Friday, March 30, 2007

Rarefied air, real ale and a romantic afternoon

Another term over, and lots of time to relax...? Not a bit of it! The last students had barely left the building when I set off for the Society for the Study of Theology annual conference at Girton. The rarefied air of academic theology always makes me feel rather suffocated, though I'm always glad I've been.

There seem to be two kinds of conferences. There are those which are a long-awaited and much desired opportunity for people to share their ideas with one another through papers, workshops and conversation. They are usually businesslike, hardworking, and a thorough joy to be part of because they develop a sense of teamwork among participants right from the start.

Then there are the conferences which showcase the brilliance of the brightest stars in the firmament, leaving the majority of attenders in semi-darkness. Attending them is about trying to learn to appreciate the "splendour of light" without being dazzled. I have been astonished at the erudition, scholarship and sometimes genius of the plenary speakers, but deeply depressed that so little of it bears on the messy business of living. The gap between ivory-towers academic theology and applied and practical theology in community is nowhere more obviously a chasm than in such a forum, and I feel helpless with frustration that it falls to people like me to try and capture and distill the genius of the academy to resource my students and my own theology.

But parts of it were so satisfying, and so encouraging, that I continue to believe it's a positive experience. Short papers presented by people who are still doing, or have recently completed, doctoral research showcase the most diverse overview of the best of the theological landscape, and the shorter conversations around those are inspiring and provoke engagement.

There were other compensations. I took one evening off to spend with my much beloved Uncle rediscovering my all-time favourite beer (Woodforde's Wherry) over a meal and live music at the Bluebell Inn, with the unexpected bonus that my cousin, whom I haven't seen for years, and his wife joined us. So we went back to their house (quite stunning) for coffee before I went back to Girton just after midnight. It was a merry evening of family pleasure.

The last full day of the conference had an afternoon free for sightseeing, so my lover and I returned to the village of his childhood to lunch, walk and talk by the water. The warm spring sunshine, gentle romance, and conversation that swung from silly to serious from moment to moment all combined to make it a magical afternoon, and it was with reluctance that we parted and I dragged myself away to tackle another plenary session at 5pm.

Before leaving Cambridge, I called in to see my ex sister-in-law and then had lunch with my ex mother-in-law. It's a testimony to their generousity that we remain friends after the marriage that brought us into the same family is long over.

Tomorrow second-youngest son arrives home for Easter so I'm up at sparrrowsfart to be at the airport for 8.30am. Then we're into Holy Week, of course, and the existential journey towards death and resurrection begins once again. The cycling seasons of the liturgical year, the changing colours and moods and music, all seem this year to be in their proper place in the cosmos. It's been a long time since it's felt that way...

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Jollifications

One advantage of being too busy is that time whizzes past. It's been a time of exhausting work interspersed with episodes of real fun.

First there was the installation of Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York as the chancellor of the new University. Despite a ridiculously early start (on the road by 7) we had great fun dressing up in full academicals and parading through the streets of York from the guildhall to the Minster. Note to self - the Guildhall does not have enough women's toilets for that kind of gathering! It was a pleasant service, including a less than full-power rendition of Parry's "I was Glad", and then we had lunch at the NT tea room before repairing to the University for champagne and a lavish afternoon tea. This mean that I had to go for a brisk walk round York to work off the champagne before picking up my car from the park-and-ride.

Then there was a real-life meet of the uk.religion.christian newsgroup in which I did my PhD research. It was one of those delightfully civilised days when we had the perfect balance between congenial sociability and some vigorous theological debate. One poster from Greece managed to be there - I suspect that is probably the furthest anyone has come for a meet. Mark (the new moderator) and his wife Emma and baby Ellie were there, so I was able to hand over the moderator's hat to him.

And then this weekend I set off at sparrowsfart yesterday (this involved hiring a car when I discovered that mine had *two* flat tyres - grrr) to stay with the love of my life before racing back this morning to be at home for callers. My dearest uncle and his partner arrived in time for lunch, and eldest son and girlfriend arrived mid-afternoon. In between, phone calls from the other three non-resident offspring suitably reassured me that however little I care for Mother's Day, they still respect he social niceties.

Part of the reason it's been even busier than usual at work is the imminent departure of the person who holds the whole thing together as administrator. Finding a replacement has consumed a lot of corporate time and energy, though thankfully, not too much of mine. The highlight of the process so far has been the inadvertent feeding of an applicant's cv through the shredder, and the subsequent process of reassembling it.
It's now nearly the end of term, and I can tackle the mountain of paperwork over Easter. I may also treat myself to couple of days off to catch up on sleep and to enjoy the pleasure of being really, really happy.