Highlights and Lowlights:
-Last night I won a talent show. First place in Capernwray's Got Talent for reading two of my poems. "The winner is....Ginger Jack" (as my fellow students seem so bent on calling me). For some reason the talent had to revolve around the letter D. So the first poem I shared was based on 1 Samuel 16. And the second was a sort of love poem I wrote for someone here at Capernwray...although all I did was hint that the letter D might be a clue indicating the woman who inspired the poem. It was kind of fun last night being mysterious and romantic etc. as all the women (and men) at Bible school were trying to figure out who I wrote about. I suppose I enjoyed the intrigue and the attention. But, of course, it's very superficial of me. I appreciated more the the couple of people who commented on the poetry itself.
-The rest of the talent show was absolutely BRILLIANT. Very entertaining. I would almost pay money to see some of these acts. Blew me away.
-We had a really nice day of prayer on Thursday. And I needed it. So many good things came out of the day: First, my two roommates and I prayed with each other for a good while, and if nothing else (it wasn't nothing else) it was a time of significant bonding. Later a couple of missionary kids led a muslim prayer seminar. They set up a room kinda like a mosque and we prayed for all sorts of related issues (most importantly salvation the spread of the gospel) shoeless on the floor. I also went to a prayer meeting for North America. I was the only one who went...and it was led by a couple of friends who didn't do research...so we just debated about the stimulus package (which I don't even know anything about) and talked about the decline of fish in eastern canada before praying.. My funny but potentially blasphemous contribution to the prayer: "God, if the fish die, please help the Canadians to be fishers of men." I'm hoping Jesus appreciated my attempt at humor. (not humour). Probably the best part of the day was having one of the staff pray for me as a leader of my 10-day outreach team. I had been feeling very insecure and stressed (to some degree still) and was having trouble just trusting God when faced with new challenges I can't face relying solely on my own effort and resources. But Ian, he's the dean of students, was really reaffirming, and God really strengthened me as I prayed that day.
-I went on a really nice walk last night. It was really dark and I stepped in a lot of smelly and wet things, but it was great and I was in good company. We started out going to the barn to see some more baby lambs. That was a little scary, because all the grown-up sheep started waking up all around us and baaahing creepily. We then went all around the hills, commenting on the trees and dodging cars. (I say dodging cars because although there were like two, they are scary and I still haven't gotten used to which side of the road they're coming from).
-This weekend I'm going to just chill. Catch up on some outreach stuff, and read more George Eliot. and the Bible. I need to get through Jeremiah which I find tedious, especially coming out of post-chapter 30 Isaiah. I always think that and then God speaks to me. I don't know why I think that would be so incongruous when I'm reading his word.

It was another good week. I had another Mexican meal at the home of an English lady who had never had a burrito before. Her dining room table was older than the United States (the colonial period exempt, of course). And I managed to spill coke all over myself AND realize several seconds after everyone else! My outreach team is going strong. I've somehow managed to be organized, for now. I'm excited for the upcoming ministry, which is really great. Thanks for your prayers.
I had the best Valentine's Day. (I realize that's not saying a lot.) But it was one of the best nights I've had at Capernwray. We had a little party in the lounge, with my old roommate from Tennessee playing music. And people reading poems. I shared three. Two sonnets and a very sad poem. It went really nicely. They especially liked my sonnet about my first true love (a Chipotle pork burrito) but I learned that if you start off with a really funny poem, no one will remember what you say next, however profound (in my eyes, of course...that is to say life experiences are always true). It was just all super chill, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
It is also worth noting that I had a great time this morning going to a local church to sing some hymns for the small congregation. "Take My Life and Let It Be" and "And Can It Be"...which I've been singing since the swingsets of pre-school: "....that thAAA my God should STY for me!" My favorite verse was always the fourth (four year-olds can understand being emprisoned and quickening rays...I always got chills with the line ' I woke, the dungeon flamed with light ' ).
This next week should be interesting: lectures on Church history.

