Narnia in Maine
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. Job 37:10
Winter is long in Maine. Some think it is way too long. Kind of like Narnia under the spell of the White Witch… always winter. But, just like Narnia, we’ve had a melting into Spring! Yes, the long-awaited moment has occurred. The ice on the lake has broken! It was amazing. For days we kept hoping that it would happen. The color of the ice starts to change. The edges of the water start to appear.
Then, in one day, the ice broke. A giant fissure in the middle of all that ice. The winds blew all day and hour by hour we watched the ice recede across the lake (it’s actually called Wilson Pond, but it’s a lake). Blue! Deep blue! Oh, the beauty of that water. Little whitecaps on the blue water replaced the dull greyness of the old ice.
Éva was ecstatic. She squealed “We can go to camp!” The family “camp” is a set of rustic buildings on a small island only accessible by boat. Hannah reminded her (and me) that none of the docks are out yet, and that even though we think it is beautiful, it is still freezing cold, and that we would NOT want to be in a boat out on the water. Way to rain on our party!
The nicer weather has also allowed us to take some of our tasks outside. Today we hung the laundry outside, much to Éva’s distress. She was convinced that the clothes were going to blow clear across the field and that her special outfits would be gone. She tried valiantly to get us to change our plan and just hang the clothes inside. Someday she’ll understand how wonderful that wind is, and how soft and clean it will make her clothes.
At night I try to work on my WTS schoolwork: translating various scriptures, reading about Deuteronomic theology, listening to lectures about Pauline theology (Mark has sent up to me MP3s from the classes I have missed), etc. The concepts I am trying to understand academically are illustrated by the world around me and the tasks I am doing each day. I’m not exactly sure how some of what I’m learning by helping my daughter and being with my grandkids will make its way into any of my final exam essays, but I’m pretty sure that this semester’s work (for me) has included more than just a very long reading list, papers, lectures, and quizzes.
I don’t want to just understand Pauline theology, I want to be challenged to live it. I don’t want to just learn about the God of the OT and his dealings with Israel, I want to see the hand of that very same (unchanging) God in my life right now. Perhaps the more important exams this semester will not be the ones answered in bluebooks, but the ones that require patience of me in the midst of chaos, love when I am tired, and graciousness at any moment of the day.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to be studying at WTS. I am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to be with my daughters when our grandchildren have been born. I love the intersection of academics with my day to day living. And you never know, maybe one of these grandkids will want to learn Ugaritic someday.
But until then, I’ll just sit with Éva and Seámus and Jireh (and Ethan and Maggie) and point out the beauty of water, ice, trees, birds and wind so that they can learn about the Creator of everything.