Dissertation Defense coming 23 Feb

Barring unforeseen problems, my dissertation defense will be on 23 February at 10am PST/1pm EST/7pm Central European Time. Yeah! We will be doing the defense by videoconference, so I am working on the technical details. I met Friday with the IT guy at the seminary here and will put him in touch with the woman who arranges videoconferences at CGU, so they can coordinate things. It looks like it should be possible for me to use a room at the seminary. That will feel a bit more formal than our living room :-) I suspect this may be the first trans-Atlantic dissertation defense for the school.

I recieved a chapter and the bibliography back with comments from the style reader. Fortunately, there were no major problems, just lots of little stuff. I spent a couple days this past week at the seminary library working through the corrections, so I would have access to sources.

Also, I attended some of the Research Seminar there. That is when most of the M.Phil. and Ph.D. students come into town to do research and present their progress and get feedback. It was good to get to meet some of the students and hear about their work. With the completion of my Ph.D., the seminary would like for me to work more with these research students in the coming year.

A Full Life

I hope that you all had a merry Christmas, a brilliant Hanukkah, a happy New Year, a meaningful Epiphany, and a great experience of any other holidays you celebrated recently. Lately, the theme for us has been trusting that all things will work together for good, as we have been buffeted around by circumstances. And so I resort to a list to condense what has been a very full time (for many of you as well, I suspect). We are grateful for our full life and for each of you.

One thing I'll highlight is that my dissertation defense will be on February 23 by videoconference (no flight necessary). (Yippee!!)

Shalom and Blessings,
Matt

Some high/lowlights from the past couple months:

Our car was stolen

• Christmas Eve - found out our car was stolen back in California
• New Years Eve - Got the call about 11:45pm our time that our car had been recovered in California
• Went to the US Embassy to get an affidavit about the theft notarized
• We're still working with our insurance company to get the car repaired—it was damaged by whoever stole it

Figuring out the future

• Jenny's sister, Sarah, recently got engaged, and they're working on a date and other plans for the wedding
• I've been looking for paid work here in Prague in addition to my non-paid teaching ministry at the seminary (so Jenny can be home more for the little one next year)—not easy, since getting a work permit requires a letter from an employer, who of course wants me to have a work permit already (do you see the problem here?)
• For example, I had a great interview with Olympus here and was hired on the spot—only to have the offer revoked when they found out how long it would take to change the status of my residence permit
• Other job possibilities: Research Assistant scanning articles and books from German libraries to use here; English examiner at Charles University; teaching English to elementary students
• We're also talking with the seminary about our involvement there next year, including possibly moving onto campus

Academic life—Jenny's Masters, my dissertation

• Our computer started crashing and doing other bizarre things—we think it is a short in the power cord and have ordered one from the States (warranty ran out last month)
• Jenny finished the final paper for her Masters degree—during the problems with the computer—and got it sent in
• She's also had a paper accepted to be published in a book about teacher research in Europe
• My dissertation defense should be on February 23rd, around 10am PST—yippee
• The defense will be held by videoconference—saving me a trip to California, us a lot of money, and Jenny from a couple weeks of dark wintertime alone
• I graded my first Masters of Theology thesis for the seminary and will attend a Research Seminar this week with M.Phil. and Ph.D. students—some of whom I may end up helping to supervise

Other ministry and such

• I was asked to join the Mission and Discipleship team at our church
• I'm organizing fellowship meals, pairing family groups up to get to know one another
• Continue working with Café Coze, the English conversation club
• A friend here, Matt, started a small discussion group about Jesus—it's the two Matts and a couple cool Czech guys
• Celebrated with Katie, our friend who had diphtheria last year, that she has had one year of being off the ventilator
• Speaking of health, we are both recovering from colds & Jenny was out of school for a week with bronchitis
• Jenny is learning to knit and has advanced from scarves to very small hats
• While she knits, I have taken up crossword puzzles

Enjoying the holidays

• This year, we got a real, live Christmas tree (see below)—it's about 4 feet tall and in a pot (I think it will live on our balcony)
• Christmas Day - I led the morning service at our church here
• Christmas Day evening - Jenny's sisters, Sarah and Christy, arrived for about a week
• We went with Jenny's sisters to Dresden, Germany for a one night trip—I got new shoes (my walking shoes were worn out and developing holes and Germany has better deals on shoes than here)
• New Years Eve - enjoyed watching the Czech tradition of setting off fireworks to celebrate the New Year, involving the suspension of caution/sense/etc. as people set off fireworks wherever they pleased. Our square was well represented.

Adoption

• I list this last, because nothing much is happening
• We are waiting, as we have been for a couple months now, for word on when our psychological interviews will be
• We did meet a Canadian couple who now have their cute little boy and will finalize the adoption in the next couple months—it was great to talk with them about the process
• Also, to give ourselves a bit of experience, we have been volunteering in the nursery at church and babysitting for a couple friends of ours, Aaron and Phoebe

Reflections from a Pink (Hamster) Ball

I watch Stewart running around in his pink ball (or, as Nick/Mikulas calls it, lunar module). His view of the world is pink, at least from that ball. His interactions are limited physically by the ball. he cannot touch anything outside it, only look out and sniff.

Each of us has a similar ball. I am self-centered. It is understandable--the only perspective I have is outward from this body, this self. However, God has given us imagination and myriad other tools--prayer, meditation, good books--to help us to see beyond our bubbles to the wider world. When we are able to extend our vision, it is a moment of self-transcendance. I believe that this transcendance is a basis for compassionate living. We can never be truly concerned for the well-being of others until we are able to get out of our bubbles enough to see the world from another perspective from our own. It is a gift from God when a story--biblical or otherwise--can open us up to the wider world.

Many things can lead to this opening, perhaps as many things as there are people: travel, reading, contemplation, work, music, talking & really listening to others, and many more ways. I sincerely believe that God is much broader and more all-encompassing than we will allow.