Vows

My friend vowed:

I desire to dedicate my whole life to God and the Body of Christ in the Order of St Helena. And I wish, of my own free will, to share in this community's life of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience.

I believe that God has called me to make this dedication of my life.

I solemnly vow, with God's help, to live the life of Poverty, regarding nothing as my own, but always striving to live simply, to share generously, and to use the good things which I have been given to the glory of God.

I solemnly vow, with God's help, to live the life of Chastity, to root in God my power to love, using my freedom to love and to serve God, and to live in the single celibate state for the service of others.

I solemnly vow, with God's help, to live the life of Obedience, remaining open to the will of God as it is heard not only in my own prayer, but also in the insights of others and in the common mind of the community, and committing myself always to serve not my own will, but the will of God.

Profession

Yesterday I went to the Convent of St. Helena in Augusta, Georgia, for the service where a friend took her first vows as a member of the order. It was very moving to see her vow poverty, chastity, and obedience and to be welcomed into the order. I think what made me cry most was the sense that she has been accepted into a safe home. Since I don't have any pictures of the service here are some rocks I balanced in the convent's meditation garden:

foundations

No, I can't build from the bottom up. I've already made myself a place in the world, and it is a good place. Somehow I have to put a foundation under that. I do have an image for that--about 10 years ago the old family house on Cape Cod was jacked up so a new foundation could be built under it.

balance

Yesterday:

I did this at the South Carolina Botanical Garden, which has an extensive sculpture program. I keep wondering if I am going to get into trouble for doing unauthorized art.

overheard

Two students coming into my classroom for the class after mine were talking about a course that one of the students was considering taking on line. The first student said he thought he would learn a lot more if he went to class. The other student said "You don't need to learn that much."

There is the fundamental conflict of goals. I want my students to want to learn, and some of them want to learn as little as possible.

rock balancing

I made myself a rock balancing web page.

teaching

There are days when I just can't accept not being able to please all the people all the time. I teach a lot of freshman engineers, and the history course they take from me is low on their priority list. I would like to think they come away thinking more carefully about the impact of technology on society; some do. I would like to think they learn because they care and are interested, and that is probably unfair to expect. But the issues I want them to think about matter so much to me.