Sunday, June 3, 2007

Droppin' the update situa-tas*

So . . . I have Internet access (for a few minutes, at least)! Just like a good sermon from Pastor Kevin at URC, I have three points of interest:

1. The job hunt is, well, slower than traffic on the Lodge (M-10) in Detroit right now. A school in NC canceled my interview the day of--and didn't bother to tell me, and a school in Chicago asked to set up an interview for May 31 but never returned any of my calls or e-mails to confirm it. Needless to say, May 31 has come and gone without any news--except some news I didn't want to hear: I was not offered either of the two positions near Lansing I interviewed for that I really wanted. I now have some eight pages, single-spaced, of schools I've sought out as far as jobs, with little luck so far. Whee.

2. On Thursday night while groovin' to some hits from the '90s at what became a post-Coffee House dance party, someone mentioned, "Isn't it funny how we never forget song lyrics? I can't believe I still know the words to [some song by Third Eye Blind]!" The thought popped in my head about how, while newer worship songs do emphasize the facet of the Psalms involving personal response, they fail pretty miserably as teaching tools. What I mean is that for centuries people didn't have ready access to the Scriptures, but they did have the sung liturgies and hymns of their church worship. Singing or chanting of God's character and saving acts in words given rhythm, melody, and rhyme give us truth that sticks in our heads and hearts. (Is it any surprise that much of the Old Testament, especially the Prophets, is in "rhyming" poetry?) Even the best of us cannot memorize scriptural prose as well as we know song lyrics. Three cheers for hymns old and new richer in words of God's saving grace than in words of lying and failing promises to love God alone and surrender myself to him.


3. I'm really going to miss Istanbul. The more I open my eyes, the more in awe I am at how this really is the best city in the world. My favorite thing is to see the Bosphorus at night, especially while crossing the southernmost bridge. Unlike the daily chaos, everything seems so calm as countless warm dots of light glimmer unto the horizons among the hills. I could probably talk and write for hours or days about how darn sweet this place is. I've been all over--Rome, Prague, Sevilla, Berlin, Munich, Fez--and Istanbul smokes 'em all, hands-down. Four more weeks.

*Props to my boy Jose for that one

1 comment:

Halfmom said...

I'm so sorry that somehow the ball got dropped here - I'll see if I can get word to the principal of that school about you - I do know a couple of the teachers there.