Said my soul
Let’s steal away
When we’ve the golden margin of a day
Where sun outshines the shades of gray
And showers flock and field in full display.
The mind too sober to assay
Can’t count the gilt nor can outweigh
For sun has taken toll.

I’ve known trees
Too breathless and with a book
Far less facile for feigning flight
From this sodden earth.
And if the sun were English
Then it would make the wind its friend.
Both win what they would win
And blow where they deserve.
Somewhere sighing of the breeze
Had forced its flowing and the trees
Till sky had lost its worth.

But deep inside
Where windows were
And heaters on my feet were sure
I feel the peeling of the clouds
The flowing of the sky
The smiling of the sun
The smart articulate candor of the birds.
If only souls could steal upon the heart.
The sun’s cold wind would will I choose
A book so fine as it imbues
I keep my pride.

The book of the day is George Eliot's Middlemarch. Someone recently informed me that a movie was being made about it, with Kate Winslet. Brilliant. Perhaps she'll be Kate Thiel by then. But I guess she doesn't have a degree in piano performance. (For those who are confused, I want to marry a piano performance major. I just have yet to find her.)
This week was a fun week. It definitely went out with a bang Friday night. The lectures this week were on World Religions (and "Christian Dynamics": more on that later). It was great to learn more about Buddhism (in its true form, not the Japanese Buddhism I'm somewhat familiar with: I tell a great Zen parable if you ever want to hear it) and learn about Hinduism for the first time. We also learned about Islam and Mormonism. But the religion that hits the top of my charts is Neo-Paganism: "a celebration of imagination, intuition, experimentation, and experience" hmm...hm..hm.. Sign me up! Where can I put my name? It is interesting that I spent most of my week in a tree (which contain souls and the possibility to see fairy folk) and went to the barn to see the newborn lambs (which, of course, corresponds to the contemporary pagan holiday of Imbolc). The lecturer was very good at remaining objective and respectful (sometimes this meant not laughing) Although I could see from my second row seat the hints of irony in her eyes. For the Christian Dynamics lectures, it was a crazy missionary couple (Italian American) who lectured on Jonah. It was actually really inspiring and thought-provoking. I've observed that everyone in my parents' ministry circles loves the book of Jonah, and until now I hadn't really understood why. Kinda like Brahms, or good cheese. Refined taste. Friday night was BRITISH NIGHT. We had a pub quiz kinda thing about British history (Lancaster and York etc.), geography, music, TV (Wallace and Grommit), even food. Then I had a really good conversation with a friend who gave me advice on leading my outreach team, and then I crashed the birthday party of someone I don't know that well (we do now, I guess) and I got to play hackie-sack hecka. And then I finished off the evening by starring in a spontaneous musical in the main hallway. People watched (and listened) this time. It's either that or listen to Rodgers and Hammerstein all day.
My light bulb/aha/click...click/oh, i see/hmm moment of this week: in the Jonah lectures, he was talking about the Church and Jesus' promise that the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against it. The key word, we were taught, is GATES. as opposed to "forces" of hell etc. This is really encouraging to think about as I prepare to go to Morley to spread the Word.

I had a weekend of good eating. It all started with Friday Social Night. Friday night’s at Capernwray are kinda lame. Sometimes they’re nice (like the talent shows which are truly of the finest quality); other times we all get together to watch low-budget Christian films or play ice-breaker games that may be out of place now that we’ve known each other for five months. It’s all compulsory, of course. This Friday, all the staff were offering different activities, like movies, pizza, games, etc. I made it to the sign-up list late, so all the good things were taken. After a long process of much-needed self-discovery (I’m not exaggerating) I opted for 5-a-side football in the gym—very manly, very fun. Unfortunately, only three signed up, so I would forced to go watch a movie in the conference hall (potentially another “Faith Like Potatoes” or what have you). However, I became aware of an opening for a Mexican Meal at the home of Mark Thomas, the director of Capernwray. I jumped at the chance, running to his office, and bursting through the door. “Come in, Jack” he said (he calls me Jack). “I heard there was an opening….” “Why yes, there is.” “Can I have it?” I said, unable to contain my enthusiasm. “Yes.” And I must have said my cheers as I spun awkwardly out of his office in sheer delight. The meal was incredible. Enchiladas and Tacos. Beef, crisp cheese. Pure succulence. It was one of those meals that has a lilt. To top it off was his album of pop-ized classical music (a thrilling and educated selection of the greatest hits of the Dead White Men all ran together in a frenzied celebration of color, harmony, and instrumental experiment). I was, to be honest, feeling a bit depressed the last week. Anxious about things you know. Through lots of prayer (including that of my dear cousin Laurel) I was able to enjoy and be revived by this amazing Mexican meal with good friends from Capernwray.

