This morning one of my roommates and I went to the Greek Orthodox church on a field trip. It was one of the most interesting, albeit strange, experiences I’ve had in a while.
We walked into a room hazy with the smoke of incense (which in Revelation symbolizes the prayers of the saints) and covered in icons and images of various saints. It was interesting, having just studied many artists who created work like that which was on the wall, like Giotto and Duccio. But these pictures weren’t in the context of art class, but rather in the context of real people venerating them. According to one of the women who was explaining the liturgy to Bonnie and I, veneration manifests itself by them kissing the picture. At other times in the liturgy, they bowed to both a metal cross flanked by two fans and the priest and the center picture of the crucifixion. At other times in the liturgy, the deacon cleansed the room (and in doing so, he cleansed the people of their sins) with a censer on a chain, increasing the smoke in the room.
There was a very clear liturgy that they followed (that of St. Basil the great, I think, which was 53 pages) including much chanting and murmuring. It seemed clear that they thought the power was in the liturgy and not the actual words. Another interesting part of the Greek Orthodox church is that they celebrate pedo-communion. Their tradition is that after an infant is baptized, for three weeks the father holds a candle during the liturgy in remembrance. After those three weeks are over, that child is a communicant member and can partake of the Lord’s Supper.
I’m sure there were other parts of it that I’m forgetting, but overall it was a fascinating, kind of scary, and very informative field trip… But I don’t really want to go back any time soon.
This semester, I am taking an Art History class (1400AD-Modern) from one of my sister’s favorite Profs (who remembers her most for her bear, Edward.) On the first day of class, a student’s cell phone started ringing. Without missing a beat, Professor Parrish said, “silence that phone immediately. This time I will let it pass, but in future do you know what we do to phones that go off in during class? We take them up front, put them on the floor and grind our heel into it. Then it will not ever go off again.”
The student whose phone was ringing frantically found her phone and turned it off. Then there was no more ringing in class. Then, Monday rolled around. Professor Parrish was lecturing on early Renaissance architecture. Suddenly, in the middle of talking about Philippe Brunelleschi, who lost a competition in Florence to design the doors to the Baptistery, the ringing of the phone breaks Professor Parrish’s sentence. Confused, Professor Parrish says, “That sounds like my phone. Oh well. They must not know I’m in class… or it’s an emergency. But you can never get to it on time. So where were we. Oh yes! Brunelleschi…” The phone finally stopped, but then immediately started again. “Well! It may be an emergency. Excuse me, I’m going to answer this… Hello? Yes, I am in the middle of teaching a class. Can I call you back later… I need to teach, I’m in the middle of a lecture! Yes, thank you.” He hung up and said, “Dentist office. Now, dear me, where were we…”
If that had been any of us, we would have had a smashed phone. Everyone wanted to laugh, but he was so matter of fact about it and already back in the middle of the lecture that nobody could. So much for setting a good example for his students. =)
-I got over 100% on my first (and possible one of my hardest) finals last night
-I'm going home in a week (hopefully this time next week I'll be in Bloomington!)
-The change of the seasons from chilly to freezing cold is a mercy from God and a sign of His faithfulness to His promises. Also that the promise of spring is not vain.
-Classes are done for the semester, and after Thursday I'll be done completely with 1/8th of my nursing education
-I am wearing a Purdue Hoodie on top of an IU shirt. =)
That's right, I said being evangelized, not doing it. But first things first.
If PETA ever got wind of what goes on in biology labs across the nation they would have a fit. Take last night, for example. We have just started studying the circulatory system and so we naturally want to see veins and arteries with the blood still flowing through them. One of the best ways to do this is on live fish. So, we took a very alive, large gold fish out of his tank and put him in a much smaller tank of anesthetic until he turned on his side, completely out. (We only killed two last night out of lots and lots of fish examined!) Well, my lab partner and I were the last to see the fish. For kicks, one of the TAs picked the largest fish out of the bunch. The poor little guy kept fighting the anesthetic. He kept beginning to go to sleep, turning on his side. Then, he would suddenly rally and start thrashing around again. Finally he was down and the TA started to fish him out with a net when he started thrashing around again! The crazy fish would not go to sleep. Well, he eventually lost enough strength to stay still on the microscope so we put him on there (wrapped in very damp cotton to keep him moist) and observed his blood flowing through the blood vessels. The entire time, though, his mouth was moving, making faces that were much more amusing than his blood vessels.
Earlier this week, I was wasting time between classes, eating an apple on Memorial Mall. Apparently I looked more available than most of my fellow college students because I hadn't been there more than five minutes when a professor-aged man asked if he could sit down with me. I said sure, and he proceeded to talk for the next five minutes about the Bible, sin, and presented the gospel. When he finished I told him I was already a Christian and I came to find out that we have several mutual acquaintances including Pastor Bayly. What a small world!
Being in nursing school is certainly challenging in many different respects. However, there are perks as well. This week I was introduced to the freakiest and coolest things involved in the school. They are the simulation men (or women, depending on what parts you put on or take off, or if it is pregnant) who reproduce different health crisis. Essentially they are all robots who talk, cough, breathe, have a heart rate, sounds, lung sounds, etc. I held one of their hands briefly when I met one of them and it was so strange! It almost felt real, except that it had a hard, mechanical inside. The newest sim men arrived late last week and do everything from bleed, cry, have snot come out of their nose, and saliva come out of their mouths. Oh, and they also die on nursing students. That's why we have them, so we can learn not to kill them. =) They can be used to simulate almost any medical emergency from heart attack to labor and delivery; they can be in-tubed (put on a ventilator) and they have IV sites, and so much more. The only thing they can't do is get up and walk. The new ones are wireless as well so they can simulate a cardiac arrest in the hallway of the nursing building as a pop quiz for the poor nursing students who happen to be there.
"If girls realized their responsibilities they would be so careful when they smiled that they would probably abandon the practice altogether. There are moments in a man's life when a girl's smile can have as important results as an explosion of dynamite." P.G. Wodehouse, Something New
