Process and Interpretation

So this morning, sitting in my Introduction to New Testament Introduction class, I wondered: "What if someone's only interpretation of me came from my blog posts--what would they think?"

Blogging is just one of the ways I process life.  The most raw manner that things get processed is through self-talk or prayer, the internal dialogue that runs through my mind in any given moment or reaction.  Most days, I also journal, which is a good way to put thoughts on paper without worrying about any of them being seen.  I also draw, and sometimes the nonverbal processing works much more quickly than trying to put things in words.  I enjoy discussion sections for my classes, because they allow me to process the material with my classmates.  And at lunch today, I had a wonderful conversation with some friends born in Guatemala, Germany, and Jamaica in which we processed our views on America.

Many of my processes come and go with no tangible record, and yet something from each processing session makes its way into my development.

The early church had to process theology and experience in both written and oral ways, depending on who you were and what your role was.  As we study primary texts in Divinity School, we miss out on so much of what was happening in the spiritual subconscious of early Christians, and what records we do have are surely only a snippet of the picture.

Processing often goes hand in hand with creation.  When I start scribbling on paper to process emotions, I am also creating a piece of art.  When I speak my thoughts to friends around the lunch table, I am creating conversation.  And when I journal, and definitely when I blog, I am creating a paper trail of my experiences and memories.

It's interesting the things that I choose to blog about.  I've been noticing that even though my mind is always drawing connections between material from each of my 5 classes, I rarely put those thoughts in to writing.  In fact, I don't think I've even shared about any of the classes I'm taking, even though they are what take up most of my time!

Perhaps that will happen in blog posts to come.  In the meantime, learning is definitely a process, one that I've longed for and one which I'm so happy to be engaged with.

Trees in the process of changing color.  Once they peak, the leaves then begin to fall off the branches.  Perhaps our thoughts are most interesting "in the process", and once we've "arrived" at a conclusion, we're really just settling for something less vibrant and colorful.  Just an idea to process...