Seventeen Seconds

By Michael Jarboe, 3rd Year MDiv. Student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

I was taking out my dog, Bella, about thirty minutes before the Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals when this overwhelming swell of wind whipped through my apartment complex courtyard; spinning the bushes, creaking the bike rack, and swaying the mysterious oak tree that stands affront the building almost to the breaking point.

“Run, Bella!” Avoiding the downpour I scooped up our fury and frightened Shih Tzu, just escaping the flash storm that blanketed the Windy City. It all happened so fast.

It all happened so fast. Two minutes remained in the game and down by one goal our sites looked to Thursday night’s unexpected and undoubtedly exhausting final match-up to determine the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions: The Boston Bruins or The Chicago Blackhawks.

Our deflated table at a local pub sat impatiently watching as the final seconds slipped through the gloves of Chicago’s offensive attack when suddenly the scrappy effort of Brian Bickell tied the game up. The room erupted! Overtime period, as we saw the game’s outcome at that moment, was no stranger to Blackhawks or their fans.

What happened next no one in the room could have predicted. In 17 seconds from the moment the face-off following the game-timing goal, Blackhawks’ Johnny Odulla assisted David Bolland with follow-through slap-shot into the Bruins’ net with 58.3 seconds remaining. Shouts of joys, high-fives of joy, chest-bumps of redemption, tears of the reality that the Blackhawks may have just ensured the Stanley Cup filled the room and the rest of Chicago equally.

The scenes and pictures from last night are still ruminating in my mind and soul. It was hard not to be captivated by the scenes on Clark Street. Minutes after the game, news stations had their camera’s tuned into the raw madness of fans pouring from the bars, homes, and friends’ watching parties to collectively celebrate with their brothers and sisters. Thousands upon thousands of people let go of their inhibitions as the pride for their team and their city had reached its boiling point.

I’ve always loved these scenes in the public sphere. Whether it’s rushing the court at a college basketball game when an underdog beats a giant or the images of millions waiting outside the Vatican with a spirit of hope as the announcement of Pope Francis was declared, people gather together when there is something to celebrate. People long for human interaction in the moment of great joy and gladness because the shared experience is something that enlivens possibility and creates memorable stories that can be told, captured, and re-told again. A common goal was reached for Chicagoans to win the Stanley Cup, so who better to celebrate than with the community of that common goal.

So how do we manifest this in the Church? In 17 seconds the Stanley Cup transitioned from something attainable of the Blackhawks in 48 hours to 58.3 seconds. If the Church hopes to manifest any form of celebration that these pictures display in the streets of Chicago following Monday night’s win, it must step into mindset that the possibility for creating a sustainable community, with the common goal of “acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God,” (Micah 6:8) is attainable today. Not after this fiscal year, not after this generation before us dies off, not when they start playing guitar during the service, and not when I get ordained and have some form of power. Nope. Today, now, this moment: this is the time to draw people together for the common good of our neighbors and neighborhoods. This is the time to grab our pads, our sticks, our Corey Crawford face-mask and skate into two-minutes-remaining-of-Game-6-mentalities. If we do this, with God’s help, the potential for a celebration-filled shared-experience is awaiting with excitement to fill the streets of the Kingdom of God. What’s stopping you this time?

------------------------------------------

Michael Jarboe is a 3rd year Master of Divinity student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.  He blogs regularly at http://michaeljarboe.wordpress.com/.

Photo Credit: The Chicago Tribune

Why do we wear red shoes at graduation?

There is a beautiful tradition at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary of wearing red shoes at graduation. In the past, this has primarily been a tradition of the women of Garrett-Evangelical but in recent years we've seen some red shoes on our male  colleagues too. The tradition, though, fails to be beautiful if no one knows the story behind the shoes.  Our alumna, Amanda Baker, wrote the following blog post before her graduation in 2010 from Garrett-Evangelical and has given us permission to share.
----------------------------------------

Why do we wear red shoes?

We wear red shoes to remind us of our place as courageous, outrageous women, and to celebrate the rich tradition of female scholarship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

 
What does wearing red shoes have to do with female scholarship?

It begins with a story that Georgia Harkness used to tell of her great-grandmother Abigail.

As Georgia told the story, "Abigail was not only not a quaker, but was known as a 'worldly woman,' who affronted neighbors by 'appearing out of plainness' and was referred to scornfully as ' the woman in the red coat.' Whether because of the red coat or more abiding charms, she won the heart of Daniel Harkness and they were married in November, 1802."