So then I left on Saturday for the preliminary weekend of a 10-day outreach on Feb. 27. (Don’t remember if I said this, but I’m leading a group of twelve to Morley outside of Leads in Yorkshire to help out a church and do school assemblies and work with “pensioners.”) I had a blast there, we all did. It was pretty easy-going. There were many hours spent in the living rooms of the northern English, just chatting and laughing with my team. We got fed well. Yorkshire puddings of course. Brilliant gravy. Pork, potatoes, parsnips. And custard, loads and loads of yellow custard. It is refreshing to know that English food can be done well. We did have a good planning session with Morley Community Church. They have a busy program set up for us, but I’m happy to get out and serve the community and spread the gospel. What’s quite funny is how high profile it is that a team from Capernwray Bible School is coming to Morley (a small post-textile-industry city of proud people who rarely receive visitors from even the English). The best example is the great lengths the ever-so posh Mayoress took to meet us, and, after a cozy picture with all twelve of us for the local weekly, welcome us formally to the town of Morley. I’m really excited to go back, and eager to begin planning with my team. We have church services, testimonies, sermons, programs for both youth and pensioners, and much more to develop and prepare. Please pray for us as we begin this week. And for the people of Morley, that their hearts would be prepared for our ministry.

So I’m back at Bible school now. It snowed (and it NEVER snows in England) which greatly cheered my spirits. I had a great morning of snowball fights, picture taking and building (little) snowmen, and wittily reading Psalm 147. The chili today was pretty flavorful, enough for an English guy to say it was “hot.” I suppose there is still hope for England.

I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now…

Well, it has come to my attention that I don't update enough, but life in England tends to be as undramatic as its weather, or its flat rolling landscape, or (no I won't describe my life by invoking the oxymoron that is English cuisine.)
God continues to bless me with significant spiritual growth, I’m still learning a lot, and I continue to have fun experiencing northern England with my friends from Bible school.
Some things that have been going on lately:
• I was picked by the school staff to lead a team of eleven others to help out a church in Leeds, which I believe is in Yorkshire (not that far from Capernwray). We’re going to do things like Sunday school, worship and other things in services, and outreach in the community. We’re really excited. This weekend we’re going for two days to get a better picture of the church and what we’ll be doing when we go for 10 days in February/March.
• We’re learning about the gospel of Luke in class this week. It is really eye-opening and thought-provoking. I like Luke’s eye for historical detail and the focus on Mary and Elizabeth. The lecturer described the beginning narrative as “two women, Mary and Elizabeth, sharing a miraculously conceived life. This is the essence of Christianity.”
• One of my friends learned how to play pinochle, so I’ve been able to play the best (underplayed) card game in the universe a little more.
• Planning my spring break trip around Europe. Unfortunately I won’t be coming home. I’m excited to go to France, especially since Anne-Sophie, a fellow student from Paris, taught me how to look French this morning. I raise my eyebrows, delicately squint me eyes, and rest my chin on my hand. I have yet to learn how to walk like a French man. She informed me that the French woman walk is a bit easier—just walking while holding a handbag.
• Reading a lot of Dylan Thomas) and Bob Dylan lately. One of the things I’m hoping to do this spring is drop down to Wales, to Swansea specifically, where Dylan Thomas was born or lived or something. I should know, but it is where his grave is, and a really good museum, and the sea that inspired the best poems of the 20th century.
• The other night we had to act out a Bible verse as 10-day outreach teams. We did something with the burning bush and Moses. I was the burning bush (my head specifically). My team is good capitalizing on their leader’s strengths.
• I’m praying a lot for my mom’s show (Always the Women: A Solo Performance of Jesus’ Encounters With Women in the Gospels) which she’s benefit-performing this weekend. Unfortunately I’ll be out of the country (Leeds, in fact) but it’s all very exciting. Check out my link to an article about the show on my facebook.
• Things are pretty busy, but on the other hand the weather has been very nice and sunny (not today though).

