the chicago seminary news€¦ · the first nine months of the seminary’s life on earth have been...
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The Chicago Seminary News THECHRISTIANCOMMUNITY : MOVEMENTFORRELIGIOUSRENEWAL SPRING2004
We give thanks to you in North America, and to our
friends in Europe, who have helped us to purchase a
building (at right) for the seminary.The visible sign of
yourgenerosityistherealitythatwecouldbuyitwithout
a mortgage.This four-flat apartment building, just two
blocksfromthechurch,islargeenoughtogiveussome
roomforgrowth.Itcanhousetwelvestudentsandasem-
inarydirector.Withfuturedonationswehopetoconvert
thebasementintoaclassroom,alibraryandanoffice.
Three weeks after we purchased the building, on one
ofChicago’sstormydays,Itookourstudentsandsome
visitorsonanouting.LakeMichiganlookedlikeachurn-
ing sea. From therewewent to theArt Institute to see
aRembrandtexhibit.OnthewaybackIdrovepastthe
new building to show it to our visitors, and had the
shock of my life! What had happened? Nothing was
leftofthebigelmtreeinfrontofthehouse(stillstand-
inginthephotoabove),butaclean-cutbase.True,our
insurance companyhad requested thatwe trimoneof
thebranchesof the tree,butnot this!As it turnedout,
whilewewererevelinginthestormbytheLake,astrong
gale of wind split the Elm in half and felled it.A city
emergencycrewhadcutitdownwithmuchaccompany-
ingdrama for theparkedcars nearby. Fortunatelyonly
veryminordamagewasdonetothebuilding.Saddened
atfirstatthelossofthetreeIrememberedthewordsof
JohntheBaptist:Theaxeisalreadylaidtotherootofthe
tree.Itakeittomeanthatwearetoplantforthefuturea
youngtreeinstead. (continued on next page)
Dear Donor-Friend
More than anything else the retreat provided me with an op-portunity to examine questions and ideas that are so intimate and important to my daily life. Also, being able to participate daily in the Act of Consecration of Man was wonderful and supported in experience what we were doing in the courses. It was an intense week!DAVIDRAMSAY,MAINE
Outside the class time resided a thread of moments... of alone time, reflection, of Sacrament and Reverence for what is Mystery, each of which was deeply nurturing for me, and was unique to the environment created by the Christian Commu-nity, which enriched the whole of the work, and allowed me to root in the fruit of my questioning. MICHAELLAPOINTE,NORTHCAROLINA
What a gift! In town to care for a friend, the mother of a new-born, I was able to take advantage of the morning naptime to
walk the mile or so through the varied Chicago neighborhoods
to the 8am Act of Consecration of Man, followed by breakfast
and a course on “Light, Life and Love in the Gospel of St. John.”
Immersed in the ringing words of the Passion tide service, the
hearty laughter and genial camaraderie at the breakfast table
and the stunning waterfall of ideas intermingled with the si-
lences of deep thought inherent in the course, it was almost too
much to digest. Still, as I walked back to the apartment, I often
experienced a bit of jealously knowing the other courses and
lectures being taken up by the students and the delightful guests
students from North Carolina.
In the afternoons, however, washing dishes, folding clothes,
cooking, sharing my impressions with my friend, I began to
appreciate a bit how Martha must have felt her workload
en”lightened” in the enlivening presence of the Christ.
BARBARADANNER,WISCONSIN
Sharings from Our Visiting Students
Oneofthemanygiftsoftheseminaryistheopportunity
toparticipateinthelifeoftheChristianCommunity.
OnSundaymorningthechildrencomedownstairsandsit
inasemi-circle.Afewcomelate,butRev.Danceysmiles
and lovingly invites them to join. First, altogether they
learnasong.Then thechildrenhearastory:oneweek
aboutMotherTeresa;anotherweekperhapsaboutJonah,
orthemountainsinIsrael.Thestoryoftenhelpsexplain
thebiblereadingthatthechildrenhearintheservice.
Thechildrengatheroutsidethedoortothechapelawait-
ing the invitation to enter.A server greets them at the
door and taking their hand speaks: “You know...”The
servicebeginsandstrongwordsfloatintheair:Love…
Learn…Remember.
Thechildrenleaveandthecandlesareextinguished.
A Sun DayBYMATTHEWMAZZOLI, SEMINARYSTUDENT
Students paint a classroom.
Donation are welcome.PLEASE MAKECHECKPAYABLETO
‘THESEMINARYOFTHECHRISTIAN
COMMUNITY’ ANDMAIL TO :
POBOX25603
CHICAGO, IL 60625.
THANKYOU.
www.thechristiancommunity.org/seminary
For more information ONTHESEMINARYANDCOURSESOPENTOTHE
PUBLIC, PLEASE CONTACTGISELAWIELKI :
TEL . : 773-472-7041
EMAIL : [email protected]
TheseminaryoftheChristianCommunityinNorthAmerica
can be sensed as a “pre-mature” newborn. Sometimes
prematureconnotes,“Oh,itshouldhavebeenotherwise.
Thebabycametoosoon,beforefullandproperembry-
onicdevelopment.”Inusingtheword“pre-mature”Ido
notmeanthis.Newbornscomeastheycome.Moseswas
premature.St.Paulreferstohimselfasaprematurebirth.
Inthedestinyofsome,itistheirstorytocomepremature
– toworkondeveloping their fundamentalbody forms
andorgansoutsideofthemother’swomb,really“down-
to-earth”.
In this sense, the seminary has not been bornwith its
body andorgans basically formed, andnowall that is
neededisthattheysimplygrowlarger.Theseminary,in
its essential nature, is still very much in be-coming.
