Before My Final Final

According to this Lifehacker article, rereading, highlighting, and summarizing note are poor methods of studying.  Instead, you should use good methods: taking breaks and spreading out studying.  Please tell me I don't have to explain the entertainment value of these statements.  Maybe today should be a day of one, long, effective study break...

Addendum I: Vocabulary for Frank

Frank asked me what the phrase “gift of self” might mean, with the disclaimer that as my “token non-christian reader” he didn’t know.  First of all, I want to give a shout-out to the other non-Christians who read this blog – I know that at least one other of my loyal 3.5 readers shies away from any religious persuasion.  Secondly, I want to give a shout-out to those Christians/Catholics who might read this and think, “Well, I don’t exactly know what ‘gift of self’ means either.”

It’s a hallmark John Paul II phrase, lifted especially from his Theology of the Body, so there is no way I will do justice to it in one post.  If you really want to understand the phrase, read Man and Woman He Created Them, JPII’s audiences on the theology of the body compiled into one book.  And read it with a competent moral theologian by your side.  (Ooh-ooh-pick-me-pick-me!  I’m looking for a job!)  I’ll do my best, however.

Gift of self, or self-gift, describes how persons relate to each other.  It means giving of oneself in a full and free manner, an openness towards the other that says, “I am yours,” and does not hold back.  It is a self-offering that is love.  For JPII, the preeminent example is the Trinity: the Father pours Himself out to the Son, the Son reciprocates this love to the Father, and the love bursts forth to be the Spirit. 

For my non-Christian readers, or the Christians who haven’t pondered the Trinity in this manner, the primary earthly example is marital love.  Husband and wife give themselves to the other in a love that encompasses all aspects of their being.  In the words of Scott Hahn, “this love is so tangible that nine months later you have to give it a name.”  It is total (hence, no divorce) and life-giving (hence, babies) and consists of an orientation of oneself to the other and a strong will for the good of the other. 

I feel like I’ve been talking around it for long enough now that hopefully this sheds some life on self-gift.  If not, question away, and I will revisit the topic – possibly while studying for my Theology of the Body exam!

Thoughts after Comps Season

Normally, I let exam grades fade into the past without comment, and the good disappear with the bad.  Since I made comps such a big deal on here, however, I figure I should mention: scores came out!  Everyone passed!  Even this girl right here, who managed to impress her professors some.  Thanks for the prayers and encouragement, loyal readers!

Thoughts During Comps Season, Freedom Edition

I left home this morning armed with three pens, an unmarked Bible, chocolate-covered blueberries, and coffee, ready to receive the Eucharist and take on the world.  Or at least comps.

Six hours later, I emerged, triumphant.  And now comps are over -- we are free!

Thanks for the prayers and the support!

Thoughts During Comps Season, VII

I know all the things ever.  Or, all the things I will ever know.  Or, as much as I plan to learn before comps.

Friends who are taking comps with me, do not be afraid.

Friends who are not, pray for us -- from 9am to 3pm tomorrow.  Then pray for our professors to be merciful.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for us.  All you holy men and women, all you angels and saints, pray for us.

Thoughts During Comps Season, VI

Shelly gave me advice from a friend/fellow-sufferer: pray through each question and come up with a litany of saints for each.  I did this and I have lots of friends in high places.  [Side-note: I was surprised at how often JPII came into my litanies.]  However, I kept feeling that someone was missing.  At last I realized that we had read oogobs (a technical theological term) of Joseph Ratzinger.  Who is still in the pilgrim Church with us.  Unfortunately, it is too late to write to him to ask for his prayers and he is no longer Tweeting.

Thoughts During Comps Season, V

I am starting to have comps dreams.  Last night, someone took my seat -- sitting on my jacket! -- while I went to get a pen.  This created a huge problem because it was the only place in the room with proper feng-shui.  If someone does this in real life, I will sit on that person.  I still regret that I did not do this in my dream.

Thoughts During Comps Season, IV

We all have questions we hope we get and questions we hope we do not get.  I realized this once more as I talked to myself like a crazy person for two hours outside the student center today.  An example of how I answered part of a question I hope I do not get:

"We -- yeah, Gregory -- gender...." That's all I've got.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for us.

Thoughts During Comps Season, III

Studying so many classes at once is a problem, because I want to go over the things that I like, but I already know the things I like, because I find them interesting.  So I over-study fun things and ignore the hard ones...

Thoughts During Comps, II

I've done all the hard work -- taking the classes, compiling study guides for the questions.  They should just collect my notes and grade me on those.  They can even have all nine questions, instead of making me answer four.  Doesn't that seem more comprehensive?

St. Joseph of Cupertino, pray for us

Thoughts During Comps Season, I

[I considered an official hiatus (rather than the unofficial one I've been taking) for the next week as I prepare for comprehensive exams.  Instead, I will entertain you with the inside of my head during this time.]

One of my questions requests that I "thoroughly and accurately" discuss a topic.  Does this mean that when a question does not state accuracy as a requirement, it doesn't matter?  Because that would be hugely helpful.

A Short Story about Childbirth

Today I presented my research on the ethics of maternal elective cesarean deliveries to some other theology students.  I enjoy exchanging knowledge with other students (part of the reason I love school and hated distance learning classes).  My favorite part came outside the official presentation and Q&A.

