Traveling Mercies, Part I

Posted on December 22nd, 2009 under Travel

After two delayed flights, two cancelled flights and one exciting, serendipitous night in Paris, I am now happily back at home in Maryland.  The trip started uneventfully in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  I boarded an airport shuttle at 5:15 in the morning in St. Andrews for a sleepy ride into Edinburgh.  I got comfortable, because, for some strange reason, I’d decided to stay up late enjoying those last few hours with friends before saying goodbye for Christmas.  After all, I’d have the whole transatlantic flight to catch up on lost shuteye.  Yeah Right.

My traveling buddy Amanda and I made it onto our flight in Edinburgh, with only one minor hitch, a hitch that ended up making a world of a different 48 hours later.  Amanda had some trouble getting her boarding pass to print.  Another boarding pass was printed for her by one of the receptionists.  We didn’t know it then, but the receptionist had made an error on the boarding pass that would mean another line to stand in and eventually our return to the United States by Sunday evening not Christmas Eve.

As soon as with touched down in Paris, Amanda and I took off running through the airport to catch our next (cancelled) flight.  Somehow the cancellation took everyone by surprise, including the airport staff.  When I finally reached the top of the first queue, I got up to the desk and handed the receptionist my boarding pass. She informed me that this plane had already left.  If it had left, I would have been on it. No, sadly this plane was not going anywhere.  Thus began a long day of standing in one line and then another.  Some seven hours later Amanda and I were still standing in the airport.

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A Bombastic Top 6 from Dr. Snell

Posted on November 20th, 2009 under Uncategorized

Greetings Friends.  Here are Dr. Snell’s Top 6 recommendations.  Enjoy!

Plato’s Republic

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Augustine’s De Trinitate

Aquinas’s  Summa Theologica

Heidegger’s Being and Time

Lonergan’s Insight

Thanks Dr. Snell!

5 Great Authors on Life with God, Dr. Hall

Posted on November 17th, 2009 under Uncategorized

Dr. Hall is now serving as Chancellor at Eastern University and Dean of the Honors College, but he still enjoys teaching a class on the spiritual disciplines.  Take a chance to explore these 5 recommended authors from Dr. Hall!

Richard Foster

Dallas Willard

Henri Nouwen

Mother Teresa

John Chrysostom

Happy Reading!

A Sunday List: Dr. Cary’s Top 5 Theologians to Dive Into

Posted on November 15th, 2009 under Uncategorized

I’ve emailed a few professors and friends asking for their Top 5 book recommendations in their particular areas of study.  We’ll begin with Dr. Cary’s recommendations in Theology, a good place to begin any day of the week, but especially on a Sunday.  Dr. Cary is Scholar-in-Residence at the Templeton Honors College and teaches classes in Western Civilization, Philosophy and Theology.

He writes, “The important thing here, I think, is to make
your acquaintance with key authors.”  Here are recommendations about
where to start:

Augustine–Confessions (try the Hackett edition)
Thomas  Aquinas–Anton Pegis’ anthology, Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas.
Martin Luther–Freedom of a Christian (in the anthology edited by
John Dillenberger).
John Calvin–Start browsing in the Institutes.
Karl Barth–Start with Evangelical Theology: An Introduction.

Thanks Dr. Cary!