Although it is small, it isastrong,vitalbeing.Students
and teachershavesensed this. It isdefinitelyhere,and
atthesametimesomuchisnotonly“not-yet”,buteven
inthespiritualworld“not-yet”.This“not-yet”iswhatwe
areseeking,withoneanotherandtheangels,toformand
bringintotimeandspace.
Thefirstninemonthsoftheseminary’slifeonearthhave
beenawonderful,intensive,gracedtimeforthisseeking
andlearning.ThelinesofTheodoreRoethke’spoem“The
Waking”continuetoguideasastar:
I wake to sleep and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
Wewill take thewaking slow.Wecontinue seeking to
sense, tobetouchedbythefutureandwhatitseeksto
bring,withnofear.Weworkonlearningbygoingwhere
wehavetogo.
‘Pre-mature’ Birth : the Newborn Now Nine Months YoungBYRICHARDDANCEY,SEMINARYDIRECTOR
Afterasix-weekbreakathomeinWashingtonstatewith
myfamily,Ireturnedtomysecondfamilyattheseminary.
Iexpectedtoslowlyeasemywaybackintoclasses,but
the first week began as if those intervening six weeks
awayhadnotevenhappened.Ifeltasiftheclasseshad
continuedinthespiritualworld,andIwasdroppingback
intoseminarylifethathadincreasedinintensitywhileI
wasgone.Iwastheonlyfulltimestudentforthefirsttwo
weeks,withfouroutoftownguestsandseveralChicago
communitymembers.
Wehadthreemainlessonsadayforthefirstweekbegin-
ningwith“BuildingaRelationshipwiththeLivingChrist”
led by Richard
Dancey, seminary
director. Richard’s
enthusiasm for his
subjectandhislove
forhis studentshas
much to do with
the reality of the
Chicago seminary’s
existence.Heisone
of the most hug-
ging people I have
met, yet when I sit
with him in class, I
am drawn into the
realmoflivingideaswhereheseemstohappilyreside,
andfromwhichheappearstobereadingthecontentof
hislectures.
Craig and Henrike Holdrege from the Nature Institute
inHarlemville,NewYorkarebothscientificinoutlook.
In “Projective Geometry” Henrike guided us through
several exercises leading towards the infinitely distant
point.Tofindourwaytherethroughpencils,rulersand
protractors,wehadtoextendourconceptsbeyondthe
paperinfrontofus.Oureyeswidenedwiththeeffortof
imaginingtheplacewheretwoparallel linescanmeet.
Thisclasswasinthelateafternoonandtheclearpercep-
tionswebegantodevelopdidmuchtowakeusupfor
theeveninglectures.
In“TheHumanBeingand theAnimalKingdom”Craig
directedus through aGoetheanobservationof the life
of the sloth. His thorough knowledge of their lives as
reflectionofandinfluenceupontheirenvironmentwas
fascinating. Imaginea realheartfelt interestbeingborn
inus for the sloth!Craig showedus theprogressionof
skeletal development from antelope to lion to chim-
panzee to human uprightness. Behind Craig’s humble
manner resides a
wealth of knowl-
edgeandaloveof
hismaterial.
After the intensity
of this first week,
theguests leftand
Iwaspractically
alonewithGisela
Wielki, Seminary
director, and a
course on the
CreedoftheChris-
tian Community
and“TheVerticalandHorizontalinArt”.Giselaisanother
mainreasonthattheSeminarycontinuestomanifestand
grow.Shehasaverydeeploveandunderstandingofart,
witharealdesirenottoinfluencetheotherperson’sper-
ceptionofwhatlivesinanartist’swork.Herenthusiasm
fortheevolutioninthepaintingsofMondrian,Jawlensky
andRothkoguidedme intoa living relationship to the
vertical andhorizontal. I began to see theseprinciples
everywhereasrealspiritualentities,andtheybecamean
underlyingthemeofdiscoveryformefortherestofthe
secondsemester.
Beginning the Second Semester BYASHARAINEMACHALA,SEMINARYSTUDENT
InChicago,whereLakeMichiganmeets theplains, the
world is flat.A tree or a human figure standing on the
slightestelevationloomstallagainsttheopensky.Eachof
ourthreefulltimestudentshasheldthispositionduring
thisfirstyear.Inthebestsense,ithasmadethemalittle
larger than life,befitting their role in thedestinyofour
fledglingseminary.
AfterherfirstsemesterSophiaPan,ourAustralianstudent
movedtoArgentina,whereshewillmarryPablo,whom
she met earlier at the seminary in Stuttgart. Asharaine
Machala returns at the end of her second semester to
WhidbeyIsland,WA,toseehertwoteenagesonsthrough
highschool.Shewishestobecomeactiveinouraffiliate
congregation inSeattle,sharingourhope that in timeit
willgrowintoanestablishedcongregationwitharesident
priest.MatthewMazzoliwillreturntoNorwaytobewith
histwoyoungchildrenandhiswifewhoisfinishingher
trainingasamastergardener.
Theseminaryisaplaceforthetrainingofpriests,whichis
foremostaschoolingofourhumanity.Wearealltogrow
inrealizingthatourwholelifeistobeanactofworship,
andthatinthewordsofNovalis:in ordinary life, we serve like
priests at the altar.Weareconfidentthatourthreestudents
havegrowninthistaskthroughtheirlifeandstudyatthe
seminary.
Forfall2004weexpectourstudentenrollmenttodouble
Welookforwardtocelebratingtheseminary’sfirstbirth-
dayinSeptemberandthankyouallforyoursupportand
yourgoodthoughts.
GISELAWIELKI : SEMINARYDIRECTOR
DEARFRIEND ... continued from first page