One writer worried that as the number of c-sections rises women will stop exchanging stories of normal childbirth and only have surgical stories to tell, which will increase feelings of incompetence surrounding birth.  Tonight, people told birth stories.  Hard births, easy births, regular births, surgical births, heroic births.  ("The sonogram missed a baby!  She gave birth -- after a past c-section -- to surprise twins, breach, by the side of the road!")  We still have stories.  Beautiful, diverse, empowering stories that women share -- and, tonight, men too.

"It's Like My Grandfather Decided to Retire"

If I could pick anywhere in the world to be during this next month besides Rome, it would be Franciscan University of Steubenville.  Every other conversation I overhear on campus is about the Pope's decision to retire.  And every one is full of love for the soon-to-be former pontiff.  The classmate who spoke the title of this post into being had it right.  The head of our family, filled with love, wisdom, and grace, is stepping down.

In 2005, as I prepared to graduate high school, the only Holy Father I had ever known passed away, leaving the world mourning the loss of a deeply holy and unbelievably charismatic man.  When Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, I had barely heard of him and was sure that I could love no one as much as my Polish pontiff.  A few years later, as I began my M.A. program, I started reading more of the new Pope's writings and changed my mind.  He impressed me as a scholar and a shepherd, a man of sharp intellect and great wisdom, whose love of Christ reached through him to his fellow man.  Now, as I prepare to leave graduate school, I find myself once again awaiting a new shepherd.

Papa Benedict, on February 28th, will join the ranks of retired popes -- making the third one in Church history.  Celestine V retired in 1294 after a five and a half month papacy.  He returned to his beloved ascetic life and, after his death, was canonized.  Gregory XII was one of three claimants to the pontificate in the early 1400s.  In order to reunite the Church, he agreed to retire after convening a council to elect a new pope.  (The two anti-popes were deposed.)  Neither of these stories end well for the retired pope, so we don't have a clear idea of the role of the former pope.

One thing is for certain, however.  He will continue to act under the guidance of the Spirit, as he has done for years. In the words of Timothy Cardinal Dolan:

The Holy Father brought the tender heart of a pastor, the incisive mind of a scholar and the confidence of a soul united with His God in all he did. His resignation is but another sign of his great care for the Church.

St. Peter, pray for us, for the Church, for Papa Benedict, and for our next Pope!

Today

Yes, I am walking around the library in (bright pink) socks.  Without shoes.  No, I don't see a problem with this.  In my defense, the green stripe over my toes (kind of) matches my green sweater.

I have settled into my library nook and can't decide if it is a home or an office, but either way it is mine for way too many hours of the day.  I am cranking out papers like a mad woman, however, so good is coming of it.

One More Way to Procrastinate

One last finals-related procrastination aid, and then it's back to serious blogging.  Here's a sleep calculator that tells you when to fall asleep, or wake up, based on when you will wake up -- calculated according to your body's natural sleep cycles.

A New Game

Today, let's keep it lighter:

Because xkcd did a picture this way, someone put together a place to try using only the 1,000 most used words. I wrote this bit using it. I promise it is harder than you would think. I wanted to use it to explain my paper but I can't write with the right meaning of words. God's pain, God feels bad, God feeling things, and things change God don't quite cut it. This is more straight forward than the one at xkcd, but can you guess from that what it might be about?

[Note: xkcd isn't one of the 1,000 most common words, but I needed to give credit!]

In Honor of Papers

As well as some grammatical mistakes that have hurt my heart lately:

Of course language is not an infallible guide, but it contains, with all its defects, a good deal of stored insight and experience. If you begin by flouting it, it has a way of avenging itself later on. 

~CS Lewis, The Four Loves

One Down...

... two to go!  I finish all the work I have for my bioethics class today.  We don't have any papers or exams, just a final presentation.  Guess who got assigned to the first presentation time, so that she has nothing more to do for that class, other than show up twice a week?

This arrangement is especially fantastic given the large amount of work I still have for two classes.  So prayers of thanksgiving for that presentation and petition for two papers and exams, if you have a moment to talk to God.  Thanks!

Brain Death, Soul Death, and PVS

Because I spend too much time on Facebook once papering time comes around, I found this article the other day.  It's about a man in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) who is able to communicate with doctors via fMRI.  This development certainly complicates the debate about the care of patients in PVS -- something we are discussing in my bioethics class today.

John Paul II, everyone's favorite Polish, pro-life pope, stated that brain death -- the complete and irreversible cessation of all brain function -- could be considered the death of the person.  That is to say, it is an indication that the soul has departed from the body.  (From a Catholic perspective, that is the definition of death.  Medical signs are indications that this event has happened.)  He also stated that patients in PVS are alive and, as living human beings, deserve the care given to human beings, specifically food and water/nutrition and hydration.

[Note: A patient in PVS has some brain activity.  This person demonstrates lower brain function and sometimes higher brain activity as well.  This condition is not medically (or morally) equivalent with brain death.]

JPII of course caused a stir by this second statement, but this latest medical finding lends support to his position: this person's soul is still present.

Game Time

This weekend, Shelly and I played a rousing game of "What's your favorite heresy?"  It's inspired by reading too much from the patristic period.  The game is simple: ask yourself, "What twisting of the truth appeals the most to my inner heretic?"  Answer out loud!

Mine is easy: gnosticism.  There is a part of me that instinctively rejects the material world and wants to live as pure intellect.  However, I live in a world created by a good God, and luckily for me, God threw in a healthy dose of love for the sacraments when He made me.  My equally instinctive understanding of the sacramentality of the world is my saving grace.  Even the physical order mediates God to us, so I can see Him everywhere.  How then can I reject the material world for real?