Sunday, June 27, 2004
Days 5 and 6 - Of Professors, Rain, Spaniels, and Snails?
To be honest, life in Manchester can be quiet boring. I mean how often can you sit and wait for a bus for half and hour (yes, somehow I managed to offend the bus drivers again)? So here are the ?highlights? of my past few days?
Professors ? I am here for reasons other than football matches. Met with my professor, Dr. Noble. Its weird, I could never imagine calling any of the professors here by their first names. It is so ?un-British.? Had a great time with Dr. Noble, by which he thinks I am right on target, is fascinated by my topic, and wont let me get rid of Anselm from my thesis (for those of you who know the medieval theologian Anselm, feel free to cry for me). Had a great rabbit trail in the middle of our talk (one of many). Dr. Noble?s brain works like mine ? scrambled and in constant motion. So, for ten minutes we discussed this little theory of mine that the famous Rahner Axiom only makes sense in potentiality, not actuality because of the fact that in humanity?s fallen state our finiteness limits our ability to experience the perichoretic revelatory nature of the being indwelt by any one of the Trinitarian members of the other two, and that therefore for the Axiom to be true one must be in a state of theosis.
Looking at that paragraph I am not even sure what I am saying now. But it sounded brilliant yesterday. It seems that Phd is the Syriac acronym for ?confused, unintelligible babbling.? Needless to say, I am in my element here. Where else can someone like me find someone to actually listen to my inspired verbal doodling.
Actually, here and at Nanwich starting Monday. I am heading there for the Tyndale Fellowship summer conference, a gathering of scholars sponsored by the InterVarsity Fellowship here in England. Woohoo, four days of ?stimulating? papers on ?1st century Rabbinic concept of Atonment? and the like. Get your tickets fast, they will sell out! (Not sure of the internet situation yet, so my next weblog may be delayed).
So, I now am working out my ?final? outline of my thesis, selecting the authors I will be using to base my doctrine of the social Trinity and the Doctrine of Humanity on, before I dive into the ?Christopher Morton exclusive? ? Doctrine of Relational sanctification. No truth to the rumors that Mel Gibson is going to base his next feature film on my thesis (though we are in talks).
Rain ? What can I say, even when its nice here it rains. It rains and it rains, but nothing ever gets clean here. My friend Phil suggested dousing the city with Palmolive Dishwashing soap and praying for a ?Noah? rain so the city can get a good scrub. On the bright side I have a wonderful clump of trees that keeps the rain off of me so I can read and work outside (with my pipe of course). Must be doing something good, since I am down already half of my pipe tobacco supply. I have also determined that there is an inverse relationship between the level of rain and the arrival time of the next bus. The more it rains, the more you wait, and wait, and, well, eventually you have to but passes to multiple lines or else you would become waterlogged. So, now I am a U.K. North and Finglands man. Not bad, its only 5 pounds a week (for the ever present Stagecoach line its 8 pounds a week, promting the locals to refer to as the ?limousine line.?
With all the rain it is about 200% humidity here. In the Springs I can run for an hour and come back slightly sweaty. Here, even if I run when its not raining, my socks, underwear and tshirt are soaked by the time I get out the front door. Imagine if it was hot!
Spaniels ? Took my first long run along the Trans-Pennine trail, which cuts through the heart of the city. A gorgeous trail ? it is very green (for those in Colorado Springs, that is the color we see from Late April until early May), has a rive running through it (didn?t try fly fishing yet), lots and lots of ducks (yes, I quack at them here, but in Welch, not English), and many many spaniels. Here all this time I though Engalnd was the land of Beagles but I still have not seen one. But my gosh, there are spaniels everywhere, especially on the trail. Oh yes, like Americans no one here obeys the leach law either. Very friendly dogs. One of them proposed marriage (or something like that) before its owner caught up and apoligized profusely (at least, I assume it was an apology, once again I couldn?t understand a word the man was saying). Made for an interesting run. Tanya, don?t read this story to Riley, I will never be forgiven.
On the bright side the Manchesterinos have taken up running. There are more runners now then I have ever seen here before. Which is good because the local paper ran an article, ?City Denizens Watch Football, Eat and Drink Too Much.? Its almost like they can stand the thought of Americans being heavier then them, so they are out after our crown.
Snails ? One last note. I have never, in all my years of life, seen a snail in the wild. Now, I must admit that I have not made this my life?s passions (unlike the many scientist detailed in the enjoyable book A Short History of Nearly Everything). But Saturday afternoon, after the rain, I saw my first snail. And what a snail. He must have been doing two or three yards an hour. Big snail. Not particular cute. Actually, kind of boring. But now I have seen a snail. For a city boy like me this is quite an achievement. To think I had to come all the way to Europe to see a snail. Some friends here are going to Paris on Thursday and asked me if I wanted to come along. But, hey, after you have seen a snail, what has the city of lights got to top it.
Well, that is all from my vantage point. Off to the clump of trees to think of unintelligible things to say?.
Talk again soon, I hope.
Manchester • Summer 2004 • (602) Comments • (9) Trackbacks • Permalink
