Autumn in NE, Rugby and Red Sox season...

I've been gone for a while. In the interim, South African won the World Cup Rugby, my brother and his girlfriend Julie got engaged, and the Red Sox won the first two games in the World (US) Series Baseball.

I'm enjoying my work and school this semester. Each work day is very full, which is good for me. I'm doing more at my jobs. Our Green card app is in. I have one really fantastic class this semester, called Women's Health Policy. It's a great class to end the MPH, as it brings together many different things and has excellent professors.

I'd like to write down a part of Ephesians from the Message version. (Eph 2). "Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.... Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and us insiders. he treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access through the Father... You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country."

It is remarkable that God coming to earth not only dealt with our human-God division, but also our human inter-relational problems. That's not to say these problems disappear, but that, as a Christian, I'm called to go with what Christ did for us and recognize that we are all given equal access to God. It's a difficult notion because sometimes it feels as though some people have been given so much more than others-- in talents, love, the ability to make good choices, resources, etc-- and that deeply affects how we look at the world, but I want to see those things as very temporary and secondary to access to God. Maybe that decreases condescension and also jealousy. At the same time, given how much those external blessings do affect our perspective, it's important to keep thinking of how to show God's heart and justice by blessing other people.

I'd be really grateful for your prayers for us in the next few months. I'm applying for jobs (real jobs), mainly at large NGOs. I've been getting a clearer idea of what I'd like to do, if the doors open and it seems right for our family. I'm hoping to teach public health (with history right in there, as it's everywhere!) in the long term.