In response, the Society of Friends presented Daniel Harkness with a letter of dismissal for marrying out of the meeting. To 'make satisfaction to the meeting' he would only have had to say he was sorry he married her. But he was not sorry, and he would not say it!" Georgia stated flatly-and proudly. (Keller, 33)

Wait. . .Who was Georgia Harkness?

Georgia Harkness has become one of the legendary personalities of  Garrett-Evangelical. She was the first professional female theologian in the United States. She served as the first ever Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett Biblical Institute from 1939-1950 before moving to California to teach at the Pacific School of Religion until 1961. In addition to her teaching she was a prolific author and hymn-writer. Most telling of her character, though, is a story she told of her struggle to be accepted in the Ph.D. program of her choice.

Edgar Brightman, the distinguished professor of philosophy at Boston University and Georgia’s mentor in her doctoral program in the 1920s initially questioned whether she was that exceptional and whether he should take her as a Ph.D. candidate. He judged that “I had the preparation, probably the  brains, but that I lacked the stick-to-itiveness.” Clear in her own mind, Georgia “told him that if that was all, I would see to that.” And she did. (Keller, 35)

So who decided we should wear red shoes?

The story of the woman in the red coat was recorded in a biography of Georgia Harkness’s life, For Such A Time As This written by Rosemary Skinner Keller. She feared that Georgia’s story, and with it, the history of women’s entry into professional theology in the United States, might be lost. Keller was on faculty at Garrett-Evangelical from 1978-1996, and she served from 1993-1996 as the seminary’s first female Academic Dean. During her time on the Garrett-Evangelical faculty she took to wearing red shoes to honor the legacy of Georgia Harkness and her great-grandmother Abigail Cochran. The tradition spread to other female faculty members, and has in recent years become a tradition of the student body.

Our red shoes are not a privilege we earn, but a history we claim. We honor Georgia Harkness, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Rosemary Skinner Keller, and so many others with our red shoes. We claim our place in their legacy, and with it we accept the responsibility to continue to move the world forward, to maintain their history, and to advance theological thinking. We proclaim our willingness to be bold, to be ourselves, and to show the world how much stick-to-itiveness we have!

----------------------------------------

Congratulations class of 2013! We are so proud of each of you and your many accomplishments. To learn more about this week's graduation events, go to www.garrett.edu/156th-commencement.

What are you Reading? Part 8

In anticipation of summertime reading, we recently asked our faculty to tell us what they have been reading and the answers may surprise you!

This week's entry comes from Osvaldo Vena, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, and Jack Seymour, Professor of Religious Education.

Dr. Osvaldo Vena
Professor of New Testament Interpretation

Apart from reading again some of the classics of the Post-Colonial literature, such as Orientalism, by Edward Said, and some foundational works on phenomenology of religion, such as The Symbolism of Evil, by Paul Ricoeur, I am also reading Embracing Israel/Palestine: A Strategy to Heal and Transform the Middle East, by Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder of the Tikkun magazine (www.tikkun.org), an online resource dedicated to peace and justice in the Middle East. The book, which outlines a balanced, fair, and just solution to the crisis, has received high praise from people like Cornel West, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jimmy Carter, and even evangelical pastor Tony Campolo. The book is well written and it provides a balanced and informed view concerning the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Dr. Jack Seymour

Professor of Religious Education

Thomas H. Groome, Will There Be Faith?: A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples (Harper One, 2011).

One of the best and most important books in the field of Christian Religious Education. Thomas Groome, professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, describes in detail his “life-faith-life” approach to Christian education. Building from a theological analysis of the teaching of Jesus, Groome describes his approach to education to undergird the vitality of faith. He draws heavily on his own Catholic faith tradition, as well as liberation theology, to seek to answer how we can teach a faith that makes a difference in our world and gives voice to the important of faith in public dialogue. If you read one book on education this year, make it Groome’s.


Eboo Patel, Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America (Beacon Press, 2012).

The founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Corps and a member of the advisory council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships calls the U.S. to its promise of a land of diversity where many voices participate in public discussion about the future. Patel weaves remarkable stories of how faith-based partnerships make a difference and how they are essential to fulfilling the pluralistic vision at the heart of the U.S. Again, this is the key book on the public impact of faith.