i have been running into people from the ride this summer more and more frequently (though randomly) around town. its been a good thing too as i think it has helped give me perspective. i mentioned earlier that i had felt pretty isolated and rather unliked or unloved this summer, namely because people just seemed to be annoyed with me all the time for one thing or another. recently several people have helped me to see i wasn't necessarily the cause of the annoyance though i may have been the one it was taken out on. its a subtle difference, but it definitely explains a number of things.
yesterday i had a pretty cool experience of the mixing of my worlds. the paulists, an order of catholic priests, were started in the us 150 years ago this year. the first place they started a campus ministry was at the university of california (berkeley), and the second? well, it was here in austin at ut. this year marks the 100th anniversary of the paulists being at ut, so there has been much celebration. last night, the 5p mass at the ut catholic center was presided over by the cardinal for the region. people came to mass in tuxes as they were going to a black tie optional affair for the celebration following the mass. it was pretty neat to see people that dressed up at mass. priests from all over the area and who had served at ut in the past were present, and it seemed a very festive occasion.
on to the mixing of worlds though, the interfaith panel for the university was invited. members of this panel are from the various religious organizations at ut. i have been taking a class at the lds institute of religion across the street from house one night a week, and the instructor for the class happens to be the lds representative on the panel. he mentioned that he was going the other night in class and seemed pretty excited about it. i haven't seen him since just before the mass, but i'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts this week. he said he and his wife had been to a mass before though he wasn't super familiar with it. this mass was a little different because there was a cardinal saying it, so the details are a little different than what you would see on your average weekend. i haven't seen my teacher since last night on the way over to mass, but i am looking forward to hearing his thoughts. i've never had any of my lds friends come to mass with me (though i don't know that i've ever specifically invited any of them to join me either). i like the services of both churches (catholic and lds) for different reasons. i've never really talked about those reasons with anyone as i don't know anyone else who is familiar with both faith traditions.
maybe in contrast to one of my earlier posts i'm not 'not religious' but rather am struggling with the desire for a system of beliefs while trying to discern exactly what to (and what i) believe. meanwhile, there is also this pull to try and understand how two faith traditions have influenced my life (albeit one for a much longer period of time than the other).
the last two weeks i have been trying to embrace this concept of a day of rest from work. actually, i'm rather enjoying it. i haven't done any school work. last sunday i wrote thank you notes for texas 4000 (that would be volunteer work, not "work" per se) and today i have been reading for pleasure and talking to my roommates. earlier i was laying in the grass in front of my house reading and sleeping (not at the same time), and it was nice to be outside just being. there's a calm to the weekends in our part of the weekend...assuming there isn't a home football game.
which leads me to the football game last night. ouch. the hail mary pass got a new usage in my opinion. the pass wasn't as long, but holy smokes. with just a few seconds to go in the game, texas tech scores on a pass the quarterback didn't even really seem to think would work. the result was a touchdown and one second left on the clock. its a bummer the longhorns lost, but well played texas tech.
congrats to michael for finishing his first marathon today (nyc marathon)!
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