The lips of time leech to the fountain head;
Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood
Shall calm her sores.
And I am dumb to tell a weather's wind
How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.
-Dylan Thomas

Today is my first day back at Capernwray. I had a great Christmas break and it’s good to be back. When I left school three weeks ago, I first went to Liverpool, where my uncle and aunt are studying. The highlight was my first Christmas panto, short for pantomime, which is one of the most English things one can do. It was a pretty legit one at that. Cilla Black starred as the fairy godmother (the story was, then, Cinderella). She’s a famous Liverpudlian (I know I misspelt that) singer from the 60s. Sung back-up to the Beatles in the Cavern and everything. They worked in many of her songs into the show. It was very funny and entertaining. I then went to London where I met my family, after some frantic driving (none on my part) around and around Picadilly Circus getting lost and such. It was good to see them. We did see some real theatre in London: Les Miserables, and another panto: Phantom of the Opera. J/k, although I almost prefer Cilla Black’s music to that of Weber. Again, j/k. Both were excellent and I have a much higher appreciation for the latter now that I’ve gone and seen it. And seeing Les Miserables is arguably my favorite theatre experience on or off stage. The cast was very good. On the 25th, we flew to Morocco. Marrakech was busy and crazy and market-y. Very exciting. I preferred going to Essouira on the coast. The beach was relaxing and the town slower paced. I had fun playing soccer on the beach with my family and some (maybe local) kids, and riding camels. The best part about Morocco, other than spending time with my family, was the food. I am in love with tagines, this sort of stew thing. They are incredibly flavorful, especially the rabbit and lamb ones. Some of my friends from Bible school went to Morocco as well and talk about eating goat faces and cow tongues. Unfortunately I missed out on that. But there was a lot of cous cous and the Moroccan mint tea was soothing and delicious. I really miss the sunshine and the slightly warmer weather. Now I’m back in foggy, rainy England. I’m in a new room. Only two roommates this time, and I am amazed about the amount of sleep I now get. I’m ready for two more months of school before I go traveling again.

It's been a very busy Christmas season, of course, even at Bible School. Right now they are setting up Christmas decorations all over the castle, especially for the northern english who come on holiday here for the Christmas/New Years season. They're not all red and green, the decorations...some look like the could be perfect for mardi gras. I kid you not. The Christmas concert, in which I performed, and co-directed the choir, and arranged music, went really well. There were a lot of old Brits who had been coming since the 70s who said it was the best concert they'd ever seen at Capernwray. It was fun, but I'm relieved it's over. I'm really excited to see my family this week. We're going to London for a few days, then joining every Thiel in Morocco (of all places). My prediction of the highlights: Seeing the Grecian urns in the museum (beauty is truth, truth beauty...keats...etc.) and Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera (some three-chord song show that's apparently really exciting)...don't exactly know what to expect from Morocco. Sunny weather?

Some Christmasy quotes from John Donne's Sonnets:

Oh let me then, his strange love still admire:
Kings pardon, but he bore our punishment.
And Jacob came clothed in vile harsh attire
But to supplant, and with gainful intent:
God clothed himself in vile mans flesh, that so
He might be weak enough to suffer woe.


And as a robbed man, which by search doth find
His stolen stuff sold, must lose or buy it again;
The Son of glory came down, and was slain,
Us whom he had made, and Satan stolen, to unbind.
'Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!