Christ Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!

I am still savoring the lingering flavor of a marvelous Holy
Week here in St. Andrews. During the past week I saw,
heard, tasted, smelled, and touched the Gospel of the Death
and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in ways that I
have rarely experienced before. It was a special week for
me, one that I will not soon forget.


Holy Week began at a Palm Sunday service at Holy Trinity,
my home church here in St. Andrews. It is a large Church
of Scotland parish church for the town. A large turnout pro-
cessed around the ancient church. As is my usual custom,
Monday through Friday I joined with two to five others for
the short Morning Prayer at the ancient University Chapel.
For Holy Week we prepared for Good Friday and Resurrec-
tion Sunday by reading from John 18-19. On Wednesday
there was Evensong and on Thursday evening, Compline.
These activities that I attend throughout the University
academic year helped me to prepare myself for Good Fri-
day and Resurrection Sunday.


Starting Thursday, I attended five services at a very liturgi-
cal Scottish Episcopal Church in town. Each service was a dra-
matic reading of Scripture that focused on one event in the
last few days of Christ's life. It was a very moving time for
me when I was able to focus on the passion, death, and Res-
urrection of Jesus Christ. For Maundy Thursday there was
a Solemn Eucharist of the Lord's Supper and a moving Strip-
ping of the Altar. Early on Good Friday there was a short
service when we meditated on the Stations of the Cross. Our
salvation, lives, and resurrections were seen in the light of
the Cross of Christ.


A highlight for me was the evening service of the Good Friday
Solemn Liturgy of the Lord's Passion. The central theme of the
service was the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion as por-
trayed in John's Gospel. We ended the service by taking part
in the Lord's Supper. Saturday morning I attended a short
service that reflected on Christ's crucified body being laid in
the tomb, awaiting the Resurrection on the third day. The
highpoint for me was the late Saturday night Solemn Euchar-
ist of the Easter Vigil. It began with a service of light of a can-
dle that was brought into the darkened sanctuary and used
to light the candles of the congregation. Then we listened to
Scripture readings about God's great acts of creation and re-
demption. This was followed by a personally meaningful re-
newal of our baptismal vows. The service ended early Eas-
ter morning with the celebration of the Lord's Supper.


I did not get to bed until around 2am on Sunday morning.
I had planned to get up early for a very moving Sunrise ser-
vice put on by the area churches that I have attended in
Easters past. But when my alarm clock went off, I decided
not to go. I felt content to continue to rest in what God had
done through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I
did get up in time to attend a wonderful Easter service at
Holy Trinity. An Easter lunch with a good friend, a long nap,
and time to read and journal concluded a special Holy Week
that culminated in a glorious Resurection Sunday.


Easter Blessings to you and yours,

Viva the Viva! ('veeva' the 'viva')

Recently I was informed that my 'viva' will take place at
2:30, Wednesday, 14 May 2008. At that time I will meet
with an academic from St Mary's College, my school, and a
British academic who specializes in my field of research, the
theology of mission. They have agreed already to take part
in it. I will be examined orally by the two readers on my the-
sis for one to three hours. Based on my defense of the argu-
ment, they will determine whether my work is up to PhD
standards. My advisor, whom I have worked with for the
past four years, would not have allowed me to progress to
this stage unless he was confident that my thesis was ready.
I am confident as well, and am eager to receive feedback on
my work from two scholars I respect deeply. My only wish
is that it were taking place much earlier than 14 May.


In blog postings to come I will share more about my readers
and the viva process. I would appreciate you remembering
me in your prayers.


All the best to you and yours, Jeff T.

Bowel Movements of Nursing New Borns

The other day I went downstairs to the Common Room to
eat my lunch. I encountered three of my fellow Divinity PhD
colleagues having a lively and intense discussion. I soon rea-
lized it was not about weighty matters of theology or bibli-
cal studies, but about the critically important issues of chil-
dren and parents. One of them was seriously concerned
that his breast-fed, three-weeks-old, first born daughter
had not 'pooped' for 24 hours after feeding. The mid-twen-
ty-something new father was worried that something was
terribly wrong, and was consulting with two fellow mid-
twenty-something colleagues who had both recently gone
through this whole process. With great interest I listened
as the experienced two asked him questions and offered
their advice. The next day he announced that a close
friend, a medical doctor in the US, had confirmed the ad-
vice the other two had given him.



It was exciting to see that there are certain things in life
that are more important than our academic pursuits ever
could be.


Blessings to you and yours,