Trinity Term Begins

Hi folks,

It's been a while. I hope you are doing well. I am back in Oxford for the final term of the academic year - Trinity Term. A time when most students are preparing for exams and preparing dissertations, yet I am still going along at the usual pace. I do have a substantial 7,000 word essay due in a week, but before I get to that I have some travels to tell you about!

Adam, my good friend, or as he might say, bro, made the trip across the Atlantic with me and stayed for a brief yet memorable week of adventures. After getting some sleep after the flight to overcome the jetlag (which we never did quite overcome) we made a trip to London. We saw the large clock there, the Queen's house, and some very nice museums - the Victoria and Albert Museum was particularly nice - and we walked a lot. We probably walked about seven miles or so, maybe more, in the rain...heavy rain. But, hey, it's England - part of the experience. Anyway, we went back to London again a couple days later and we walked just as much...but this time it was sunny! We ended up going to three church services, and Adam was able to meet Nicky Gumbel, the creator of the Alpha Course. Finally, for Adam's last full day here we made a trip to Stonehenge (waiting for Adam to post pictures on facebook, hint hint). The stones were nice, but I think I liked the sheep even more!

Inside of the Oratory of St Philip Neri,
Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Victoria and Albert Museum

Now that Adam has made it back home safely, I am back to the old academic grind. The paper that is due next week is for the Doctrine, Context, and Practice section of my program. My essay is called Recovering the Initial Christian Experience: A Critical Exploration of the Doctrine of Conversion in a Catholic Context. I didn't want to title to be so long, but I had to be specific with the doctrine and the context so that's what I have. At any rate, I have really enjoyed doing the research for and writing this paper. It is all about exploring the doctrine of conversion from a few different lenses and then applying those lenses to different aspects of Catholicism. Over the years, I have found there to be a gap in the Catholic Church between doctrine and experience. This paper has given me a chance to look at how the that gap may begin to be filled.

Well, I think that's enough for now. Enjoy the day, and I'll try to be back in touch soon.

Truly,

Tim