (yay!) and had many conversations with many delightful people, most importantly Amy. Nothing you'd go writing in a blog, but all quite fulfilling.

I do have to mention that Christmas came early this year - the House, the Senate and...What's that in my stocking? Rumsfeld steps down? Thank you, Santa! And sorry, Don. As you know, you have to go to the polls with the electorate you have, not the electorate you want. Now don't let the door hit you on your way out.

Last night we had a real cracker of a class on baptismal liturgy. M, my fellow co-head, called it "meaty", and it was. Some real good stuff to chew on and to inspire further reflection and (we hope) meaningful baptismal preparation and liturgies. The pile of books I now want to read on the subject is ambitious, to be sure, but then it's one of the two catholic sacraments and absolutely fundamental to the faith.

Heh. I used catholic and fundamental in the same sentence. See, words can be reclaimed.

I tend to say this over and over, but I'm never sure who has just tuned in...catholic means universal. Roman Catholic is a denomination (though one which, in principle if not in practice, claims to be the only "True Church") of the catholic church. It's an important distinction because what is catholic, accepted by the church as a whole throughout all ages, is sometimes at odds with what Rome does and says. For instance, the doctrine of the Trinity is catholic while the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not. It's Roman Catholic, but not catholic. The reason Rome considers the Immaculate Conception and other doctrines to be catholic is because they consider (again, in principle...many Roman Catholics are quite ecumenical) all other Christians to be outside "the Church".

Regarding the word "fundamental", so often abused in Christian circles, there are very few beliefs that are fundamental to the Christian faith. They're big beliefs, and very important, but there aren't many of them. Different denominations have different takes on what is and what isn't fundamental, but when you boil it all down the Nicene Creed and Apostle's Creed, along with the ungainly but quite valuable Athanasian Creed (Quicumque vult) tell you everything you need to know. They express the basics of the creation, the incarnation, soteriology, Christology, eschatology and Trinitarian dogma, along with a nice nibble of ecclesiology. What I find funny is that many "fundamentalists" don't recite any of these fundamental creeds in church. Sigh.

So, after saying I had nothing to say, I said a whole lot...much of which will probably draw fire from all sides.

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